In terms of Who? I would contend that most pieces of research will focus on perhaps four or five other key papers/books etc as the centre of their conversation.  If you try and do more than this then you lose clarity and come out with generalities aimed at pleasing everyone, but in fact they are so general they interest no-one.  Clearly your ‘conversants’ may change as the research develops but bringing in the discipline of specifying key conversants as early as possible is an important capability to develop. 

The question about the conversation as you arrive relates back to the issue of knowing the existing knowledge of the domain.  You won’t make a positive impression if you have no idea of the current debates which are influencing these authors, you will also need to be aware of some of the philosophical assumptions which underpin their work and therefore you are able to enter the conversation from a position in which you can add to, rather than detract from it because your are unaware of the key issues. 

It is also important to be clear about what you intend to add, is it that you have taken someone’s work and applied it to a new context, or have you developed an instrument to gather empirical evidence from someone’s theoretical ideas, all are of interest to the conversants. 

Finally how do you introduce yourself?  Are you agreeing with one person and disagreeing with another? 

A colleague of mine, Cliff Bowman wrote his PhD thesis as a challenge to Michael Porter’s view of generic strategies as being embedded throughout the firm (Bowman and Johnson, 1992).  Cliff’s research found that invariably those involved in production processes and purchases saw the company as a cost leader, whereas those involved in marketing saw it as a differentiator, Cliff therefore introduced himself to Porter’s work in a relatively challenging way, others may chose to be less confrontational, but you still have to be clear about what you plan to add.

 

The text on this page is reproduced with permission from Professor Mark Jenkins, Cranfield School of Management.  The ideas are based on teaching sessions with PhD and DBA students at Cranfield School of Management, and draws from ideas on writing developed by Anne Huff.