Master's Theses Driven by Action Research: Insights From a Colombian Innovation Program

Current global challenges demand greater university-business relationships to achieve effective solutions. That is why the Action Research (AR) methodology has become popular among academics. Often, these academics are master’s students equipped with classroom knowledge, attempting to tackle organizational issues through their theses. However, the literature is scarce on how this methodology, when applied to master’s theses, effectively resolves these kinds of problems and contributes to the creation of new knowledge. In this paper, we address these gaps through a case study at a Latin American university that uses AR in master’s theses. We present two primary arguments: Firstly, the AR methodology in the master’s thesis contributes to resolving real business problems through direct knowledge transfer. Secondly, analysing this AR application might generate new knowledge. Our investigation’s findings have significant lessons and implications for the theoretical foundations of AR, scholars, and practitioners, particularly in the limited adoption of this methodological approach in other master’s programs around the globe.