No Bullsh!t Leadership 357. The Business Research Scam No One Talks About: What should you believe?
Jul 1, 2025
The podcast dives into the trustworthiness of business research, revealing a troubling rise in academic fraud and retracted studies. It discusses the biases in popular research, like 'Good to Great', while emphasizing the need for skepticism among leaders. Listeners are offered practical tips on how to discern genuine findings from questionable ones. The conversation highlights the importance of applying critical thinking and integrating personal experience with research insights to foster informed decision-making.
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Evolution of Business Research
- Business research once focused on scientific management but shifted towards behavioral sciences over time.
- Its findings influence leadership greatly but may not always be reliable due to evolving academic incentives.
Rise of Academic Research Fraud
- Retractions of academic papers have surged from 119 in 2002 to over 10,000 recently, hinting at rising fraud or increased detection.
- This trend undermines trust in management research and reveals systemic flaws in peer review.
Fabulated Beatles Age Study
- The Data Collada team fabricated a paper proving a Beatles song "When I'm 64" lowers your age.
- This illustrated how undisclosed flexibility in analysis can produce any significant finding.
