ABSTRACT

Those who have tried to apply the results of academic research on human relations to real life problems in organizations are well aware of the pitfalls that bestrew this path. These pitfalls have at times had so undesirable an effect that the opinion is voiced, occasionally in print but more often after a cocktail or two, that academic research is inapplicable, is irrelevant. But this may be the throwing of the baby out with the bath water. There are very good reasons why the results of academic research cannot be simply applied to line organizations. Many of the pitfalls met with in their application stem directly from not taking these reasons into account. The purpose of this paper is threefold; an attempt will be made:

to spell out at least some of the reasons which make the application of academic research difficult;

to show that this research, even as it is, can be of help to administrators;

to suggest a way of facilitating communication between administrators and academic investigators to their mutual benefit.