ABSTRACT
Research in Business and Management espouses the ‘double hurdle’ of both rigour and relevance. Professional doctorates rather than PhDs, with their sole focus on scholarly impact, more closely aspire to this standard. However, the nature of the product that generates impact is poorly defined, and rarely, if ever, assessed. Instead, we suggest that impact on practice and policy is more likely through the person, the trained doctoral student, who implements what he/she has learned over the course of his/her subsequent career. Practitioner impact may be enabled by recruiting appropriately connected candidates, who are supported by their organisations, and by the ability to disseminate ideas extensively and quickly.
