Grounding the research phenomenon

As the guest editors state, ‘Phenomenon-driven research is problem-oriented research that focuses on capturing, documenting, and conceptualizing organizational and managerial phenomena of interest in order to facilitate knowledge creation and advancement’ (Schwarz & Stensaker, 2015 Schwarz, G., & Stensaker, I. (2015). Call for papers: Special issue on “Understanding organizational change through phenomenon-driven research”. Journal of Change Management, 15(2), 161–163. doi:10.1080/14697017.2015.1052349[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). A research phenomenon can be any problem, issue, or topic that is chosen as the subject of an investigation. The phenomenon may originate in either the practical world of affairs, a theoretical discipline, or a personal experience or insight. It may be perceived to represent an unsatisfying circumstance, a promising opportunity, a breakdown or anomaly in expected arrangements, or simply a topic of interest. However, one construes the phenomenon, researchers tend to encounter four common difficulties in grounding and diagnosing phenomena. After reviewing these common difficulties, this essay suggests some ways for addressing these difficulties.