Academia marketing myopia and the cult of the PhD

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate and comment critically on the influence that an observable career requirement for marketing academics, the PhD, has on their teaching, their research, and the much‐debated “gap” between marketing academics and marketing practitioners.

Design/methodology/approach

A review of the literature and of secondary sources of general data is combined with the author's own past research findings to arrive at a coherent, personal point of view.

Findings

A strong focus on “scientific” research in the marketing discipline has caused a form of academic myopia, and precipitated a debate on the role of research in business schools, somewhat belatedly. The conclusion in this paper is that academic research skills, and doctoral study in particular, are not a de facto prerequisite for effective teaching of an applied discipline to future practitioners. The PhD is not necessarily the good predictor of future publication that it is assumed to be. The research output of doctoral researchers, typically with little or no business, is seen as irrelevant by business, contributing to the academic‐practitioner divide.

Practical implications

The findings link current recruitment policies with future performance, and rekindle the debate on the pernicious role of the PhD in marketing education.

Originality/value

The author dares to question the research foundations on which modern universities have built themselves, and the role of doctoral research in the transmission of knowledge from business schools to business.

Citation

Boddy, C.R. (2007), "Academia marketing myopia and the cult of the PhD", Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 217-228. https://doi.org/10.1108/02634500710747734