Theory & Practice

Scholarly literature has suggested a practice gap could exist in research of students that partner with organizations (Naude et al., 2010). A literature review in the field of management industry-academia (Rynes & McNatt, 2001) agree the relationship should be equally beneficial for the student and organization as well (Naude et al., 2010). The authors confront the research gap between student theory and applying that same theory into practice inside the organization (Naude et al., 2010). Previous authors used different terminology to study the relationship between academia and industry. In their literature review (Naude et al., 2010) discovered different subject terms including; research collaborations, and research partnership. The germinal attempts to add to the learning theory by offering assumptions to observe while conducting industry- academia research. The process of learning (Naude et al., 2010) employs planning & learning through necessary actions, along with a narrative, and reflection that bridges the practice/research gap. The planning and theoretical learning from an academia setting combined with actions, and commentary in the organization environment should lead to student, academia, and organization feedback. Learning institutions and organizations continue to collaborate in effort to bridge the gap between theory and practice. The clear agreement amongst scholars in management-industry literature is the opportunity for equal benefits through established academia & industry partnerships. Reference Naudé, M., Nowak, M., Thomas, G., & Rowe, A. L. (2010). Managing industry-academia partnerships. International Journal Of Management Education (Oxford Brookes University), 8(3), 71-82. doi:10.3794/ijme.83.300