A diagram on a conceptual-framework bridging mechanism in the consulting-cum-academic-oriented project type in the ALRA

A diagram on a conceptual-framework bridging mechanism in the consulting-cum-academic-oriented project type in the agile literature review approach (ALRA)

On the concepts-framework bridging mechanism

Mechanism 1: concepts-bridging: academic concepts that are pragmatic oriented (tor the consulting-oriented project consideration) may need to be reformulated to become more academic oriented (responding to specific research issues), and vice versa.

Mechanism 2: framework bridging: the consulting-oriented theoretical framework may need to be reformulated to be more academic oriented (responding to specific research issues), and vice versa.

The following Q&A with perplexity provides examples related to mechanism 1:

My question: "In the context of doing an MBA dissertation project that is equally consulting and academic oriented, please provide the 2 concept definitions (one being research issue-focused and the one being management concerns-focused [for the banking sector in Hong Kong] the following concepts:

Concept 1: leadership function Concept 2: organizational trust Concept 3: organizational resilience

The reply: "Leadership function and organizational trust are essential concepts for an MBA dissertation blending academic rigor with consulting relevance in Hong Kong's banking sector, where regulatory pressures like HKMA's OR-2 demand practical resilience strategies. Organizational resilience similarly bridges theoretical models with management imperatives amid economic volatility. Below are dual definitions for each concept, tailored to research issues (academic gaps, e.g., theoretical testing) and management concerns (banking-specific challenges, e.g., disruption recovery).

Leadership Function

Research Issue-Focused

Leadership function refers to the dynamic processes through which leaders influence organizational direction, resource allocation, and adaptive behaviors to address identified gaps in contingency theories, such as how transformational leadership mediates between environmental uncertainty and strategic outcomes in empirical studies. This definition targets academic inquiries into underexplored linkages, like leadership's role in fostering innovation amid digital disruptions, enabling hypothesis testing via mixed methods.​

Management Concerns-Focused

In Hong Kong banking, leadership function encompasses senior executives' accountability for embedding resilience frameworks, including vulnerability identification, crisis decision-making, and third-party risk oversight, as mandated by HKMA's Operational Resilience guidelines to ensure critical operations continuity during disruptions. This practical lens prioritizes board-level actions to align people, technology, and processes, directly tackling client concerns like regulatory compliance and service stability.​

Organizational Trust

Research Issue-Focused

Organizational trust constitutes the collective psychological state where members perceive reliability, benevolence, and integrity in intra-organizational relationships, highlighting research gaps in how trust moderates knowledge-sharing efficacy under high-stakes ambiguity, as critiqued in social exchange theory applications. Academically, it supports propositions testing trust's causal impact on performance metrics through longitudinal surveys or structural equation modeling.​

Management Concerns-Focused

For Hong Kong banks, organizational trust involves employee and stakeholder confidence in management's ability to safeguard operations against cyber threats and geopolitical risks, fostering accountability and rapid incident response as per HKMA's emphasis on senior management oversight. This consulting-oriented view addresses immediate concerns like retaining talent in a competitive market and maintaining client deposits amid volatility.​

Organizational Resilience

Research Issue-Focused

Organizational resilience denotes the capacity to anticipate, absorb, adapt to, and recover from adversities while sustaining core functions, probing academic issues like the interplay between dynamic capabilities and resilience in volatile sectors, often underexamined in non-Western contexts. It facilitates dissertation aims to validate frameworks via scenario testing or comparative case studies.​

Management Concerns-Focused

In Hong Kong's banking sector, organizational resilience is the ability to deliver critical operations through disruptions—like technology failures or third-party dependencies—via structured frameworks for vulnerability mapping, tolerance thresholds, and annual self-assessments under HKMA's OR-2 policy. This definition aligns with consulting needs for executable strategies, including incident management and infrastructure upgrades to ensure market stability."

A note on research issues (including research gaps) in dissertation projects

A note on research issues (including research gaps) in dissertation projects (information from perplexity.ai)

My question: "In the context of MBA and Housing Studies dissertation projects, please suggest the main research issue types (including research gaps), and offer 2 illustrative examples on each of these research issue types.)

The reply: "The main research issue types for MBA and Housing Studies dissertations typically include: conceptual/theoretical issues, empirical/practical issues, methodological/design issues, contextual/locational issues, and policy/strategic issues. Research gaps often mirror these types: theoretical gaps, empirical gaps, methodological gaps, and contextual/policy gaps.

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Below, each issue type is defined with 2 brief illustrative examples: one leaning toward MBA/business management and one toward Housing Studies.

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Conceptual / Theoretical Issues

These arise when existing theories do not adequately explain a phenomenon, or concepts are under-defined or poorly integrated.

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• Example 1 (MBA): Existing leadership theories do not fully explain how AI-assisted decision-making affects middle managers’ autonomy and job satisfaction in large service firms.

• Example 2 (Housing Studies): Current frameworks on housing affordability do not integrate digital platform effects (e.g., short-term rentals) when explaining rent escalation in dense Asian cities.

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Empirical / Practical Issues

These occur when practice is changing quickly but there is limited systematic evidence, or when there are clear managerial or housing practice problems lacking investigation.

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• Example 1 (MBA): Many SMEs adopt hybrid work, but there is limited evidence on how different hybrid-work configurations affect team cohesion and innovation outcomes.

• Example 2 (Housing Studies): Urban governments introduce new inclusionary zoning schemes, but there is limited empirical evaluation of their impact on actual access to affordable units for lower-income renters.
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Methodological / Design Issues

These arise when prior studies use narrow, outdated, or weak methods, indicating a need for stronger or different designs.

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• Example 1 (MBA): Studies on ESG and firm performance mostly rely on cross-sectional correlations; few use quasi-experimental or longitudinal designs to infer causal impact of ESG initiatives on financial performance.

• Example 2 (Housing Studies): Research on housing satisfaction in public rental estates often uses only descriptive surveys; there is limited mixed-method work combining survey data with in-depth interviews and spatial analysis.

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Contextual / Locational Issues

These focus on under-studied contexts (country, city, segment, or time period) where existing knowledge may not transfer well.

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• Example 1 (MBA): Most digital transformation studies use Western multinationals; there is little research on how family-owned firms in Hong Kong or Southeast Asia manage digitalization and intergenerational power dynamics.

• Example 2 (Housing Studies): Many affordability studies are Western-centric; little work explores how housing affordability interacts with extended-family living norms in high-density Hong Kong public and private estates.
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Policy / Strategic Issues

These concern misalignment, ambiguity, or unintended consequences of policies or high-level strategies in organisations or housing systems.

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• Example 1 (MBA): Governments promote green financing policies, yet banks’ internal risk and incentive systems may not support lending to sustainable but less conventional projects, creating a gap between policy intention and bank strategy.

• Example 2 (Housing Studies): Rental control and tenant protection measures seek to stabilise housing, but there is limited research on their long-term effects on private rental supply quality and landlords’ investment behaviour in specific cities."

A collection of blog notes on using chatgpt for research purpose.