There is an oft-made observation in its two variants depending on which side you are talking to that academic research is far removed from Industry or that industry is far removed from academic research. And interestingly it's the academicians who recognize the gap, more than the industry does - perhaps understandably so coz of their observer and subject relationship where the latter is often not even aware of being observed.
Most academic research in strategic management is backward looking, especially the part which observes behavior of people or collections of people (say firms), looks for patterns and builds or contributes to theory around it. It's unlikely that those people or collections of people would look towards the same studies to draw upon which were built by observing them in the first place. It probably takes corporate (or political) blunders combined with I told you so from a research paper buried behind a payment gateway for solutions to emerge. Consultants are uniquely placed to advise the right course before blunders happen, but (a) they rarely have the right level, coverage and understanding of academic research, and (b) they are paid by individuals who actually know what they want to hear. And then there is politics, power and ego. There's also the view that leaders must go with their gut feel, be creative, experiment, and 'innovate'. And try crazy stuff at times - no euphemisms. Research based on generalizations from the past struggles to offer adequate inputs to such leaders, especially when they believe they know what they need to. On the positive side, a lot of good things have happened by people taking paths and approaches that weren't considered viable or wise before, or that were just not thought about. And which were later picked up by scholars to study and write more about.
While the conundrum is here to stay, academic research must look for other channels for sharing with wider world. If research papers can't be made free, as they too need a revenue model - and most of them are difficult to understand for non-PhD types anyway - authors must take personal initiative to disseminate their learnings from various platforms to audience that can benefit from the research work. They can use AI tools to simplify, summarize and customize. Certainly, the world will benefit if most of the academic community finds a voice that is both heard and understood.
