From Quiet Influence to Measurable Impact

• Much of the real-world influence that business schools exert remains informal and undocumented, even as they face growing public pressure to demonstrate measurable societal impact.
• Systematic tracking, light-touch engagement, and structured testimonials can convert this otherwise hidden influence into credible evidence of impact.
• The use of research by alumni, policymakers, and other practitioners is a critical but underrecognized pathway for long-term impact—one that schools should track as part of their accreditation and community outreach efforts.

 
Business schools and their researchers face growing public pressure to show how their work benefits society. Universities, too, want clear proof that faculty research makes a real difference, in the form of new partnerships, policy changes, business improvements, and students working on real-world projects. As part of this pressure, schools also face a push for marketing that disseminates knowledge in ways that support a better world, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, as well as with different accreditation standards, strategic plans, and performance measures.

The message is clear: Engagement should lead to measurable results. AACSB expects business schools to show societal impact, as outlined in its 2020 accreditation standards. Journals like Elsevier’s Societal Impact and Emerald’s Journal of Social Impact in Business Research now focus on evidence of impact. The U.K.’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) also requires business schools to show proven results from their engagement, not just to publish for the sake of publishing.

However, those who work closely with practitioners, business owners, policymakers, and community partners know that impact rarely follows a neat or linear path. Practitioners may adapt academic frameworks into their strategies without formal attribution, policymakers may draw on research insights during discussions without citing sources, and alumni may apply concepts from their studies in their organizations years after they graduate. These moments represent real influence, yet they often remain undocumented and invisible in formal impact reporting.

I describe this phenomenon as “quiet influence.” It refers to the subtle ways research shapes thinking and practice without being formally recognized or recorded.

The challenge for business schools, then, is not only to produce impactful research but also to make the pathways from influence to impact visible. Academics and school leaders need to gather clear evidence of these significant and verifiable contributions. Quiet influence becomes measurable impact when institutions actively track, translate, and document how research is applied in practice.

Fortunately, by adopting the four strategies described below, business schools can measure quiet influence. With this information, they can convert this informal engagement into clear evidence of societal impact.

1. Use Forensic Tracking to Discover Hidden Influence

Instead of relying only on journal citations, schools can examine how research appears in broader knowledge ecosystems. For example, schools can use policy mining tools such as Overton, Sage Policy Profiles, or other similar databases to identify where academic work is referenced. These tools can identify mentions in government reports, parliamentary submissions, think-tank publications, or nongovernmental organizations’ policy documents. Although such sources often shape real-world decisions, they are rarely indexed in academic databases and are often missed by platforms such as Google Scholar and Scopus.

Similarly, schools can measure teaching impact by using syllabus-tracking platforms such as Open Syllabus. These tools show whether research is included in business school and MBA curricula globally, demonstrating its influence on the education of future leaders even when practitioners have not formally cited the work.

Quiet influence becomes measurable impact when institutions actively track, translate, and document how research is applied in practice.

Altmetric monitoring can identify mentions in news outlets, blogs, and digital platforms. While these signals alone do not constitute impact, they indicate that research is shaping public discourse. Academics can use this information to engage with journalists, policymakers, and practitioners who are discussing their work.

These methods help institutions understand how their research extends beyond academic journals into professional, policy, and public domains.

2. Introduce Light-Touch Engagement to Identify Research Users

Another challenge is that many research outputs, such as toolkits, frameworks, reports, and data sets, are downloaded anonymously. While journal metrics may show high download numbers, they provide no insight into who accesses the material, who is using it, or how it is applied.

Business schools can address this by implementing a range of light-touch engagement mechanisms:

Policy documents. Researchers should translate their work into easy-to-read policy briefing documents that are formatted in ways that align with university brand guidelines and are distinct from academic journal styles. Schools can make these documents more accessible to policymakers by creating policy hubs on their websites, where they can upload relevant documents and engage with this audience more directly.

Online information forms. Instead of allowing immediate downloads, schools can request basic information about users such as their organizations, roles, or geographic locations. Even minimal data can reveal whether research is reaching senior managers, policymakers, or practitioners in specific industries. For example, “300 senior managers from Fortune 500 companies in Singapore” is a clear impact metric, whereas “1,000 anonymous downloads” is not.

Tracking URLs. Policy documents can also be shared on LinkedIn, in newsletters, via email campaigns, or as part of digital marketing efforts, using unique tracking URLs for each link. Web analytics can demonstrate that traffic originated from recognized sources.

Brief surveys. Schools can embed feedback loops into their research tools—for example, by including a short survey link or QR code that invites users to share how they applied the framework or whether it influenced decisions in their organizations. Such surveys can ask, for example, “Is this research helping your business? Tell us how in 30 seconds.” Even brief responses can provide valuable evidence of influence.

These adjustments enable institutions to move from reporting the number of downloads to demonstrating who is using their research and where it made a difference.

3. Capture Testimonials to Formalize Evidence of Impact

Many schools already follow up with individuals who download publications or field appreciative messages from industry partners and practitioners who found research useful. These exchanges can be encouraging, but unless they are documented, they rarely contribute to formal impact evidence.

Business schools can address this missed opportunity by initiating structured conversations with practitioners and partners to capture evidence of impact. When organizations indicate that research has influenced their thinking or practice, schools can conduct brief interviews with their representatives to understand how the research informed decisions, shaped organizational strategy, or contributed to specific outcomes.

A signed letter on corporate letterhead can be included in accreditation reviews and impact reporting to demonstrate that academic work has contributed to real-world change.

The insights from these conversations can then be summarized into short testimonial statements for partners to review and approve. Even brief confirmations from industry leaders can provide powerful evidence that research has influenced practice.

For example, a school might send a one-page letter to the CEO, with a request to confirm the research’s value. It might read, “We’ve summarized your feedback for our accreditation documentation—would you be willing to sign a statement for us about how this research supported your organization?” Such a signed letter, especially if it is on corporate letterhead, can be included in accreditation reviews and impact reporting. This demonstrates that academic work has contributed to real-world change.

4. Track Alumni as Carriers of Knowledge

In business schools, one of the most important channels a school can use to ensure that research reaches practice occurs through its graduates. Alumni carry the ideas, frameworks, and insights they learned during their studies into organizations around the world. Despite this, business schools rarely track alumni influence systematically as part of research impact assessment.

Schools can address this by periodically surveying alumni to understand how the research-informed concepts that they learned in their programs are being applied in their professional roles. Survey questions might explore which frameworks graduates have implemented, whether academic insights have shaped organizational decisions, or how course-based research has influenced leadership practices.

Professional platforms such as LinkedIn can also help institutions understand in what sectors and roles graduates are working. For example, if a large share of graduates from a sustainable finance program are working in roles related to environmental, social, and governance strategies, this suggests that the school’s research and teaching are influencing industry practice.

Positioning Strategies Within Existing Frameworks

These strategies are not intended replace a school’s existing approaches to measuring research impact. Rather, they are meant to complement and strengthen them. Traditional indicators such as policy citations, industry partnerships, and documented organizational change remain central, but the four strategies outlined above can help capture earlier-stage influence that can later develop into formal impact. By adding these tracking measures, schools make the pathways to impact more visible and evidence-based.

Implementing these strategies requires coordinated effort across the business school. Individual researchers play a key role in engaging external partners and recognizing opportunities for impact, but support from research offices, professional services teams, and impact or engagement units is essential for tracking, documenting, and validating evidence. Business school leaders should embed these practices into institutional processes rather than relying on ad hoc individual efforts.

Ongoing tracking efforts reduce the need for retrospective evidence-gathering and ensure that impact is captured as it develops.

Furthermore, schools will achieve the most effective outcomes when they make these efforts part of their ongoing engagement processes, rather than undertaking them only in response to accreditation or reporting cycles. Continuous tracking, documentation, and reflection allow institutions to build a more credible and comprehensive account of societal impact over time. Ongoing tracking efforts reduce the need for retrospective evidence-gathering and ensure that impact is captured as it develops.

Moving From Influence to Impact

Societal impact rarely occurs immediately after publication. More often, its starts with quiet influence, developing through ongoing conversations, engagements, and adaptations that gradually translate ideas into practice. For business school leaders, the strategic challenge is to ensure these slowly evolving pathways are visible.

When schools track and document this influence, they make it possible to transform early engagement into measurable impact and demonstrate how their research contributes to real-world change. They strengthen both their accreditation narratives and their contributions to the communities they serve.

But school leaders aren’t the only ones who want to make their quiet influence visible. Scholars and even practitioners should want to know the true impact of their work as well. Whether you are an academic or a practitioner, I ask you to reflect on how research has influenced your work or decisions. If research has shaped your thinking, practice, or organization, even in small ways, consider sharing that story with the source. You can supply evidence that helps researchers understand how their work is applied and enables institutions to recognize and document the broader societal contributions of business school research.

Often, the most meaningful impact begins with a simple conversation. If this article resonates with your experience, should I be expecting your message?