Managing Tensions on the Journey to Become a Practitioner-Researcher: A Dialectical Approach

This paper examines the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) as a dialectical process of professional and scholarly transformation. Drawing on Benson's (1977) dialectical theory, it explores how practitioner-researchers experience and integrate multiple tensions—identity (professional–academic), activity (working–studying), knowledge (practical–theoretical), growth (learning–doing), and argument (verbal–written)—throughout their doctoral journey. A qualitative systematic literature review of 33 peer-reviewed studies was conducted following Snyder's (2019, 2024) methodological framework. Using interpretive analysis, thematic coding, and AI assessment, the review identifies how these tensions function as generative forces that enable reflection, synthesis, and identity reconstruction. Rather than viewing tension as a barrier, the DBA is conceptualized as a process where professional experience and scholarly inquiry coalesce, producing ‘Mode 2’ knowledge that bridges theory and practice (Gibbons et al., 1994). The findings reveal that successful DBA candidates employ critical reflexivity to transform opposing demands into opportunities for integrated understanding and scholarly contribution (Farrell, Oerton, & Plant, 2018; Yourston & Bown, 2024). As a result, this paper contributes to the literature by framing the DBA as a living dialectical system in which tension fuels development, enabling professionals to become reflexive practitioner-researchers who unite action and reflection in the pursuit of meaningful organizational and academic impact.