Commentary: Why it is fundamentally stupid for a business school to try to improve its research assessment exercise score

Government policies of accountability have led to the imposition of a type of quality measurement on British universities in the form of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). The crudeness of the measures taken raises many questions of reliability and validity in the results. However, the high profile of those results and the implications for long‐term funding have led to obsession in many universities in performing well in the RAE, leading many academics to exhibit BORED symptoms (B***** Obsessive Research assessment Exercise Disorder). Because of their large size relative to other university departments, much of the pressure for improved scores is borne by business schools. This paper argues that, for a number of compelling reasons, for business schools to devote their efforts and resources to improving their RAE scores is likely to be damaging and counter‐productive.