Turning Real-Life Drama into Scholarly Insight: Lessons from the Wild Boars Rescue
In this article, co-authors Amélie Cloutier and Andrew Webb reflect on the inspiration behind their recently published academic paper, “’It Had to Be Us’: The Rudolph Effect and the Inclusion of Unconventional Leaders,“ published in the Journal of Management Inquiry.
As researchers, our ideas often stem from a variety of sources—academic journals, industry trends, and sometimes, from the most unexpected places. For us, the inspiration for our latest paper came from an unconventional yet profoundly moving source: a National Geographic documentary on the 2018 rescue of the Wild Boars soccer team in Thailand. This real-life story, which captivated audiences worldwide, became the catalyst for our research and led to our study, “It had to be us: The Rudolph Effect and the Inclusion of Unconventional Leaders.”
The moment that sparked our curiosity happened as the second author was engrossed in the documentary. Watching the intricate coordination and management strategies of different actors that played out in the rescue operation, a multitude of questions began to form. What can management science learn from these real-life events? This led to a realization that there was a rich vein of insights to be mined from analyzing unconventional sources like documentaries, particularly those depicting high-stakes, real-world scenarios.
While the documentary was the immediate trigger, several external factors also influenced our decision to pursue this research. The growing interest in interdisciplinary studies, combined with the increasing recognition of the value of real-world case studies in academic research, provided a fertile ground for our ideas. Additionally, the global fascination with the Wild Boars rescue further underscoring the relevance of our research.
By adopting A.J. Greimas and Joseph Courtès’ actantial model, which is a proven approach for understanding stories of all kinds being it folk tales, annual reports or documentaries, we collated the relationships threaded by the actors involved in the rescue mission. Our findings led us to develop the concept we call the “Rudolph Effect,” which describes how outcasts, misfits, and mavericks can be redefined as valuable members of a leadership team. Our study suggests that providing opportunities for unconventional team members to demonstrate their skills and capital allows them to shift from supporting or advisory roles to more decisional and leadership roles.
Our research is innovative in its approach, using a documentary as a primary data source. This methodology demonstrates that valuable insights can be derived from unconventional sources. We believe this approach will encourage other researchers to look beyond traditional data and consider the wealth of information available in real-world narratives.
For new scholars and incoming researchers, our advice is to remain open to unconventional sources of inspiration. Don’t be afraid to venture outside traditional academic boundaries.
In conclusion, our journey from watching a documentary to publishing a research paper was an enlightening experience. It showcased the power of curiosity and the potential of interdisciplinary approaches in academic research. We hope our work inspires others to explore new methodologies and look beyond traditional sources for their research.
