Polymorphic research and boards of directors: let us make a better world together

Our objective with this chapter is to show how innovative methods can help us contribute to important and ground-breaking research about boards and governance. We introduce polymorphic approaches, and we emphasize co-creation. The illustrations lean on a sharing philosophy of doing research. Polymorphic research is about alternative ways of thinking and doing research. Through polymorphic approaches we challenge existing formulaic approaches to research about boards and governance, including messages, methods, interpretations, publication, and target audiences. We present examples using introspection, the champagne method, and co-creation. Our position is that while the existing methodologies are useful, the simultaneous generation of theoretically rigorous and practically impactful research requires innovative methods. We show how innovative methods in corporate governance research can contribute to solving the present crisis in research by moving the dominating research philosophy from “publish or perish” to a “sharing” philosophy.