THE THEORY CRISIS IN MANAGEMENT RESEARCH: SOLVING THE RIGHT PROBLEM

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Cronin, Matthew A.; Stouten, Jeroen; van Knippenberg, Daan
• 署名单位: George Mason University; KU Leuven; Drexel University
• 刊物名称: ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0363-7425
• DOI: 10.5465/amr.2019.0294
• 发表日期: 2021
• 页码: 667-683
• 关键词: ORGANIZATIONAL SCIENCES; editors; leadership; CONFLICT; progress; ADVANCE; field; time

摘要

There's nothing so practical as a good theory, yet there is growing concern that management theory is not very useful or usable. Many scholars are seeking to fix the growing disconnect between theory and managerial realities, as well as the overabundance of weak and untested theory. Our concern is that all this discussion focuses on improving unit theory, which frames empirical work on specific aspects of a phenomenon, rather than programmatic theory, which orients scholars and practitioners toward what the unit theories collectively support as settled science. While programmatic theory must be made up of solid unit theories, the processes that improve programmatic theory are different from and can be undermined by those that improve unit theory. Our contribution, therefore, is a model for how unit theory becomes programmatic theory that demonstrates how and why programmatic theory needs to drive that process. We conclude by using our model to show why the current suggestions for fixing the crisis of theory are not only insufficient but even draw away from the development of programmatic theory.