Part Two of the PhD course provides room for a discussion with regard to the concept and importance of theory in business research. Thus, the course offers PhD students the basic tools to build theory, and insights into the instruments and concepts of validating theory. As such, we offer students guidance to link research questions to theory, for defining constructs, thinking through relationships and processes that link constructs, and deriving new theoretical models (or building on existing ones) based on those relationships. We seek to illustrate how to use analyses as well as grounded and emergent approaches to theory construction based on some of the classic theories used by researchers at the MGMT department. In this way, the PhD students are enabled to develop ideas across theoretical and analytical levels as well as from neighboring research fields. An explicit aim of the course is to provide students with a deeper appreciation of theory-building in order to support them in crafting effective research papers and grant applications.
Finally, as a secondary aim, Part Two of the course strives to create an 'esprit de corps' among the PhD students and thus to highlight possible venues for research collaboration across the different research fields. Therefore, while students learn about different formats of research outputs, processes, and theory validations relative to the specific research fields, they are also exposed to the potential and advantages of cross-disciplinary research.
As a follow-up to the assignment of Part One of the course, we ask each participant to prepare a three-page (max.) document wherein they reformulate their PhD proposal using the following seven questions as a framework:
1. What is the phenomenon/mystery (X) in your study? What is your study a case of? Why is it interesting?
2. What do we know about X (super short literature review)?
3. What don’t we know about X?
4. What specific question(s) about/mechanisms leading to X are you investigating?
5. What do you do theoretically and in terms of methods to address what we don’t know about X? Why is it appropriate / timely?
6. What new / counterintuitive insights (theoretical and practical) about X is your study potentially generating? Why are these insights important and interesting?
7. What are the boundary conditions and limitations of your study?
The three pages must be submitted by 31 August 2022 at 12 noon (to this email). Subsequently, each participant receives three pages from two participants for a careful and supportive review. These will be used in class as outset for small group discussions (groups of approx. three PhD students).
This part of the PhD course:
1) Provides the student with an improved understanding of the role of theory in the wide domain of business research
2) Introduces the students to the tricks and trades of the role of theory in social science research - particularly - in a business school environment.
Part Two runs for three consecutive days and is taught by Professor Lars Frederiksen and Professor Tino Bech-Larsen.
Please note: All lectures and group work will take place in building 2610, room 313A/313B, Fuglesangs Allé 4, 8210 Aarhus V.
Schedule (may be subject to change)
DAY 1: 7 September 2022 (room 2610-313A/313B)
9:15-10:15: Welcome back, expectations, and a general discussion about the production of scientific knowledge (recap from first segment of the course).
10:15-10:30: Break
10:30-12:00: What is theory and what is not theory: A broad discussion of what is considered a theoretical contribution, what is not considered theory, how to use and develop theory. This section takes its point of departure in the major academic journals in management.
12:00-13:00: Lunch
13:00-15:00: Professor John Thøgersen: Decision-making in consumer research: We trace the development of consumer behaviour research in marketing from its beginning in the 60s, emphasizing the role of theory development and the factors contributing to the rise and demise of theories in the social sciences. As most consumer behaviour theory deals with individual decision-making, and much of it draws on cognitive social psychology, we will also address the usefulness of this type of theory in areas outside marketing and consumer behaviour.
Literature:
Simonson, I., Carmon, Z.,Dhar, R., Drolet, A. & Nowlis, S.M. (2001). Consumer research: In search of identity. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 249-275.
Malter, M. S., Holbrook, M. B., Kahn, B. E., Parker, J. R., & Lehmann, D. R. (2020). The past, present, and future of consumer research. Marketing Letters, 31(2), 137-149.
15:00-15:15: Break
15:15-16:00: First group discussion of three-page assignments
16:00-17:00: Prof. Miriam Flickinger: How I use and develop theory in my research work
DAY 2: 8 September 2022 (room 2610-313A/313B)
9:15-11:00: Professor Jakob Arnoldi: ‘Inter- and transactions’. The presentation presents some thoughts on central tenets of organization theory, focusing on agency theory, transactions costs economics and social capital theory. It will highlight notions of coordination and control and set the stage for a discussion of the larger structures of interaction.
Literature:
Foss, N. J. and Weber, L. (2016). Moving opportunism to the back seat: Bounded rationality, costly conflict, and hierarchical forms. Academy of Management Review, 41(1), 61-79.
Lumineau, F., Verbeke, A. (2016). Let's Give Opportunism the Proper Back Seat. Academy of Management Review, 41(4), 739-741.
11:00-11:15: Break
11:15-12:00: Group discussion of three-page assignments
12:00–13:00: Lunch
13:00-15:00: Professor Joep Cornelissen: How to develop and write theory. Theory is central to management and organizational research, as it is to other areas of the social sciences. However, developing theory as part of research papers or dissertations is far from easy. Oftentimes, as authors, we perceive the theory aspects of our work much harder to deal with and think through compared to methods or the practical relevance of our research. In this workshop, we will deconstruct ways of thinking about theory and help you craft and develop the theoretical aspects of your work through a number of practical exercises.
Joep Cornelissen is Professor in Management at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and Chair in Strategy and Organisation (part-time) at the University of Liverpool Management School. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Organization Theory, a former Associate Editor for the Academy of Management Review (2014-2017), and a former General Editor of the Journal of Management Studies (2006-2012) and serves on the editorial boards of the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, the Journal of Management Studies and Organization Studies. He recently received the Joanne Martin Trailblazer award from the Academy of Management for his leadership and editorial work in the area of theory.
Literature:
Cornelissen, J., Höllerer, M.A., Seidl, D. (2021). What Theory Is and Can Be: Forms of Theorizing in Organizational Scholarship. Organization Theory. July 2021. doi:10.1177/26317877211020328
Lange, D. and Pfarrer, M.D. (2017). Sense and structure: the core building blocks of an AMR article. Academy of Management Review, 42, 3, 407–416.
15:00–15:15: Break
15:15-16:00: Second, group discussion of three-page assignments
DAY 3: 9 September 2022 (room 2610-313A/313B)
9:00-9:15: Good morning
9:15-11.00: Professor Kees van Kersbergen: Theory in political science. This presentation offers an overview of the place and role of theory in political science, in particular in political science’s sub-disciplines political theory, international relations and comparative politics. The role of theory is important, albeit different, in all three sub-disciplines. However, as in other academic disciplines (see the Swedberg-text), there has been a tendency in political science to prioritize (teaching) methods and techniques for theory-testing (the so-called ‘context of justification’) and to neglect theorizing, i.e., the much less rule-guided (if not messy) process of producing theory (the ‘context of discovery’). As will be explained, this is unfortunate for various reasons.
Literature:
Swedberg, Richard (2012). “Theorizing in Sociology and Social Science: Turning to the Context of Discovery.” Theory and Society 41(2012):1–40.
11:00-11:15: Break
11:15-12.00: Third group discussion of three-page assignments
12:00–13:00: Lunch
13:00-14:00: Associate Professor Claus Thrane: Theory in entrepreneurship – an introduction.
14:00-15:00: General concluding discussion. What have we learned, what was useful and how to proceed?
Preliminary literature
Astley, W.G. and Van de Ven, A.H. (1983). Central Perspectives and Debates in Organization Theory. Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 28, June, pp. 245-273.
Bacharach, S. (1989). Organizational theories: Some criteria for evaluation, AMR 14: 496-515.
Booth, W.C., Colomb, G.C., Williams, J.M. (1995) (2nd. edition). The Craft of Research. Chicago, Ill.: The University of Chicago Press.
Colquitt, Jason A. & Zapata-Phelan, Cindy P. (2007). Trends in Theory Building and Theory Testing: A Five-Decade Study of the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Journal, 50: 1281-1303.
Cornelissen J., Höllerer, M.A., Seidl, D. (2021). What Theory Is and Can Be: Forms of Theorizing in Organizational Scholarship. Organization Theory. July 2021. doi:10.1177/26317877211020328
Cornelissen, J. P., & Durand, R. (2014). Moving forward: Developing theoretical contributions in management studies. Journal of Management Studies, 51(6), 995-1022.
Corley Kevin G. & Dennis A. G. (2011). Building Theory About Theory Building: What Constitutes a Theoretical Contribution? Academy of Management Review, 36: 12-32.
Davis, M. (1971). That’s interesting! Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 1: 309-344.
Eisenhardt, K. (1989). Building theories from case study research, Academy of Management Review, 14(4): 532-550.
Ghoshal, S. (2005). Bad management theories are destroying good management practices, AMLE, 4(1): 75-91.
Hunt, S. (2015). Explicating the inductive realist model of theory generation. AMS Review,5, 20–27.
Lange, D., & Pfarrer, (2017). Sense and structure: the core building blocks of an AMR article. Academy of Management Review, 42, 3, 407–416.
Langley, A. (1999). Strategies for theorizing from process data, Academy of Management Review, 24(4): 691-710.
Locke, K.; Golden-Biddle, K. (1997). Constructing opportunities for contribution: structuring intertextual coherence and 'problematizing' in organizational studies, AMJ, 40(5), 1023-1062.
Makadok, R., Burton, R., Barney, J. (2018). A practical guide for making theory contributions in strategic management, SMJ, 39(6): 1530-1545
Smith, K. & Hitt, M. (2005). Epilogue: Learning to develop theory from the masters, Great Minds in Management: The Process of Theory Development, Oxford University Press, pp. 572-589.
Suddaby, R. (2006). What Grounded Theory Is Not, Academy of Management Journal, 49, 4, 633-642.
Sutton, Robert I. & Staw, B.M. (1995). What theory is not, Administrative Science Quarterly, 40: 371-385.
Weick, K. E. (1995). What theory is not, theorizing is, Administrative Science Quarterly, 40(3), 385-390.
Whetten, David A. (1989). What constitutes a theoretical contribution? Academy of Management Review, 14: 490-495.
Wood, G., Phan, P.H., Wright, M. (2019) From the Editors: The problems with theory and new challenges in theorizing, Academy of Management Perspectives, 32(4): 405-411.
Varian, H. “How to build an economic model in your spare time, people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~hal/Papers/how.pdf
Zeithaml, V.A., Jaworski, B. J., Kohli, A. K., Tuli, K. R., Ulaga, W., & Zaltman, G. (2020). A theories-in-use approach to building marketing theory. Journal of Marketing, 84(1), 32-51.