IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jomstd/v51y2014i6p995-1022.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Moving Forward: Developing Theoretical Contributions in Management Studies

Author

Listed:
  • Joep P. Cornelissen
  • Rodolphe Durand

Abstract

How do we, as management researchers, develop novel theoretical contributions and, thereby, potentially break new ground in management studies? To address this question, we review previous methodological work on theorizing and advance a typology of the reasoning processes that underlie theoretical contributions and significant advances in management studies. This typology consists of various types of analogical and counterfactual reasoning, ranging from focused thought experiments aimed at prodding existing theory in the direction of alternative assumptions, constructs, and hypotheses to more expansive efforts for inducing new theoretical models and alternative explanations. Applying this typology, we detail the mechanisms behind the formation of novel theoretical contributions and illustrate the currency of our typology through a review of 24 major theoretical breakthroughs in management studies. We conclude the paper by discussing the implications of this typology for our collective efforts in building, elaborating, and expanding theory in management studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Joep P. Cornelissen & Rodolphe Durand, 2014. "Moving Forward: Developing Theoretical Contributions in Management Studies," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(6), pages 995-1022, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:51:y:2014:i:6:p:995-1022
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/joms.12078
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rodolphe Durand & Eero Vaara, 2009. "Causation, counterfactuals, and competitive advantage," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(12), pages 1245-1264, December.
    2. Mats Alvesson & Jörgen Sandberg, 2013. "Has Management Studies Lost Its Way? Ideas for More Imaginative and Innovative Research," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 128-152, January.
    3. Baron, Robert A., 2000. "Counterfactual thinking and venture formation: The potential effects of thinking about "what might have been"," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 79-91, January.
    4. Eva Boxenbaum & Linda Rouleau, 2011. "New knowledge products as bricolage: Metaphors and scripts in organizational theory," Post-Print hal-00719599, HAL.
    5. Mats Ehrnrooth & Ingmar Björkman, 2012. "An Integrative HRM Process Theorization: Beyond Signalling Effects and Mutual Gains," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(6), pages 1109-1135, September.
    6. Julian Birkinshaw & Mark P. Healey & Roy Suddaby & Klaus Weber, 2014. "Debating the Future of Management Research," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 38-55, January.
    7. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    8. Rodolphe Durand & Eero Vaara, 2009. "Causation, counterfactuals, and competitive advantage," Post-Print hal-00457799, HAL.
    9. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    10. Connie Marie Gaglio, 2004. "The Role of Mental Simulations and Counterfactual Thinking in the Opportunity Identification Process," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 28(6), pages 533-552, November.
    11. Karen Locke & Karen Golden-Biddle & Martha S. Feldman, 2008. "Perspective---Making Doubt Generative: Rethinking the Role of Doubt in the Research Process," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(6), pages 907-918, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Adenike A. Moradeyo, 2019. "Analysis Of Manufacturing Methods Using Market Demand Dynamics," Review of Business and Finance Studies, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 10(1), pages 61-76.
    2. Sebastian Markus Szambelan & Yi Dragon Jiang, 2020. "Effectual control orientation and innovation performance: clarifying implications in the corporate context," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(3), pages 865-882, March.
    3. Rodolphe Durand & Robert M. Grant & Tammy L. Madsen & Rodolphe Durand & Robert M. Grant & Tammy L. Madsen, 2017. "The expanding domain of strategic management research and the quest for integration," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 4-16, January.
    4. Szambelan, Sebastian & Jiang, Yi & Mauer, René, 2020. "Breaking through innovation barriers: Linking effectuation orientation to innovation performance," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 425-434.
    5. Pär Mårtensson & Uno Fors & Emelie Fröberg & Udo Zander & Gunnar H Nilsson, 2019. "Quality of Research Practice – An interdisciplinary face validity evaluation of a quality model," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(2), pages 1-19, February.
    6. Jörgen Sandberg & Mats Alvesson, 2021. "Meanings of Theory: Clarifying Theory through Typification," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 487-516, March.
    7. Ryan Krause & Michael C. Withers, 2022. "Propulsions Toward What Capes? Testing Normative Theory Through a Panorama of Consequences," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 181(2), pages 317-333, November.
    8. Winston Kwon & Ian Clarke & Eero Vaara & Rowan Mackay & Ruth Wodak, 2020. "Using Verbal Irony to Move on with Controversial Issues," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 865-886, July.
    9. Kotapati Srinivasa Reddy, 2015. "Beating the Odds! Build theory from emerging markets phenomenon and the emergence of case study research—A “Test-Tube” typology," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 1037225-103, December.
    10. Bag, Surajit & Rahman, Muhammad Sabbir & Srivastava, Gautam & Shore, Adam & Ram, Pratibha, 2023. "Examining the role of virtue ethics and big data in enhancing viable, sustainable, and digital supply chain performance," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 186(PB).
    11. Tiberio Daddi & Niccolò Maria Todaro & Maria Rosa De Giacomo & Marco Frey, 2018. "A Systematic Review of the Use of Organization and Management Theories in Climate Change Studies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 456-474, May.
    12. Peter Seele & Mario D. Schultz, 2022. "From Greenwashing to Machinewashing: A Model and Future Directions Derived from Reasoning by Analogy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(4), pages 1063-1089, July.
    13. Victoria Stephens & Lee Matthews & Joep P. Cornelissen & Hefin Rowlands, 2022. "Building Novel Supply Chain Theory Using “Metaphorical Imagination”," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 58(1), pages 124-139, January.
    14. Claudio Biscaro & Anna Comacchio, 2018. "Knowledge Creation Across Worldviews: How Metaphors Impact and Orient Group Creativity," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 289(1), pages 58-79, February.
    15. Donal Crilly, 2017. "Time and Space in Strategy Discourse: Implications for Intertemporal Choice," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(12), pages 2370-2389, December.
    16. Silbiger, Avi & Barnes, Bradley R. & Berger, Ron & Renwick, Douglas W.S., 2021. "The role of regulatory focus and its influence on the cultural distance – Adjustment relationship for expatriate managers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 398-410.
    17. Clemente, Marco & Roulet, Thomas, 2015. "Public Opinion as a Source of Deinstitutionalization: A 'Spiral of Silence' Approach," MPRA Paper 60130, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Stephen X. Zhang & Elco Burg, 2020. "Advancing entrepreneurship as a design science: developing additional design principles for effectuation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 607-626, October.
    19. Marcelo de Souza Bispo, 2022. "In Defense of Theory and Original Theoretical Contributions in Administration," RAC - Revista de Administração Contemporânea (Journal of Contemporary Administration), ANPAD - Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, vol. 26(6), pages 220158-2201.
    20. Christopher Wickert & Corinne Post & Jonathan P. Doh & John E. Prescott & Andrea Prencipe, 2021. "Management Research that Makes a Difference: Broadening the Meaning of Impact," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 297-320, March.
    21. Teerikangas, Satu & Colman, Helene Loe, 2020. "Theorizing in the qualitative study of mergers & acquisitions," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(1).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Steigenberger, Norbert, 2014. "Only a matter of chance? How firm performance measurement impacts study results," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 46-65.
    2. Emmanuel Kwasi Mensah & Lawrence Adu Asamoah & Vahid Jafari-Sadeghi, 2021. "Entrepreneurial opportunity decisions under uncertainty: Recognizing the complementing role of personality traits and cognitive skills," Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, Fundacja Upowszechniająca Wiedzę i Naukę "Cognitione", vol. 17(1), pages 25-55.
    3. Elco van Burg & A. Georges L. Romme, 2014. "Creating the Future Together: Toward a Framework for Research Synthesis in Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(2), pages 369-397, March.
    4. Joep P. Cornelissen & Saku Mantere & Eero Vaara, 2014. "The Contraction of Meaning: The Combined Effect of Communication, Emotions, and Materiality on Sensemaking in the Stockwell Shooting," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(5), pages 699-736, July.
    5. Kristin Behfar & Gerardo A. Okhuysen, 2018. "Perspective—Discovery Within Validation Logic: Deliberately Surfacing, Complementing, and Substituting Abductive Reasoning in Hypothetico-Deductive Inquiry," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(2), pages 323-340, April.
    6. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2007-059 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Wu, Jianfeng & Tu, Rungting, 2007. "CEO stock option pay and R&D spending: a behavioral agency explanation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(5), pages 482-492, May.
    8. Sergeeva, Anastasia & Bhardwaj, Akhil & Dimov, Dimo, 2021. "In the heat of the game: Analogical abduction in a pragmatist account of entrepreneurial reasoning," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(6).
    9. Yusuf, Fatima & Yousaf, Amna & Saeed, Abubakr, 2018. "Rethinking agency theory in developing countries: A case study of Pakistan," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 281-292.
    10. Victor M. Bennett & Robert Seamans & Feng Zhu, 2015. "Cannibalization and option value effects of secondary markets: Evidence from the US concert industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(11), pages 1599-1614, November.
    11. Elizabeth Krauter & Herbert Kimura & Leonardo Fernando Cruz Basso, 2004. "Criação De Valor Através Da Estratégia De Procrastinação," Anais do XXXII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 32nd Brazilian Economics Meeting] 092, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    12. Peter J. Buckley, 2016. "Historical Research Approaches to the Analysis of Internationalisation," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 56(6), pages 879-900, December.
    13. Breuer, Wolfgang & Rieger, M. Oliver & Soypak, K. Can, 2014. "The behavioral foundations of corporate dividend policy a cross-country analysis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 247-265.
    14. E. Moreva L. & Е. Морева Л., 2017. "Бизнес-Модель И Ее Роль В Разработке Инновационной Политики (Анализ Зарубежных Концепций) // The Business Model And Its Role In The Development Of The Innovation Policy (Analysis Of Foreign Concepts)," Финансы: теория и практика/Finance: Theory and Practice // Finance: Theory and Practice, ФГОБУВО Финансовый университет при Правительстве Российской Федерации // Financial University under The Government of Russian Federation, vol. 21(4), pages 126-137.
    15. Pepper, Alexander, 2017. "Applying economic psychology to the problem of executive compensation," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 79675, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Ginesti, Gianluca & Ossorio, Mario & Dawson, Alexandra, 2023. "Family businesses and debt maturity structure: Focusing on family involvement in governance to explain heterogeneity," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(2).
    17. María Belda-Ruiz & Gregorio Sánchez-Marín & J. Samuel Baixauli-Soler, 2022. "Influence of family-centered goals on dividend policy in family firms: A socioemotional wealth approach," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 1503-1526, December.
    18. Malcolm Baker & Richard S. Ruback & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2004. "Behavioral Corporate Finance: A Survey," NBER Working Papers 10863, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Ben Bouheni, Faten & Hasnaoui, Amir, 2017. "Cyclical behavior of the financial stability of eurozone commercial banks," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 392-408.
    20. Ibragimov, Rustam & Walden, Johan, 2007. "The limits of diversification when losses may be large," Scholarly Articles 2624460, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    21. Ramiah, Vikash & Xu, Xiaoming & Moosa, Imad A., 2015. "Neoclassical finance, behavioral finance and noise traders: A review and assessment of the literature," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 89-100.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:51:y:2014:i:6:p:995-1022. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-2380 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.