Theory and theory development: Guidelines for establishing theoretical gaps, foundations, contributions, and implications

Theory guides the acquisition and advancement of knowledge. Despite its importance, developing and refining theories remains a formidable task, given the inadequate clarity, inherent confusion, and compounding complexity faced by scholars in theory development. In response, this article offers clear, coherent, and constructive guidelines to tackle these challenges in theory development. Adopting the 3Es involving the author’s expertise, experience, and exposure, this guide offers a sequential approach to addressing theoretical gaps, theoretical foundations, theoretical contributions, and theoretical implications. This all-inclusive, accessible, and actionable resource seeks to benefit a diverse range of stakeholders, including both emerging and established scholars, which, in turn, contributes to ensuring the effective development of theories and, by extension, the return on value of these theories for funders, institutions, and, most importantly, the target beneficiaries (e.g., consumers, firms, society at large) of well-developed, theory-informed research.