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Contemporary TheoryLecture 1: Introduction
Article 1: Bridging Practice and Theory: A Design Science Approach
Introduction Contemporary operations management (OM) research is a desire to create knowledge
and to expand our understanding by explaining various empirical phenomenon.
Goal of the paper is to examine the methodological basis for research where the scientist assumes an
active role in shaping phenomena and to establish its link to the more conventional theoretically
oriented explanatory research used in OM.
Design Science As The Basis of Problem-Solving Research Ill structured means decision
situations where decision makers may not know or agree on the goals of the decision, and even it the
goals are known, the means by which these goals are achieved are not known and requisite solution
designs to solve the problem may not even exist.
Contrasting Exploration and Explanation Research Explanatory research is both inductive
theory building and hypothetico-deductive theory testing. In explanatory research the phenomenon to
be studied already exists out there, and the goal of the researcher is to develop an understanding of it.
Researcher is primarily focused on seeking theoretical explanations and perhaps predictions.
Contrary, in exploratory research and design science the phenomenon must be created before it can be
evaluated; the creation of artificial phenomena or simply artifacts is essential. Researchers are
interested in creating an artifact that solves a practical problem.
This may be one explanation why design science research in OM is scarce. They clearly exhibit an
explanatory research emphasis.
Exploration and Explanation Research as Complements Exploration research complements
explanation research by producing artifacts that can be used as raw material for evaluation research.
Evaluative research in turn complements exploration by evaluation various artifacts in different
contexts.
From Exploration to Explanation: Four Phases of Research Means-End Analysis is the central
method through which goal-directed scientific inquiry can be conducted. Means-end analysis is based
on representation of present states, desired states and the actions that change the present situation. The
goal is to move to the desired state.
Phase 1: Solution Incubation: Solution incubation consists of framing the problem and developing
the rudiments of a potential solution design. Solution designs are technical specifications for solutions
that are incomplete but detailed enough to be implemented at least in a test environment. Means-ends
analysis in the first phase involves problem solving and solution spotting.
Phase 2: Solution Refinement: The refinement phase is a combination of design improvements,
implementation and evaluation. Mean-ends analysis, in the second phase, includes design patterns (=
documentation of successful solution design and testing them) and technological frames (= place the
solution design in to the context of the objectives and understanding of the proposed solution held by
different stakeholders in the implementation).
Phase 3: Explanation I – Substantive Theory: the theoretical relevance of the solution design is
established. This involves an examination and evaluation of the artifact from the theoretical point of
view. Researchers focus on the development of substantive theory of the mid-range variety.
Substantive theory is developed for a narrowly defined context and empirical application.
,In the mean-ends analysis, phase 3, the researcher seeks theoretical justification and demonstration of
theoretical utility. The goal is to empirically examine solution designs in multiple contexts to turn the
solution design into mid-range theory of practice. Grounded management theory is used to explicate
the situations in which a given means-ends proposition is relevant.
Phase 4: Explanation II – Formal Theory: The goal is to draw broader generalizations about the
management of operations both in terms of theoretical abstraction and statistical generalizability.
Means-ends propositions take the form of formal theoretical propositions. These formal propositions
are theoretical abstractions that express the relationship between two or more theoretical constructs.
Design Science As Part of OM Research The division of labor in OM research and problem
solving is that research in the industry concentrates on Phase 1 and 2. Academic researcher focus on
development and testing of explanatory theory (Phase 3 and 4).
Article 2: I’ve Got a Theory Paper – Do You? Conceptual, Empirical, and Theoretical
Contributions to Knowledge in the Organizational Sciences
A Theory: A Coarse Definition and a Few Examples Theory is an analytic structure of system
that attempts to explain a particular set of empirical phenomena. Theories differ in depth and scope.
1. Theory is constructed to provide a coherent explanation of a set of observed phenomena
2. Theories make assumptions and, based on them, draw logical derivations. Those derivations lead to
specific predictions regarding the subject matter with which the theory deals.
3. A theory should be formulated in a way that makes it clear how it can be refuted or falsified
4. The ultimate test of a theory is achieved by comparing its predictions to reality. Thus, a theory
predictions are subject to a false/true test.
A theory has to be parsimonious; that is, if two theories are offered for explaining the same
phenomenon, and do so with a similar degree of success, the one that is more concise and shorter is
though to dominate the other.
A Model A model derives predictions based on clearly specified assumptions, and is precise and
falsifiable. A model does not necessarily need to provide an explanation of the phenomenon it deals
with and does not need to make a claim about truth (whereas theory does). Therefore, a test of a model
is a ‘’usefulness’’ test rather than ‘’false/true’’ test. Models are precise, especially when formulated in
mathematical terms. When new domains don’t allow to use precise symbols, researchers try to build
on conceptual frameworks.
Conceptual Frameworks Conceptual frameworks provide a structure to organize observations and
describes the structure in a clear and precise manner. A conceptual framework does not necessarily
make strong assumptions the way a theory does and it may not be as tightly structured as a
mathematical or a computational model. A good conceptual framework may lead to new insights and
may open new avenues of thinking on particular phenomena.
The Role of Language in Scientific Progress and Theory Development Language is important
for researchers to communicate ideas, conjectures and findings. They need to use a common language
that they and their community understand. Different languages can be differentiated by the degree to
which they are precise on one hand and rich on another. A quantitative expression is more precise than
a verbal statement.
Researcher can use different languages such as mathematics, simulations, graphic tools, verbal
description and narratives. Researchers should use a language that matchers the stage of the problem.
Descriptive narratives should be used in the first stage of a field study. As the research project makes
progress, models can be developed using formal language such as mathematics.
, Mathematics: The Language of Precision in Scientific Inquiry Mathematics as a language can
help in the cumulative development of a scientific domain by sorting out the better theories and
providing them with increasingly difficult hurdles to surmount. As the nascent level of inquiry, other
methods (e.g. use of narratives) would be more appropriate.
Narrative: The Rich Language of Scientific Inquiry Narrative analysis means a very orderly and
precise analysis of the use of words, a process whose intent is to extract meaning from text. An
advantage of narratives in ethnographic research is the ability to richly convey the study context.
Discussion 1. Research formulation can take on the forms of conceptual frameworks, models and
theories. Moreover, mathematics and narratives are two different languages of research.
2. Sequential progress in research for the beginning the work is ethnographic and uses narratives as
a main source of data. Later, she can more to develop a conceptual framework to be followed by a
model and ultimately theory.
3. Mathematics can help to identify the falsification of theories.
4. Theory construction should not be confused with quantitative methods for data analysis.
5. Not every research idea or finding can be expressed in mathematical tools, and insisting on this can
be achieved at the expense of an increased loss of meaning.
Article 3: What Constitutes a Theoretical Contribution?
What Are the Building Blocks of Theory Development A complete theory must contain four
elements:
1. What : explanation of the phenomena of interest. The ‘’right’’ factors should be comprehensive (=
are all relevant factors included?) and parsimony (= should some factors be deleted because they add
little additional value?). Describe
2. How : how are the factors related? Operationally this involves using ‘’arrows’’ to connect ‘’boxes’’.
It introduces causality. What and How constitute the domain of the theory. Describe
3. Why : what are the underlying psychological, economic, or social dynamics that justify the selection
of factors and the proposed causal relationships? – the theoretical glue that welds the model together.
During the theory-development process, logic replaces data as the basis for evaluation. Why research
is conducted has important implications for the link between theory development and empirical
research. Explain.
4. Who, Where, When : these conditions set boundaries of generalizability.
Propositions involves concepts
Hypotheses requires measures
What is a Legitimate, Value-Added Contribution to Theory Development It is possible to
make an important theoretical contribution by adding or subtracting factors (whats) from an existing
model. Change in a list of factors helps to identify how this changes the accepted relationships
between variables (hows). Relationships, not lists, are the domain of theory.
Theory development of why commonly involves borrowing a perspective from other fields, which
encourages altering our metaphors and gestalts in ways that challenge the underlying rationales
supporting accepted theories.
Applying an old model to a new setting (who, where, when) is not instructive by itself. This
conclusion has theoretical merit only if something about the new setting suggests the theory shouldn’t
work under those conditions. It is preferable to investigate qualitative changes of a theory, rather than
mere quantitative expansions.
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