Theorizing in Management Research

 

Content

“Theory is the currency of our scholarly realm” (Corley & Gioia, 2011, p. 12). Despite the
continued rise of ever more sophisticated methodological tools during the past years, this claim has not lost any of its validity. In this 1-week summer school course, we will explore the nature and use of theories within management research. Specifically, the course content covers four main areas:

1) Structure, types, and occurrence of theory;

2) Theoretical puzzles and contributions;

3) Anatomy of theoretical arguments; and

4) Creativity and theory construction.

Together, these four areas will provide participants not only with a thorough understanding of what theory is (and what it is not), but also with hands-on guidance on how to effectively use theory in their dissertations and theses.

For more information about the course content we invite you to watch the trailer video down below on the website presented by Dr. Kindermann.

Teaching Objectives

• Understand the nature and structure of theories
• Derive theoretically meaningful research questions
• Extend and/ or blend existing theories
• Engage in processes of new theory construction
• Communicate theory contributions effectively

Requirements

• No formal requirements

Grading

• Individual, written research proposal (50%)
• Group presentation and critique of published paper (50%)