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Theory Building in the Human Resource Development Profession
Abstract
Theory building and theory-building research are starting to draw increased attention from HRD scholars. There is a growing recognition of the importance of theory building in maturing thought and practice in HRD. This article examines what is meant by good theory and theory-building research in HRD through a synthesis of the existing literature and a discussion of the core concepts, issues, and challenges associated with theory building in an applied field. It also highlights the importance of embracing multiparadigm research perspectives for stepping up to the task of theory building in the HRD profession. © 2000 by Jossey-Bass, A Publishing Unit of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
... ERG 이론은 매슬로 이론과는 달리 존재욕구, 관계욕구, 성장 욕구는 각 욕구의 충족 정도에 따라 강도가 달라지고, 동시에 존재할 수 있으며, 인간의 욕구 는 복합적이므로 각 욕구가 반드시 엄격한 위계적 구조를 따르지 않는다 (Schneider & Alderfer, 1973). 가치는 정제된 욕구 (Super, 1969) 또는 2차적 욕구 (Lofquist & Dawis, 1978) (Lynham, 2000). 특히 이론의 결합이나 통합 을 통해 새로운 지식을 창출하는 브리콜라주(bricolage)라는 이론구축 방식은 과거의 거대이론 하나에서 찾아낸 개념이 현대사회의 현상을 설명하는데 제한적이라는 점에서 유용하다는 평가 를 받고 있다 (Turnbull, 2002). ...
... 먼저 이론개발을 위한 시사점으로는 첫째, 일-비일 균형이론과 ERG 이론의 통합 결과인 종 합적으로 판단된 조화이론은 지금의 진화된 주관적 경력성공의 이론 정립을 위한 기초를 마련 하였다. 이론은 해당 개념을 명확하게 설명해주고(Shoemaker et al., 2004), 해당 분야의 지식을 확장 및 발전시키는 역할을 한다(Lynham, 2000). 그러나 HRD는 비교적 짧은 역사를 가진 실용 학문으로 유용성을 강조해왔기 때문에 상대적으로 이론구축이 미흡하였다(Lynham, 2000). ...
... 이론은 해당 개념을 명확하게 설명해주고(Shoemaker et al., 2004), 해당 분야의 지식을 확장 및 발전시키는 역할을 한다(Lynham, 2000). 그러나 HRD는 비교적 짧은 역사를 가진 실용 학문으로 유용성을 강조해왔기 때문에 상대적으로 이론구축이 미흡하였다(Lynham, 2000). 본 연 구를 통해 종합적으로 판단된 조화이론은 주관적 경력성공의 개념을 설명하는 경력이론으로서 발전 가능성을 보여주었다. ...
... Human resource development (HRD) is a relatively new area of inquiry that began to expand during the 1980s. It significantly grew in the late 1990s and early 2000s when much effort was taken to establish the definition, identity, and theoretical groundings of HRD (Chalofsky, 1992;Garavan et al., 2015;Hamlin & Stewart, 2011;Kuchinke, 2000; M. Lee, 2001;Lynham, 2000;McGuire, 2006;McLean & McLean, 2001;Russ-Eft et al., 2014;Swanson, 2001). Over the years, HRD has established itself as a scholarly and practical field with its own journals, conferences, and professional organizations. ...
... As Table 2 shows, theory-building appears to be a focal concept in the nature and identity of HRD cluster because it appeared in multiple forms in both what-terms and how-terms. Lynham (2000) defined theory building as 'the purposeful process or recurring cycle by which coherent descriptions, explanations, and representations of observed or experienced phenomena are generated, verified, and refined' (p. 161). ...
... 161). Since qualitative approaches have great potential for theory development, some of the studies that have adopted those approaches have taken HRD theoretical basis forward (Lynham, 2000). ...
Using topic mapping techniques, we provide a review of the 3,236 articles published in the five premier HRD journals between 1990 and 2019. We map the key terms evidencing the emergence of five major topic clusters within HRD scholarship: nature and identity of HRD, HRD interventions and outcomes, national HRD, career development, and HRD in academia. Nature and identity of HRD depicts a movement from establishing foundations to expanding horizons. HRD interventions and outcomes reflects a spectrum of research interests from exploring processes to examining desired outcomes. National HRD shows that research topics are increasingly moving toward international and global settings. Career development demonstrates a shift from emphasizing organizational careers to advocating for under‐represented career actors. HRD in academia encompasses topics related to educating HRD professionals and supporting professional development in other fields. We provide a synthesis of the clusters, create a taxonomy of topic areas, and identify the mature, nascent, trending, and growing concepts in HRD. In doing so, our paper provides an overview of where we are in HRD scholarship. We then suggest collaborative, competitive, and configurational boundary work as strategies that HRD scholars can use purposefully to influence future HRD research directions. Our findings inform HRD researchers and can guide interested practitioners in their search for actionable knowledge in HRD.
... • Research fosters curiosity-Studies suggest that curiosity is linked to a higher degree of positive, a higher level of life satisfaction, and a lower level of worry. (Lynham 2000) ...
... The HRCP's implementation status report makes no mention of what efforts the government has taken to strengthen the deficient criminal justice system in terms of implementation. (Lynham 2000) ...
This study explored the needs and importance of legal research for the better reformation of a society to ensure the achievement of desired errands besides its implication in the society of Pakistan for enhanced/additional legislation. This study communicated the utilization/implication of key factors for the successful completion of descriptive research and made a comparison of legal research in underdeveloped countries with research methodology and other countries. The notion that the backdrop to a study or any issue statement is sufficient to the concept supporting studies at is needed to link a purpose would be extremely valuable for future scholars.
... Several dimensions in HRD are linked with several social, economic, and other complex factors that need to be integrated with fluid mechanisms to reveal underlying complex mechanisms of HRD (Reason 2003;Storberg-Walker 2003). These topics are applied in nature, which requires researchers to focus more on answering the question 'how' rather than focusing solely on 'what' and why" of situations (Klikauer 2014;Lynham 2000). ...
... The previous section elaborates on some of the complexities and challenges associated with theory building in HRD. Based on the view that processes in HRD are complex and interlinked with several internal and external forces, it is suggested that the use of comprehensive and multifaceted perspectives and methods would be more useful in developing realistic theories in this domain (Lynham 2000(Lynham , 2002Storberg-Walker 2003;Van de Ven 1989). Moreover, researchers may develop meaningful and practical theories in management by focusing on details of a problem statement and by using multiple selection criteria for testing those theories (Weick 1989). ...
Globalization has led to an increasing emphasis on the critical role of the workforce in the success of organizations. This has resulted in the shift of focus on human resource development (HRD) as the center of attention in the current paradigm. Hence, this article suggests a need to use a comprehensive philosophical paradigm to develop practical theories in HRD and compares the usefulness of positivism, interpretivism and pragmatism philosophies in the theory-building process. Based on fragmented literature in philosophy and HRD disciplines, this theoretical manuscript has assembled and thoroughly reviewed the existing literature to propose new ways of theory building in HRD. The findings guide that despite the usefulness of positivism and interpretivism philosophical paradigms in knowledge generation, these philosophies lead to practically weak theories. Hence, theory building in HRD should be driven by a problem-solving approach rather than only relying on plausibility criteria. It further guides how multi-method and mixed-method research designs might help provide answers to complex and newly emerged challenges in HRD. Overall, this research adds value to a body of knowledge by proposing a unique five-stage framework to develop new theories in HRD using the pragmatism approach. The use of the proposed framework might be beneficial in developing practically and theoretically useful theories in the future.
... Theory building is the ongoing process of producing, confirming, applying, and adapting theory (Lynham, 2000). According to Torraco (2002) there are five specific methods for building theory that do not preclude authors from staying aligned with their deep-seated values and assumptions about ontology, epistemology and their other philosophical beliefs. ...
... They formulate ways in which to understand and address issues and problems they face (Alvesson and Deetz, 2000). These informed frameworks of knowledge and experience are seen as personal theoriesin-use Schon, 1974, 1996) or theories-in-practice (Lynham, 2000(Lynham, , 2002. Some postgraduate programme and accreditation schemes are now asking coaches to make their theories-in-use more explicit and be able Understanding a philosophical position at the base of the theory and recognising that social theories are always incomplete and impossible to prove Taking a theory or model as a perspective on practice, one of many possible Establishing a specific niche/context where it could be useful Evaluating the value of theory and models by experimenting on practice Table 2.6 it is possible to compare potential differences in how modernist and postmodernist epistemological attitudes may be evident in coaching practice. ...
... Debates over the nature of HRD: An institutional theory perspective Kuchinke (2000) HRDI Theory building in the human resource development profession Lynham (2000) HRDQ Talking of HRD (2007) essential identity of HRD. Various ideas between the learning paradigm based on the philosophy of education (Barrie & Pace, 1998) and the performance paradigm (Kuchinke, 1998(Kuchinke, , 2000 were also discussed in this period. ...
... Although Lee (2001) worried that the efforts to define HRD might hinder our understanding of HRD' s identity in an incessantly forming process, the attempts to clarify the theory building of HRD were sustained. Following Lynham (2000), who stressed adopting multiparadigm research perspectives, Swanson (2001) presented the psychological, economic, and systems theory as three key theoretical pillars of HRD. The performance viewpoint of HRD was also fortified by examining the foundation and implication for practice (Swanson, 1999b) and its core assumptions (Holton, 2002). ...
... Our research design for this study uses a qualitative, case study method to compare theory and practice for continued HRD theory development (Dooley, 2002; Lynham, 2000) through constructing an expanded taxonomy of adaptive leadership and organizational learning. ...
... Other elements of Table 4Moore et al., 2015), and a supplementary literature review of relevant HRD research for theory building (Bobko & Russell, 1992; Doty & Glick, 1994). Incorporating further analysis of secondary case data (Moore et al., 2015), the present study compared theory and practice for continued HRD theory development (Dooley, 2002; Lynham, 2000 Lynham, , 2002). problem solving is hampered in an organizational culture represented by strong centralized power based on rules. ...
Abstract
In today’s competitive, global and knowledge economy, executives are frequently turning to Human Resource Development professionals to increase employee adaptiveness. Our research team studied two Walgreens distribution centers, which are examples of complex adaptive systems employing disabled associates. Organizational learning with adaptive and complexity leadership lenses are applied to the original case study data. This study highlights the ways leaders at inclusive Walgreens distribution centers maximize organizational learning transfer to deliver amazing results, exceeding production standards in the midst of high employee complexity. The study sheds light on how an organization can set up the prerequisite leadership and organizational culture necessary to deal with high levels of employee complexity, which in turn deliver innovative, creative, and highly effective results. These findings culminated in five taxonomic models related to dimensions of adaptive leadership and organizational learning. The proposed taxonomies could be tested for developing adaptive leaders in other contexts that might include other types of catalysts for change such as: leading virtual teams, cross-cultural teams, or a multi-generational workforce.
... This creative aspect of prospection provides researchers with a means to elevate and mold the world they study in alignment with their ideals and objectives. Several approaches have been amplified and developed with the intention of informing HRD-related theorizing in a manner supporting prospection (Lynham, 2000;Storberg-Walker, 2006;Upton & Egan, 2010) and integrating relational ontology (Storberg-Walker, 2022). ...
... This led to the creation of a conceptual model that is personalized to the individual domain's constraints and features. Furthermore, the system state depicts situations within the model where the elements of the model interact differently [20]. That is, it refers to the collection of variable values and conditions that represent the current configuration and behaviour of the system being modelled. ...
This age of massive production and usage of information ranging from online resources to print has constantly created the need to educate individuals on Information overload, which happens when one is saddled with the task of processing and accessing excessive information at work and in life generally. Information overload is the abundance of information with limited cognitive processing capacity to the receiver. Despite its widespread discussion, a universally accepted definition or explanation remains elusive due to the diverse terminology employed. This variation in terminology implies differing levels of information overload. There is a dire need to develop a variety of models that assist information designers in understanding, measuring, and determining when an individual becomes overloaded with information. Drawing on Dubin's theory, which provides a systematic framework for conceptual model development, this study utilizes the initial stages of theory building to create a Conceptual Model of information overload and its Primary Components together with their Sub-components. This model serves as a foundation for generating testable hypotheses and operationalizing the concept of information overload for further empirical investigations.
... Theory driven research signals an adherence to rigor in a discipline and is useful in advancing knowledge, adding value to the discipline, and enhancing credibility to the discipline's body of works (Lynham, 2000). Theory development and testing are important concepts in an academic discipline because they contribute to knowledge generation and propagation and are facilitated through replication studies with different data sets and research environments. ...
... Research based on case studies can identify-four specific roles in building the general research theory methodology on applied domains, such as the social sciences (Lynham, 2001). The four specific roles described in Lynham's article are conceptualisation, operationalisation, application, and confirmation (or rejection). ...
The identification of a reference framework-the sustainable business model structure-exposes a new tool for banks to reanalyse their business models and adapt to a climate-resilient economy. The identification was done by a combination of analysis of current literature with regard to common and sustainable business models, which indicated three key levers for commercial banks looking to boost climate: target, sustainable value proposition, and sustainable value creation. Through a case study comparing the application of sustainable business model structure to a selection of five global banks, a collection of best practices was gathered to improve a bank's profitability while reducing its clients and its own contribution to climate change. These banks were chosen through a series of criteria that ensure their eligibility as global commercial banks undergoing a business model transition to adapt to a climate-resilient economy.
... The coding scheme that is the anticipated outcome of a research synthesis represents the distillation of the field of study and is integral to theory development, contributing to exploratory, explanatory, and predictive knowledge (Lynham, 2000). In Project Governance, the codes can help identify the influence and impact of Agile principles and differentiate it from more traditional forms of governance. ...
Project governance processes in an organisation aim to control, direct and steer projects toward their agreed objectives. Recently, Agile Principles that promote self-organisation, iterative, value-driven delivery have emerged as a challenge to the traditional view of governance.
The paper explores the influence of Agile Principles on traditional governance and presents preliminary results of a synthesis of project governance research literature. Viewing governance as a continuum spanning an organisation’s hierarchy, we identify core themes and extract seven conceptual dimensions that differentiate Traditional and Agile governance.
This study contributes to knowledge by offering a synthesis of recent project governance research that identifies the dimensions in which Agile Principles impact traditional governance thinking. The preliminary results have implications for Agile governance theory building and points to the challenge of scaling Agile across an organisation.
... Prior to launching H.E. Apprenticeships in 2015, critics claimed leadership development models were ineffective and expensive (Lynham 2001;Pfeffer and Fong 2002). Management education is criticised for failing to provide employers with capable graduates (Tekarslan and Erden 2014), as current graduates lack innovation, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills (Thomas et al. 2014). ...
This Action Learning (AL)/Action Research study (AS) explores the practice of Action Learning (AL) to further higher education (H.E.) apprenticeships by collaboration between University Provider (UP) and employer. AL members aim to address complexity, bridging the gap between management education delivered by a work-based learning (WBL) apprenticeship course and translating into the apprentices’ workplace. Set members followed a systematic cycle of planning, action, observing and reflecting. This demonstrates how AL, as a methodology, supports apprenticeship ambassadors (who lead apprenticeships in their organisations) and UPs to solve complex problems through inquiry and critical reflection to enhance the apprenticeship curriculum. The principal findings from AL to cultivate stronger collaboration were clarity of WBL, value proposition and ownership expectation; support of translation of theory into practice; empowering the apprenticeship mindset and professional identity; and senior management buy-in.
... A revalidated substantive theory is more transferable, albeit not generalizable, in the sense that elements of the context can be superimposed on contexts with similar features to the context under study. Theory building requires continual comparison of data and theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) and an incessant refinement between theory and practice (Lynham, 2000). ...
As one stretches open the rolled-up scrolls of not-so-distant history, one can see instances of several Corporate scandals having marred the international business firmament over the years. This has led to a
heightened recognition of the importance of spirituality, ethics and values in organisational life. The current study presents a theoretical model regarding how spirituality and organisational vision actualisation can coexist and dialectically influence and reinforce each other in a meaningful way and ensure fructification of
long term objectives and sustenance of organisations. The model proposes that conceptual ramifications of organisational spirituality are organisational ethics, values and moral standards, which, when practised, give concrete manifestation to augmentation of productivity and lead to growth, fruition of organisational objectives and long-term sustainability of the organisation.
... The methodological framework of this study was built upon the constructivist paradigm (Lynham, 2000). Interpretative phenomenological methods were chosen to address the research questions and the research purpose. ...
Millennial workers are increasingly becoming the largest population of workers in the U.S. workforce (Carter & Walker III, 2018), and the manufacturing sector is the fifth most common employment sector for millennials (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015). Demographic shifts may alter employee values and beliefs, which can impact the need for performance and manufacturing leaders to discover the relationship between millennial views and employee engagement. This phenomenological study of millennial workers intended to discover what might impact employee engagement. This article describes five main themes that can have an impact on millennial engagement: acceptance, community, education, collaborative environment, and leadership.
... Watson, 2004;Cabral-Cardoso, 2004;Almeida, 2004 Esta postura crítica e, por isso, não prescritiva parece ganhar terreno à medida que aumenta a massa crítica entre a comunidade académica que se debruça sobre a problemática da Gestão de Recursos Humanos e se desenvolve uma reflexão teórica sistemática quer no interior do campo disciplinar quer a partir de campos disciplinares que lhe são próximos (Guest, 2001). Ao desenvolver-se uma reflexão sobre as bases conceptuais da disciplina, não só será possível reforçar o profissionalismo que lhe está associado, mas também a sua maturidade científica, contribuindo, por isso, para reduzir, mas não eliminar 29 , a tensão quer entre investigadores e práticos quer entre a validade e a utilidade do conhecimento que produz (Lynham, 2000). ...
... More specifically, it is a rational and relational portrayal of an observed or experienced phenomenon. Theory is important in HRD for reasons -to the advancement and maturity of profession, to help dissolve tensions between HRD research and practice, and to develop multiple and inclusive research methods to theory building and practice in HRD (Lynham, 2000). The focus of theory is an informed conceptual framework that provides an understanding and explanation of the nature and dynamics of the issue or phenomenon (Lynham, 2002). ...
The quality of human resource is a key driver in creating organizational performance. An HRD investigates human work patterns and abilities required to perform determined job roles and role-specific responsibilities in competent manner. The ‘HRD Scholar-Practitioner' opens the ways connecting the division between academics and real world of practice. This integration involves different scholastic efforts that make theory, practice and research mutually dependent; and promotes opportunity to engage simultaneously in the real time HRD practices and scholastic investigations. The ‘HRD Scholar-Practitioner' has ability to create organizational learning objectives, personal and professional cognitive meanings, integrative approaches, and to setup ‘participative learning-based competency culture' towards organizational performance and dynamic leadership. Thus, this can be considered as a significant mechanism to enhance organizational competitiveness and effectiveness of scholastic works via filling theory, practice and research gap(s).
... In order to generate new insights into the body of knowledge, theory application becomes useful and relevant for improved action and practical problem solving (Lynham, 2000) since this application makes the practical world become an essential source of knowledge and experience for ongoing development and because theory is never complete, it becomes expedient to continually refine and develop it to avoid theoretical application void (Muller-Bloch & Kranz, 2015;Lynham, 2002). ...
Knowledge play key role in giving meaning to the world we live through the conscious activities of individuals as a reflective process to progressive problem solving. However, the paper focused on knowledge gap as a panacea for conducting research that aid in knowledge building especially in the behavioral research setting. Nevertheless, it argued that research is not just about data collection but an interpretation of facts that give credence to theory building through the process of closing identified gaps in literatures therefore, such theory must be capable of dealing with issues of applicability which are emancipatory to identifying key hidden choices surfaced to inform human inquiry. It concluded that closing the identified gaps only becomes relevant when its outcome contribute to the body of knowledgeby making salient epistemic claims. These claims must be subjected to human inquiry and as such add value to knowledge by explicitly expressing views on the very nature of evidence and how it should be investigated with rigorous methodological standard that would be justifiable.
Keywords:Contradictory evidence, experiential knowledge, knowledge claim, skill knowledge, theory building.
... There is no standard format for developing emergent theory in theory-building research (Eisenhardt and Graebner, 2007) as different theorists have their own choices and preferences. Theorists apparently come to an agreement that no one superior method to build a theory exists and no none should ever reinforce the use of one (Gioia and Petre, 1990;Lynham, 2000;Marsick, 1990). Instead, the theory-building research method should be highly specific, customized and dictated by the nature of the focal theory construction. ...
To fill in a gap in the corporate sustainability literature, the present study proposes an integrated theory of corporate sustainability. It starts by integrating relevant theoretical and empirical literature into a coherent theory of corporate sustainability asserting that the sustainability organizational culture comprising sustainability vision and values leads to emotional commitment among organizational members to attain the vision. They espouse five corporate sustainability practices of Perseverance, Resilience Development, Moderation, Geosocial Development and Sharing to enhance corporate sustainability prospect. To ensure the proposed theory's external validity and practicality, a qualitative case study is conducted to explore its core theoretical propositions and to detect possible anomalies. Managerial implications and directions for future theoretical refinement are also discussed.
... En la Teoría Fundamentada,Glaser (1978) sostiene que lo que diferencia esta producción teórica de otras es que es explícitamente emergente, sin el foco apretado sobre el propio fenómeno. Es por ello que la investigación en Teoría Fundamentada es útil en la fase de desarrollo conceptual de la construcción de teoría.En el proceso continuo de comparación entre teoría y datos(Glaser y Strauss, 1967) entre los casos se fue produciendo el refinamiento continuo entre la teoría y la práctica(Lynham, 2000). Entonces, en esta investigación los casos se nutren de la Teoría Fundamentada y del método comparativo del estudio de casos.43 ...
Este libro presenta los resultados de la investigación realizada en la Tesis Doctoral para la obtención del Doctorado en Ciencias Sociales, mención Gerencia, titulada “La formación de la cultura organizativa pública en la gestión local venezolana. Estudios casos”, en ella se recoge más de una década de experiencia con la cultura organizativa. El rastreo de autores y enfoques, así como los proyectos realizados en algunas organizaciones públicas, fue dejando interrogantes no resueltas con relación a la descripción y explicación de los elementos que intervienen en la cultura organizativa de los entes públicos. Esto se debía a que en buena parte la teoría precedente se originaba del análisis de experiencias empresariales y las investigaciones conocidas para el sector público (Ramió, 1999) aplicaban por extensión estos conceptos. De manera que, el objeto de la cultura organizativa pública no había sido particulabrmente elaborado en la literatura; ello implica tener en cuenta una comprensión, tanto de la cultura como de la gestión pública, porque ambas se encuentran entrelazadas.
A lo anterior se agrega que la gestión pública local daba muestra de rasgos variados entre prácticas y logros alcanzados, con diferentes pesos en la cultura organizativa, razón por la cual, se hacía necesario estudiar el tipo de relaciones que había entre ellos.
El propósito de la investigación, más allá del debate epistemológico que se ha desplegado entre los autores y sus posturas frente a la cultura organizativa y la gestión pública, es entender las complejidades involucradas para de nir la cultura organizativa pública, lo cual requiere de la integración de perspectivas analíticas, así como de enfoques teóricos y metodológicos pues se trata de construir un concepto que se produce a partir de experiencias especí cas de gestión, los cuales forman parte de un sistema de relaciones políticas e institucionales. Tales situaciones, aunque plantean di cultades, abren posibilidades de análisis complementarios e integradores entre el micro y el macro análisis, que despliegan un conjunto de hipótesis explicativas de los procesos que intervienen en la formación de la cultura organizativa, en los gobiernos locales venezolanos, mediante el estudio de casos cualitativos en un conjunto de alcaldías.
... Watson, 2004;Cabral-Cardoso, 2004;Almeida, 2004 Esta postura crítica e, por isso, não prescritiva parece ganhar terreno à medida que aumenta a massa crítica entre a comunidade académica que se debruça sobre a problemática da Gestão de Recursos Humanos e se desenvolve uma reflexão teórica sistemática quer no interior do campo disciplinar quer a partir de campos disciplinares que lhe são próximos (Guest, 2001). Ao desenvolver-se uma reflexão sobre as bases conceptuais da disciplina, não só será possível reforçar o profissionalismo que lhe está associado, mas também a sua maturidade científica, contribuindo, por isso, para reduzir, mas não eliminar 29 , a tensão quer entre investigadores e práticos quer entre a validade e a utilidade do conhecimento que produz (Lynham, 2000). ...
... Theory-building research, like any other typical scholarly inquiry, is a method of scholarly inquiry [37][38][39], as it involves varied and different logics-in-use with a whole set of research worldviews [38]. Theorists apparently come to an agreement that no one superior method to build a theory exists and no one should ever reinforce the use of one [40,33,35,39,41]. Instead, the theory-building research method should be highly specific, customized, and dictated by the nature of the central theory construction. ...
While vision is considered as the starting point for any transformation process toward sustainability, little is known about how such a vision looks. To fill in a fundamental gap in the corporate sustainability literature, the present study advances a theory of organizational vision into a coherent theory of sustainability vision. It adopts the theory-building approaches of covering-law, enlightenment, and process by comparing and contrasting a diverse set of relevant plausible, logical, empirical, and/or epistemological conjectures so that highlighting occurs to form the substance of the refined theory. The resulting theory of sustainability vision asserts that effective sustainability visions are characterized by the seven attributes of brevity, clarity, future orientation, stability, challenge, abstractness, desirability or ability to inspire and one imagery of stakeholder satisfaction. Relevant propositions and a model are introduced for future research, followed by practical implications.
... The grounded theory method offers a logically reliable set of data collection and analysis procedures aimed to develop theory [46] by facilitating the identification of regular patterns in data [47]. As clarified by Dooley [48], theory building requires the constant comparison of data and theory [47] and a process of continuous refinement between theory and practice [49]. In this sense, case study research, due to the ability to embrace both quantitative and qualitative data, and embrace multiple research paradigms, can contribute in a holistic way to all phases of theory development [48]. ...
The financial crisis has put pressure on governments throughout the world to reduce deficits with severe budgetary cuts in many welfare areas by reinforcing the need to modernize social policies and optimize their effectiveness and efficiency. Social impact bonds (SIBs) have rapidly become one of the most innovative financial schemes used by governments to privatize the upfront costs of welfare interventions by reducing taxpayer expenditure. Our analysis focuses on healthcare impact bonds (HIBs) that correspond to the adaptation of SIBs to health programs and are considered to be a viable way to fund out-of-pocket and preventive programs, especially considering the recent cuts to public healthcare expenditure. By using an in-depth qualitative analysis of existing practices based on a multiple case study approach, this study contributes to the ongoing debate on the role of SIBs for the future sustainability of welfare systems by proposing reflections and indications for the scalability and replicability of SIBs. With respect to the existing literature, this paper provides a theorization of the main scaling ingredients to be considered for the development of the SIB market as a supporting financial approach for new and emerging welfare needs by also proposing suggestions and insights and serving as a guide for scholars and practitioners.
... HRD scholars had underscored the importance of theory, and according to Torraco (1997), theory basically explicates the phenomenon the way it works. Building a theory involves lucid descriptions, details, and exemplifications of observed or experienced phenomena which are produced, tested, and improved (Lynham, 2000). Given this explication, this research work aims to explore employee learning theories and their organizational applications. ...
Empirical evidence identifies that organizational success hinges on employees with the required KSAs, that employees’ effectiveness at learning new skills and knowledge is connected with the kind of learning technique the organization adopts, and that theories of learning and human resource development are useful in piloting the workers in developing their careers. This paper revealed that cognitive-based approaches, non-cognitive approach and need-based approaches (Maslow’s theory, ERG theory and Herzberg’s theory) play vital roles in shrinking the occurrence of unwanted behaviors and upturning the occurrence of desired behaviors in the organization. Proper application of the theories can induce positive employee behaviors such as task performance and organizational citizenship behavior and consequently enhance both individual and organizational performance. This work has hopefully contributed to the enrichment of the existing relevant literature and served as a useful guide for stakeholders on how they can stimulate positive employee behaviors and the consequent enhanced organizational performance.
Keywords: employee learning, employee development, human resource development, learning theory
... HRD scholars had underscored the importance of theory, and according to Torraco (1997), theory basically explicates the phenomenon the way it works. Building a theory involves lucid descriptions, details, and exemplifications of observed or experienced phenomena which are produced, tested, and improved (Lynham, 2000). Given this explication, this research work aims to explore employee learning theories and their organizational applications. ...
Empirical evidence identifies that organizational success hinges on employees with the required knowledge, skills, and abilities and that employees’ effectiveness at learning new skills and knowledge is connected with the kind of learning technique the organization adopts. Given this, this work explored employee learning theories and their organizational applications. Using far-reaching literature survey and extensive theoretical and logical argument and exposition, this paper revealed that cognitive-based approaches, non-cognitive approach and need-based approaches play vital roles in shrinking the occurrence of unwanted behaviors and upturning the occurrence of desired behaviors in the organization. Proper application of the theories can induce positive employee behaviors such as task performance and organizational citizenship behavior and consequently enhance both individual and organizational performance. This work has hopefully contributed to the enrichment of the existing relevant literature and served as a useful guide for stakeholders on how they can stimulate positive employee behaviors and the consequent enhanced organizational performance.
... Metaphors have proven to be a highly useful tool in the development of theories in the social sciences (Hartzell, 2004;Kendall & Kendall, 1993;Levassuer, 2004;Wang, 2004). At a minimum, they provide a convenient means by which to create a taxonomy; the first step towards description, then prediction and finally to understanding (Kerssens-van-Drongelen, 2001; Lewis & Grimes, 1999;Lynham, 2000). ...
This paper explores open source as a metaphor for e-leaming. It builds the case that e-leaming and open source movement are rooted in the constructivist movement and the constructivist movement is itself rooted in the pragmatism and instrumentalism that pervades John Dewey’s theories of understanding as applied to learning. As a result, it is recommended that the use of open source as metaphor for e-learning be further explored in three areas: instructional practices, instructional platforms, and instructional philosophy.
... time between postings, etc.), and not necessarily the latest application or platform in use. In this study, we continually modify this mixed methods system to gather information as trends and themes arise throughout the data gathering process, and apply these to broader generalized themes (Glaser & Strauss, 1967;Lynham, 2000). The result is modification, addition or reduction of methods as data is gathered and analyzed, allowing for flexibility and exploration of new information streams that match social wants and needs (Dooley, 2002, p. 336). ...
This thesis is an investigation of campus/community radio in Canada and an exploration of its motivations and methods of using social media as a tool to interact with listeners. It develops and applies a methodology referred to as S.M.I.L.E.S., a methodology to create triangulation and validate results when researching in areas involving social media and minimal previous literature available. Radio station staff and volunteer programmers use social media, traditional digital and non-digital methods to gather feedback about the show and/or station, promote the show and/or station, provide additional content to the listener off-air, communicate about the station itself, and achieve personal, station, and community growth. Results suggest that campus/community radio members use social media very differently than commercial or public radio station. As a whole, the campus/community radio sector is generally slow in providing support and policy when facilitating technological change, which has resulted in tentative use and lack of support for social media. Geographical location is also irrelevant as regards the utilization of social media. Also, programmers must be careful in identity management when engaging in online communication, as well as using social media as a fundraising tool and forum for information dissemination. Finally, stations need to consider implementing policy surrounding social media in order to facilitate growth within the industry.
... Thus, as an alternative to the positivist, functionalist perspective of individual ethics, the interpretivist approach to theory building aims to uncover the processes and systems of meaning that characterize a given organizational milieu (Gioia & Pitre, 1990). As part of such an effort, the phenomenon of assessment requires a discovery process that analyzes the social construction of assessors' perceptual evaluative experiences (Lynham, 2000). ...
In a field dominated by research on moral prescription (business ethics) and moral prediction (behavioral ethics), there is poor understanding of the place of moral perceptions in organizations alongside philosophical ethics and causal models of ethical outcomes. As leadership failures continue to plague organizational health and firms recognize the wide-ranging impact of subjective bias, scholars and practitioners need a renewed frame of reference from which to reconceptualize their current understanding of ethics as perceived in individuals. Based on an assessment and selection perspective from the field of human resource management, an alternative to conventional deductive-prescriptive approaches is proposed based on a pluralistic concept referred to as moral goodness. An inductive-descriptive theory-building framework is constructed based on three interrelated streams of inquiry to yield insight concerning both formal and informal instances of assessment. Recommendations are proposed for the application of the framework to future research and practice.
... Case studies remain rich, empirical descriptions of particular instances of a phenomenon that typically draw on a variety of data sources (Yin, 1994) and as a method excels at bringing an understanding of a complex issue by detailed contextual analysis of a limited number of events or conditions and their relationships (Dooley, 2002). Dooley (2002) describes "theory building requires the on-going comparison of data and theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) and the continuous refinement between theory and practice (Lynham, 2000)." ...
Innovation and organizational design is central to how organizations manage their structures and boundaries for greater engagement to an increasing number of users as potential partners for increased value creation. Open organizing is prominent in industries where the locus of innovation can be extended to users leading to a burgeoning literature on concepts like co-creation, open innovation, and collaborative efforts. However, the current body of scholarship offers little insight into how organizations establish open organizational structures, specifically in more traditional industries like the energy industry, calling for a renewed focus on organizational structures and boundaries that is not merely related to reducing transactional costs or gaining efficiency. For the energy industry, open organizing remains paradoxical as it is not entirely driven by low communication cost and increased virtual connectivity. The energy industry is localized, performing under a broader industry framework subjective to a list of exogenous and endogenous factors. This study synthesizes the cases of 8 energy companies to produce a theoretical framework building on a checklist of the exogenous and endogenous factors that are central to the innovation process. Most importantly, this study reconciles the work on organizational boundaries and open structures to produce such theoretical framework. This framework can act as an evaluation tool for energy companies to assess the transition between existing structures to an open structure.
Pengembangan dan Pelatihan Sumber Daya Manusia merupakan hal
mendasar dalam menghasilkan dan menerapkan alat yang diperlukan untuk
mengelola dan mengoperasikan organisasi mulai dari produksi, manajemen,
pemasaran dan penjualan hingga penelitian dan pengembangan, agar lebih
produktif. Hal ini dapat dilakukan dengan membuat orang cukup termotivasi,
terlatih, terinformasi, dikelola, dimanfaatkan dan diberdayakan. Dengan
demikian, pengembangan dan pelatihan sumber daya manusia merupakan
bagian utama dari kegiatan manajemen sumber daya manusia dalam organisasi.
Area-area ini sangat penting dari sudut pandang pengembangan karyawan dalam
suatu organisasi. Hal ini telah diasumsikan penting dalam bisnis untuk
menghadapi persaingan yang timbul dari globalisasi dan Liberalisasi.
Pengembangan dan pelatihan sumber daya manusia adalah pemanfaatan terpadu
dari pelatihan dan upaya pengembangan karir untuk meningkatkan kinerja
individu atau kelompok serta efektivitas organisasi secara keseluruhan. Ini
mengembangkan kompetensi yang dibutuhkan karyawan untuk melakukan
pekerjaan saat ini dan mempersiapkan mereka untuk peran masa depan melalui
kegiatan pembelajaran yang direncanakan yang dapat meningkatkan
produktivitas dan profitabilitas perusahaan sambil meningkatkan kepuasan
karyawan.
Buku ini memuat berbagai aspek pengembangan dan pelatihan sumber
daya manusia untuk pertumbuhan, keberlanjutan, dan keberhasilan organisasi di
manapun. Selamat membaca...!!!
Up until 1990, the Institute of Education in Singapore was primarily a teaching institute involved in training teachers for Singapore schools. Since the inception of the National Institute of Education (NIE) in 1990, as an institute of the Nanyang Technological University, the focus of the institute has been enlarged to include research in education. This chapter examines, through a documentary analysis, how a research culture specifically in mathematics education at the National Institute of Education was nurtured, developed and supported from 1990 onwards. Development of the culture for Mathematics Education Research (MER) has been in tandem with all other areas of research at the NIE. Both top-down and bottom-up approaches have been adopted to support research as part of an academic’s work at the institute. Policies related to recruitment and promotion of academics were developed to ensure that emphasis was on both teaching and research. Development of research, from individually led bite-sized grains to team-based project with coherent themes, was supported. The setting up of the Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice in 2004 and dedicated funding from the Ministry of Education Singapore for research of the Singapore education system heralded an era of MER that has made significant contributions both nationally and internationally. This chapter will also illuminate the four main areas of focus and sources on MER through examples of studies carried out in Singapore since 2000. In addition, it briefly outlines the contribution of MER in ASEAN countries.KeywordsMathematics education researchSingaporeEvolutionNational Institute of EducationCentre for Research in Pedagogy and PracticeFunded research projectsPostgraduate student research
Making the logic behind the theory clear and understandable to the users is the most difficult part of theory construction study in applied disciplines. Even though different approaches of theory building argue for diverse theory building research methodologies, theory development is essentially general. This study supports JD-R as a theory by outlining methodologies often employed in theory construction on past research. JD-R model consists of conservation of resources theory, two-factor theory of Herzberg, job characteristics model, job demand-control model and effort-reward imbalance model. According to this model, job resources will minimize the undesirable impact of job demands on exhaustion. The early model was expanded to incorporate performance measurements. Cynicism predicts performance, whereas cynicism associated to colleague rated extra role and exhaustion related to in role performance. Then the revised model attempted to describe both a negative (burnout) and a positive psychological state (work engagement). Later, personal Resources and Job Crafting have been integrated with this model for the application to predict job burnout, organizational commitment, work enjoyment, connectedness, and work engagement. The JD-R model has developed into a theory because of numerous investigations, original ideas, and meta-analyses that have been conducted on it by following the steps of conceptualization, operationalization, implementation, confirmation or denial, and ongoing refining and improvement. Personal Demand and Leadership style can be attached in JD-R theory in future.
The advances in digital data collection and storage technology allows the storage of a huge amount of medical publications in MEDLINE. This database contains more than 25 million references to journal articles and abstracts in life sciences and biomedicine. This research work builds on Swanson use of mathematical association between A and C concepts/terms through a list of B concept/terms retrieved from large medical literature databases that contain either A&B or B&C terms links A to C. Swanson discovered evidence that fish oil (A) may cure vessel blood disorder (C) and that magnesium (A) may be effective against migraine headache (C), which were clinically proven two years later. We present a cooccurrence mining algorithm and an A&C pre-defined domain Knowledge Base (containing for instance Garlic Composition and Blood pressure causes) to filter and reduce the exponential number of shared B terms retrieved from MEDLINE articles using Swanson’s Arrowsmith machine. The reduced number of relevant B terms makes it easier to build scientific evidence to validate publicly known remedies for recurrent diseases for instance establishing whether an important association exists between garlic and its impact on blood pressure.
Due to growing digital opportunities, persistent legislative pressure, and recent challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, public universities need to engage in digital innovation (DI). While society expects universities to lead DI efforts, the successful development and implementation of DIs, particularly in administration and management contexts, remains a challenge. In addition, research lacks knowledge on the DI process at public universities, while further understanding and guidance are needed. Against this backdrop, our study aims to enhance the understanding of the DI process at public universities by providing a structured overview of corresponding drivers and barriers through an exploratory single case study. We investigate the case of a German public university and draw from primary and secondary data of its DI process from the development of three specific digital process innovations. Building upon Business Process Management (BPM) as a theoretical lens to study the DI process, we present 13 drivers and 17 barriers structured along the DI actions and BPM core elements. We discuss corresponding findings and provide related practice recommendations for public universities that aim to engage in DI. In sum, our study contributes to the explanatory knowledge at the convergent interface between DI and BPM in the context of public universities.
Executive coaching is now becoming paramount in any organization that values performance. However, there is scanty research on the relationship between executive coaching and organizational performance. The purpose of this study is to identify the contextual, theoretical, conceptual and methodological gaps that exist between executive coaching and organizational performance. The study has found out that relatively few theories link the two major variables in the study. Experiential leaning theory talks about learning experiences and outcomes of executives but fails to give a clear link of how the various outcomes lead to organizational performance. More so, cognitive behavior theory is more inclined to behavioral changes and self-driven scrutiny on finding fault in oneself with aid of Socratic questioning, but does not clearly explain how the changes lead to organizational performance. The systems approach sheds light on how the various systems in the organization can be amalgamated to give an effective leader but fails to indicate how effective leadership translates to organizational performance. The goal theory on the other hand explains how the various environment and personal aspects lead to goal attainment in the organization. However, learning and behavior change have not been used categorically to explain the goal attainment process. The empirical studies conducted tend to relate executive coaching to other variables such as job satisfaction, individual commitment, self-efficacy and self awareness in the western context but fails to associate the coaching exercise to organizational performance. Finally, few studies have employed inferential statistics to show the association between executive coaching and organizational performance. The fundamental conclusion therefore, is that the gaps mentioned and explained in this study need to be addressed in order to show if indeed there is any association. The study would help organizations in realizing that, the association between executive coaching and organizational performance has an impact in the firm.
Curriculum theorizing is the
methodology of the theory development. We
recognize, two approaches to curriculum
theorizing; explanation and understanding.
Explanation resemble the processes of
theorizing like natural scientist does and
understanding is an approach to theorizing
with its personal engagement consideration,
uniqueness evolve from the complexity of and
unrepeatable educational phenomena. In this
article, two main ideas, objectivismreductionism,
subjectivism-mysterianism and a
branch of the second idea so called;
conceptualism are examined. It is discussed
that all three ideas are corresponding with the
explanation or understanding and so their
deficiency in human life is determined. It is
argued that neurophenomenology could be
considered as a remedy for the fragmental
deficiency and incompetence of the current
dominant positions in curriculum theorizing.
We called the neurophenomenology inspired
theorizing as; "understanding explanation" and
explain it in reference to the Varela's
methodology of reciprocal constraints.
Research activity in the area of HRM/HRD is increasing and still there is a lot of scope for research to study the practices and their impact. The researcher has made an effort to review the studies related to the topic chosen. The studies reveal that there are a number of studies at macro level and that to them are more foreign studies which have given the basic knowledge to proceed. There are also some Indian Studies related to the present topic. There are hardly any studies related to Petrochemicals and Fertilizer Industries at the Micro Level. In this background, the main objective of the study is to assess the levels of the utilization of human resources as well as to determine the functional status of the units. Keeping the above aspects under consideration, the study selected two large scale industrial units Viz., The very purpose of this research is to know the opinion of the Employees on interpersonal relations among them for better implementation of HR Practices in Petrochemical and Fertilizer industries the effect of the development in industrial organizations and the development of productivity culture in the employees. The study demands direct answer from the respondents, which without any ambiguity will determine the factors which contribute positively or negatively for assessing the functioning and the effect of the HRD among selected industries.
This book will help managers understand organizations in non-quantitative manner. The modern-day managers are challenged with dealing with these constantly increasing complexities in the pursuit of efficiency and effectiveness. They must understand how constant changes influence their tasks so they can contribute to establishing a fast-reacting organization. The authors analyze how metaphors can serve as methods or tools that provide insight into how organizations function, and how best to deal with making them successful in a state of permanent change. © Peter Lang GmbH Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften Frankfurt am Main 2017 All rights reserved.
Improved communication clarity is needed in the presentation and critical evaluation of proposed theory advancements in the field of communication. We encourage communication scholars to be more explicit in detailing the nature of their theoretical pursuits and to utilize with greater frequency established criteria for the assessment of theory. Engaging in these practices will foster more reasoned debate between scholars, produce better informed judgments concerning publication worthiness, allow weaker work to be discarded with less error, and provide an efficient means for the building of stronger, more cogent lines of research.
We intended to understand the currently predominant viewpoints or bodies of knowledge relative to critical human resource development (CHRD) based on personal meanings and viewpoints to a particular concept of CHRD naturalistically rather than in a theoretically induced meaning of CHRD. This research was designed to examine the subjective perceptions of CHRD scholars on the current state and the future of CHRD using Q methodology. A total of 13 CHRD scholars from the United States and the United Kingdom were asked to impose their opinions using 36 statements that were constructed according to a conceptual framework of theory-practice-research about CHRD in the current study. As a result, we identified three unique perspectives with regard to the current state and future of CHRD: (a) CHRD as an alternative HRD theoretical lens; (b) pluralistic views on CHRD practice in a broader context; and (c) the future prominence of CHRD in the HRD academic community. This revealed several implications in terms of content and practical application of criticality in organizations, which are expanded to the implications for theory, practice, and education of HRD.
This paper uses a meta-ethnographic approach to examine a core body of research conducted primarily by one iSchool research center that has bolstered its curriculum in support of school librarian leadership in the past decade. Substantive studies, conducted by faculty and doctoral students, have focused on various phases of leadership from pre-service to mastery with emphases on technology integration. The goal of this paper is to go beyond the traditional summarizing of the research in the area to synthesizing and reinterpreting published findings for the purpose of building a foundation on which to investigate a theoretical framework for leadership by school librarians.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conduct a critical review of the mediation studies published in the field of Human Resource Development (HRD) to discern if the study designs, the nature of data collection and the choice of statistical methods justify the causal claims made in those studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper conducts a critical review of published refereed articles that examined mediation in Human Resource Development Quarterly, Human Resource Development International, Advances in Developing Human Resources and European Journal of Training and Development. Mediation studies published in these journals from 2000 to 2015 were identified and coded. The four journals sampled were chosen to provide breadth of coverage of the different types of empirical studies published in the field of HRD.
Findings
The review findings imply that HRD scholars are not employing experimental or longitudinal designs in their studies when randomized experiments and longitudinal studies with at least three waves of data collection are regarded as the golden standards of causal research. Further, the findings indicate that sophisticated statistical modeling approaches like structural equation modeling are widely used to examine mediation in cross-sectional studies and most importantly, a large number of such studies do not acknowledge that cross-sectional data does not allow definite causal claims.
Research limitations/implications
Although the findings urge us to rethink the inferences of mediation effects reported over the past 15 years in the field of HRD, this study also serves as a guide in thinking about framing and testing causal mediation models in future HRD research and even argues for a paradigm shift from a positivist orientation to critical and postmodern perspectives that can accommodate mixed methods designs for mediation research in HRD.
Originality/value
This paper presents a critical review of the trends in examining mediation models in the HRD discipline, suggests best practices for researchers examining the causal process of mediation and directs readers to recent methodological articles that have discussed causal issues in mediation studies.
There is no such thing as an isolated piece of knowledge. Networks of unstructured information sources are created and linked online daily. The proliferation of such extended sources of knowledge has caused a shift in the design of informatics systems from rule-based approaches (which dominated formal ontology) to statistical or mining-based approaches. Such shift is clearly manifested when we compare the nature and structure of IBM’s Deep Blue computer (which relied on procedural and logical steps to reason about Chess) and the new Watson computer (which relies on probabilistic and semantic analysis of unstructured web-based material).
It is argued that changes to ontology development are needed to meet the challenges and make use of the opportunities of extended online sources of knowledge. This starts by shifting the epistemological foundations of modern informatics ontology from positivism to constructivism, and replacing foundationalism with coherentism. The traditional desire for using ontology in reasoning should be complemented by an equal belief in the value of the representational role of ontology. Equally important, the belief in the role of ontology as a (static) formal encapsulation of knowledge should be balanced with a new belief in the role of ontology in discovering and integrating new knowledge from extended sources. Axioms must be limited and geared towards listing what is rejected instead of enumerating what is true. Entity structures must be flatter and closer to a network format instead of the tree-like format of taxonomies. The ontology must also interact with a set of auxiliary services that are needed to help customize ontology elements to match the context of its application, integrate new discovered knowledge; and for self-healing of axioms with new acquired knowledge.
In proposing these, and in true adherence to coherentism and constructivism, the author is not advocating that the implementation of these tools is the correct approach or an approach that is applicable to all situation.
In this article, Gary Thomas makes a provocative argument against the use of theory in educational inquiry. He examines the allure of theory for researchers and scholars in education, despite the emergence of strong anti-theoretical strands in postmodern thought. Thomas contends that the word "theory" is used to mean many different things in education, and that ideas about theory are thereby confused. He draws a distinction between personal theory and "grand" theory, and argues that both types of theory circumscribe methods of thinking about educational problems and inhibit creativity among researchers, policymakers, and teachers. He concludes by making a case for less structured problem-solving, thought experiments, and "ad hocery," a term he borrows from Alvin Toffler.
A central mission of scholars and educators in professional schools of management, health, education, and social work is to conduct research that contributes knowledge to a scientific discipline, on the one hand, and to apply that knowledge to the practice of management as a profession, on the other (Simon, 1967). To do this well, we need to design our research so that it provides an intimate understanding of the practical problems facing the profession. Equally important, we need to appreciate and strengthen our skills in developing good theory so that research conducted about these problems will advance the knowledge that is relevant to both the discipline and the profession. Lewin's (1945) statement that "nothing is so practical as a good theory" captures a theme that is as important today as it was in Lewin's time. Good theory is practical precisely because it advances knowledge in a scientific discipline, guides research toward crucial questions, and enlightens the profession of management. This special forum focuses on criteria and methods for building good theory. Its purpose is to suggest ways to strengthen our theory-development capabilities, and thereby link better theory with the disciplines and professions represented in the Academy.
The process of theory construction in organizational studies is portrayed as imagination disciplined by evolutionary processes analogous to artificial selection. The quality of theory produced is predicted to vary as a function of the accuracy and detail present in the problem statement that triggers theory building, the number of and independence among the conjectures that attempt to solve the problem, and the number and diversity of selection criteria used to test the conjectures. It is argued that interest is a substitute for validation during theory construction, middle range theories are a necessity if the process is to be kept manageable, and representations such as metaphors are inevitable, given the complexity of the subject matter.
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A set of ground rules and vocabulary to facilitate focused discussion about the structure of organization and management theories are proposed. The many previous efforts at defining and evaluating theory help establish criteria for theory construction and evaluation. In the establishment of these criteria, description is distinguished from theory, and a matrix of criteria for evaluating the variables, constructs, and relationships that together compose a theory is developed. The proposed matrix may be useful both for defining the necessary components of good theory and for evaluating and/or comparing the quality of alternative theories. Finally, a discussion of the way theories fit together to give a somewhat broader picture of empirical reality reveals the lines of tension between the two main criteria for evaluating theory.
Due to the interdisciplinary nature of human resource development (HRD), there has been little agreement as to the underlying definition and primary theories that form the basis for the field. In order to reach some understanding, this paper will outline many of the current US American definitions now held in the HRD profession. Commonly held themes will be removed from those definitions and the theories underlying those themes will be examined. Each theory is reviewed and then tested with the first step of Patterson's (1986) criteria for assessing the validity of a theory. This review of the definitions and test of the underlying theories will give the field a primary interdisciplinary foundation to begin to work from and to do additional research.
Research and development has been a fundamental element of the human performance technology heritage. This treatise is intended to refocus the profession on the importance of research and development (R& D).Included is the nature of R & D and the R& D cycle. The R& D cycle is particularly important to reflective practitioners who are attempting to advance the knowledge of the profession through creative efforts in the midst of actual field-based performance problems.A classification scheme for R & D is presented that includes purposes, methods, and categories for embracing multiple views of R & D. Agents of R & D are also discussed with an emphasis on the practitioner's contribution. The manuscript concludes with a R & D agenda for the human performance technology profession and a challenge to the reader.
This paper describes the process of inducting theory using case studies-from specifying the research questions to reaching closure. Some features of the process, such as problem definition and construct validation, are similar to hypothesis-testing research. Others, such as within-case analysis and replication logic, are unique to the inductive, case-oriented process. Overall, the process described here is highly iterative and tightly linked to data. This research approach is especially appropriate in new topic areas. The resultant theory is often novel, testable, and empirically valid. Finally, framebreaking insights, the tests of good theory (e.g., parsimony, logical coherence), and convincing grounding in the evidence are the key criteria for evaluating this type of research.
Most writing on sociological method has been concerned with how accurate facts can be obtained and how theory can thereby be more rigorously tested. In The Discovery of Grounded Theory, Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss address the equally Important enterprise of how the discovery of theory from data--systematically obtained and analyzed in social research--can be furthered. The discovery of theory from data--grounded theory--is a major task confronting sociology, for such a theory fits empirical situations, and is understandable to sociologists and laymen alike. Most important, it provides relevant predictions, explanations, interpretations, and applications. In Part I of the book, "Generation Theory by Comparative Analysis," the authors present a strategy whereby sociologists can facilitate the discovery of grounded theory, both substantive and formal. This strategy involves the systematic choice and study of several comparison groups. In Part II, The Flexible Use of Data," the generation of theory from qualitative, especially documentary, and quantitative data Is considered. In Part III, "Implications of Grounded Theory," Glaser and Strauss examine the credibility of grounded theory. The Discovery of Grounded Theory is directed toward improving social scientists' capacity for generating theory that will be relevant to their research. While aimed primarily at sociologists, it will be useful to anyone Interested In studying social phenomena--political, educational, economic, industrial-- especially If their studies are based on qualitative data.