Theory usage in empirical operations management research: a review and discussion

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (10) ◽  
pp. 2413-2432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Kenworthy ◽  
Jaydeep Balakrishnan
Keyword(s):  
Operations Management ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Theory Testing ◽  
Management Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Scientific Fields ◽  
Over Time

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze more than three decades of theory testing published in leading operations management (OM) journals. Design/methodology/approach This piece examines the amount of theory testing, the extent to which theories are tested multiple times, and the disciplinary origins of the theories that are tested. Findings The analysis revealed that empirical OM researchers have increasingly responded to demands for more theory-driven knowledge over time. OM researchers are developing and using a wide array of domestic theories to understand empirical data. The examination also revealed a substantial focus on theory borrowed from other scientific fields. Originality/value The findings here suggest that OM is clearly a maturing discipline. As the discipline matures, it is important to consider to what extent borrowed theories and frameworks can offer value to OM. A preliminary vetting model is advanced in order to critically assess foreign theory. It is hoped that future screening promotes only the most useful non-domestic theory, thereby ensuring sufficient journal space for domestic theory and resulting in effective solutions to the pressing, practical problems of the OM field.

How a brick-and-mortar retailer’s strategic focus on niche (versus mainstream) brands influences category sales

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jake David Hoskins ◽  
Abbie Griffin
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Product Form ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Product Categories ◽  
Brick And Mortar ◽  
Focus Strategy ◽  
Over Time

Purpose This study aims to focus on the role of niche brands in online retailer assortments and the general market positions of niche brands, no prior study has explicitly focused on if and when brick-and-mortar retailers should include niche brands in their category assortments. Design/methodology/approach The authors empirically analyze the category performance implications of focusing assortments on niche brands, at the expense of mainstream brands, in two product categories that have significant niche brand presence, namely, coffee and beer. The empirical data include sales, distribution and marketing tactical information for 50 US geographic markets from 2001–2011. Findings This research finds that a mainstream brand focus has a generally positive impact on category performance. However, a store’s strategic shift toward niche brands is beneficial in certain cases such as when a store has higher average prices or product form variety or when they are part of a powerful chain. The authors also find that a niche brand focus strategy is becoming increasingly viable over time for brick-and-mortar retailers. Originality/value Little is known about the parameters that might make a brick-and-mortar retailer more or less likely to pursue a niche brand focus strategy and when doing so might improve category performance. This analysis helps clarify the conditions under which a brick-and-mortar retailer may experience category level sales increases from focusing assortments on niche brands.

scholarly journals Methodological roadmapping: a study of centering resonance analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Simões Freitas ◽  
Jéssica Castilho Andrade Ferreira ◽  
André Azevedo Rennó Campos ◽  
Júlio Cézar Fonseca de Melo ◽  
Lin Chih Cheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Future Scenarios ◽  
Methodological Development ◽  
Management Research ◽  
Comprehensive Review ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Resonance Analysis ◽  
Textual Content ◽  
Robust Procedures ◽  
Over Time

Purpose This paper aims to map the creation and evolution of centering resonance analysis (CRA). This method was an innovative approach developed to conduct textual content analysis in a semi-automatic, theory-informed and analytically rigorous way. Nevertheless, despite its robust procedures to analyze documents and interviews, CRA is still broadly unknown and scarcely used in management research. Design/methodology/approach To track CRA’s development, the roadmapping approach was properly adapted. The traditional time-based multi-layered map format was customized to depict, graphically, the results obtained from a systematic literature review of the main CRA publications. Findings In total, 19 papers were reviewed, from the method’s introduction in 2002 to its last tracked methodological development. In all, 26 types of CRA analysis were identified and grouped in five categories. The most innovative procedures in each group were discussed and exemplified. Finally, a CRA methodological roadmap was presented, including a layered typology of the publications, in terms of their focus and innovativeness; the number of analysis conducted in each publication; references for further CRA development; a segmentation and description of the main publication periods; main turning points; citation-based relationships; and four possible future scenarios for CRA as a method. Originality/value This paper offers a unique and comprehensive review of CRA’s development, favoring its broader use in management research. In addition, it develops an adapted version of the roadmapping approach, customized for mapping methodological innovations over time.

scholarly journals Ambidexterity and organizational learning: revisiting and reconnecting the literatures

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Brix
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Organizational Ambidexterity ◽  
Exploration And Exploitation ◽  
Seminal Paper ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Model ◽  
Multiple Levels

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to investigate how the processes of exploration and exploitation have developed in parallel in the literature of organizational ambidexterity and organizational learning, since James March published his seminal paper in 1991. The goal of the paper is to provide a synthesis of exploration and exploitation based on the two areas of literature.Design/methodology/approachThe study is conceptual and no empirical data have been used.FindingsThe study advances current understanding of exploration and exploitation by building a new model for organizational ambidexterity that takes into account multiple levels of learning, perspectives from absorptive capacity and inter-organizational learning.Originality/valueThe study’s novelty lies in the creation and discussion of a synthesis of exploration and exploitation stemming from organizational ambidexterity and organizational learning.

Wroe Alderson, IMP and the evolution of theory

IMP Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 390-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars-Erik Gadde ◽  
Kajsa Hulthén
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Marketing Theory ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Broad Perspective ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Theoretical Structure ◽  
Specific Objective ◽  
Scientific Fields

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse how theories evolve within scientific fields: why they receive attention and why they eventually become less attractive. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a literature review and focusses on the theoretical structure developed by Wroe Alderson. His contributions were highly appreciated and generally considered as “the” marketing theory. However, in few years his broad perspective was more or less neglected within the field where it was developed. At the same time, Alderson’s basic thinking was adopted by the evolving IMP approach. The specific objective of the study is to analyse why researchers in marketing abandoned Alderson, while IMP adopted many of his ideas. Findings The paper illustrates significant aspects of the evolution of theories. First, the paper shows how well-established conceptualisations, like Alderson’s total systems approach, may lose impact when the focus of research shifts. Alderson’s holistic framing was found too broad and all-encompassing to be useful when research attention was directed to specific aspects of marketing management and the socio-behavioural approach to distribution. Second, the paper shows in what respect IMP found support in concepts and models presented by Alderson in the challenging of fragmented mainstream framings of the business landscape. Originality/value This paper relates the rise and fall of Alderson’s concepts and frameworks to the evolution of theories of other schools-of-thought. Furthermore, the study shows how Alderson’s ideas were adapted to other research fields than where it was originally developed.

The dynamics of regional and global expansion

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 306-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Geisler Asmussen ◽  
Bo Bernhard Nielsen ◽  
Tom Osegowitsch ◽  
Andre Sammartino
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Market Penetration ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Expansion ◽  
Rates Of Change ◽  
Global Space ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to model and test the dynamics of home-regional and global penetration by multi-national enterprises (MNEs). Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on international business (IB) theory, the authors model MNEs adjusting their home-regional and global market presence over time. The authors test the resulting hypotheses using sales data from a sample of 220 of the world’s largest MNEs over the period 1995-2005. The authors focus specifically on the relationship between levels of market penetration inside and outside the home region and rates of change in each domain. Findings – The authors demonstrate that MNEs do penetrate both home-regional and global markets, often simultaneously, and that penetration levels often oscillate within an MNE over time. The authors show firms’ rates of regional and global expansion to be affected by their existing regional and global penetration, as well as their interplay. Finally, the authors identify differences in the steady states at which firms stabilize their penetration levels in the home-regional and the global space. The findings broadly confirm the MNE as an interdependent portfolio with important regional demarcations. Originality/value – The authors identify complex interdependencies between home-regional and global penetration and growth, paving the way for further studies of the impact of regions on MNE expansion.

Changes in the contents of corporate codes of ethics: an institutional interpretation

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jang B. Singh
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Codes Of Ethics ◽  
Legal Authority ◽  
Valuable Contribution ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovative Management ◽  
Study Population ◽  
Over Time

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to examine changes in the contents of Canadian corporate codes of ethics over a period of two decades from an institutionalization perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The paper tracks changes in the contents of the codes of large Canadian corporations longitudinally by analyzing their contents at two points over two decades, in 1992 and 2012. In particular, the paper tests three hypotheses related to the institutionalization of codes. Findings – It was found that the codes have become more prescriptive, they are more concerned with social responsibility and are more likely to identify their moral and legal authority. Overall, the findings support an institutional interpretation of the observed changes. Research limitations/implications – While large corporations are critical in establishing new and innovative management practices, their selection as the study population limits the generalizabilty of the findings. Another limitation of this paper is that it used an a priori determined set of items to analyze the contents of the codes and while this was needed to facilitate the comparison across time, it also meant that some important items were not clearly identified. Originality/value – Codes of ethics are the foundation of ethics programs in corporations and their contents could be critical in the development of a culture of ethics in corporations. This paper makes a valuable contribution to research on business ethics by analyzing the codes of ethics of the largest corporations in Canada at two points over two decades. The need to track changes in corporate codes of ethics over time has been advocated by several researchers, but longitudinal studies in this area are rare.

Dynamics of convergence behaviour in social media crisis communication – a complexity perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Milad Mirbabaie ◽  
Stefan Stieglitz ◽  
Felix Brünker
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Emergency Management ◽  
Crisis Communication ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Analysis Techniques ◽  
Twitter Data ◽  
Convergence Behaviour ◽  
Over Time

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate communication on Twitter during two unpredicted crises (the Manchester bombings and the Munich shooting) and one natural disaster (Hurricane Harvey). The study contributes to understanding the dynamics of convergence behaviour archetypes during crises.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected Twitter data and analysed approximately 7.5 million relevant cases. The communication was examined using social network analysis techniques and manual content analysis to identify convergence behaviour archetypes (CBAs). The dynamics and development of CBAs over time in crisis communication were also investigated.FindingsThe results revealed the dynamics of influential CBAs emerging in specific stages of a crisis situation. The authors derived a conceptual visualisation of convergence behaviour in social media crisis communication and introduced the terms hidden and visible network-layer to further understanding of the complexity of crisis communication.Research limitations/implicationsThe results emphasise the importance of well-prepared emergency management agencies and support the following recommendations: (1) continuous and (2) transparent communication during the crisis event as well as (3) informing the public about central information distributors from the start of the crisis are vital.Originality/valueThe study uncovered the dynamics of crisis-affected behaviour on social media during three cases. It provides a novel perspective that broadens our understanding of complex crisis communication on social media and contributes to existing knowledge of the complexity of crisis communication as well as convergence behaviour.

scholarly journals Knowledge representation for missing persons investigations

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 138-150
Author(s):  
Mark Taylor ◽  
Denis Reilly
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Representation ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Situation Calculus ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Missing Persons ◽  
State Changes ◽  
Changes Over Time ◽  
Investigation Process ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Over Time

Purpose This paper aims to present the application of situation calculus for knowledge representation in missing persons investigations. Design/methodology/approach The development of a knowledge representation model for the missing persons investigation process based upon situation calculus, with a demonstration of the use of the model for a missing persons example case. Findings Situation calculus is valuable for knowledge representation for missing persons investigations, as such investigations have state changes over time, and due to the complexity of the differing investigation activities applicable to different situations, can be difficult to represent using simpler approaches such as tables or flowcharts. Research limitations/implications Situation calculus modelling for missing persons investigations adds formalism to the process beyond that which can be afforded by the current use of text, tables or flowcharts. The additional formalism is useful in dealing with the uncertainty present in such investigations. Practical implications The implications are a simplification of the application of the current police guidelines, and thoroughness in the application of such guidelines for missing persons investigations via situation calculus modelling. Social implications This paper supports the management of missing person investigations, by using the most critical variables in a missing persons investigation to determine relevant investigation and search activities applicable to the circumstances of a given case. Originality/value The novelty of the knowledge representation approach is the application of situation calculus via state and action vectors and a matrix of fluents to the process of missing persons investigations.

scholarly journals Like ships passing in the night: toward a truly dyadic perspective on feedback dynamics

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 334-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederik Anseel ◽  
Lien Vossaert ◽  
Elias Corneillie
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Behavior ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Systematic Approach ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Dynamic Processes ◽  
Management Research ◽  
Feedback Seeking ◽  
Dynamic Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Feedback Interventions

Purpose This paper aims to extend the argument of DeNisi & Smith Sockbeson, who called to bridge the gap between feedback-seeking and feedback-giving research. The paper pushes their argument further by suggesting that future feedback research should systematically adopt a dyadic and dynamic approach to enhance the understanding of feedback episodes. Design/methodology/approach This paper reviews previous empirical work in the feedback domain and develops conceptual arguments for linking feedback-seeking and feedback intervention research. Findings Drawing upon previous work, the authors conclude that the current depiction of feedback processes in the literature might have been overly static and one-sided. Furthermore, it is argued that feedback research might have not kept up to date with recent conceptual and methodological developments in dyadic organizational behavior research. Research limitations/implications This paper builds on the argument of DeNisi & Smith Sockbeson, in turn contributing to a more complete picture of how feedback processes unfold in organizations. While this paper profiles a few studies that have begun to bridge the disconnect between feedback-seeking and feedback-giving research, one of its limitations is that it does not adopt a systematic approach in reviewing all potential methodologies. Originality/value This paper provides a first step toward studying feedback episodes as dyadic and dynamic processes. In doing so it helps solving one of the long-standing puzzles in management research namely why feedback interventions are sometimes detrimental to performance.

Framing the development and directions of business sustainability efforts

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 709-725 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nils M. Høgevold ◽  
Göran Svensson
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Business Networks ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Sustainability ◽  
The Status ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Over Time

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to frame the development and directions of business sustainability efforts. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study was undertaken with respect to a convenience sample of reputable companies in Norway, which have implemented significant business sustainability efforts within their organisations, their business networks, the marketplace and in the society, beyond the level of mere compliance. Findings Different directions are associated with the development of corporate efforts in connection with business sustainability. Business sustainability efforts are not static, but dynamic and based upon continuous flexibility to changes and adaptations over time. Research Limitations/implications The current study highlights the need for further research into the development and directions of corporate efforts in connection with business sustainability in the marketplace and society. A key suggestion for further research is to further explore the existence of other directions. Practical Implications The directions reported, provide a framework to assess the development or the status of companies’ business sustainability efforts in the marketplace and society. Corporate efforts in connection with business sustainability develop over time as experiences are gained and personal impressions move the identified directions forward. Originality/value This study contributes to seven interconnected directions of corporate efforts in connection with business sustainability that are both relevant and potentially fruitful to both scholars and practitioners.

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