Theory Building: Review and Integration

The article "Theory Building: A Review and Integration" by Shepherd and Suddaby offers a comprehensive systematic review of the literature on theory construction within the field of management. The authors organize their review by structuring the process of theorizing around the five core elements of a compelling story: conflict, character, setting, sequence, and plot and arc. The text explains that theory development is essential for advancing management knowledge, but it is a challenging task due to the numerous, often unintegrated, theorizing tools available. Furthermore, the authors propose an innovative approach called pragmatic empirical theorizing, which transparently uses quantitative empirical findings, or interesting facts, to stimulate the initial stage of theory creation through abductive reasoning, providing a middle ground between purely rationalist and purely empiricist views. This new approach directly addresses the existing scholarly tension regarding the emphasis placed on prior literature versus empirical observation in the theory-building process.