This is an intro to Primer in Theory Construction by Paul Reynolds. Presented in Faculty of Entrepreneurship University of Tehran. Advanced Theories of Management( Dr.Arabiun)

1. Primer in Theory
Construction
Advanced Theories of Management (Dr.Arabiun)
Mohammad Kermani, Fall 2015
University of Tehran, Faculty of Entrepreneurship

3. Honorary Professor Paul Reynolds
After twenty years as a sociology faculty
member in three universities, I chose to focus
on business creation and over the past 23
years have been affiliated with five business
schools.
• BS, Engineering, University of Kansas, 1960
• MBA, Stanford University, 1964
• MA, Psychology, Stanford University, 1966
• PhD, Sociology, Stanford University, 1969

4. A scientific body of knowledge consists of those
concepts and statements that scientists consider useful
for achieving the purposes of science.

5. A scientific body of knowledge consists of those
concepts and statements that scientists consider useful
for achieving the purposes of science.

6. There is no substitute for a good idea

7. For What Should Scientific Knowledge Be Useful?

8. For What Should Scientific Knowledge Be Useful?
Scientific knowledge is basically a system for
description and explanation,
not everything can be explained by science.

9. For What Should Scientific Knowledge Be Useful?
• Why is there a moon?
• Why are there societies?
• Why is there life?
They are beyond the capacity of
science.
These “Why does it exist?”
questions are more of a religious
or philosophical nature and
cannot be resolved with an
empirically based science.

10. For What Should Scientific Knowledge Be Useful?
• How does the moon affect the
oceans of the earth?
• What changes a person’s status
in a social system?
• Under what conditions does ‘life’
(an organism capable of
reproduction) exist?

11. For What Should Scientific Knowledge Be Useful?
Scientific knowledge is basically a system for
description of things
and
Explanation of events,
not everything can be explained by science.

12. Things

13. Typology

14. Events

15. Events
NOW
Explanations Prediction

16. Events
NOW
Explanations Prediction
Causes

17. Events
NOW
Explanations Prediction
Causes Control

18. For What Should Scientific Knowledge Be Useful?
Most people would probably want scientific knowledge to provide:
1. A method of organizing and categorizing “things,” a typology;
2. Predictions of future events;
3. Explanations of past events;
4. A sense of understanding about what causes events.
And occasionally mentioned as well is:
5. The potential for control of events.

19. Typology

20. Typology

21. Typology

22. Typology
• Exhaustiveness
of all the “things” being classified, there is no item that cannot be placed in the
scheme
• Mutual exclusiveness
that there is no ambiguity about where each “thing” is to be placed in the
scheme

23. Predictions and Explanations

24. Predictions and Explanations
If the rate of succession (changes in membership) in an
organization is constant, then an increase in
organizational size will be followed by an increase in
formalization (of the structure and procedures).

25. Predictions and Explanations
If A then B.
If C and D then E.
Etc.

26. Sense of Understanding

27. If the ability to control events is taken literally as a desirable
characteristic of scientific knowledge, then much of the
current subject matter of science would be excluded.

28. if a theory related to a particular phenomenon is
scientifically useful, then scientists and “men of
action” can examine their ability to influence the
variables that will affect the events they wish to
control.

29. Theory
the use of the term “theory” will refer to abstract statements that are considered
part of scientific knowledge in either the set-of-laws, the axiomatic, or the causal
process forms.

30. How Does a Concept or Statement Become
Part of a Scientific Body of Knowledge?
1. as each individual scientist becomes more confident that the idea is
useful for the goals of science
2. as the number of scientists that consider the idea useful for the
goals of science increases

31. scientist’s attitude toward a concept or statement
1. The scientist’s confidence that he understands the meaning of the
concept or statement;
2. The scientist’s confidence that the concept or statement is useful for
achieving the purposes of science.

32. An untestable idea is, then, one
scientist’s view of the phenomenon, not
knowledge that can be shared by all
scientists.

33. Like any individual in a situation of
uncertainty, they check their interpretations
by comparing it with the interpretations of
someone else, another scientist. If there is
substantial disagreement among scientists,
then no one scientist can be sure that he has
correctly understood the meaning of a
concept or statement.

34. Desirable Characteristics of Scientific Knowledge
1. Abstractness (independence of time and space);
2. Intersubjectivity (agreement about meaning among relevant
scientists);
3. Empirical relevance (can be compared to empirical findings).

35. Abstractness

36. Explanations unique to one specific
event, can be called historical
explanations.

37. Intersubjectivity (Meaning)
“Intersubjectivity” means shared agreement among
relevant individuals with respect to (1) the events or
phenomena encompassed by a concept, and (2) the
relationship between concepts specified by one or more
statements.

38. Intersubjectivity (Logical Rigor)
• Develop a logical system
• Use a shared logical system by the relevant scientific audience
• Math
• Symbolic Logic
• Computer Languages

39. Empirical Relevance
it is desirable that any scientist be able to examine the
correspondence between a particular theory and
objective empirical data.

40. Mohammad Kermani
moh.Kermani@gmail.com
Moh.Kermani@ut.ac.ir
telegram.me/mohkermani
Instagram.com/Mohkermani
Twitter: @mohkermani
Linkedin: mohkermani