scholarly journals Conceptions of Conflict in Organizational Conflict Research: Toward Critical Reflexivity

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Naima Mikkelsen ◽  
Stewart Clegg

Diverse and often unacknowledged assumptions underlie organizational conflict research. In this essay, we identify distinct ways of conceptualizing conflict in the theoretical domain of organizational conflict with the aim of setting a new critical agenda for reflexivity in conflict research. In doing so, we first apply a genealogical approach to study conceptions of conflict, and we find that three distinct and essentially contested conceptions frame studies of conflict at work. Second, we employ two empirical examples of conflict to illustrate how organizational conflict research can benefit from a more reflexive approach and advance our understanding of conflict. In this essay, we emphasize how philosophical and political assumptions about conflict frame knowledge production within the field and we encourage future theory development to build on different notions of conflict to become better at coping with the complex and dynamic nature of conflict.

2021 ◽  
Vol 121 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-47
Author(s):  
Viswanath Venkatesh ◽  
Tracy Ann Sykes ◽  
Ruba Aljafari ◽  
Marshall Scott Poole

PurposeAs information systems (IS) phenomena continue to emerge and evolve in our ever-changing economic and social contexts, researchers need to increase their focus on time in order to enrich our theories. The purpose of this paper is to present broad suggestions for IS researchers about how they can direct some of their research efforts to consider, conceptualize and incorporate time into research endeavors and how they might be mindful about considering and specifying time-related scope conditions of their research efforts.Design/methodology/approachThe authors synthesize empirical studies and discuss three distinct yet related frameworks of time and the benefits they can provide. The authors choose two research streams that reflect dynamic economic and social contexts – namely, enterprise systems and social networks – to illustrate how time and frameworks of time can be leveraged in our theory development and research design.FindingsThe authors demonstrate that limited research in IS has incorporated a rich conceptualization and/or discussion of time. The authors build on this gap to highlight guidelines that researchers can adopt to enrich their view of time.Originality/valueGiven the dynamic nature of IS phenomena and the increased availability of longitudinal data, the authors’ suggestions aim to urge and guide IS researchers about ways in which they can incorporate time into their theory and study designs.


2016 ◽  
pp. 319-322
Author(s):  
Diane H. Sonnenwald

Author(s):  
Janine D. Mator ◽  
William E. Lehman ◽  
Wyatt McManus ◽  
Sarah Powers ◽  
Lauren Tiller ◽  
...  

Objective We searched for the application of usability in the literature with a focus on adoption, measurements employed, and demonstrated value. Five human factors domains served as a platform for our reflection, which included the last 20 years. Background As usability studies continue to accumulate, there has been only a little past reflection on usability and contributions across a variety of applications. Our research provides a background for general usability, and we target specific usability research subareas within transportation, aging populations, autistic populations, telehealth, and cybersecurity. Method “Usability” research was explored across five different domains within human factors. The goal was not to perform an exhaustive review but, rather, sample usability practices within several specific subareas. We focused on answering three questions: How was usability adopted? How was it measured? How was it framed in terms of value? Conclusion We found that usability is very domain specific. Usability benchmarking studies and empirical standards are rare. The value associated with improving usability ranged widely—from monetary benefits to saving lives. Thus, researchers are motivated to further improve usability practices. A number of data collection and interpretation challenges still call for solutions. Application Findings offer insight into the development of usability, as applied across a variety of subdomains. Our reflection ought to inform future theory development efforts. We are concerned about the lack of established benchmarks, which can help ground data interpretation. Future research should address this gap in the literature. We note that our findings can be used to develop better training materials for future usability researchers.


1996 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel C. Feldman

Despite the growth of underemployment in the United States, relatively little theoretical or empirical attention has been paid to this phenomenon. This article presents a multidimensional conceptualization of underemployment in terms of education, work duties, field of employment, wages, and permanence of the job. The article then presents testable propositions on both the hypothesized antecedents of underemployment (e.g., economic factors, job characteristics, career history, job search strategies, and demographics) and on the hypothesized consequences of underemployment (e.g., job attitudes, overall psychological well-being, career attitudes, job behaviors, and marital, family, and social relationships). Directions for future theory development, research methodology, and institutional assistance programs for the underemployed are discussed as well.


2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (s1) ◽  
pp. 15-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Klepek

Abstract With the advent of social media where customers have the technical ability to upload own content the change occurred in some of the communication habits online. This world of constant communication is a challenge for businesses as well researchers. Academic research in this area is bringing valuable insights into people attitudes and behaviour on the social media. What is the current situation and where the research field is heading is a question of high importance. This study uses the systematic approach to reviewing the literature and to show the development of publications produced at Czech universities. Although the results show an increasing number of studies, Czech research is lagging behind other similar countries. Compared with the best countries, it is lagging behind in the number of quotations per article. On the basis of these analyses, suggestions for future research that can help to promote future theory development are proposed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohan Gupta

In three experiments we investigated how the level of study-based learning influences theefficacy of subsequent retrieval practice (testing). Possibilities are that the efficacy of a testrelative to a restudy control decreases, increases, or is independent of the degree of priorlearning. Prior learning was manipulated by varying the number of item repetitions in the initialstudy phase between one and eight. Predictions of the dual-memory model for the testing effectwere used as a reference for inference. Results support the hypothesis that the advantage oftesting over restudy is independent of the degree of prior learning. Those results can serve toconstrain future theory development, and they suggest that educators can apply cued-recalltesting with the expectation that its efficacy is similar across varying levels of prior contentknowledge.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 581-602
Author(s):  
Michael Quinn Patton

Marvin Alkin and Jean King published three AJE articles on evaluation use over four years, a coherent and comprehensive series covering the historical development of evaluation use, definitions and factors associated with use and misuse, and theories of evaluation use and influence, concluding with assessment of the first 50 years of use research. They conclude with recommendations for future theory development and research on evaluation. I draw a different set of conclusions and pathway forward. Where they seek a common universal operational definition of evaluation use, I propose treating use as a thick sensitizing concept that invites diversity of context-specific meanings. Where they find evaluation use theory inadequate, I argue that it is sufficient for its purpose. Where they seek more development of evaluation-specific utilization theory, I propose drawing on more established and validated theories from social sciences to explain and illuminate evaluation use as occurring in complex dynamic systems.


Author(s):  
Brent Furneaux ◽  
Michael Wade

Constructs and the relationships between them are widely considered to be central to theory development and testing. Over time, information systems (IS) researchers have identified and explored an extensive set of relationships amongst a broad range of constructs. The result of these initiatives is a body of literature that can be considered to represent the cumulative learning of the discipline. Based on the premise that this cumulative learning is capable of providing valuable guidance to future theory development, the authors present a review and analysis of a large sample of empirical research published in two leading IS journals. The objective of this endeavor is to offer a broad perspective on the nature of the constructs and relationships explored in IS research and to develop a nomological network of the most salient relationships that can then serve to guide future research and to lend support to new and existing theory.


2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Drikus Kriek ◽  
David Beaty ◽  
Stella Nkomo

A number of distinguished scholars believe that for theory development to occur within a field, qualitative research must precede quantitative research in order for the field to progress toward maturity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the international management literature from 1991-2007 to ascertain current levels of use of qualitative, quantitative, conceptual and joint (quantitative and qualitative) research methods in the field.  Results indicate scholars employ quantitative methods more than qualitative methods.  The implications of these findings for future theory development and the generation of context relevant international management knowledge are discussed.


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