Organization Theory Management Theory Management, Term Paper

Even more, strong theory should approach micro processes, if necessary. In certain situations, strong theory leads to directions that cannot be observed without the help of theory.

Regarding organizational theory, contributors to building the basis of strong theory in this field include: Frederick Winslow Taylor (who studied human behavior at work using a systematic approach), Elton Mayo (who focused on the emotional side of employees and how it affects their work), Mary Parker Follett (who promoted positive motivation for employees), Douglas McGregor (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 2007).

Regarding strong theory, Karl E. Weick's opinion is somehow more complex than that of Sutton and Staw. The theorizing model that he proposes is based on the idea that theory construction involves imagination, kept under control by the processes of artificial selection (Weick, 1989). Weick's contribution to organizational theory resides in the approach he developed to describe the process used in collecting, managing, and using the information received by organizations. This approach is based on focusing not on the structure, but on the process. In his book the Social Psychology of Organizing, Weick used two previously proven theories to support his own theory and to add credibility and importance to it. The theories he used were: General System Theory and Darwin's Theory of Evolution (Gadachy, 2001).

In conclusion, no matter the field it refers to, strong theory must meet a series of requirements, even if, basically, there seems to be no consensus on what theory actually is or what it should be. These requirements include simplicity, interconnectedness, clarity, providing logical arguments, including past theoretical work. However, it seems to be much easier to determine what weak theory is. In the weak theory category, one must include: references, list of variables, hypotheses, and diagrams.These tool are not useless, they are just insufficient if used alone. However, they are very helpful in developing strong theory, in supporting it, in expanding it, in broadening the directions strong theory follows, and on testing strong theory.

Reference List

Sutton, R. & Staw, B. (1995). What Theory Is Not? Notes. Retrieved January 14, 2008 at http://www.stanford.edu/~jchong/articles/msande380/Sutton%20and%20Staw%20-%20What%20Theory%20is%20Not.pdf.

Recklies, Dagmar (2001). Management Models - what they can do and what they cannot do. The Manager. Recklies Management Project GmbH. Retrieved January 14, 2008 at http://www.themanager.org/resources/Managementmodels.htm.

Rothman, Steven (2004). Notes on Explanatory Typologies in the Qualitative Study of International Politics. International Organization. Retrieved January 14, 2008 at http://www.uoregon.edu/~srothma1/QualMethods/Notes-ExplanatoryTypologicalTheory.pdf.

Organizational studies (2007). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved January 14, 2008 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_studies.

Sutton, R. & Staw, B. (1995). What Theory Is Not. Administrative Science Quarterly. Retrieved January 14, 2008 at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4035/is_n3_v40/ai_17781733/pg_6.

Weick, Karl E. (1989). Theory Construction as Disciplined Imagination. Summary. Retrieved January 14, 2008 at http://www.stanford.edu/~jchong/articles/msande380/Weick%20-%20Theory%20Construct%20as%20Disciplined%20Imagination.pdf.

Gadachy, Michael (2001). Organizational Information Theory. Colorado State University. Retrieved January 14, 2008 at http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Speech/rccs/theory43.htm......