Theory building standards
...f the relationship, not the writer. Definition mistake is also noted in Mankiw et al (1992). In particular, the authors on several occasions omit giving exact definitions of terms that are used. To illustrate, terms such as human capital and concepts of value added form lack precise definitions. Similarly, Barney (1996) fails to define the property of “resource exploitation” (a process variable). The author states that “a firm must be organized to exploit its resources and capabilities” (Barney, 1996, pp. 160). However, that argument creates ambiguity for it gives no clarity of the variables’ domain. The firm is either structured to exploit its resources and capabilities or its not. Further, Barney (1991, pp. 101) presents a tautological definition. In particular, according to the author’s definition of firm’s resources, the latter are defined in terms of relationship with strategy and firm’s performance variables (efficiency and effectiveness) (Tangpong, 2000). Clarity of variables’ properties One of the main points of theory building is to enable one to measure the validity of the definitions. For that one should have adequate definition of properties that can be assessed. In “Capturing the complexity in advanced technology use: adaptive structuration theory” the author does not clarify the ranges of the subproperties stemming from the definitions. To illustrate, the author states that “structural features are the specific types of rules and resources, or capabilities offered by the system (DeSanctis & Poole, 1994, pp. 126). The ambiguity comes from the fact that the terms in the definition can actually vary on the continuum: Structure of advanced IT Minimal-------------------------Extensive Structural features Level of sophistication Minimal-------------------------Extensive Comprehensiveness Minimal-------------------------Extensive Similarly, Barney (1996) organizes firm’s resources into four groups: financial capital, physical capital, human-, and organizational capital. However, no structural features are developed to define these variables. That also contributes to variation in definitions: Firm Resources Minimal-------------------------Extensive financial capital Minimal-------------------------Extensive physical capital Minimal-------------------------Extensive human capital Minimal-------------------------Extensive organizational capital Minimal-------------------------Extensive Problems of developing relationships The third major problem in the papers reviewed is that of developing relationships. That is establishing a relationship among the variable terms. However, ...