The Role of Assumptions in Management Research

Nicolai Foss of Organizations and Markets Blog has an interesting post on the difference between how economics and management develops theoretical models. He notes that economists have spilled a lot of ink over the assumptions we make when developing theories, but that the discipline of management seems to gloss over these issues. He writes "A striking difference between economics and (most) management research is that while economists are obsessed with the role of assumptions in theorizing, management scholars as a rule don’t seem to spend much time on assumptions, at best tucking them away under “boundary conditions,” and, in general, having rather little patience with “assumptions discussions.” In particular, the eyes of management scholars of the more descriptive (“phenomenological”) stripe glaze over from boredom or inattention when the issue is raised."  Read more ...