"Why Are There so Many Theories?" A Classroom Exercise to Help Students Appreciate the Need for Multiple Theories of a Management Domain

Autor/in	Anderson, Marc H.
Titel	"Why Are There so Many Theories?" A Classroom Exercise to Help Students Appreciate the Need for Multiple Theories of a Management Domain
Quelle	In: Journal of Management Education, 31 (2007) 6, S.757-776 (20 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1052-5629
DOI	10.1177/1052562906297705
Schlagwörter	Theory Practice Relationship; Motivation; Organizational Theories; Class Activities; Business Administration Education; Course Content; Student Attitudes; Educational Philosophy; Teaching Methods; Undergraduate Students; Student Reaction; Industrial Psychology; Behavior Theories; Bias; Beliefs; Employee Attitudes + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Theorie-Praxis-Beziehung; psychologische; Motivation (psychologisch); Organisationstheorie; Kursprogramm; Schülerverhalten; Bildungsphilosophie; Erziehungsphilosophie; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Schülerkritik; Betriebspsychologie; Industriepsychologie; Belief; Glaube; Arbeitnehmerinteresse
Abstract	Management educators teaching topics such as motivation and leadership face the challenge of clearly explaining why so many diverse theories exist and why each represents a useful tool worth learning. The large number of "core" theories in these and other management domains often frustrates students, who see the lack of a single, comprehensive theory as indicating that academics do not truly understand the topic. Because students generally evaluate theories according to whether the theories match their personal experience, they may appreciate only one or two as being "correct" or "useful" and dismiss the others as invalid. Building on a "conceptual toolbox" metaphor of education, this article presents a classroom exercise that vividly illustrates why each of the many theories in a management domain is valuable and worth learning. The exercise involves the specific topic of work motivation but can be adapted to any domain involving a large number of core theories. (Contains 3 tables and 1 note.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10