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Joining Phenomenon to Theory

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Talk presented at Academy of Management 2015 PDW on “Crossing the Theory-Practice Chasm: Translating Research Results for Practitioners”

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1 Joining Phenomena to Theory “Crossing the TheoryPractice Chasm” PDW Academy of Management 2015 Joel West Professor, Innovation & Entrepreneurship August 7, 2015

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2 Lure of Phenomena Phenomena (esp. new ones) can be exciting • Fun to research • Emic approach: easier to understand, talk to managers • Interesting for students and external stakeholders • “Sexy” topic for academic readers & reviewers • Potential for novel contribution* Nobody loves your stories as much as you do! • Reviewers always want you to answer: “so what?” • What are the managerial implications? • Or contributions to academic theory? * See Murray S. Davis, “That’s Interesting!” (1971)

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3 Careers Inform Research • Industry career in software • Student programmer (1976-79), engineer (1980-87) • Entrepreneur, manager, engineer (1987-2002) • Academic career studying high-tech firms • Doctoral student (1994-2000), post-doc (2000-02) • Faculty: SJSU (2002-2011), KGI (2011- ) • Doctoral student papers • West (1995): Japanese software copyright • West (1996): Japan’s Internet policy • West (2000): origins of US, Japan, EU cellphones • West & Dedrick (2000): Japanese PC standards

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4 1. Open Source Software • Interest: paradox of profiting from opennenss • Started with a conference paper • West & Dedrick (2001) • West (RP 2003) †† • Kwan & West (chapter 2005) • West & Gallagher (R&D Mgt 2006) †† • West (2007) • West & Dedrick (2008) • Dedrick & West (chapter 2008) • West & O’Mahony (I&I 2008) †, †† • West & Lakhani (I&I 2008) †† † Rejected from a special issue †† Published in a special issue

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5 2. 3-D printing • Interest: low entry barriers in 3D printing • Started with a special issue paper • West & Kuk (TFSC 2016):†† case study of market leader • West & Greul (chapter 2016): “maker” movement • Greul, West & Bock (wp 2015):† crowdfunding • Bock, West & Greul (wp 2015): user entrepreneurs † Rejected from a special issue †† Published in a special issue

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6 3. NSF Project Pending NSF award for 3 year project • Interview data (Joel West) • Survey data (Paul Olk of U. Denver) Reviewers • “The proposal addresses a new model” • “This proposal identifies something new” • “[X] is a relatively new phenomenon, and as a result relatively little is known” Success studying phenomena begets success • “The two PIs are well qualified to perform the analysis.”

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7 “So What?” Phenomena are great, but others ask “so what?” • You must show how this generalizes to other contexts Guest Editor: “How open is open enough?” 2002 • “Both reviewers note the lack of ‘theoretical bite’ in your paper [which] leads Reviewer 2 to question the value of your contribution.… The paper needs better positioning in the literature.” Rev: “…lead market for Shannon Theory,” 2007 • “This is a paper that has very rich data but needs a lot of work to be done on the theorizing front.”

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8 “So What?” (2) Review: “… Apple’s iPhone,” 2008 • “The weakness of this paper lies in the lack of a clear, overarching research question, and the lack of explanation on any theoretical framework.” Review: “… MakerBot … in 3D printing,” 2014 • “[you] do not bring both together, the (missing) theory with the empirical evidence to derive important implications.” You must explain its broader applicability • To get published… • To get cited…

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9 Recommendations 1. Always think about the potential “so what” • When you design the study • Before and while going into the field • As you submit to a journal • Verify data actually support your claimed contribution 2. Re-use prior theory, methods and measures 3. Find collaborators with complementary skills • Identifying and understanding “sexy” phenomena is valued • Find co-authors with better theory or methods • Learn from them!

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Joining Phenomenon to Theory

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Joining Phenomenon to Theory

  • 1. 1 Joining Phenomena to Theory “Crossing the TheoryPractice Chasm” PDW Academy of Management 2015 Joel West Professor, Innovation & Entrepreneurship August 7, 2015
  • 2. 2 Lure of Phenomena Phenomena (esp. new ones) can be exciting • Fun to research • Emic approach: easier to understand, talk to managers • Interesting for students and external stakeholders • “Sexy” topic for academic readers & reviewers • Potential for novel contribution* Nobody loves your stories as much as you do! • Reviewers always want you to answer: “so what?” • What are the managerial implications? • Or contributions to academic theory? * See Murray S. Davis, “That’s Interesting!” (1971)
  • 3. 3 Careers Inform Research • Industry career in software • Student programmer (1976-79), engineer (1980-87) • Entrepreneur, manager, engineer (1987-2002) • Academic career studying high-tech firms • Doctoral student (1994-2000), post-doc (2000-02) • Faculty: SJSU (2002-2011), KGI (2011- ) • Doctoral student papers • West (1995): Japanese software copyright • West (1996): Japan’s Internet policy • West (2000): origins of US, Japan, EU cellphones • West & Dedrick (2000): Japanese PC standards
  • 4. 4 1. Open Source Software • Interest: paradox of profiting from opennenss • Started with a conference paper • West & Dedrick (2001) • West (RP 2003) †† • Kwan & West (chapter 2005) • West & Gallagher (R&D Mgt 2006) †† • West (2007) • West & Dedrick (2008) • Dedrick & West (chapter 2008) • West & O’Mahony (I&I 2008) †, †† • West & Lakhani (I&I 2008) †† † Rejected from a special issue †† Published in a special issue
  • 5. 5 2. 3-D printing • Interest: low entry barriers in 3D printing • Started with a special issue paper • West & Kuk (TFSC 2016):†† case study of market leader • West & Greul (chapter 2016): “maker” movement • Greul, West & Bock (wp 2015):† crowdfunding • Bock, West & Greul (wp 2015): user entrepreneurs † Rejected from a special issue †† Published in a special issue
  • 6. 6 3. NSF Project Pending NSF award for 3 year project • Interview data (Joel West) • Survey data (Paul Olk of U. Denver) Reviewers • “The proposal addresses a new model” • “This proposal identifies something new” • “[X] is a relatively new phenomenon, and as a result relatively little is known” Success studying phenomena begets success • “The two PIs are well qualified to perform the analysis.”
  • 7. 7 “So What?” Phenomena are great, but others ask “so what?” • You must show how this generalizes to other contexts Guest Editor: “How open is open enough?” 2002 • “Both reviewers note the lack of ‘theoretical bite’ in your paper [which] leads Reviewer 2 to question the value of your contribution.… The paper needs better positioning in the literature.” Rev: “…lead market for Shannon Theory,” 2007 • “This is a paper that has very rich data but needs a lot of work to be done on the theorizing front.”
  • 8. 8 “So What?” (2) Review: “… Apple’s iPhone,” 2008 • “The weakness of this paper lies in the lack of a clear, overarching research question, and the lack of explanation on any theoretical framework.” Review: “… MakerBot … in 3D printing,” 2014 • “[you] do not bring both together, the (missing) theory with the empirical evidence to derive important implications.” You must explain its broader applicability • To get published… • To get cited…
  • 9. 9 Recommendations 1. Always think about the potential “so what” • When you design the study • Before and while going into the field • As you submit to a journal • Verify data actually support your claimed contribution 2. Re-use prior theory, methods and measures 3. Find collaborators with complementary skills • Identifying and understanding “sexy” phenomena is valued • Find co-authors with better theory or methods • Learn from them!

Editor's Notes

  1. Google Scholar (not WoS) cites: West 2003: 692 West & Gallagher: 645 West & Lakhani: 242 West & O’Mahony: 224 Next most cited journal article: 2010 iPhone paper (187)