This study developed a typology of theory characteristics that was used in conjunction with the actual diffusion patterns of particular theories to create a model of theory functions. The units of analysis consisted of the eight individual theories shown inFig. 2. The first cohort of theories attempts to explain at various levels of analysis the processes of internal exchange, while the second attempts to explain processes of external exchange. Possible an- tecedents and determinants of discretionary exchange behaviors as enacted by entire organizations, formal and informal groups within the organiza- tion, and individual employees form the subject matter of the first group of theories described below.
(1) ‘‘Institutional Isomorphism’’ grew out of sociological neo-institutionalism, which views organizations as evolving social constructs or rule systems rather than economic entities rationally engineered for maximum effec- tiveness. This theory suggested that organizations within a particular in- dustry become increasingly similar over time due to normative, coercive, and mimetic forces within their immediate environment or ‘‘organizational field’’ (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983).
(2) ‘‘Leader–Member Exchange’’ was originally conceptualized as ‘‘Vertical Dyad Linkage,’’ with roots in Chester Barnard’s management classic
Functions of the Executive, which posited a cooperative equilibrium be- tween ‘‘inducements’’ and ‘‘contributions’’ for each unique supervisor–
employee dyad (Dansereau, Graen, & Haga, 1975). Building on the idea that a workgroup is an interlocking network of dyadic ‘‘interacts,’’ the subsequent concept of ‘‘Leader–Member Exchange’’ suggested that the role-making system within complex organizations necessitates various stages of social exchange between managers and employees that facil- itate overall organizational effectiveness over time (Graen, Novack, &
Sommerkamp, 1982). Interestingly, however, one of the three theorists has continued to maintain the utility of the original dyadic concept in preference to the revised version (Dansereau, 1995).
Theory Cohort 1:
(Internal Exchange)
Theory Cohort 2:
(External Exchange)
Institutional Isomorphism (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983)
citation count: 671
Channel Retreat Hypothesis (English, 1985) citation count: 0
Leader-Member Exchange (Graen, Novak, and Sommerkamp, 1982)
citation count: 147
Electronic Markets & Hierarchies (Malone, Yates, and Benjamin, 1987)
citation count: 143
Organizational Citizenship Behavior (Smith, Organ, and Near, 1983) (Bateman and Organ, 1983) citation count: 190
Pseudo-Community Hypothesis (Beniger, 1987)
citation count: 23
Whistleblowing (Miceli and Near, 1984) citation count: 42
Social Information Processing (Fulk, Steinfield, Schmitz, and Power, 1987) citation count: 57
Fig. 2. List of Theories.
BETSY VAN DER VEER MARTENS 22
(3) ‘‘Organizational Citizenship Behavior’’ was introduced in 1983 by Dennis Organ and his colleagues in the pages of theJournal of Applied Psychology(Smith, Organ, & Near, 1983) and in the pages of theAcad- emy of Management Journal(Bateman & Organ, 1983).Management and the Worker, the highly influential 1939 book by Fritz Roethlisberg and William J. Dickson on the Hawthorne experiments in organizational behavior, had described the ‘‘logic of sentiment’’ usually expressed as informal cooperation between workers and supervisors. ‘‘The Good Soldier Syndrome’’ or ‘‘Organizational Citizenship Behavior’’ construct suggests that this ‘‘logic of sentiment’’ is largely based on personal pre- dispositions in workers that motivate them to contribute spontaneous pro-social behaviors beyond their formal organizational roles, an im- portant element in ‘‘lubricating the social machinery of the organiza- tion’’ (Smith, Organ, & Near, 1983, p. 654). Organ’s two seminal papers identified these specific behaviors, which have become known as ‘‘or- ganizational citizenship behaviors.’’
(4) ‘‘Whistleblowing’’ as a theoretical construct developed as a refinement of the ‘‘voice’’ component of Albert O. Hirschman’s ‘‘exit, voice and loyalty’’ framework of affiliation with organizations and Bibb Latane´’s work on the determinants of bystander intervention in emergencies. The
‘‘whistleblowing’’ hypothesis introduced by Miceli and Near in the 1980s thus indicated that signs of trouble in an organizational climate induce otherwise committed members first to voice their dissatisfaction in ef- forts to change the organizational culture from within and to seek out- side support only when their internal efforts at ‘‘voice’’ are disregarded (Miceli & Near, 1984).
The second cohort of theories focuses on processes of external exchange, as the exchange relationship, including both economic and social elements, has traditionally been accepted as the conceptual foundation of marketing and, latterly, of electronic commerce. These four theories had been chosen primarily on the basis of their epistemic evolution from earlier theories pre- dating most recent technological developments in distributed commercial computing, as well as their consistency with many different information technology innovations.
(1) The ‘‘Channel Retreat’’ hypothesis was introduced by Wilke English in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science (English, 1985). This hypothesis built on Wroe Alderson’s application of Parsonian function- alism to marketing channels and proposed that advances in ‘‘electronic technology’’ will ultimately collapse the traditional marketing channel,
empowering the end-consumer and forcing the suppliers and retailers to compete in a backward evolution to set up and service the new channel.
(2) The ‘‘Electronic Markets and Hierarchies’’ hypothesis was developed by MIT Sloan School colleagues Thomas Malone, JoAnne Yates, and Robert Benjamin, and published in the Communications of the ACM (Malone, Yates, & Benjamin, 1987). This hypothesis extended economist Oliver Williamson’s transaction-cost theory to information technology innovation, proposing that the reduction of coordination costs made possible by advanced information technology will result in an inevitable shift towards markets rather than hierarchies, based on reduction in transaction costs.
(3) The ‘‘Pseudo-Community’’ hypothesis was propounded in 1987 in a review essay by James Beniger inCommunication Research. It expands on sociologist Robert Merton’s concept of the role ofpseudo-Gemeinschaft in mass persuasion through mass communication. Beniger suggests that advanced information technology also brings with it an ‘‘unintended infrastructure’’ of ‘‘pseudo-community, a hybrid of interpersonal and mass communication – born largely of computer technology – that will mean both more intimate and more effective social control’’ easily exerted by sophisticated information marketers (Beniger, 1987, p. 369).
(4) The ‘‘Social Information Processing’’ hypothesis (later renamed the
‘‘Social Influence Model’’) was first published by Janet Fulk and col- leagues at the Annenberg School of Communications in the pages of Communication Research(Fulk, Steinfield, Schmitz, & Power, 1987). Its authors called it an integration of ‘‘social influences with elements of traditional media use theory.’’ Drawing from the work of management theorists Salancik and Pfeffer on the importance of social influences on individual attitudes and behavior in the organizational environment, the hypothesis suggested that an individual’s technological media activities will be based partially both on objective and subjective elements.
METHODOLOGY
The method of analysis combined citation analysis, citation context anal- ysis, interviews with the theorists and their peers, and surveys of publishing editors and editorial review boards. The case study design is shown inFig. 3.
After the selection of the original theoretical publications, a citation analysis was performed to identify those articles published between 1975 and 1999 that cited them, and the documents (approximately 1,280) were BETSY VAN DER VEER MARTENS 24
then collected. Articles that contained citation errors (i.e., were incorrectly reported as having cited the original paper) were removed from the corpus.
In addition, some articles could not be located and used (usually these documents were published in languages other than English). An estimated 5 percent of the original citations belonged to this ‘‘unavailable’’ category. In addition, certain other documents were added to the corpus because they cited the original paper but were not included in the Institute for Scientific Information database from which the original data-set was drawn.
The next phases employed citation context analysis. Henry Small has recently called for a resumption of the project of developing a metatheory of citation, which he notes ‘‘must encompass the spectrum of observed be- haviors from the most common forms such as ceremonial or perfunctory citation to the less common deviant cases, such as negative citation, self- citation, and misattribution. The empirical heart of such a theory is the comparison of the cited text with its context of citation in the citing texts’’
Citing Authors re Theory Use
Original Theorists
Domain Experts Original Theory Publication
Original Editors and Review Board
Members
Original Theory Publication
Theory Use in Citing Papers (Level: Individual
Paper)
Theory Use in Citing Papers (Level: Theory Group)
Theory Use in Citing Papers (Level: Entire Corpus)
Theory Use Citation Typology Discussions with
Citation/Diffusion Experts Current Editors and
Review Board Members
Cross Check Cross Check
Cross Check Cross
Check
Cross Check
Interviews
Citation Context Analysis Surveys
Theory Functions
Model
Iteration
Fig. 3. Use of Convergent Lines of Evidence in Developing Theory Functions Model.
(Small, 2004, p. 76). This ‘‘empirical heart’’ is what Small himself named
‘‘citation context analysis’’ over two decades ago (Small, 1982) and which is only now enjoying a revival in popularity among researchers (e.g.,Hargens, 2000).
This study focused on what Small terms the ‘‘theory-use’’ aspect of ci- tation context analysis (Small, 1982, p. 288). The study’s first phase utilized citation context analysis on the entire corpus to determine citation correct- ness and the presence or absence of additional text related to the theory in each individual paper. In the second phase, citation context analysis was employed on the corpus of citing papers to develop the ‘‘theory-use’’ cat- egories, and content analysis was used to develop and delimit the specific categories that comprised the final typology. The methodology for the analysis of the corpus of citing papers is shown in Fig. 4.