MGMT 8003M: Gateway to Doctoral Studies | Week 5

“A young man is a theory, an old man is a fact.”

—E. W. Howe

Theoretical concepts, and the theories that relate these concepts to one another, are key elements in any field of study, and management is no exception.

Theories are useful in examining problems without getting distracted by circumstantial and environmental factors; they allow scientists to isolate key elements and speculate about their relationships. The accuracy and validity of theories is tested through real-world observations or experiments. The results frequently give rise to revisions or indeed the emergence of brand new theories needed to explain what was observed. Given the key role theory plays in scientific inquiry, it is important that you develop related skills, such as applying theory to practical examples, and basing your analyses of case studies and observations on relevant theories. The systematic use of theory is not only critical to your success as a Doctoral student at Walden, but it will guide your academic work as well as your professional practice throughout your career.

Since theory is an abstract and sometimes difficult concept to understand, we will dedicate a comprehensive Discussion this week to the topic of theory. This will give you the opportunity to experience theory on multiple levels and become more familiar with it and its various applications.

Learning Objectives

You will:

• Explain personal perspectives on selected management theories and their applications
• Analyze connections between perception, theory, and practice

Skills

You will develop the following skills:

• Synthesizes and integrates fairly complex or ambiguous information into what is already known about a topic.
• Develops and maintains cooperative working relationships with team members over the duration of a project
• Carefully listens to others; understands, respects, and fully considers diverse thoughts and opinions

Source: Laureate Education (2017). Workplace skills competency framework. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Recommended Readings

Nirenberg, J. (2004). Theories x, y, and z. In G. R. Goethals, G. J. Sorenson, & J. M. Burns (Eds.), Encyclopedia of leadership (Vol. 4, pp. 1539–1541). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. doi:10.4135/9781412952392.n350

Schyns, B., Kiefer, T., Kerschreiter, R., & Tymon, A. (2011). Teaching implicit leadership theories to develop leaders and leadership: How and why it can make a difference. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 10(3), 397–408. doi:10.5465/amle.2010.0015

Document: Stewart, M. (2010, August). Theory U and Theory T. Strategy+Business, Autumn 2010(60). Reprinted by permission of Strategy + Business via the Copyright Clearance Center. (PDF)

Twelve Management site (n.d.). Management methods and models. Retrieved November 20, 2017 from https://www.12manage.com/

Walden University. (n.d.-m). Theorists and theories. Retrieved May 22, 2014, from http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/theory

Walden University. (n.d.-o). Walden templates. Retrieved May 15, 2014, from http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/templates/general

Note: Focus exclusively on “Course Paper.” MGMT 8003M: Week 5: Theories in Practice Paper

Recommended Media

Laureate Education (Producer). (2014n). Theory [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 5 minutes.

Resources on Skills

Laureate Education (Producer). (2017). Concept analysis methods [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 2 minutes.

Concept analysis is an important beginning step in the process of theory development to develop a conceptual definition. It is crucial that concepts are clearly defined to reduce ambiguity. [Note that this clip refers to a different course of study; however, the statements about theory are generally applicable and useful.]
Provided courtesy of the Laureate International Network of Universities. MGMT 8003M: Week 5: Theories in Practice Paper

 

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

Connections between perception, theory, and practice

Introduction

Perception is a complex and dynamic process that involves the interaction of both our minds and our bodies. This means that how we perceive anything, including ourselves, depends on a range of factors. These factors can include what we know about the object or event being perceived as well as how much effort we put into processing it – for example, when something appears blurry or hard to see clearly enough to make out details like faces or objects more clearly than others might be able to do so at first glance. The fact that perception is not always perfect means there are likely many possible causes underlying these problems: some may have nothing to do with physical limitations such as poor eyesight while others could stem from mental ones such as anxiety or low self-esteem causing less efficient processing than usual through various stages in this process (such as recognition vs recall). However complex these processes might appear on first glance however they’re ultimately quite simple: just like any other cognitive function in humans (such as memory) they consist of three steps: encoding (recognition), storage (recall), and retrieval.

Connections between perception, theory and practice

Perception, theory and practice are connected in many ways.

• Perceptual experience: What we perceive is what we think about, how we make sense of things.

• Theory: Our beliefs about the world determine our perception. For example, if you believe that the world is flat, then your perception will be shaped by this assumption (i.e., if you see anything that doesn’t conform with this belief).

• Practice: The actions taken by people in society (or even those individuals themselves) influence how they perceive the world around them; for example: when someone goes against what’s expected or taboo for them to do something “unnatural”.

Perceptual problems

Perceptual problems are the result of a number of factors, including:

• The complexity of the situation.

• The extent to which different people have different experiences and interpretations of the same event or situation.

• The presence of ambiguity in the environment (i.e., not knowing which way is north).

Theory problems

Theory is not always connected to the real world. In many cases, it can be used to justify practices and explain them in terms of their theoretical justifications. For example, if you’re teaching someone how to make a sandwich without ever having made one yourself (and especially if you were never exposed to how this is actually done), then your theory would say that “cutting” bread into triangles will make it easier for people like me who don’t know any better. But when I try cutting bread into triangles myself—even though I’ve never seen anyone else do so—I find that my hand slips off the knife while trying to cut through everything at once! So now we have another piece of evidence suggesting that our original idea may not have been correct after all: if there’s anything about this task which makes sense from an evolutionary perspective then surely some aspect must come through in practice too?

We must understand how our perception of the world can influence our theory and practice.

Perception is always influenced by our theory.

This is a very important point that we must understand, because it will help us to understand the connections between perception, theory and practice. The first thing we need to know about perception is that it’s not just an objective matter but also subjective. What exactly does this mean? It means that there are two different kinds of knowledge: theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge. Theory is based on experience while practice involves actions; therefore they cannot be compared directly with each other because they have different perspectives on reality (that’s why it’s called a theory). However if you want to learn how to play guitar or learn how to be good at math then both can be achieved through practicing them together which would make them similar types of activities – both require skill acquisition so if something happens during one then another thing should happen too (like playing music).

Another example could be someone who wants their daughter/son-in-law as an employee – she may think how hardworking he/she must be in order for him/her not only please himself/herself but also others around him/her which might lead him being fired sooner than expected due

Conclusion

We have shown that sound perception is a much more complicated process than we previously thought. In order to make sense of the world around us, we must distinguish between what is actually happening and how our brains interpret these events. In order to do this effectively, the brain develops an internal model of the world that helps it make sense of what’s going on in front of it by giving it meaning (or finding patterns) within itself. This process occurs even before any sensory input reaches our senses!