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Want Better Business Theories? Maybe Karl Popper Has the Answer
Abstract
Sumantra Ghoshal, in his recent Academy of Management Learning & Education article, argued that management theories currently taught in MBA programs are the causal factor in triggering (a), the recent wave of corporate scandals in the United States and (b), lack of theory building for contemporary management. He identified the dominance in graduate business education of agency theory as the primary culprit for these problems. In this essay I outline how a cognitive philosophy of science shift in the business school culture from Thomas Kuhn's normal science paradigm framework to Karl Popper's revolutionary science methodology would mitigate many of the dysfunctions Ghoshal catalogues. This position is based on published literature, contemporary trends in management theory, and teaching graduate courses in the administrative sciences. I also suggest that, if such a transition is not made, MBA programs will continue to lose both societal and organizational legitimacy.
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“Popperian scientists engage in a continuous process of revolution: testing and discarding theories that fail to measure up based on the empirical data (Shareef, 2007).”
From Does leadership need emotional intelligence? (2009) · cites this paper as Shareef, 2007
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No references could be resolved yet.
Research works printed but not linked: 30
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Does leadership need emotional intelligence?
Antonakis, J., Ashkanasy, N. M., & Dasborough, M. T. (2009) · The Leadership Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2009.01.006 · Cited by 515
Metadata
- Authors
- Shareff, R.
- Affiliations
- Radford University Department of Political Science Virginia Tech Center for Public Administration & Policy
- Venue
- Academy of Management Learning & Education
- Publisher
- Academy of Management
- Published
- 2007-06
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 272-280
- ISSN
- 1537-260X (ISSN-L)
- 1944-9585
- OpenAlex
- W2313632343
- Cited by
- 39
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2022: 7 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 8.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Academy of Management Learning and Education (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Management Theory and Practice
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Business Strategies and Management Research
- Social Sciences › Education › Management and Marketing Education
- Keywords
- Karl Popper, agency theory, Thomas Kuhn, normal science, revolutionary science, philosophy of science, management theory, MBA education, corporate scandals, theory development, organizational legitimacy
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- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Want Better Business Theories? Maybe Karl Popper Has the Answer. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.5465/amle.2007.25223466
- The paper
- Shareff, R. (2007). Want Better Business Theories? Maybe Karl Popper Has the Answer. Academy of Management Learning & Education. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2007.25223466
