Falsification of Theorizing in Operations Management Research

Abstract

The practices of operations management research have been inclined towards practicality and pragmatism. Induction is core background of research in operations management. However, there are certain biases and critiques on the generalizability of data using the approach of Induction, of which falsification is more prominent. This study takes upon three major theories used in Operations Management (OM) research such as Resource Based View (RBV), Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) and Resource Dependence Theory (RDT) and discusses the falsification critiques such as tautology on the theories and theorization of Operations Management (OM) and how the body of research in operations management responds to the criticism. Our study suggests that there needs to be a domain limitation of the theorizing process wherein the theory is posit to hold and thus exposing the theory at hand to the critique of falsification. The theory needs not to capture every facet of the phenomena under examination. This study also highlight the importance of developing field specific theories and the improvement brought into the process of theorization and towards the end we describe courses of action for improving the balance between theory and practice approach in the field.