Theory Building and Testing in Business and Management and PLS-SEM
Using SmartPLS
hosted by Prof. Sinkovics, Prof. Ringle, Dr. Sinkovics, and Dr. Becker at the University of Manchester
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Start: Monday, 23 Sep 2019 09:00
End: Wednesday, 25 Sep 2019 17:00 The University of Manchester
Williamson Building, Room G47 176 Oxford Rd Manchester M13 9QQ United Kingdom Who should attend?
This course has been designed for full-time faculty and PhD students who are interested in learning how to step-up their research towards well-designed and publishable outputs that potentially survive the test of time and are read and cited. A basic knowledge of univariate and multivariate statistics and SEM techniques is helpful, but not required. All participants get a certificate of attendance! Most universities acknowledge the course participation with an equivalent of 6 ECTS. |
Course objectives
Editorials on what constitutes a strong journal article repeatedly stress the importance of theory in addition to rigor and relevance. While one does not build theory from scratch, there are different ways to approach theory building. Day 1 of this workshop explores what theory is and what it is not, the types of theories, and the different stages of the theory building process. We will also introduce you to a range of software tools that can support the initial theorizing and research question development process. Furthermore, we look at different ways to operationalize initial concepts.
Day 2 and 3 of this workshop look at Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), which has recently received considerable attention in a variety of disciplines, including marketing (Hair et al 2011, according to Google scholar the most-cited article ever published in JMTP; Hair et al. 2012a, according to Google scholar the most-cited JAMS article since 2012), strategic management (Hair et al. 2012a, according to Google scholar the most-cited LRP article since 2012), and management information systems (Ringle et al. 2012, according to Google scholar the second-most cited MIS Quarterly article since 2012). The goal of PLS-SEM is the explanation of variances (prediction-oriented character of the methodology) rather than explaining covariances (theory testing via covariance-based SEM). The application of the PLS-SEM method is of particular interest if the premises of covariance-based SEM are violated and the assumed relations of cause-and-effect are not sufficiently explored. An additional advantage of the PLS-SEM method is the unrestricted incorporation of latent variables in the path model that either draws on reflective or formative measurements models. The workshop will focus on the following main topics:
Learning outcomes
This workshop is designed to look at the stages of research question development and theorizing together with the subsequent methodological implementation using the multivariate analysis method PLS-SEM in international business and management research. The learning objectives are to (1) contribute to theory by usefully developing novel concepts and operationalisations, (2) have an in-depth methodological appreciation of the PLS-SEM approach (the nature of causal modelling, analytical objectives, some statistics), (3) being able to evaluate measurement results, and (4) understand complementary analytical techniques.
Specifically, participants will learn to appreciate the following topics:
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