ABSTRACT
This chapter distinguishes several types of theories, adding "action theories" to empirical theory and goal-based empirical theories. The objective of scientific effort in organization studies, as well as elsewhere, is the development of an increasingly comprehensive network of empirical theory. A "management theory jungle" is a reasonable product of existing management thought and research: the neglect of differences between operational definitions, the tendency to ignore differences between types of theories, and the focus on only unitarian change/difference. Both beyond and exacerbating issues with conceptual and operational definition, the jungle in management thought also derives from several shortfalls related to the characters and roles of "theories". Meta analysis provides some promise of isolating consistent associations in nature, but that promise is substantially limited. "Meta analysis" has tended to become a gentle metaphor, overall, including a broad range of inquiries better classified as a "survey of surveys or studies".
