2. Theory Building Workshop
der Fachgruppe
Arbeits-, Organisations- & Wirtschaftspsychologie
der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Psychologie
Münster, 20.-21. September 2023

It was with great pleasure that we hosted the 2nd Theory Building Workshop of the Division of Industrial, Organizational and Business Psychology. The workshop took place on September 20-21, 2023 in Münster, Germany. Language of the workshop was English.

© OWMs

The aim of the workshop was to initiate and support discussion and exchange on the development and evaluation of theories in the field of work, organizational and business psychology.Although the theoretical foundation is one of the most central quality criteria of our scientific work, there have been very few formats for this in our academic education and training so far.The workshop aims to close this gap, thus adding an important element to the existing offerings of the AOW Division on methodological development, scientific writing and publishing, and career development.

The workshop addressed key topics in theory development, including.

  • Basic components, properties, and functions of theories
  • Construct definition and development of predictions
  • Linking different theory models
  • Evaluation criteria of theories in AOW
  • Strategies for developing theories
  • Publication strategies of theoretical papers

The format of the workshop included both input presentations and open discussions on each topic.

We were able to recruit Joep Cornelissen from the Rotterdam School of Management as facilitator. https://www.rsm.nl/people/joep-cornelissen/

© J. Cornelissen

Joep has an impressive expertise in publishing theory-related papers (e.g. in Academy of Management Review and Journal of Management Science) as well as in teaching related skills.
Joep is currently Editor-in-Chief of Organization Theory, former Associate Editor of the Academy of Management Review, and former General Editor of the Journal of Management Studies.Joep has also received the Joanne Martin Trailblazer Award from the Academy of Management for his work in theory development.

Program: On the first day, we started with a joint lunch and nice conversations at 12 noon, and then moved on to a lively workshop with exciting inputs and lively discussions. Also the common dinner in the city center of Münster offered further possibilities to exchange ideas in a very nice atmosphere. On the second day, the contents and exercises were further deepened and the discussions continued. The workshop finally ended at 4 p.m. on the second day. 

We would like to thank our facilitator Joep Cornelissen and all participants! 

Guido Hertel and Christoph Nohe