Dh. Doty et Wh. Glick, TYPOLOGIES AS A UNIQUE FORM OF THEORY BUILDING - TOWARD IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING AND MODELING, The Academy of Management review, 19(2), 1994, pp. 230-251
Organizational typologies have proved to be a popular approach for thi
nking about organizational structures and strategies. Authors developi
ng typologies, however, have been criticized for developing simplistic
classification systems instead of theories. Contrary to these critici
sms, we argue that typologies meet the criteria of a theory. When typo
logies are properly developed and fully specified, they are complex th
eories that can be subjected to rigorous empirical testing using the q
uantitative models we develop. We conclude by discussing the advantage
s of typological theories and presenting guidelines to improve the dev
elopment of typologies.