ARC: Connections: Conferences: Summer 2010: Preconference Event
Ideas that Matter: A Dialog on Enhancing Theory Development in Marketing
American Marketing Association Marketing Educators’ 2010 Summer Conference
Pre-Conference Program
Pre-Conference Program Co-Chairs
-Manjit S. Yadav, Texas A&M University
-Deborah MacInnis, University of Southern California
Boston, MA
Friday, August 13, 2010 (1:00 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.)
Saturday, August 14, 2010 (10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.)
Motivation and Conference Objectives
As the marketing discipline matures, scholars have periodically examined the field’s progress in substantive, conceptual, and methodological domains. One of the most comprehensive assessments on the state of the field was conducted more than twenty years ago by the AMA Task Force on Knowledge Development. The eleven-member task force published a series of updates of its deliberations, culminating in a final report published in 1988 (Monroe et al. 1988). Although the task force examined a broad range of issues, the discipline’s progress in theory development emerged as an important consideration—and a cause for concern. To address this and related issues pertaining to scholarship in the discipline, the task force proposed several recommendations touching on many individual, group, and institutional factors (e.g., doctoral programs, career development, journal positioning, etc.) that impact theory development in the field.
How has theory development in marketing fared in the twenty years since the 1984-1988 AMA Task Force published its recommendations? Although the discipline remains vibrant and progress continues to be made on multiple fronts, recent writings (see, e.g., MacInnis 2004; Reibstein, Day, and Wind 2009; Yadav 2010) present a troubling picture—especially with respect to the task force’s key theory-related observations about the "importance of conceptual and review articles in knowledge development" (Monroe et al. 1988, p. 19). With these recent commentaries as a backdrop, the pre-conference program has the following objectives:
- Facilitate a retrospective and prospective discussion of the 1984-1988 AMA Task Force Report’s recommendations to spur theory development
- Understand the impact of conceptual, theory-building articles in knowledge development and delineate effective strategies for crafting such contributions
- Critically examine institutional factors (e.g., journals, doctoral programs, incentive systems) that influence theory development efforts
- Develop an agenda for enhancing theory and strengthening knowledge development in the marketing discipline in the future
Pre-Conference Presentations
Keynote Presentation
"Lessons Learned from AMA Task Force on the Development of Marketing Knowledge"
-Kent Monroe, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign & University of Richmond,
Chair of 1984-1988 AMA Task Force on Knowledge Development in Marketing
Panel Session 1:
Working with Ideas: Understanding the Role, Impact, and Craft of Theory Development
"Working With Ideas"
-Gerald Zaltman, Harvard University
"Crafting Successful Theories: The Case of Resource-Advantage Theory"
-Shelby Hunt, Texas Tech University
"Building Impactful Theories"
-Ajay Kohli, Georgia Tech
"What We Explore is Important: Delving into the Larger Field of Marketing"
-William Wilkie, University of Notre Dame
Panel Session 2:
Institutional Factors and Theory Development: Journals, Doctoral Programs and Incentive Systems
"Sophistication in Research in Marketing"
-Leigh McAlister, University of Texas at Austin
"A Marketing Theory National Online Doctoral Seminar"
-Peter Dickson, Florida International University
"Role of Journals and Other Institutional Factors in Knowledge Development" [No Download]
-Richard Lutz, University of Florida
"Incentives to Publish (Lots)"
-John Lynch, University of Colorado at Boulder
Panel Session 3:
Enhancing Theory and Strengthening Knowledge Development in the Marketing Discipline
"Enhancing Theory Development & Strengthening Knowledge Development in Marketing"
-Rajan Varadarajan, Texas A&M University
"Theory Development in Marketing"
-Ravi Achrol, George Washington University
"Enhancing Theory Development & Strengthening Knowledge Development in Marketing"
-Ruth Bolton, Marketing Science Institute
"Enhancing Theory Development & Strengthening Knowledge Development in Marketing"
-David Stewart, University of California, Riverside
Panel Session 4:
Commentaries on the Theory Pre-Conference
"Impact of Conceptual Work on Theory Development and Practice" [No Download]
-Roger Kerin, Southern Methodist University
"Ideas that Matter … Or Matter-ing Our Ideas?"
-Julie Ozanne, Virginia Tech
"A Look at the Future of Theory"
-Aric Rindfleisch, University of Wisconsin, Madison
"Some Thoughts About Theory"
-Roland Rust, University of Maryland
References
MacInnis, Deborah (2004), "Where Have All the Papers Gone? Reflections on the Decline of Conceptual Articles," Presidential Column: Association for Consumer Research Newsletter, Spring 2004, 1-3.
Monroe, Kent B. et al. (1988), "Developing, Disseminating, and Utilizing Marketing Knowledge," Journal of Marketing, 52 (4), 1-25.
Reibstein, David J., George Day, and Jerry Wind (2009), "Is Marketing Academia Losing Its Way?" Journal of Marketing, 73 (4), 1-3.
Yadav, Manjit S. (2010), "The Decline of Conceptual Articles and Implications for Knowledge Development," Journal of Marketing, 74 (1), 1-19.