What Are Mechanisms? Ways of Conceptualizing and Studying Causal Mechanisms

IF 8.9 2区 管理学 Q1 MANAGEMENT Organizational Research Methods Pub Date : 2025-03-14 DOI:10.1177/10944281251318727
Joep P. Cornelissen, Mirjam Werner
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Over the last two decades, much of management research has converged on the belief that one of its major aims is to identify the causal mechanisms that produce the phenomena that researchers seek to explain. In this paper, we review and synthesize the literature that has amassed around causal mechanisms. We do so by detailing the different methodological perspectives that are featured in management research, which we label as the contextual, constitutive, and interventionist perspectives. For each of these perspectives, we examine what it theoretically presupposes a mechanism to be, how this connects to methodological choices, and how this shapes the kind of mechanism-based explanations that each perspective offers. We also explore the main inferential challenges for each of these perspectives and offer specific methodological guidance in response. In this way, we aim to offer a common plank for theorizing and research on causal mechanisms in ways that recognize and harness the productive differences across different epistemologies and methodological traditions.
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来源期刊
CiteScore
23.20
自引率
3.20%
发文量
17
期刊介绍: Organizational Research Methods (ORM) was founded with the aim of introducing pertinent methodological advancements to researchers in organizational sciences. The objective of ORM is to promote the application of current and emerging methodologies to advance both theory and research practices. Articles are expected to be comprehensible to readers with a background consistent with the methodological and statistical training provided in contemporary organizational sciences doctoral programs. The text should be presented in a manner that facilitates accessibility. For instance, highly technical content should be placed in appendices, and authors are encouraged to include example data and computer code when relevant. Additionally, authors should explicitly outline how their contribution has the potential to advance organizational theory and research practice.
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