Redefining concepts to build theory: A repertoire for conceptual innovation

Abstract

Defining and redefining theoretical concepts is an essential part of HRM research, but its role in the theorizing process is still poorly understood. While concept redefinition practices are often dismissed as a scholarly malpractice (‘concept proliferation’) by methodologists, we argue that concept redefinition enhances the health of a literature if one makes a theoretical contribution. To learn what this entails, we first explore the various philosophical motivations for why and how concept definitions are reformulated, changed, and improved. This culminates in a general framework and a vocabulary of ten different opportunities for making theoretical contributions via conceptual redefinition, using the concept of charisma as an illustrative case. From our analysis we induce that concept redefinition is both inevitable and necessary as a form of theory development and conceptual maintenance in many fields of inquiry. We discuss the implications of our framework as being a methodological ‘repertoire’ that, we hope, spurs both useful and novel concept redefinitions that help maintain a healthy HRM literature.