Title: Concepts: a review

Authors: John Branch; Francesco Rocchi

Addresses: Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA ' Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Abstract: Concepts serve critical functions in science, through their descriptive powers and as the building-blocks of theory. When concepts are undeveloped, therefore, science suffers. Philosophical understanding of concepts, however, is relatively limited in most scientific disciplines, including management. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to review the literature on concepts. It begins by establishing the link between concepts and science. It then highlights the lack of emphasis on concepts in the management discipline. It continues by discussing the role of concepts and cognition. Finally, it defines and discusses the different philosophies of concepts.

Keywords: scientific concepts; knowledge; philosophies of concepts; literature review; management discipline; cognition.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMCP.2015.075103

International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy, 2015 Vol.9 No.1, pp.20 - 39

Received: 01 May 2014
Accepted: 04 May 2015
Published online: 03 Mar 2016 *

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