Reflections: "Where Have All the Flowers Gone . . . When Will They Ever Learn?"

Theorizing Through Literature Reviews: The Miner-Prospector Continuum

“…We were introduced to the metaphor through a conversation with Howard Aldrich, University of North Carolina. Similar to Nugent (2011), our definition of the term envisions miners as working to plumb an existing seam of resource as deeply as possible, while prospectors pursue new avenues “sinking or swimming on their own hunches” (Nugent, 2011, p. 209).…”

“…Within this target mine, there will be many scholars competing for resource within the crowded space, from well-seasoned and battle-hardened old-timers to novices finding their way (Rollag, 2004). The former will tell hero and war stories (which fill novices with both inspiration and trepidation; Nugent, 2011) of exploiting hard-won mining leases, muscling against each other (and the novices) for prize positions (Pickering et al, 2015; Rollag, 2004). Those who have invested most in the mine are more likely to aggressively defend their patch.…”

“…The prospector thus seeks to shape the direction of research or search for new knowledge domains. The prospector avoids established hierarchies in existing mines, and follows their sense of adventure into unknown worlds beyond (Cozzo, 1999; Nugent, 2011). As Simsek et al (2015) note, “While some opportunities are of the ‘low-hanging fruit’ variety, others call for creative and courageous efforts to explore topics of unknown variety with a substantial risk of dead ends and empty hands but with potential to rejuvenate and enlighten the entire landscape.”…”

“…Setting out new paths (or pure prospecting) is considered high risk, with many more misses than hits over time (Nugent, 2011). Authors might set out new directions based on practical rationality, by setting current theory against the actual practices of management (Suddaby et al, 2011).…”

“…This article extends the body of knowledge on review articles through proposing a new scheme of classification, which we term the “miner-prospector continuum.” Our miner-prospector continuum contributes to the understanding of theorizing through reviews by addressing questions regarding how best to articulate the nature of each contribution, given the complexity of the differing approaches undertaken in review papers (Kunisch et al, 2018, p. 519). Within the miner-prospector continuum, the theoretical contributions of differently styled literature reviews are positioned between, on the one hand, a “miner” approach (outlining and synthesizing a given field) and, on the other hand, a “prospector” approach, drawing on evidence across domains with a view to changing conceptual understandings and perhaps shifting research paradigms (see Cozzo, 1999; Nugent, 2011). Through this new scheme of classification, the article identifies, and explicates, eight strategies that may be used by authors to assist in the building of theory (Shepherd & Suddaby, 2017).…”