On the morning of March 22nd, Professor Yong Li from the Lee Business School of the University of Nevada was invited to give an academic report titled “Developing Theoretical Insights in Entrepreneurship Research” to faculty and students of the School of Management of Shandong University. The lecture was one of the series of Lectures by Famous Experts of the School, where Professor Wu Changqi, Dean of the School, hosted the report.
Professor Li, leveraging his profound expertise in entrepreneurship research, introduced the approaches and processes of developing theoretical insights to the faculty and students. He pointed out that developing theoretical insights can generally be divided into two approaches: one is developing new theories (BIG T), namely proposing new concepts and logic as well as rebuttals to existing theories; the other is expanding on existing theories (small t), including extending the assumptions, concepts, mechanisms and boundary conditions of existing theories. Professor Li then proposed that developing theoretical insights is an iterative process that typically involves four steps: “proposing an important and interesting question”, “challenging existing assumptions”, “understanding the real-world context and phenomena”, and “conceptualizing, theorizing, and analyzing”. He believes theoretical insights can be developed from any step and requires repetition. He also provided detailed explanations integrating his research experiences and rich literature examples, giving faculty and students a clearer understanding of the process of developing theoretical insights. In the closing remarks, the faculty and students engaged in a lively discussion with Professor Li around issues of theoretical insights in their respective fields of research.
Yong Li, Ph.D., a renowned Chinese management scholar, is professor and Lee professor of entrepreneurship in the Lee Business School, and research director of Troesh Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He is a co-editor for Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal (SEJ), a leading entrepreneurship journal, and on the editorial boards of several other leading journals including AMJ, AMR, JBV, and JIBS. He conducts research at the intersection of entrepreneurship, strategy and international business, studying venture capital, crowdfunding, new venture innovation and international expansion. Li has published extensively in major management journals such as AMJ, JIBS, OS, and SMJ, and in major entrepreneurship journals including SEJ, JBV, and ETP. His research has been supported by the Kauffman Foundation and SSHRC Canada, recognized by AOM, SMS and IACMR, and featured on Forbes, Entrepreneur, Crowdfund Insider, and Knowledge@Wharton.
