Applying Coleman’s Boat in Management Research: Opportunities and Challenges in Bridging Macro and Micro Theory

Cowen et al discuss the application of Coleman's boat in management research. Building on their collective experiences, they highlight three primary theoretical challenges that prevent researchers from fully realizing the value of integrating macro and micro approaches, along with some potential solutions that they hope will prove useful to scholars in addressing these issues in their own work. In doing so, their intention is not to focus on limitations of macro or micro research. Rather, they aim to facilitate the success and impact of authors conducting cross-level work by highlighting a set of common theoretical challenges that such papers often encounter.