Explanation is essential to theory and practice.
If we see an organization doing well, we
want to reproduce the success; if we see one
doing poorly, we want to prevent failure. Either
way, we need a theory-an explanation of what
is causing the observed outcomes. As Sutton
and Staw argue, explanation is the core of good
theory; it is "the answer to queries of why" (1995:
378). In this article I adopt what DiMaggio (1995)
calls the "theory as narrative" view: an explanation
is a story that describes the process, or
sequence of events, that connects cause and
effect (see also Einhorn & Hogarth, 1986). In this
view, good stories are central to building better
theory.