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Theory-Construction Method (amr-methods) · brycewang-stanford | DecimalAI

researchby brycewang-stanford

Theory-Construction Method (amr-methods)

brycewang-stanford/amr-methods

Source brycewang-stanford/awesome-journal-skills ↗License MIT

Use when choosing and applying a theory-construction method for an Academy of Management Review (AMR) manuscript — building constructs, defining their domain, specifying relationships, articulating the underlying logic/mechanisms, and setting boundary conditions. This is the THEORY-CONSTRUCTION craft, NOT empirical method; AMR publishes no datasets, no measures, and no statistical tests.

SkillScore100Maintained

Automatic

Research pack

Last verified 8/15/2026

What it changes

Passed 22 of 22 test cases with the skill, and 3 of 22 without it.

Without skill14%

With skill100%

Checks it passed that the model alone missed

Uses the bracketed header tag 【Next step】
Uses the bracketed header tag 【Mechanism basis】
Uses the bracketed header tag 【Constructs built】

and 12 more in the full report

19 fixed3 passed either way0 still failing0 broke

Pass-rate lift: +86 pp
Tokens: +8%
Agent turns: 0%
Response time: -33%

Model gemini-3.6-flashMeasured 8/15/2026v122 of 22 cases passed with skill

Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.

Use this skill

Save it into your project's skills folder. Claude Code picks it up in its next session.

curl -fsSL --create-dirs -o .claude/skills/brycewang-stanford-amr-methods/SKILL.md https://app.decimal.ai/s/brycewang-stanford-amr-methods/SKILL.md

Want it pinned and updatable? pip install "decimalai>=0.15", then decimalai skills add brycewang-stanford-amr-methods, and start Claude Code with claude --plugin-dir "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/.agents"

1 · One-time — install the CLI (docs ↗)

pip install "decimalai>=0.15"

2 · Get the skill — writes .agents/skills/brycewang-stanford-amr-methods/ and pins it in .decimal/skills.lock

decimalai skills add brycewang-stanford-amr-methods

No CLI? Get the same file — curl · raw file

curl -fsSL --create-dirs -o .claude/skills/brycewang-stanford-amr-methods/SKILL.md https://app.decimal.ai/s/brycewang-stanford-amr-methods/SKILL.md

Raw file: /s/brycewang-stanford-amr-methods/SKILL.md ↗ · machine-readable summary at /s/brycewang-stanford-amr-methods.json ↗

Safety checks: 3 of 3 passed

Code scan CleanIntent PassedContent Clean

See it in action

One of 19 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.

1 of 19

Prompt

I am drafting a theoretical manuscript for AMR where I take the concept of 'cognitive inertia' from cognitive psychology and apply it to executive team strategic pivots. I want to ensure my theoretical framing is structurally sound. Please evaluate my draft concept and organize your feedback using the structured format covering construction approach, constructs built, mechanism basis, boundary conditions, empirical apparatus present, and next step.

What was checked, without and with the skill
Checked	Without skill	With skill
Uses the bracketed header tag 【Construction approach】	Missed	Passed
Identifies analogy or metaphorical transfer as the construction approach	Missed	Passed
Specifies amr-data-analysis as the required next step	Missed	Passed

case-01 · gemini-3.6-flash · 8/15/2026 · answers are capped and redacted

What's inside

The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.

SKILL.md63 linessingle file

Theory-Construction Method (amr-methods)

AMR publishes NO empirical data. There are no samples, no measures, no estimation, and no results. "Method" here means the craft of building theory: how you construct constructs, derive relationships, ground mechanisms, and bound the theory. If your project needs data to make its point, it belongs at AMJ / ASQ / SMJ.

When to trigger

Constructs and propositions exist but the way they were built feels ad hoc
A reviewer would ask "where did this construct's domain come from?"
The theory needs a more disciplined construction approach than intuition
You need to choose among theory-building styles for your puzzle

Choosing a theory-construction approach

Approach	When it fits	Core moves
Conceptual elaboration	Extending a known theory to a new domain	Carry over the core logic; re-specify constructs for the new setting; add boundary conditions
Analogical / metaphorical transfer	A construct from another field illuminates a management phenomenon	Map source → target carefully; theorize where the analogy holds and breaks
Typology construction	The phenomenon has distinct, theoretically meaningful types	Derive dimensions from theory (not data); ensure types are mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive; theorize transitions (e.g., Oliver's strategic-responses typology, AMR 1991, DOI 10.5465/amr.1991.4279002)
Process theorizing	The phenomenon is a sequence/becoming, not a variance relationship	Specify stages, triggers, feedback loops, and timing; theorize the engine that drives movement
Construct re-specification	An existing construct conflates distinct phenomena	Split or merge; re-define the domain; re-derive downstream relationships
Cross-level theorizing	The action spans individual ↔ collective	Specify emergence (bottom-up) and top-down effects; avoid level confusion

Building each component well

Constructs: a good construct is necessary (the theory cannot be stated without it), distinct (not a synonym), and has a clear domain and scope conditions (Suddaby's construct-clarity criteria, AMR 2010, DOI 10.5465/amr.2010.0419). Define what it excludes, not only what it includes. Construct domain is the conceptual analog of avoiding a contaminated sample — but done in argument, not data cleaning.
Relationships: derive, don't assert. Each link should follow from the constructs and an explicit mechanism. Specify form (causal / recursive / moderating / mediating / constitutive).
Mechanisms: name the engine — the why that makes theory explanatory rather than descriptive (Whetten, AMR 1989, DOI 10.5465/amr.1989.4308371). Prefer mechanisms with micro-foundations — actors doing things for stated reasons — over black-box "is associated with."
Boundary conditions: state the contextual, temporal, and level limits. Strong theory specifies its own scope; this is contribution, not hedging.
Falsifiability: design propositions to be refutable in principle (AMR's scope demands "testable knowledge-based claims"). This is the AMR analog of identification rigor at AMJ — credibility rests on tight, falsifiable logic, not on a clean estimate.

Checklist

A named construction approach (or explicit hybrid) is used, not intuition alone
Each construct is necessary, distinct, and domain-bounded
Each relationship is derived from constructs + mechanism, not asserted
Mechanisms are specified with micro-foundations where possible
Typologies (if used) are mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive, derived from theory

Track record

Benchmark

22 / 22

test cases passed, vs 3 / 22 without

Adoption

Users: 0
Times used: 0

Safety and source details

SkillSafety

✓ 3 of 3 passed

Code scan15 of 15 checks clean

0 critical · 0 warning · 0 info — scanner v4 — 8/3/2026

View 15 scanner checks

live_secretremote_code_executionreverse_shelldata_exfiltrationssrf_metadataagent_snoopinganti_refusaldestructive_commandsobfuscated_unicodeunicode_homoglyphopaque_blobsuspicious_urltool_overreachtrigger_abuseprompt_injection_phrasing

IntentSafe

LLM judge · does the skill do what it claims

ContentClean

LLM judge · policy & harmful-content review

Source

Imported

brycewang-stanford / awesome-journal-skills

Academy-of-Management-Review-Skills/skills/amr-methods/SKILL.md

View on GitHub ↗

License MITImported 8/3/2026Version v1

Other skills for the same job

Published skills whose descriptions closely match this one, with their headline benchmark lift.

brycewang-stanford/amr-theory-developmentUse when building the actual theory for an Academy of Management Review (AMR) manuscript — turning a positioned puzzle into defined constructs, explicit relationships, propositions, and boundary conditions. Constructs the theory; it does NOT stress-test the argument's logic (that is amr-data-analysis) or design any data collection (AMR has none).Close match+27 pp pass-rate lift

More skills from the same source and nearby in the registry, with their headline benchmark lift.

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See it in action

What's inside

Theory-Construction Method (amr-methods)

When to trigger

Choosing a theory-construction approach

Building each component well

Checklist

Track record

Benchmark

Adoption

SkillSafety

Source

Other skills for the same job

Related skills