Introductions

Yesterday, Brayden King at OrgTheory drew attention to a piece in the Academy of Management Journal about how to write an introduction. It was good to see that the three questions they want an introduction to answer line up largely with the three paragraphs I normally get authors to try to compose when writing theirs.

(1) Who cares? What is the topic or research question, and why is it interesting and important in theory and practice?
(2) What do we know, what don’t we know, and so what? What key theoretical perspectives and empirical findings have already informed the topic or question? What major, unaddressed puzzle, controversy, or paradox does this study address, and why does it need to be addressed?
(3) What will we learn? How does your study fundamentally change, challenge, or advance scholars’ understanding?