Rigor and Relevance in Management Typologies: Assessing the Quality of Qualitative Classifications

Typologies are a unique form of theory building and can provide orientation to scholars and practitioners alike. However, typologies are often developed without explicitly paying attention to their inherent rigor and relevance issues. In this article, we examine the elements that constitute rigor and relevance in qualitative typologies, particularly in management studies, and illustrate them through two examples from the strategy and from the project management literature respectively. Our analysis reveals that researchers should pay attention to the judicious choice of (discriminatory and impactful) classification principles and focus on the ultimate purpose of their typologies in both academia and practice, as well as on the careful use of an adequate graphic representation of their typology. As a contribution to the study of typologies in management studies we compile, organize, apply, and extend the quality attributes for typologies in this context and show how these attributes can be systematically addressed.