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The title was chosen advisedly. This chapter is not about how to construct or create theory. It is not about the epistemology of theory. It is not about philosophy of science in general, or about logical positivism, modernism, post-modernism, or social constructivism in particular. It is not even about good theory versus bad theory. Rather, the goals are to consider: how ‘theory’currently functions in industrial, work, and organizational psychology (IWOP);(1) what its role (s) seem to be;(2) what its objectives are;(3) the context (s) or environment (s) in which it seeks to operate; and (4), most importantly, the utility of theory for advancing the goals of IWOP. Specifying the purview of IWOP is not a simple matter. We will take it to be theory, research, and practice (TRP) that deals with the functioning of individuals, teams, and perhaps even larger groups in a work setting. Traditional organization theory (eg Porter, 1980) is viewed …