Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater: Comments on "Recent Developments in PLS"
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Date
2022-03
Authors
Russon, Daniel
Stol, Klaas-Jan
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Publisher
Association for Information Systems
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Abstract
Evermann and Rönkkö aim to present an overview of recent advances in PLS, and while some advances are described with several useful recommendations, we argue that their article does not fully deliver on its promise. In this response, we argue that their position presents an unbalanced view, ignores several methodological advances by IS scholars. We note that several recommendations are so stringent that implementing that there are philosophical and practical differences that are insufficiently taken into account. Further, several studies that highlight the shortcomings of PLS seem to be based on specially designed cases that are not necessarily representative of typical use of PLS. In our response, we call for a more balanced debate that takes into consideration different perspectives and that studies of the performance of PLS are conducted fairly. While we do not disagree with E&R’s recommendations, the implementation of those is challenged by a lack of tool support, and we observe that besides scholars using PLS, editors and reviewers also have a responsibility to be cognizant of methodological advances. We commend E&R for their efforts in studying the limitations of PLS which have spurred several methodological advances, but also caution that we should not ‘throw the baby out with the bathwater,” by discarding PLS for its known limitations.
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Keywords
Structural equation modeling , Partial least squares
Citation
Russon, D. and Stol, K.-J. (2022) 'Don't Throw the Baby Out With the Bathwater: Comments on Recent Developments in PLS', Communications of the Association for Information Systems, (12 pp), forthcoming publication.
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