Abstract

The Theory and Philosophy of Organisations assesses and analyzes the assumptions upon which our understanding of organizations is based and in doing so aims to redirect the ways in which organizational research is conceived and executed. Contributions to the volume emphasize how all approaches to the study of organizations are influenced by deep metatheoretical assumptions about the nature of science and society. It is argued that these differences create a spectrum of valid perspectives and methods, and the book outlines how conceptual problems in the field have given rise to innovative forms of empirical enquiry such as symbolism, postmodernism, ethnomethodology and structuralism. Criticizing the conservatism which has characterized much of the work in this field, the authors offers this range of methods as a starting point for obtaining richer and more grounded explanations of organizations.