Metaphor and Analogical Reasoning in Organization Theory: beyond Orthodoxy

Abstract

Discusses the creative potential of tropes--figures of speech in which a word is used in a nonliteral way--in the process of analogical reasoning in organizational science. A broad classification of the tropes available for the study of organizations and organizational phenomena is presented, and the orthodox approach to metaphors is briefly critiqued. It is suggested that metaphors (including metonymy and synecdoche) operate within the "cognitive comfort zone" of similarity. Thus, analogically, they are best seen as a means of elaborating and explicating existing knowledge. The authors argue that greater analytical attention should be paid to the so-called lesser tropes of anomaly, paradox, and irony, which are based on dissimilarity. It is argued that these tropes operate within the "cognitive discomfort zone," open up genuine alternative possibilities, and, analogically, provide a more fruitful source of knowledge generation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2003 APA, all rights reserved)

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