ONTOLOGICAL SHIFT OR ONTOLOGICAL DRIFT? REALITY CLAIMS, EPISTEMOLOGICAL FRAMEWORKS, AND THEORY GENERATION IN ORGANIZATION STUDIES.

Mark P. A. Thompson

121 citations0/0 files storedAcademy of Management Review

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Management and Organizational Studies Management Theory and Practice Business Strategies and Management Research

Abstract

Minor shifts in emphasis between the process and entitative dimensions of management constructs can be an effective method of theory generation. However, such shifts require corresponding adjustments in both ontology and epistemology. Where ontology and epistemology drift out of alignment, there is significant potential for confusion. I describe and illustrate four kinds of epistemic-ontological movement using a range of examples, particularly from the communities of practice literature, and I discuss implications for both theory and practice.

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1983The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields 1994Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation.2019Diffusion of Innovations 1 1991Situated Learning 1990Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance 1999Communities of practice learning, meaning, and identity 1977Outline of a Theory of Practice 2004The iron cage revisited institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields

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