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Conceptual Translation: A Metatheoretical Program for the Construction, Critique, and Integration of Theory

Albert, S., Anderson, M. H. — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:05:26 PST

Conceptual translation (CT) is a metatheoretical approach for translating one theory into another. It works by creating and applying a dictionary of translation equivalents between a source and target domain. The authors develop the process of CT and discuss how it addresses three core problems of organizational science: (1) the need to generate new theory (insights, relationships, propositions), (2) the need to critique existing theory, and (3) the need to overcome the increasing fragmentation of knowledge that characterizes social science. The article illustrates the potential contribution of CT by presenting three specific examples drawn from a translation of Michael Porter’s (1980) Competitive Strategy, in which statements about competitive strategy become, in translation, statements about organizational change. Due to the convergence of two historical trends, the authors believe that CT represents a program of research that is particularly timely and represents a significant new direction in how theories will be constructed in the 21st century.

Comment on "Regaining Lost Relevance"

Bennis, W. — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:53:53 PDT

Acting As If We Were New

Fiol, C. M. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:46:43 PDT

The Mature Entrepreneur: A Narrative Approach to Entrepreneurial Goals

Clarke, J., Holt, R. — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:57:56 PDT

The majority of existing research on entrepreneurial goals is individualistically oriented and tends to begin with the assumption that entrepreneurs are animated solely by the pursuit of independence, freedom and profit-making. In this study, we employ Kant’s concept of maturity to develop insight into entrepreneurial goals as socially embedded. Drawing on a narrative orientation we explore how entrepreneurs articulate their goals and the images they use to metaphorically express these goals. We find that entrepreneurs articulate goals that evoke public, social and moral concerns alongside the more commonly accepted entrepreneurial goals of independence and challenging existing orthodoxies.

The Philosophical Foundations of a Radical Austrian Approach to Entrepreneurship

Chiles, T. H., Vultee, D. M., Gupta, V. K., Greening, D. W., Tuggle, C. S. — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 07:36:49 PDT

The equilibrium-based approaches that dominate entrepreneurship research offer useful insights into some aspects of entrepreneurship, but they ignore or downplay many fundamental entrepreneurial phenomena such as individuals’ creative imaginations, firms’ resource (re)combinations, and markets’ disequilibrating tendencies—and the genuine uncertainty and widespread heterogeneity these imply. To overcome these limitations, scholars have recently introduced a nonequilibrium approach to entrepreneurship based on Ludwig Lachmann’s "radical subjectivist" brand of Austrian economics. In this article, the radical Austrian approach is extended beyond Lachmann to include the work of radical subjectivism’s other noted theorist: George Shackle. More important, the article extends entrepreneurship research by systematically comparing and contrasting the nascent, radical Austrian approach to entrepreneurship with three dominant equilibrium-based approaches: neoclassical, Kirznerian, and Schumpeterian economics. Specifically, the article (a) explicates the paradigmatic philosophical assumptions about the nature of individuals, firms, and markets that underlie these approaches; (b) demonstrates how metaphor is employed as a device to concretize these assumptions; (c) examines the research questions that arise from the assumptions these metaphors reflect; and (d) uses the Japanese "beer wars" of the 1980s and 1990s to illustrate one methodological approach (hermeneutics) researchers can adopt to apply these assumptions, metaphors, and questions to study entrepreneurial phenomena from a radical subjectivist perspective.

Theorizing the Dark Side of the Workplace Spirituality Movement

Lips-Wiersma, M., Dean, K. L., Fornaciari, C. J. — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:38:30 PDT

This article constructs an alternative analytic lens by which to consider the "everyone wins" conclusions drawn within most workplace spirituality (WPS) research. The article offers a critical 2 x 2 matrix that makes visible two potentially negative organizational dimensions of WPS: control and instrumentality. The article investigates into the four quadrants of WPS: seduction, evangelization, manipulation, and subjugation, through practical examples. It concludes with implications for the workplace and offers an agenda for future research.

Let's Talk about "Us": A Reflexive Account of a Cross-Cultural Research Collaboration

Thomas, R., Tienari, J., Davies, A., Merilainen, S. — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:00:55 PDT

In this article, we reflect on our experiences of collaborative working in a cross-cultural research team. We reflexively interrogate the construction of the univocal "we" that is expressed in our dissemination of the research findings. We show how cross-cultural collaborative research brings into sharp relief underlying complex culturally and theoretically determined patterns of thinking within the research team that may otherwise remain unquestioned. We conclude by considering the power dynamics within collaborative research, arguing for greater critical reflection by research members at all stages of the research engagement.

Editor's Introduction

Jamieson, D. W. — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:54:58 PDT