Title: Fiat lux: a reflection on management research

Authors: Les Worrall

Addresses: Management Research Centre, Wolverhampton Business School, University of Wolverhampton, Telford Campus, Telford, TF2 9NT, UK

Abstract: In an era when both practitioners and management researchers are being asked to become more reflexive not only about the work they do but also the way that they do it, this paper examines the changing research stance of a researcher who has published extensively in the field of organisational analysis, largely from a positivist perspective when the world around him seems to be taking a postmodernist turn. The paper poses a number of issues that are relevant to both emerging management researchers and those with a longer track record. In the final section of the paper, a framework is developed which explores the ontological and epistemological assumptions that are often unconsciously taken as given or unquestioned in many management research projects.

Keywords: work psychology; reflexivity; ontology; epistemology; management research; organisational analysis; organisational change; HRM; human resource management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMCP.2005.008516

International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy, 2005 Vol.1 No.3, pp.248 - 261

Published online: 24 Dec 2005 *

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