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Realism has been one of the most powerful new developments in philosophy and the social sciences and is now making an increasing impact in business and management studies. This is the first book-length treatment of critical realism in business and management.
It pulls together a wide range of material which is all explicitly or implicitly rooted in philosophical realism, and combines theoretical writing with substantive contributions addressing issues such as the nature of the firm and the labour process which together demonstrates that realism is a powerful alternative to postmodernism and positivism.
List of contents
Part 1 Theory and Metatheory 1. Locating Realist Perspectives in Management and Organization Studies Stephen Ackroyd and Steve Fleetwood 2. What is Management: An Outline of Metatheory Haridimous Tsoukas 3. In Praise of Duality and Dualism: Rethinking Agency and Structure in Organisational Analysis Michael I. Reed 4. Structure, Culture and Agency: Rejecting the Current Orthodoxy of Organisation Theory Robert Willmott 5. Connecting Organisations and Societies: A Realist Analysis of Structures Stephen Ackroyd 6. Critical Realism and the Labour Process Steve Pratten Part 2 Susbstantive Contributions 7. Critical Realist Ethnography: The Case of Racism and Professionalism in a Medical Setting Sam Porter 8. Routines, Strategy and Change in High-Technology Small Firms Neil Costello 9. Managers' Innovations and the Structuration of Organisations John Coopey, Orla Keegan and Nick Elmer 10. Case Research as a Methodology for Industrial Networks: A Realist Apologia Geoff Easton 11. Structuring the Labour Market: A Segmentation Approach Jamie Peck 12. The British Production Regime: A Societal-Specific System? Jill Rubery and Nick Elmer.
About the author
Stephen Ackroyd, Steve Fleetwood
Summary
This is the first book-length treatment of critical realism in business and management. It pulls together a wide range of material and addresses issues such as the nature of the firm and the labour process.
