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ECRM:
The European Conference on Research Methodology for Business and Management
Studies
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Volume 5 Issue 2 July 2007
Research Dilemmas in Management and Business Studies
John Mendy
University of Lincoln, Lincoln Business School, UK
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This paper examines some of the philosophical and practical dilemmas that are faced by
researchers in management and business studies – in the context of the epistemological and
ontological assumptions introduced. The relevant methodological frameworks to be used stem from
Strauss and Quinn (1997). The importance of employee language and organisational discourses are
presented from the empirical data on "Aspects of Organisational Culture and Change" in Lincolnshire
and Nottinghamshire to demonstrate the epistemological and ontological dilemmas faced by researchers
in organisational analysis.
Symbolic interactionism and stories are also used to highlight the importance of speech actors within
an organisational change context in order to surface some of these dilemmas in business studies in general
and management research in particular. These two provide alternative positions to Strauss and Quinn's "maintained"
analysis of how organisations and managers implement change interventions and employees' reactions to these.
Amongst some of my principal objectives is to demonstrate what can be contributed when researchers focus on
what can be considered credible and valid knowledge that can be generalised in organisational and management studies.
Keywords:
language, methodological dilemmas, epistemology, theory and practice.
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