ABSTRACT
Basic assumptions about reality are the paradigms of a social science, such as management. They are usually held subconsciously by the scholars, the writers, the teachers, the practitioners in the field, and are incorporated into the discipline by their various formulations. For a social discipline such as management, the assumptions are actually a good deal more important than are the paradigms for a natural science. The paradigm—that is, the prevailing general theory— has no impact on the natural universe. For most people, inside and outside management, this assumption is taken as self-evident. Indeed management writers, management practitioners, and the laity do not even hear the word “management”; they automatically hear business management. Concern with management and its study began with the sudden emergence of large organizations—business, governmental civil service, the large standing army—which was the novelty of late-nineteenth-century society.
