ABSTRACT
Organizational research largely remains within established analytic positions that are based on a Newtonian point of view, in spite of several limitations (Clark 2006a). As an alternative, we propose developing a sociological approach based on Durkheim, Mauss, Sorokin, Merton and Gurvitch (cf. Clark 1975a, 1975b), which we will couple with comparative geo-history. This approach allows us to construct ‘analytically structured narratives’, that incorporate the tension between action and structure (Clark 2000: 113), and are self-consciously situated ‘on the bridge between narrative and analytic schemas’ (Whipp & Clark 1986: 18). Aiming at understanding the complexities and differentiated forms of corporate temporalities, we postulate an evolution in the timing of space that poses a challenge to contemporary academic theorizing as well as corporate practices.
