ABSTRACT
This initial chapter maps out the development of paradigm plurality in a number of management and organizational disciplines. In so doing, it argues that the benefits of paradigm plurality far outweigh the shortcomings and that it is important for researchers to encourage perspectives emerging frommultiple paradigmatic viewpoints. We argue that not only is this scenario desirable from a theoretical point of view, but it is also welcome in light of the complex changes taking place in contemporary organizational realities. Despite the historical controversy over its meaning and definition, we suggest that the concept of paradigm has increased in significance for the contemporary analysis of organizational phenomena, continuing to shape in a direct or indirect way the thinking and approach of organizational researchers. Themost common understanding of the concept of ‘paradigm’ derives from Kuhn’s work (1962, 1970): a paradigm is considered to be a set of shared beliefs and assumptions about the world. Consensus around such beliefs within a particular scientific community is regarded by some as a mark of maturity, while for others the existence of multiple paradigms bears the mantra of pre-or nonscience (Lakatos and Musgrave, 1970). For the purpose of this chapter we define paradigm in a rather loose manner, as a shared set of views, values, and writing conventions around which research communities are being formed. Also, despite arguments that paradigm purity is a sign of scientific maturity within a particular field of study (Pfeffer, 1993, 1997), we argue that what is happening in reality is a shift towards paradigm plurality in numerous management and organizational disciplines; for example, organization theory (Hassard, 1993b; Schultz and Hatch, 1996; Casey, 2002; Jones andMunro, 2005), international business (Parkhe, 1993; Earley and Singh, 1995), strategic management (McKinley, 1995; Scherer, 1998), operational research (Mingers, 1992, 1997) and technology studies (Lewis and Grimes, 1999). In what follows, then, we explore the conditions under which multiple paradigms have emerged in these fields, highlight the advantages and disadvantages of the multiparadigm approach, present specific strategies of multiparadigm research within organizational analysis, and finally conclude with a plea for a discursive postmodern approach to paradigm plurality.
