ABSTRACT
The previous chapter included a close reading of Burns and Stalker’s work, and a comparison with the three textbooks, using textual analyses. The knowledge produced in the textbooks fell within an objectivist frame, focussing on structural adaptation. A comparison between these different discourses is now undertaken using Burrell and Morgan’s (1979) model of sociological paradigms as the analytical framework. The two paradigms discussed are the functionalist and interpretive, and it is argued that whereas mainstream representations and research applications of The Management of Innovation lie wholly in the functionalist paradigm, the situation regarding Burns and Stalker’s original text is more complex, and cannot be said to constitute a wholly functionalist approach. This enables further understanding of the kinds of knowledge produced in each case and of their implications for scholarship and practice.
