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Paradigms, Metaphors, and Puzzle Solving in Organization Theory
Open accessAbstract
The purpose of this paper is to present the elements of a radical humanist critique which suggests that the discipline of organization theory has been imprisoned by its metaphors, and to stimulate an awareness through which it can begin to set itself free. The paper explores the relationship among paradigms, metaphors, and puzzle solving showing how organization theory and research is constructed upon a network of assumptions that are taken-for-granted. The metaphorical nature of theory and the implications of metaphor for theory construction are examined. A theoretical and methodological pluralism which allows the development of new perspectives for organizational analysis is suggested. While orthodoxy is based upon a few metaphors characteristic of the functionalist paradigm, metaphors characteristic of other paradigms, which challenge the ground assumptions of orthodoxy, are shown to have much to offer.
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Cited by
Multiparadigm perspectives on theory building
Gioia, D. A., & Pitre, E. (1990) · The Academy of Management Review · doi:10.5465/amr.1990.4310758 · Cited by 1,426
Central Perspectives and Debates in Organization Theory
Astley, W. G., & de Ven, A. H. V. (1983) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2392620 · Cited by 1,224
Thompson, C. J. (1997) · Journal of Marketing Research · doi:10.1177/002224379703400403 · Cited by 1,142
Leonardi, P. M., & Barley, S. R. (2010) · Academy of Management Annals · doi:10.5465/19416521003654160 · Cited by 733
Ramaul, L., Ritala, P., Kostis, A., & Aaltonen, P. (2026) · Journal of Management Studies · doi:10.1111/joms.13246 · Cited by 41
Metadata
- Authors
- Morgan, G.
- Venue
- Administrative Science Quarterly
- Publisher
- JSTOR
- Published
- 1980-12
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 605
- ISSN
- 0001-8392 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2038204327
- Cited by
- 1,409
- References
- 0
- FWCI
- 29.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
