This paper presents the two opposing viewpoints for studying organizational culture and clarifies the lack they contain through understanding the philosophies encompassing them. We have verified that this discussion between the two perspectives is a discussion between positivists and interpretivists. We believe that critical realism philosophy provides a way out of the controversy by presenting its ontology that is characterized by structure, difference, and change and by standing against the reduction of ontology to, or its dissolution in, epistemology. This ensures both an in-depth study of the organizational culture and the develop sound contributions to theoretical development without overselling the notion of generalizability. In doing so, this article outlines Schein’s three levels of analysis for studying organizational culture and framing it using critical realism philosophy.
References
[1]
Alvesson, M. (2001). Understanding Organizational Culture. SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446280072
[2]
Anderson, B. C. (2020). Developing Organizational and Managerial Wisdom (2nd ed.). Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
[3]
Archer, M., Bhaskar, R., Collier, A., Lawson, T., & Norrie, A. (1998). Critical Realism: Essential Readings. Routledge.
[4]
Armstrong, R. (2018). Critical Realism and Performance Measurement and Management. Management Research Review, 42, 568-585. https://doi.org/10.1108/mrr-05-2018-0202
[5]
Bhaskar, R. (1978). A Realist Theory of Science. Harvester Press.
[6]
Bhaskar, R. (2020). Critical Realism and the Ontology of Persons. Journal of Critical Realism, 19, 113-120. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767430.2020.1734736
[7]
Cameron, K. S., & Quinn, R. E. (2011). Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture. Jossey-Bass.
[8]
Danermark, B., Ekström, M., Jakobsen, L., &Karlsson, J. C. (2005). Explaining Society Critical Realism in the Social Sciences. Taylor and Francis e-Library.
[9]
Deal, T. E., & Kennedy, A. A. (1982). Organization Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Organization Life. Addison Wesley.
[10]
Edwards, P., Mahoney, J., & Vincent, S. (2014). Studying Organizations Using Critical Realism. Oxford University Press.
[11]
Elder-Vass, D. (2010). The Causal Power of Social Structures: Emergence, Structure and Agency. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511761720
[12]
Flax, J. (1990). Thinking Fragments: Psychoanalysis, Feminism and Postmodernism in the Contemporary West. University of California Press.
[13]
Fleetwood, S. (2005). Ontology in Organization and Management Studies: A Critical Realist Perspective. Organization, 12, 197-222. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508405051188
[14]
Frederiksen, D. J., & Kringelum, L. B. (2021). Five Potentials of Critical Realism in Management and Organization Studies. Journal of Critical Realism, 20, 18-38. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767430.2020.1846153
[15]
Gagliardi, P. (1986). The Creation and Change of Organizational Cultures: A Conceptual Framework. Organization Studies, 7, 117-134. https://doi.org/10.1177/017084068600700203
[16]
Geertz, C. (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures. Basic Books.
[17]
Geertz, C. (1983). Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology. Basic Books.
[18]
Griffin, R, W., & Moorhead, G. (2014). Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations (11th ed.). Texas A&M University GREGORY MOORHEAD Emeritus, Arizona State University.
[19]
Healey, M. P., & Hodgkinson, G. P. (2015). Organizational Neuroscience: Toward a Theoretical Framework for Organizational Neuroscience. Monographs in Leadership and Management, 7, 51-81. https://doi.org/10.1108/s1479-357120150000007002
[20]
Hindess, B., & Hirst, P. (1977). Modes of Production and Social Formation. MacMillan.
[21]
Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. Sage.
[22]
Huczynski, A. A., & Buchanan, D. A. (2017) Organizational Behaviour (9th ed.). Pearson Education Limited.
[23]
Jreisat, J. E. (1997). Public Organization Management: The Development of Theory and Process. Praeger.
[24]
Knights, D., & Willmott, H. C. (1987). Organizational Culture as Management Strategy: A Critique and Illustration from the Financial Services Industry. International Studies of Management & Organization, 17, 40-63. https://doi.org/10.1080/00208825.1987.11656461
[25]
Kouzes, J. M., Caldwell, D. F., & Posner, B. Z. (1983). Organizational Culture: How It Is Created, Maintained, and Changed. In OD Network National Conference.
[26]
Kringelum, L., & Brix, J. (2021). Critical Realism and Organizational Learning. The Learning Organization, 28, 32-45. https://doi.org/10.1108/tlo-03-2020-0035
[27]
Maanen, J. V., & Barley, S. R. (1983). Cultural Organization: Fragments of a Theory. In The Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management.
[28]
Martin, J. (2002). Organizational Culture: Mapping the Terrain. SAGE Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483328478
[29]
Martin, J., & Frost, P. (1996). The Organizational Culture War Games: A Struggle for Intellectual Dominance. In S. Clegg, C. Hardy, & W. Nord (Eds.), Handbook of Organization Studies (pp. 599-621). Sage.
[30]
Mirani, R. (2013). A Case Study of Morphogenetic Change in Long-Term Offshoring. International Journal of Information Management, 33, 663-673. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2013.03.006
[31]
O’Reilly, C. (1983). Corporations, Cults, and Organizational Culture: Lessons from Silicon Valley Firms. In The Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management.
[32]
Ogbonna, E., & Harris, L. C. (2014). Organizational Cultural Perpetuation: A Case Study of an English Premier League Football Club. British Journal of Management, 25, 667-686. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12037
[33]
Ouchi, W. (1981). Theory Z: How American Business Can Meet the Japanese Challenge. Business Horizons, 24, 82-83. https://doi.org/10.1016/0007-6813(81)90031-8
[34]
Pawson, R. (2013). The Science of Evaluation: A Realist Manifesto. SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781473913820
[35]
Peters, T. J., & Waterman, R. H. (1982). In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best Run Companies. Harper & Row.
[36]
Reed, M. I. (1997). In Praise of Duality and Dualism: Rethinking Agency and Structure in Organizational Analysis. Organization Studies, 18, 21-42. https://doi.org/10.1177/017084069701800103
[37]
Remenyi, D., Williams, B., Money, A., & Swartz, E. (1998). Doing Research in Business and Management: An Introduction to Process and Method. SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446280416
[38]
Saunders, M., Philip, L., & Thornhill, A. (2009). Research Methods for Business Students (5th ed.). Prentice Hall.
[39]
Saunders, M., Philip, L., & Thornhill, A. (2019). Research Methods for Business Students (8th ed.). Prentice Hall.
[40]
Sayer, A. (2000). Realism and Social Science. SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446218730
[41]
Schein, E. H. (2016). Organizational Culture and Leadership (5th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
[42]
Smircich, L. (1983). Concepts of Culture and Organizational Analysis. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28, 339-358. https://doi.org/10.2307/2392246
[43]
Smith, M. L. (2006). Overcoming Theory-Practice Inconsistencies: Critical Realism and Information Systems Research. Information and Organization, 16, 191-211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infoandorg.2005.10.003
[44]
Spender, J. C. (1983). Myths, Recipes and Knowledge-Bases in Organizational Analysis. University of California.
[45]
Whiteley, A. (1995). Managing Change: A Core Values Approach. Macmillan Education.
[46]
Wynn, D., & Williams, C. K. (2012). Principles for Conducting Critical Realist Case Study Research in Information Systems. MIS Quarterly, 36, 787-810. https://doi.org/10.2307/41703481
