Abstract
We propose a special look at new epistemological possibilities in constructing knowledge to fill the gap between theory development and its practical and societal applications. We turn our attention to the strategy field of studies, which is traditionally positivist, but that also accommodates some timid attempts to produce content from other onto-epistemological bases, such as strategy as practice. Then, we explore the possible interchange between strategy as practice and the Epistemologies of the South. Once strategy as practice is based on practice rationality, which conceives social life as continuous production, it allows considering a wider diversity of social experiences surrounding strategic management. Likewise, the Epistemologies of the South represent a processual approach, which considers the social realities of develo** countries and allows the inclusion of marginalized voices in social sciences' theorizing movements. We develop a conceptual-methodological guide for researchers to reflect on the possible ways to systematically rescue pieces of many social experiences forgotten by normal science, promoting cognitive and social justice in research, especially in the strategy field. Our proposal is a reflection about exploring what is not done, what is not practiced and make possible to expand the universe of social experiences considered for analysis in organizational and management studies. In doing so, we call the attention of scholars to start a paradigm shift from marginalization to the inclusion of multiple social realities toward cognitive and social democracy in research.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alvesson, M., and J. Sandberg. 2012. Has management studies lost its way? Ideas for more imaginative and innovative research. Journal of Management Studies 50 (1): 128–152. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2012.01070.x.
Banerjee, S.B. 2021. Decolonizing management theory: A critical perspective. Journal of Management Studies. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12756.
Bansal, P., W.K. Smith, and E. Vaara. 2018. New ways of seeing through qualitative research. Academy of Management Journal 61 (4): 1189–1195. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2018.4004.
Bourdieu, P. 2000. Pascalian Meditations. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Bruton, G.D., S.A. Zahra, A.H. Van de Ven, and M.A. Hitt. 2021. Indigenous theory uses, abuses, and future. Journal of Management Studies. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12755.
Burgelman, R.A., S.W. Floyd, T. Laamanen, S. Mantere, E. Vaara, and R. Whittington. 2018. Strategy processes and practices: Dialogues and intersections. Strategic Management Journal 39 (3): 531–558. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2741.
Carter, C. 2013. The age of strategy: Strategy, organizations and society. Business History. https://doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2013.838030.
Carter, C., S.R. Clegg, and M. Kornberger. 2008. So!apbox: Editorial essays: Strategy as practice? Strategic Organization 6 (1): 83–99. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476127007087154.
Costa Júnior, J.C., L.S. Nascimento, T.B. Jerônimo, J.A. Andrade, and M.A.M. Primo. 2021. Reflections on Epistemic-Ontological Alignment in Theorizing Process: The Case of RBV. Philosophy of Management. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40926-021-00181-1.
Crane, A., I. Henriques, B.W. Husted, and D. Matten. 2016. What constitutes a theoretical contribution in the business and society field? Business & Society 55 (6): 783–791. https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650316651343.
Dorobantu, S., A. Kaul, and B. Zelner. 2017. Nonmarket strategy research through the lens of new institutional economics: An integrative review and future directions. Strategic Management Journal 38: 114–140. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2590.
Du Gay, P., and Vikkelsø, S. 2014. What makes organization? Organization theory as a practical science. In: P. Adler, G. Morgan, & M. Reed (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Sociology, Social Theory and Organizational Studies, Contemporary Currents (pp. 735–758). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199671083.001.0001
Feldman, M.S., and W.J. Orlikowski. 2011. Theorizing practice and practicing theory. Organization Science 22 (5): 1240–1253. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1100.0612.
Feldman, M.S., B.T. Pentland, L. D’adderio, and N. Lazaric. 2016. Beyond routines as things: introduction to the Special Issue on Routine Dynamics. Organization Science 27 (3): 505–513. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2016.1070.
Filatotchev, I., R.D. Ireland, and G.K. Stahl. 2021. Contextualizing management research: An open systems perspective. Journal of Management Studies. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12754.
Ger, G., M.C. Suarez, and T.C.D. Nascimento. 2019. Context and theorizing in the global south: Challenges and opportunities for an international dialogue. Brazilian Administration Review 16 (3): e180069. https://doi.org/10.1590/1807-7692bar2019180069.
Giddens, A. 1984. The constitution of society. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Guerras-Martín, L.Á., A. Madhok, and Á. Montoro-Sánchez. 2014. The evolution of strategic management research: recent trends and current directions. Business Research Quarterly 17 (2): 69–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brq.2014.03.001.
Heidegger, M. 1996. Being and time. New York: SCM Press.
Hoskisson, R.E., M.A. Hitt, W.P. Wan, and D. Yiu. 1999. Theory and research in strategic management: Swings of a pendulum. Journal of Management 25 (3): 417–456. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639902500307.
Jarzabkowski, P., M. Kavas, and E. Krull. 2021. It’s Practice. But is it Strategy? Reinvigorating strategy-as-practice by rethinking consequentiality. Organization Theory 2: 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/26317877211029665.
Kim, H., and Hoskisson, R. E. 2015. A resource environment view of competitive advantage. In L. Tihanyi, R. R. Banalieva, T. M. Devinney, and T. Pedersen (Eds.). Emerging Economies and Multinational Enterprises (Advances in International Management, volume 28) (pp. 95–14). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1571-502720150000028008
Knights, D., and G. Morgan. 1991. Corporate strategy, organizations, and subjectivity: A critique. Organization Studies 12 (2): 251–273. https://doi.org/10.1177/01708406910120020.
Kohtamäki, M., R. Whittington, E. Vaara, and R. Rabetino. 2021. Making connections: Harnessing the diversity of strategy-as-practice research. International Journal of Management Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12274.
Langley, A., C. Smallman, H. Tsoukas, and A.H. Van De Ven. 2013. Process studies of change in organization and management: Unveiling temporality, activity, and flow. Academy of Management Journal 56 (1): 1–13. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2013.4001.
Latour, B. 2005. Reassembling the social: an introduction to Actor-Network-Theory. New York: Oxford.
Mackay, R.B., and R. Chia. 2013. Choice, chance and unintended consequences in strategic change: A process understanding of the rise and fall of Northco Automotive. Academy of Management Journal 56 (1): 208–230. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2010.0734.
Mackay, B., R. Chia, and A.K. Nair. 2020. Strategy-in-Practices: A process philosophical approach to understanding strategy emergence and organizational outcomes. Human Relations 74 (9): 1337–1369. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726720929397.
Nascimento, L.S., and F.K. Steinbruch. 2019. “The interviews were transcribed”, but how? Reflections on management research. RAUSP Management Journal 54: 413–429.
Nascimento, L.S., J.C. Costa Júnior, V.S. Salazar, and A.F. Chim-Miki. 2021. Coopetition in social entrepreneurship: A strategy for social value devolution. International Journal of Emerging Markets. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOEM-09-2020-1062.
Orlikowski, W. J. 2015. Practice in research: phenomenon, perspective and philosophy. In: D. Golsorkhi, L. Rouleau, D. Seidl, and E. Vaara (Eds.). The Cambridge Handbook on Strategy as Practice (pp. 33–43). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139681032.002
Pfeffer, J. 1993. Barriers to the advance of organizational Science: Paradigm development as a dependent variable. The Academy of Management Review 18 (4): 599–620. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1993.9402210152.
Ramos, A. G. 1965. A redução sociológica: introdução ao estudo da razão sociológica (2ª ed) [The sociological reduction: introduction to the study of sociological reason (2nd ed.)]. Rio de Janeiro: Tempo Brasileiro LTDA.
Ronda-Pupo, G.A., and L.A. Guerras-Martín. 2012. Dynamics of the evolution of the strategy concepts 1962–2008: A co-word analysis. Strategic Management Journal 33: 162–188. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.948.
Sandberg, J., and H. Tsoukas. 2011. Gras** the logic of practice: Theorizing throught practical rationality. Academy of Management Review 36 (2): 338–360. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2009.0183.
Santos, B.S. 1988. Um discurso sobre as ciências na transição para uma ciência pós-moderna [A discourse on sciences in the transition to a postmodern science]. Estudos Avançados 2 (2): 46–71. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0103-40141988000200007.
Santos, B.S. 2002. Para uma sociologia das ausências e uma sociologia das emergências [Towards a sociology of absences and a sociology of emergencies]. Revista Crítica De Ciências Sociais 63: 237–280. https://doi.org/10.4000/rccs.1285.
Santos, B. S. 2010. Para além do Pensamento Abissal: das linhas globais a uma ecologia de saberes [Beyond Abyssal Thought: from global lines to an ecology of knowledges]. In: B. S. Santos, and M. P. Meneses, Epistemologias do Sul (2ed.) [Epistemologies of the South (2nd ed.)] (pp. 23–71). Coimbra: Almedina. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0101-33002007000300004
Santos, B.S. 2014. Epistemologies of the South: Justice against epistemicide. Bolder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.
Santos, B.S. 2016. Epistemologies of the South and the future. From the European South: A Transdisciplinary Journal of Postcolonial Humanities 1: 17–29.
Santos, B. S. 2018. O fim do Império Cognitivo: a afirmação das epistemologias do sul [The end of the Cognitive Empire: the affirmation of Epistemologies of the South]. Coimbra: Almedina. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-12902020200563
Seremani, T.W., and S. Clegg. 2015. Postcolonialism, Organization, and management theory: The role of “Epistemological Third Spaces.” Journal of Management Inquiry 25 (2): 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492615589973.
Thompson, M. 2011. Ontological shift or ontological drift? Reality, claims, epistemological frameworks, and theory generation in organization studies. Academy of Management Review 36: 754–773. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2010.0070.
Tourish, D. 2020. The triumph of nonsense in management studies. Academy of Management Learning & Education 19 (1): 133–160. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2019.0255.
Tracy, S.J. 2010. Qualitative quality: Eight “big-tent” criteria for excellent qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry 16 (10): 837–851. https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492615589973.
Vaara, E., and J.-A. Lamberg. 2015. Taking historical embeddedness seriously: Three historical approaches to advance Strategy Process and Practice Research. Academy of Management Review 41 (4): 633–657. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2014.0172.
Vaara, E., and R. Whittington. 2012. Strategy-as-practice: Taking social practices seriously. The Academy of Management Annals 6 (1): 285–336. https://doi.org/10.5465/19416520.2012.672039.
Whittington, R. 2006. Completing the practice turn in strategy research. Organization Studies 27 (5): 613–634. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840606064101.
Wickert, C., C. Post, J.P. Doh, J.E. Prescott, and A. Prencipe. 2021. Management research that makes a difference: Broadening the meaning of impact. Journal of Management Studies 58 (2): 297–320. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12666.
Wrona, T., and C. Sinzig. 2017. Nonmarket strategy research: Systematic literature review and future direction. Journal of Business Economics 88 (2): 253–317. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11573-017-0875-3.
Funding
Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
da Costa Júnior, J.C., Nascimento, L.d., Jerônimo, T.d. et al. Exploring the Practice Rationality, Strategy as Practice, and Epistemologies of the South: Towards Wider Strategic Research. Philosophy of Management 22, 227–245 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40926-022-00222-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40926-022-00222-3