If history matters for organization theory, then we need greater reflexivity regarding the epistemological problem of representing the past; otherwise, history might be seen as merely a repository of ready-made data. To facilitate this reflexivity, we set out three epistemological dualisms derived from historical theory to explain the relationship between history and organization theory: (1) in the dualism of explanation, historians are preoccupied with narrative construction, whereas organization theorists subordinate narrative to analysis; (2) in the dualism of evidence, historians use verifiable documentary sources, whereas organization theorists prefer constructed data; and (3) in the dualism of temporality, historians construct their own periodization, whereas organization theorists treat time as constant for chronology. These three dualisms underpin our explication of four alternative research strategies for organizational history: corporate history, consisting of a holistic, objectivist narrative of a corporate entity; analytically structured history, narrating theoretically conceptualized structures and events; serial history, using replicable techniques to analyze repeatable facts; and ethnographic history, reading documentary sources "against the grain." Ultimately, we argue that our epistemological dualisms will enable organization theorists to justify their theoretical stance in relation to a range of strategies in organizational history, including narratives constructed from documentary sources found in organizational archives.

History as a discipline has been accused of being a-theoretical. Business historians working at business schools, however, need to better explicate their historical methodology, not theory, in order to communicate the value of archival research to social scientists, and to train future doctoral students outside history departments. This paper seeks to outline an important aspect of historical methodology, which is data collection from archives. In this area, postcolonialism and archival ethnography have made significant methodological contributions not just for non-Western history, as it has emphasized the importance of considering how archives were created, and how one can legitimately use them despite their limitations. I argue that these approaches offer new insights into the particularities of researching business archives.

The purpose of this poster presentation is to share the process used at a 60-bed acute rehabilitation facility to address the individual needs of admitted patients regarding their needs for pressure ulcer prevention and/or treatment. Since nearly all patients admitted (spinal cord injury, brain injury, stroke, and general rehabilitation) are identified as being at risk for pressure ulcers upon admission, it is critical that the team quickly identify and implement measures to prevent breakdown and/or promote healing. Because the average length of stay in rehabilitation is only about 16 days, it is vital to focus both on the quality of care and the efficiency of its delivery. The thorough admission assessment process utilizes a rehabilitation interdisciplinary team consisting of the staff nurse and clinical nurse specialist (CNS), physician, physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, nutritionist, pharmacist, and psychologist. This admission assessment guides the decision making for type of bed, style of wheelchair and cushion, nutritional interventions, turning schedules, activity schedules, type of bowel and bladder programs and therapy interventions. The patient and family members are included in the assessment and decision-making process to facilitate their learning and follow-through. If a patient is admitted with a pressure ulcer, the rehabilitation CNS evaluates the wound and makes further recommendations for care. The chronic wound team, which includes the rehabilitation CNS, the WOC nurses and a plastic surgeon, are consulted for sharp debridement, for a non-healing ulcer evaluation and recommendations, or for a complicated wound that will need follow-up in the outpatient wound clinic after discharge from rehabilitation.STATEMENT OF CLINICAL PROBLEM: Donor site care and dressing changes often cause discomfort for the patient and create issues related to healing. Using evidence-based practice, healing time and complications can be decreased, and discomfort lessened for the patient. DESCRIPTION OF PAST MANAGEMENT: At our organization, standard of care for donor site dressing changes was iodine impregnated petroleum gauze* applied directly to the donor site in the operating room, along with heat lamp therapy. Dressing changes began several days post-op and consisted of traumatic removal of the gauze with intense pain and bleeding, disrupting healing and new cell growth. There was often confusion by nurses as to the best procedure, as they relied solely on the written physician order that was usually vague and incomplete. CURRENT CLINICAL APPROACH: The involvement of the CWOCNs included review of evidence-based practice and mentoring of the physicians. After utilizing the antimicrobial hydrofiber dressing with silver on several patients resulting in positive OUT-COMES, the physicians were convinced of the effectiveness of this dressing for donor site care. Eventually, the Donor Site Care Orders was formally created, increasing nurse satisfaction related to improved communication and continui...

Research on organizational spaces has not considered the importance of collective memory for the process of investing meaning in corporate architecture. Employing an archival ethnography approach, practices of organizational remembering emerge as a way to shape the meanings associated with architectural designs. While the role of monuments and museums are well established in studies of collective memory, this research extends the concept of spatiality to the practices of organizational remembering that focus on a wider selection of corporate architecture. By analyzing the historical shift from colonial to modernist architecture for banks and retailers in Ghana and Nigeria in the 1950s and 1960s on the basis of documents and photographs from three different companies, this article shows how archival sources can be used to untangle the ways in which companies seek to ascribe meaning to their architectural output. Buildings allude to the past and the future in a range of complex ways that can be interpreted more fully by reference to the archival sources and the historical context of their creation. Social remembering has the potential to explain why and how buildings have meaning, while archival ethnography offers a new research approach to investigate changing organizational practices.

The historic turn in organization studies has led to greater appreciation of the potential contribution from historical research. However, there is increasing emphasis on integrating history into organization studies, rather than on recognizing how accommodating history might require a reorientation. As a result, key conceptual and methodological insights from historiography have been overlooked or at times misrepresented. We identify four modes of enquiry that highlight distinctions from history about ‘how to conceptualize’ and ‘how to research’ the past. First, historical organization studies research the past primarily through reference to archival sources. Second, retrospective organizational history reconstructs the past principally from retrospective accounts, such as those generated in oral history. Third, retrospective organizational memory uses ethnography and interviews to explore the role of memory in the present. Fourth, historical organizational memory traces the institutionalization of organizational memory through archival research. From the analysis, we argue that historical organization studies are increasingly established, and interest in ‘uses of the past’ has contributed to the rise of retrospective organizational memory. However, historiographical reflexivity – a new concept for organization studies – focuses attention on engaging with both history and collective memory, and on the distinct methodological choices between archival and retrospective methods.

We agree with de Jong et al.'s argument that business historians should make their methods more explicit and welcome a more general debate about the most appropriate methods for business historical research. But rather than advocating one 'new business history', we argue that contemporary debates about methodology in business history need greater appreciation for the diversity of approaches that have developed in the last decade. And while the hypothesis-testing framework prevalent in the mainstream social sciences favoured by de Jong et al. should have its place among these methodologies, we identify a number of additional streams of research that can legitimately claim to have contributed novel methodological insights by broadening the range of interpretative and qualitative approaches to business history. Thus, we reject privileging a single method, whatever it may be, and argue instead in favour of recognizing the plurality of methods being developed and used by business historians-both within their own field and as a basis for interactions with others.

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ChatGPT and its variants that use generative artificial intelligence (AI) models have rapidly become a focal point in academic and media discussions about their potential benefits and drawbacks across various sectors of the economy, democracy, society, and environment. It remains unclear whether these technologies result in job displacement or creation, or if they merely shift human labour by generating new, potentially trivial or practically irrelevant, information and decisions. According to the CEO of ChatGPT, the potential impact of this new family of AI technology could be as big as “the printing press”, with significant implications for employment, stakeholder relationships, business models, and academic research, and its full consequences are largely undiscovered and uncertain. The introduction of more advanced and potent generative AI tools in the AI market, following the launch of ChatGPT, has ramped up the “AI arms race”, creating continuing uncertainty for workers, expanding their business applications, while heightening risks related to well‐being, bias, misinformation, context insensitivity, privacy issues, ethical dilemmas, and security. Given these developments, this perspectives editorial offers a collection of perspectives and research pathways to extend HRM scholarship in the realm of generative AI. In doing so, the discussion synthesizes the literature on AI and generative AI, connecting it to various aspects of HRM processes, practices, relationships, and outcomes, thereby contributing to shaping the future of HRM research.