Five potentials of critical realism in management and organization studies

Abstract

There is a lack of research explicitly demonstrating the potential of applying critical realism in qualitative empirical Management and Organization Studies (MOS). If scholars are to obtain the explanatory value that can be developed through detailed applications of critical realism, the existing gap between the philosophical foundation, methodological recipes and hands-on practices of applied critical realism must be bridged. Through a literature review and analysis of existing applications of critical realism in MOS studies, this paper presents five particular potentials of applying critical realism. The five potentials each address significant aspects of critical realism that, when explicitly applied in a research process, can contribute to the understanding of management and organizations. Following the analysis, we discuss what characterizes a detailed application and how this can add to the future of critical realism in MOS studies.

Toward a science of futures and foresight: Response to 10 experts' commentaries

“…Indeed, perhaps an additional challenge emerging from these considerations is taking into account that critical realist explanatory theory improves incrementally over time. The critical realist pursuit of knowledge emphasizes the potential interpretative and value‐laden role of the researcher while not denying latent objective truths that research aims to uncover (Frederiksen & Kringelum, 2021). It is a long road of hard work, dedication, and commitment, where one study is not enough yet is exactly the first step toward a larger, practical, and field‐based ability to show that engaging in futures and foresight activities results in a benefit.…”

Critical realism and organizational learning

“…The need for dual focus: bringing organizational learning closer to the learning organization Applying critical realism to empirical studies of organizational learning implies that researchers need to dedicate attention to understand local contextual variables because these can affect the learning processes that take place (Buch-Hansen and Nielsen, 2005;O'Mahoney and Vincent, 2014). For example, when relying on a case study as a research strategy, it is important that researchers report on (to the extent it is possible) the key contextual variables such as organizational design, strategic orientation and topmanagement commitment of the organization (Figure 1) (Fletcher, 2017;Frederiksen and Kringelum, 2020). This is important not only as background information but as fundamental knowledge relevant for how the organizational context can have influenced the creation of certain outputs and outcomes (Bygstad et al, 2016;Kringelum, 2017;McAvoy and Butler, 2018).…”

“…Founded in the seminal writings of Roy Bhaskar in the 1970s (Bhaskar, 1975, 1979), critical realism is a philosophy of science that has often been referenced in organization and management studies (McAvoy and Butler, 2018; Frederiksen and Kringelum, 2020). Critical realism represents an alternate to both positivist and constructivist perspectives with an inherent aim of not just explaining the world but also changing it (Alvesson and Sköldberg, 2009).…”

“…Hence, mechanisms are not directly observable but are derived through interpretation based on the researcher’s intuition and frame of reference (Ackroyd and Karlsson, 2014). Thus, the researcher plays a central role in securing analytical validity when developing, analyzing and interpreting knowledge about the world (Buch-Hansen and Nielsen, 2005; Fletcher, 2017; Frederiksen and Kringelum, 2020), thereby reflecting the subjective epistemology of the paradigm. This interpretive role of the researcher presupposes transparency and rigor to ensure that the research process is not led astray by epistemic fallacies whereby the nature of the world is reduced to what can be known empirically (Bhaskar, 1998).…”

“…As a result, critical realism calls for theoretical pluralism, as various mechanisms are involved in the generation of an event and they are not reducible to only one theory. Therefore, critical realism has the potential to function as a metatheory (Frederiksen and Kringelum, 2020) that can enable a researcher to grasp the complexity of the world when she or he applies various theoretical lenses (Danermark, 2019).…”