Postmodernism and organizational research

Abstract

Drawing selectively from the often countervailing currents of postmodernism, we argue for an epistemology that combines a skepticism toward metanarrative with a commitment to rigorous standards of enquiry in pursuit of radical challenges to accepted knowledge. We discuss five problematics concerned with normal science, truth, representation, style, and generalizability, and we provide examples of postmodern approaches to classic data sets, local knowledge, eclectic sources, and the counterintuitive. In this article we seek to provoke an ongoing conversation concerning the potential of postmodernism for revolutionizing organizational research.