EPISTEMOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO MANAGEMENT RESEARCH

This paper seeks to offer a more integrative and conclusive conceptualization of reflexivity as a way of identifying and understanding management research. The authors discuss the theoretical grounding and underlying assumption of positivism. Each of the epistemological alternatives to positivism is examined. An overview of the principal epistemological debates in management research and an indepth focus on issues relating to the structure and the limits of knowledge and justification is provided in this paper. Different epistemological positions outlined in this paper help to clarify some of the epistemological issues and to legitimize their own distinct ways of management. This paper in particular highlights the importance of reflexivity.