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Designing the Future Perfect: Developing a temporal understanding of the intentionality and generativity of organisational practices
Author(s)
Date Issued
2015-09-15
Date Available
2016-07-07T10:41:19Z
Abstract
According to Barbara Adam, 'time is such an obvious factor in social science that it is almost invisible'. Indeed, organisational researchers have relied upon taken-for-granted assumptions about the nature of time and have built theories that are frequently silent about the temporal nature of our being in the world. This paper addresses two key questions about time: (i) which formulation(s) of time are most useful in our research, and (ii) how might we use such formulations to build better theory? In addressing the first question, two main formulations of time are examined. The first is frequently associated with research in the natural sciences and relates time to the sense of passing time expressed in successive readings of the clock. The second is typically associated with research in the social sciences and relates time to the experience of purposive, intentional, goal-directed behaviour. In order to build better theory, organisational scholars are encouraged to identify and classify the formulations of time that underpin their research, to evaluate the fit between those temporal assumptions and the goals of their research, and to investigate the extent to theories that are based on different assumptions about time can be combined or integrated.
Type of Material
Conference Publication
Language
English
Status of Item
Peer reviewed
Conference Details
The Quadrangular Conference on Technology, Organisations and Society: Organisational Practices within Contemporary Landscapes, Lancaster University, UK, 14 - 15 September, 2015
This item is made available under a Creative Commons License
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