Philosophical Organization Theory

by Haridimos Tsoukas

When it comes to the field of organization and management theory, a philosophical perspective enables us to conduct organizational research imbued with the attitude of 'wonder'; it helps researchers question dominant images of thought underlying mainstream thinking, and provides fresh distinctions that enable the development of new theory. In bringing together a collection of key essays by Haridimos Tsoukas, this volume explores fundamental concepts, such as organizational routine, that have gained currency in the field, as well as revisiting traditional concepts such as change, strategy, and organization. It discusses organizational knowledge, judgment, and reflection-in-action, and, at the meta-theoretical level, suggests complex forms of theorizing that do justice to the complexity of organizations.

The conceptual attention throughout is on process and practice, underlain by performative phenomenology and an emphasis on agents' lived experience. This provides us with the language to appreciate the dynamic character of organizational behaviour, the embeddedness of action, and the complexity of organizational life. The theoretical claims presented in this volume have important implications for practice, insofar as they help retrain our attention; from seeing structures and individuals, we can now appreciate processes, experiences, and practices. A phenomenological attitude makes organization theory more open, more creative, and more reflexive, and this book will be essential reading for researchers and students in the field of organization studies.

496 pages, Hardcover

Published February 13, 2019

About the author

Haridimos (Hari) Tsoukas was born in Karpenissi, Greece, in 1961.

He received his education in Greece and the UK, and has held academic positions with the Universities of Cyprus, Warwick, Essex, and Strathclyde, the ALBA Graduate Business School, and the Manchester Business School.

An (unhappy) engineer by discipline, Prof. Tsoukas migrated to the social sciences, and found his intellectual home in organization and management studies. He is not a philosopher but can’t help but see everything from a philosophical point of view. He is not a complexity scientist but can’t help but approach everything in terms of Gregory Bateson’s memorable phrase, “the pattern that connects”. And he is not a politician but, as an engaged citizen, can’t help but be passionate about the affairs of the 'polis'.

Author and editor of several books in English and Greek, his research publications have appeared in the most distinguished international journals of organizational and management research. He is best known for his contributions to understanding organizations as knowledge and learning systems, for re-viewing organizational phenomena through the lens of process philosophy, for exploring practical reason in organizational contexts as well as the epistemology of reflective practice in management, and for bringing insights from Aristotelian, Wittgensteinian and Heideggerian philosophy to organization and management studies.

He was Editor-in-Chief of the leading journal Organization Studies and is the co-founder and co-organizer of the International Symposium of Process Organization Studies. Striving to be an active citizen, he regularly comments on Greek and Cypriot politics in national media, as well as on his Greek blog Enarthri Kravgi (Articulate Howl).

In recognition of his 'considerable, original and sustained contribution to his field at the highest international level', Professor Tsoukas was awarded the Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) degree by the University of Warwick in July 2014.