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Extending the Foundations and Reach of Design Science: Further Reflections on the Role of Critical Realism
Author(s) -
Hodgkinson Gerard P.,
Starkey Ken
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
british journal of management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.407
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1467-8551
pISSN - 1045-3172
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8551.12001
Subject(s) - critical realism (philosophy of perception) , cognitive reframing , ethos , realism , relevance (law) , epistemology , sociology , philosophy of science , social science , political science , philosophy , social psychology , psychology , law
In his commentary on our proposal to reframe the relevance of business and management research by combining design science with critical realism (Hodgkinson and Starkey, British Journal of Management , 22 (2011), pp. 355–369), Willmott ( British Journal of Management , 23 (2012), pp. 598–604) commends us for our advocacy of a social science as opposed to professional school agenda, while admonishing us for seeking to underpin the commended design science ethos with critical realism, on the grounds of ontological inconsistency and the risk of diminishing the emancipatory elements of our social usefulness agenda. In reply, we demonstrate how, in highlighting the interplay of multiple generative mechanisms within and between levels of analysis, critical realism is entirely commensurate with the design science approach advocated, and enriches rather than diminishes our overarching agenda to humanize the workplace.