Complex Knowledge: Studies in Organizational Epistemology - Softcover

Tsoukas, Haridimos

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199275580 ISBN 13: 9780199275588

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2005

Synopsis

In this book, Haridimos Tsoukas, one of the most imaginative organization theorists of our time, examines the nature of knowledge in organizations, and how individuals and scholars approach the concept of knowledge. Tsoukas firstly looks at organizational knowledge and its embessedness in social contexts and forms of life. He shows that knowledge is not just a collection of free floating representations of the world to be used at will, but an activity constitute of the world. On the one hand, the organization as an institutionalized system does produce regularities that can be captured via propositional forms of knowledge. On the other, the organization as practice as a lifeworld, or as an open-ended system produce stories, values, and shared traditions which can only be captured by narrative forms of knowledge. Secondly, Tsoukas looks at the issue of how individuals deal with the notion of complexity in organizations: Our inability to reduce the behavior of complex organizations to their constituent parts. Drawing on concepts such as discourse, narrativity, and reflexivity, he adopts a hermeneutical approach to the issue. Finally, Tsoukas examines the concept of meta-knowledge, and how we know what we know. Arguing that the underlying representationalist epistemology of much of mainstream management causes many problems, he advocates adopting a more discursive approach. He describes what such an epistemology might be, and illustrates it with examples from organization studies and strategic management. An ideal introduction to the thinking of a leading organizational theorist, this book will be essential reading for academics, researchers, and students of Knowledge Management, Organization Studies, Management Studies, Business Strategy and Applied Epistemology.

About this title

About the Author

Haridimos Tsoukas is the George D. Mavros Research Professor of Organization and Management at ALBA in Greece, and Professor of Organization Theory and Behaviour at the University of Strathclyde Graduate School of Business, UK. Previous positions held include Lecturer at Warwick Business School (1990-5), and Associate Professor at the University of Cyprus.

Review

"Tsoukas presents a collection of previously-published essays and conference presentations which he wrote or co-authored during the past decade. The text employs Gregory Bateson's view of epistemology to examine the notion of organizational knowledge. For academics, researchers, and students of knowledge management, organization studies, management studies, strategic management, and applied epistemology."--Reference & Research Book News

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0199275580
• ISBN 13: 9780199275588
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 428