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Complex Knowledge: Studies in Organizational Epistemology
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 embeddedness 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 constitutive of the world. On the one hand the organization as an institutionalized system does produce regularities that can can be captured via propositional forms of knowledge. On the other, the organization as practice, as a lifeworld, or as an open-ended system, produces 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 behaviour 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.
Tsoukas firstly looks at organizational knowledge and its embeddedness 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 constitutive of the world. On the one hand the organization as an institutionalized system does produce regularities that can can be captured via propositional forms of knowledge. On the other, the organization as practice, as a lifeworld, or as an open-ended system, produces 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 behaviour 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.
427 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 17, 2004
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About the author
Haridimos Tsoukas
29 books7 followersHaridimos (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.
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.
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December 24, 2018
This collects a number of Tsoukas's articles and book chapters on themes related to knowledge within organizations. In one sense these essays are too varied to attempt a detailed summary of the book, but in another sense there is a common theme running through the entire collection that can be somewhat easily identified.
Tsoukas focuses on the difference between what he calls "propositional knowledge," typically of codified structures, rules, and processes of formal organizations, and the knowledge embodied in narratives and generated by social practices. The term "propositional knowledge" is somewhat misleading as narratives are also stated using propositions and it is hard to image the possibility of knowledge that was not stated in propositions. Instead, 'propositional' should be thought of as referring to the 'propositions' that are often seen in theoretical models purporting to describe law-like relationships between variables. Setting this terminological ambiguity aside, Tsoukas's point is that formal structures typically involve if-then statements that are relatively abstract and which purportedly enable managers to control outcomes, whereas narratives give expression deeply contexualized knowledge that cannot be expressed in a law-like generalization.
Tsoukas draws heavily upon MacIntyre's notion of practice as embodying commitments to inherently ethical commitments and often uses Taylor's understanding of strong evaluation to make this idea more evident. He also draws on Weick's account of sensemaking, the tradition of interpretative and phenomenological sociology, Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Hayek, as well as a range of work in organizational theory and strategy. The book can be read as a critique of positivism in strategic management and a call for a more contextual approach that can actually make sense of the way agents create value within organizationally embedded social practices. While this raises many more questions, Tsoukas has provided important insights that will shape future inquiry in this area.
Tsoukas focuses on the difference between what he calls "propositional knowledge," typically of codified structures, rules, and processes of formal organizations, and the knowledge embodied in narratives and generated by social practices. The term "propositional knowledge" is somewhat misleading as narratives are also stated using propositions and it is hard to image the possibility of knowledge that was not stated in propositions. Instead, 'propositional' should be thought of as referring to the 'propositions' that are often seen in theoretical models purporting to describe law-like relationships between variables. Setting this terminological ambiguity aside, Tsoukas's point is that formal structures typically involve if-then statements that are relatively abstract and which purportedly enable managers to control outcomes, whereas narratives give expression deeply contexualized knowledge that cannot be expressed in a law-like generalization.
Tsoukas draws heavily upon MacIntyre's notion of practice as embodying commitments to inherently ethical commitments and often uses Taylor's understanding of strong evaluation to make this idea more evident. He also draws on Weick's account of sensemaking, the tradition of interpretative and phenomenological sociology, Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Hayek, as well as a range of work in organizational theory and strategy. The book can be read as a critique of positivism in strategic management and a call for a more contextual approach that can actually make sense of the way agents create value within organizationally embedded social practices. While this raises many more questions, Tsoukas has provided important insights that will shape future inquiry in this area.
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