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Chapter 4 - Microfoundations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2022

Eric W. K. Tsang
Affiliation:
University of Texas, Dallas
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Summary

The aim of the microfoundations movement in management is to link macro management phenomena, such as corporate governance and strategic alliances, with more micro disciplines, such as organizational behavior and psychology. The core ideas of microfoundations are closely related to methodological individualism, which is the epistemological stance stressing the explanatory primacy of individuals and their purposeful behavior. Methodological individualism should be distinguished from ontological individualism, which is the thesis that all social phenomena are created, or caused, by individuals. Coleman’s boat is a visual representation showing how large-scale entities (the macro) influence smaller-scale entities (the micro) and how a macro phenomenon is composed of microscale events and activities. A key limitation of the microfoundations movement is that emergent entities, such as organizations, and their properties are common in management research. The properties of an emergent entity itself cannot be explained away and thus eliminated entirely from explanations involving the exercise of the entity’s causal powers.

Type
Chapter
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Explaining Management Phenomena
A Philosophical Treatise
, pp. 126 - 145
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Microfoundations
  • Eric W. K. Tsang, University of Texas, Dallas
  • Book: Explaining Management Phenomena
  • Online publication: 15 December 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009323109.005
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  • Microfoundations
  • Eric W. K. Tsang, University of Texas, Dallas
  • Book: Explaining Management Phenomena
  • Online publication: 15 December 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009323109.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Microfoundations
  • Eric W. K. Tsang, University of Texas, Dallas
  • Book: Explaining Management Phenomena
  • Online publication: 15 December 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009323109.005
Available formats
×