Understanding Management Research

In recent years Phil has participated in the generation and management of over £420, 000 of research funding, over £330,000 of which was provided by EPSRC and ESRC. Involved in much of this research have been local public and private sector organizations as sponsors of research and as research sites for both data collection and for change-management interventions. This research has concerned a range of issues including: management control; corporate governance; contractor-client relations; evolving management roles. Recently Phil has engaged in ESRC sponsored research into "Benchmarking Good Practice in Qualitative Management Research" which is part of the ESRC Research Methodology Programme.Currently Phil is a referee for a number of academic journals and reviews book proposals for several major academic publishers. He has also been a guest editor for the journal Management Decision and has recently been appointed as Associate Editor for a new international journal, Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management.Phil′s education includes: BA (Hons) Sociology (Sheffield); MSc Organization Development (CNAA); MSc Advance Educational and Social Research Methods (Open University); PhD Management and Organization (CNAA). Jo is a Reader in Organization Studies. She has previously worked at Heriot Watt University, Sheffield University, Leeds University and Sheffield Hallam University. Jo has taught OB, HRM and change management to postgraduate and undergraduate students. She has supervised 6 PhDs to completion and  is currently supervising 2 PhD students.

′These sections represent the clearest rendition yet of these subjects, with difficult concepts introduced in a digestible form for the neophytic (or not so neophytic) researcher. Whilst in a book this size not every argument can be presented, there is ample extra material to be found to encourage further engagement… At the end of each chapter, there is a very useful Further Reading section provided by the authors, which gives useful guidelines. I believe to be an extremely useful text, which addresses what has until now been a significant gap in the market. This book will be my first choice in the future for introducing doctoral students of management-related subject to the philosophical underpinning they require for their studies. There is no other text which covers this area so clearly, so succinctly and in language that is readily accessible to a wide range of researcher back-grounds. I can enviSAGE this being a valuable source book to which researchers return again and again in order to deepen their understanding as research projects progress; it certainly provoked some new questions for me. To conclude, an excellent buy′ - International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation

• IntroductionThe Importance of Epistemology in Management ResearchPositivist EpistemologyThe Search for Foundations?PositivismThe Management Mainstream?Conventionalist EpistemologyThe Socialization of Science?Postmodernist EpistemologyRelativism UnleashedCritical Theory and ManagementThe Return to Rationalism and the Promise of ProgressPragmatism and Critical RealismTranscending Descartes′ Either/Or?ConclusionsA More Reflexive Approach towards Management Research