The current orthodoxy is that 'knowledge' is the most powerful resource for organisational success. So how can managers develop the appropriate knowledge base to make their organisations grow? The answer lies in action research. Action research is increasingly perceived and used as a powerful methodology to promote professional awareness and development. However, there are very few texts that demonstrate how this can be utilised to promote management and organisational improvement or that emphasise the reflective nature of improving professionalism. Action Research in Organisations fills this gap. Aimed at both practising managers and university students alike, key features of this title include:
-
the location of management and organisational theory within a framework
-
examination of the principles and practice of action research
-
real-world examples and case studies of people attempting to improve their own situations through action research.
The Contributors
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Prologue : Contextualising the Study
Part 1 : What is the Nature of Organisational Knowledge?
Chapter 1 : Learning Organisations and the Responsibility of Managers
Chapter 2 : Learning Organisations as Good Societies
Chapter 3 : Action Research, Power and Control
Part 2 : How is Organisational Knowledge Acquired?
Chapter 4 : Doing Research
Chapter 5 : Empirical Research
Chapter 6 : Interpretive Research
Chapter 7 : Critical Theoretic Research
Chapter 8 : Action Research
Part 3 : How is Organisational Knowledge put to Use?
Chapter 9 : Action Research in Organisations
Chapter 10 : New Theories of Organisation
Part 4 : What are the Implications for Living Theories of Organisation as Generative Transformational Processes?
Chapter 11 : What Should be the Focus of Management Education?
Chapter 12 : My Epistemology of Practice of the Superintendency
Chapter 13 : How One School is Fulfilling the Vision of Peter Senge's 'Learning Organization'
Epilogue : Reconciliations
References
Index
