PLURALISM AND INCOMMENSURABILITY IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION THEORY - A PROBLEM IN SEARCH OF A SOLUTION

Research in management has become more and more differentiated and com plex. In organization theory and strategic management one can find dif ferent approaches, concepts, and theories, which are not only diverse, but often give contradictory advice. Therefore, it has become difficu lt for both the researcher and the practitioner to find appropriate an swers to theoretical and practical problems. This is especially true i n a situation of incommensurability where no objective frame of refere nce to evalute competing perspectives exists. Although in organization theory this problem has been discussed for over 20 years, no acceptab le solution has been found. Instead, as recent paradigm discussions ha ve shown, the differences have become even greater. The purpose of thi s special issue is to review the current state of the pluralism discus sion in organization theory and to find new ways to handle the problem s of pluralism, diversity and incommensurability. In this paper I will give an introduction to the special issue. I will explain the concept of incommensurability and will review the paradigm discussion in stra tegic management and organization theory. In the second part of the pa per I will give an overview of the contributions to this special issue .