Philosophy of Science in Management Researc

The purpose of this PDW is to introduce a new course of philosophy of management research, which aims to discuss the philosophical issues in management research to advanced doctoral students in the business schools. The course was offered by Prof. Anne Tsui for the first time in three Chinese business schools during the fall semester of 2015. It focuses on a few of the key issues in the work of a scientist in constructing understanding and explanation of important phenomena in our natural and social world. These fundamental philosophicalissues pervading both natural and social sciences will help us gain clarity on the role of scientific research in advancing the practice of management. The course is for doctoral level students in all the business disciplines who have taken fundamental courses of their fields(i.e., Post Master’s degree or at least second-year of a 5-year Ph. D. program). It is suitable for doctoral students who are pursuing an academic career and intend to pursue a life in organizational science devote to conducting theoretical and empirical research in business and management. The students in all three schools gave favorable feedback on the course and they strongly supported offering this course to future students. Therefore, we design this PDW to introduce the course to those interested in teaching this course in their own schools. The workshop will have two sessions. In this first session, we will present a brief introduction of the course. The course covers these key topics: What is scientific reasoning and explanation? What are the unique challenges in social science relative to natural science? How does progress and development in scientific knowledge come about? What role do values play in science? What is the development of science in the management and organization discipline? How does science contribute to both the progress and the demise of the human condition? How can we as budding scientists contribute to the progress in the science of management and organizations, and hence humanity? What does it mean to pursue a career in organization science? In the second session, presenters will use concrete examples in management history to illustrate how these fundamental philosophical issues play a significant role in shaping the development of management research. By tracking on the evolution of management researchin several important areas, we will demonstrate how organizations may influence the wellbeing of both those working in them and those affected by them (i.e., shareholders, employees, consumers, and society), and in particular, how science or the scientist plays animportant role of integrating business decisions and humanity. We will also illustrate that if the role of science or of the scientist is not understood properly, it can impede our scientific work, impair knowledge, stall scientific discoveries, and damage both our scientific reputation and business practices.