Barbara Czarniawska is one of the most original of contemporary writers on organizations. Sceptical of scientific claims and explanations of the social world, she advocates an approach that draws on narrative, literary theory, cultural studies, and anthropology, rather than positivist social science, arguing that 'the social sciences are a system of institutionalized reflection, whereas business and public organizations represent institutionalized action'.

• 1: Management and Organization


• 2: The Narrative in Organization Studies


• 3: Combining Narrative and Scientific Knowledge


• 4: Realism in the Novel and Social Sciences


• 5: On the Absence of Plot in Organization Studies


• 6: Organization Studies and Detective Stories


• 7: Polyphony in Organization Studies


• 8: References

Barbara Czarniawska is Chair of Management at the Gothenburg Research Institute, School of Economics and Commercial Law, Gothenburg University, and is widely regarded as one of the leading Europeans in the field of organization studies. Previous positions include Chair of Management in the Department of Business Administration, Lund University, and Associate Professor and Acting Chair in Public Management at the Stockholm School of Economics. Recent academic posts abroad include Arthur Andersen Visiting Fellow at the Department of Accounting and Finance, London School of Economics and Political Science (March 1996), and Visiting Professor at the University of Innsbruck, Austria (1994).