The Interpretation of Organizational Ontologies

Guilherme Azevedo
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Guilherme Azevedo: Audencia Business School

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Abstract: What does it mean for an organization "to exist"? Building upon the philosophical notion of ontologies as theories of existence, I outline a theory of organizational ontology supported by the premise that organizations contain implicit existential conventions that provide their members with an understanding of what their joint existence is. This study aims to answer two questions. First, what constitutes an organizational ontology? Second, how can this be accessed and represented? Using a methodology informed by cultural interpretation, I ground this study empirically in ethnographic fieldwork at a not-for-profit organization devoted to teaching math to "left behind" children.

Keywords: Organizational ontology; Ethnography; Ontology; Cultural interpretation; Organizational culture; Cosmology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hme
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03976130
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Published in Journal of Management Inquiry, 2024, 33 (1), pp.46-61. ⟨10.1177/10564926231155104⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03976130

DOI: 10.1177/10564926231155104

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