Is the Gene-ie Out of the Bottle? The Problems and Perils of Genetics Research in Management

Jean Clarke (), Joep Cornelissen and Mark Healey
Additional contact information
Jean Clarke: EM - EMLyon Business School
Joep Cornelissen: Erasmus University Rotterdam
Mark Healey: University of Manchester [Manchester]

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: In recent years, the field of management research has witnessed the emergence of a stream of research that seeks to identify the genetic determinants of managerial, entrepreneurial, and organizational behaviour. We challenge the reductionist epistemology underpinning this genetic perspective in management research and highlight the inherently weak inferences about human behaviour that follow from its prevailing methods and explanatory models. We further examine the ethical implications that arise from its underlying assumptions and potential future applications. We then propose recasting the role of genetics as part of a broader phenomenon-driven approach towards studying and explaining human behaviour in management research and outline a conceptual framework aimed at generating stronger and contextually grounded explanatory models of managerial, entrepreneurial, and organizational behaviour.

Keywords: Behavioural genetics; Phenomenon-driven research; Reductionism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-09-22
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05766401v1
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in Journal of Management Studies, In press, ⟨10.1111/joms.70164⟩

Downloads: (external link)
https://hal.science/hal-05766401v1/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05766401

DOI: 10.1111/joms.70164

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().