Durkheim and Weber: methodological reflections for management and Business Studies

The central concern of management and business research is to understand why some strategies rise while others fall, why some firms outperform others and are more successful than their competitors (Barney and Clark, 2007; Rumelt, (1987). Management and business research has heavily drawn on Emile Durkheim's ideas about social milieu and identity and Max Weber's ideas about institutions to explain why and how certain strategies are optimal, or at least efficient; however, very little is known about their methodological contributions. Nowadays, almost all the articles published on top tier management and business journals present a methodology section to carry out their studies; however, little reference is made to recall the methodological augmentations of Durkheim and Weber. The purpose of this essay is to explore the methodological contributions of Durkheim and Weber. Although the discussion and reflections about their methodological dilemmas can not be exhaustive, we believe that the representation of their paradigms can shed light on the different methodological approaches for conducting a study in the field of business and management. Specifically, we shall conduct this study comparing and contrasting their different visions under the following sections: (1) scientific knowledge and subject matter; (2) the role of the researcher; (3) approaches to empirical data. In doing that, we shall further examine these two philosophers, juxtaposing the positivistic paradigm to that of the interpretative paradigm to which they belong.