Management she wrote: organization studies and detective stories

Abstract

It has been postulated that social sciences in general and organization theory in particular can profit from parallels and analogies with fiction literature. As the main form of expression in social sciences, like in literature, is a written product, inspired imitation can visibly improve the literary forms of organization theory, without diminishing its specificity. This essay argues that one genre in fiction literature is especially suitable for such comparisons. This is the genre of the detective story, where the detective, much like the researcher, must untangle the social tissue to arrive at an explanation.