Organizational comparative analysis: Investigating similarities and differences among organizations
Studying Differences between Organizations: Comparative Approaches to Organizational Research
ISBN: 978-1-84855-646-1, eISBN: 978-1-84855-647-8
Publication date: 31 July 2009
Abstract
This chapter sets forth a form of comparative analysis that is explicitly organizational, in the sense that it uses cross-level, contextual or compositional, analysis to explain organizational-level observations, especially comparisons between organizations. Inter-organizational comparisons often surface paradoxical results, in the form of unexpected differences among similar kinds of organizations, or unexpected similarities among different kinds of organizations. The value of using comparative analysis in these cases is that the information required to unravel organizational-level puzzling results is often located at a higher or lower levels. The proposed form of comparative analysis thus extends the conventional top-down, unidirectional form by adding a bottom-up component – making it bi-directional. In addition to introducing an organization-centered form of comparative analysis, the chapter offers suggestions for its practice and speculates about the potential benefits of its broad application within organizational studies.
Citation
Whetten, D.A. (2009), "Organizational comparative analysis: Investigating similarities and differences among organizations", King, B.G., Felin, T. and Whetten, D.A. (Ed.) Studying Differences between Organizations: Comparative Approaches to Organizational Research (Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Vol. 26), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 63-87. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X(2009)0000026005
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited