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The implicit and indirect influence of classical science on strategic management has been of utmost importance in the development of the discipline. Classical science has underpinned the main and even contrasting strategic management cultures. Classical science has undoubtedly allowed strategic management to thrive. Nevertheless, important limitations, roadblocks and challenges have also been produced. This paper aims to explore the influence of classical science on the main positivist and interpretive strategic management cultures.

A conceptual review is done on the influence of classical science on positivist and interpretivist traditions in strategic management.

The benefits and shortcomings of classical science in strategic management are explored and presented. Furthermore, the convoluted implicit relationship between strategic management and science is shown to be changing but persisting, as to face some of the challenges of the classical science culture of strategic management, a complexity culture, also inspired partially on science, seems to be developing in strategic management. Complexity seems to be emerging as an alternative, which might allow strategic management to solve some of its current dilemmas and, thus, change its implicit relationship with science.

The paper presents a novel way to conceptualize historical cultures of strategic management via their connection with academic cultures that have historically emerged from science. Through the analysis here done, a possible candidate for a Kuhninan normal strategic management and its potential revolution will be suggested, based on the recognition of the inheritance of classical science and currently complexity theory in strategic management.

Although management accounting tools and techniques are developed to solve practical problems in organizations, there is a lot of criticism of management accounting research for not having an impact on practice. In interventionist research, the “shaping” of an intervention to solve a practical problem is an important step. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the findings of management accounting research can be reviewed to make them practically applicable in shaping an intervention.

The paper is based on the author’s experiences with an interventionist research project.

Systematic literature reviews, which are common in engineering and medicine, bring together the academic knowledge that can contribute to solutions for a specific practical problem, including a definition of the ways in which this knowledge can be applied. Inspired by the methodology for conducting such reviews, this paper proposes how interventionist management accounting researchers can use existing theoretical knowledge in shaping interventions that aim to solve a practical problem. After an intervention, the analysis of the intervention’s unforeseen effects can provide a basis for the refinement of the theory identified in the literature review.

Such a literature review can be organized according to four approaches to taking theoretical knowledge into practice. Unforeseen effects of the intervention can guide the selection of additional theory that helps to interpret these effects and refine normative and academic theory.

In management accounting it is uncommon to review the literature with the aim of shaping a solution for a practical problem. This paper explores how literature reviews that focus on a specific practical problem can contribute to bridging the gap between theory and practice.

Technology entrepreneur' competence is one of the main domains of study in the field of technology entrepreneurship. In the dominant rationalistic view, competence is seen as constituted by a set of components used in performing particular functions. This study aims to expand this field of study by using an interpretive view.

Phenomenology is proposed and explored as an interpretive methodology that is more compatible with technology entrepreneurship. The empirical material is based on interviews with 19 technology entrepreneurs who have established new technology-based firms in Iran.

Findings show that the nature of the technology entrepreneurship's competence is emergent, holistic and relational. Also, the entrepreneurs' perception of entrepreneurship specifies which competence's components they develop and what meaning these components take.

By examining how technology entrepreneurs experience competence in the context of business creation, this study moves beyond the lists or categories of competencies, and it contributes to a broader understanding of competence at technology entrepreneurship.

The purpose of this paper is to employ an integrated approach of interpretive ranking process (IRP) and system dynamics (SD) for modelling the key risk factors for a typical construction project.

The risk parameters and performance measures applicable in the construction industry have been identified through extensive literature review and discussions with experts from the construction industry. Based on the literature review, a questionnaire was designed and 64 responses were considered. The list of 20 risk parameters and 32 performance measures relevant for a construction industry is reduced to five risk factors and five performance measure factors using factor analysis. IRP modelling is employed to examine the contextual relationships among risk factors and to rank them with respect to performance measure factors. Subsequently, the results of IRP model were utilised as inputs to SD analysis. The SD analysis is conducted for two models, namely, risk factor model and risk variable model to understand the impact of interventions offered by project management team on risk reduction and mitigation.

The developed IRP model shows that the risk factor dimension “construction management” has a high likeliness to occur during the construction phase.

The research demonstrates an application of proposed approach for a typical construction environment and hence the results cannot be generalised.

This research addresses real life complexities in construction project by modelling critical risk factors using an integrate approach of IRP and SD. The proposed approach would facilitate project managers to devise appropriate risk mitigation strategies for a construction project.

The purpose of this paper is to shed further light on how corporate environmental disclosures are used to respond to institutional pressures stemming from the social context.

Interpretive textual analysis is applied to discuss how the environmental disclosures of a leading Finnish chemical company developed during the period 1972‐2005. This discussion is accompanied by an analysis of the social and institutional context in which the company has been operating. The development of the disclosures is reflected against changing social and institutional pressures identified from the perspective of new institutional sociology.

The results show that during these 34 years there have been major transitions in the rhetoric used by the case company in its environmental disclosures. These transitions coincide with changes in the social and institutional context. It is argued that the case company has adjusted its disclosures to respond to the varying institutional pressures in order to maintain a legitimate position in society.

The subjective nature of the interpretive approach and the use of a single case limit the generalisability of the results. However, the longitudinal approach is argued to produce valuable insights on how corporate disclosures are used as a communication tool to portray the organisation in a certain light.

The study adds to a growing body of literature using interpretive approaches in deconstructing corporate disclosures. The influence exerted by social and institutional pressures on corporate disclosures is highlighted, further research avenues can therefore be proposed.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an innovative branding method based on the hermeneutical approach and interpretive theory, to respond to the need of a simple and effective tool to build corporate identity through an industrial brand identity design and, being a new business, has been considered the brand perception of their stakeholders as the main input to analyze.

The case study of a small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME), that produces nanomaterials for the business-to-business (B2B) industrial market, is used to design the new hermeneutic branding method. The methodology process has been structured in four phases that have marked the investigation and that correspond to four different levels of knowledge that, in succession, between them, constituted the so-called hermeneutic circle.

This new approach allowed us to understand the social phenomenon related to the brand: its characteristic, context and the brand itself. Though hermeneutic analysis has confirmed that business strategy is only part of a more complex system of brand management, it must also consider the competitive environment and the views of the stakeholders.

This paper contributes to research on industrial branding by adopting the hermeneutical approach in managerial practice. This paper is the first of its kind in detail modelling the design phases of a B2B brand, providing an operational tool for marketing specialists.

There is a lack of research studies in the methods for designing industrial brands. The contribution of this paper lies in proposing a new interpretative approach that, acknowledging the different expectations of the stakeholder in the supply chain, allows to draw a B2B brand that communicates the system values of the product and company.

Firms have been adopting lean manufacturing to improve their business performances. However, they are facing failures or less success in implementation, mainly due to lack of understanding in relating the lean practices (LPs) from the required performance measures perspective. In view of the lack of research and the importance of understanding them, the purpose of this paper is to prioritize LPs.

As LPs are scattered in the literature and a variety of performance measures are used, an extensive literature review is first carried out to identify the LPs and performance measures. The blend of interpretive structural modeling and interpretive ranking process interpretive tools is adopted in establishing the contextual relationship among LPs and then ranking them based on the performance measures. A three-dimensional priority matrix is proposed for better explanation of the results.

The proposed framework can help firms better understand LPs and their levels of importance in lean implementation.

The involvement of lean experts may produce some bias in evaluating the LPs.

The proposed framework can help practitioners to develop an industry-specific road-map for the result-oriented LP implementation. Based on the area of performance to be improved, practitioners can prioritize LPs for implementation.

This is the first study that provides a comprehensive review of LPs available in the literature and prioritizes them in accordance with performance with interpretive tools.

This article advocates recognition of interpretive elements in business research and the need for improvement of the researcher’s interpretive skills. The scientific tradition specifically concerned with interpretation is called hermeneutics. However, interpretation exists in all types of scientific studies, be they quantitative or qualitative. The article presents lessons from hermeneutics and spells out the interpretive content of research in general and with specific focus on business‐to‐business marketing. Interpretive methods, when applied to business, are characterized by efforts to understand the complexity of the business world and its products, services and markets, and to add meaning to strategies, actions and events. A set of methods designated interactive research is discussed. These are more inspired by the humanities, sociology, anthropology and modern natural sciences than by the social sciences research paradigm as it is currently applied in most mainstream research in marketing.

The purpose of this paper is to present a “manifesto” exploring a methodological approach to legal analysis, relying upon a morphological understanding of ideology.

The authors explore ideology within law and legal culture. They examine one such ideology – rule of law – and consider how this can shape judicial decision-making. They suggest techniques by which such influences can be identified.

The authors make four findings. First, following Freeden, ideology can be understood as a ubiquitous form of political thinking which seeks to fix the meanings of essentially contested concepts. Second, ideology in this sense forms an important part, but is distinguishable from the wider notion of legal culture. Considering ideology in law as a sub-system of legal culture can therefore be fruitful in providing a rich understanding of interpretive disagreements among the judiciary. Third, rule of law as an ideal is itself ideological, as it comprises contested concepts such as certainty, equality, stability and legality. It can be considered to constitute an internal ideology of law and it can be analysed how the concepts are de-contested in individual decisions. Finally, understanding this can help in the analysis of judgments in areas with high levels of administrative discretion and political contestation, such as planning and environmental law, as it helps us to understand how any particular judge sees the role of the court in its wider political context.

The originality of the authors’ approach lies in the drawing together of methodological techniques and understandings of ideology in, and in relation to, law.

This paper aims to specify a set of methodological stages to conduct case studies. It presents a graphical representation of these stages, describes how it assists management researchers to build theory from data gathered in the field, and outlines its value for achieving sound management research.

A sample of nine cases published in Management Decision within the last two years (2003‐2004) is selected in order to illustrate these processes.

The paper's major contribution to research methodology is to specify a set of guidelines for conducting case studies and being explicit in how to apply a series of quality criteria for evaluating case studies in practice. The proposal not only helps to conduct research, but also documents the links between the research topics (in the conceptual framework), data (observations and interpretations in the field), data analysis (coding using the concepts in the conceptual framework and emergent themes) and the theory and knowledge accumulated through the research process.

The increasing use of case studies in management, and the desire to build theory from qualitative data, has highlighted a gap between existing proposals and the criteria for rigorous case studies. This contribution helps to close this gap by providing guidelines and the practical application of the quality principles. It assists management researchers working in these paradigms to build theory from qualitative data.

The proposal adds to the tools that management researchers can follow to produce sound research. This paper illustrates several case studies in order to show their epistemological approach, and to evaluate their quality level by applying our principles.