From Borrowing to Blending: Rethinking the Processes of Organizational Theory Building.

Ambicultural blending between Eastern and Western paradigms: Fresh perspectives for international management research

“…To have any effect and make any real difference it will need to pass the test of blended theories which should "have explanatory power and are able to energize coherent and sustainable programs of research" (Cornelissen and Durand 2012, 154). Blending or "conceptual blending" (Fauconnier and Turner 2002) is an approach that Oswick, Fleming and Hanlon (2011) have recommended as a solution to the problem of overreliance upon oneway borrowing from outside organization theory and other management disciplines. Blending is a means by which management disciplines, using an approach based upon analogical reasoning, can develop more original 'indigenous' theories in order to cultivate more relevant and appropriate theories and to reduce the reliance on borrowed and 'shipped in' theories from outside.…”

Introduction: Special Symposium “Carnegie school and organization studies”

“…These pillars -bounded rationality, routine-based behaviour and learning -reflect another characteristic of the Carnegie School: the principle of "conceptual blending". This term -which is borrowed from cognitive linguistics, refers to the operationalization and extension of the correspondence so that constructs of the two fields are merged to generate a new synthetic and fruitful perspective (Oswick, Fleming, & Hanlon, 2011). For instance, bounded rationality -a concept initially imported from economics -was reinvented through ideas borrowed from cognitive sciences, and eventually rooted in organization studies thanks to sound empirical work.…”

Opinions: All about Creativity and Innovation

“…By blending the two literatures (e.g., Oswick et al 2011), this paper aims to explain why ideas created from the crowd may not be radical/creative enough to create a substantial surplus profit. Entrepreneurship literature indicates that in order to create radical ideas, the idea providers need to have prior knowledge (Shane 2000) to acquire keen insight into the idea domain and also to be motivated for entrepreneurial profit (Schumpeter 1961a), so that entrepreneurs can be alert to the creation of radical ideas.…”

“…In order to answer this question, this paper blends the literatures of entrepreneurship and innovation management to explain crowdsourcing (e.g., Oswick et al 2011). First, entrepreneurship literature suggests that the crowd does not have the motivation of an entrepreneur (the consistent pursuit of profit) (Schumpeter 1961a).…”