Grasping the Logic of Practice: Theorizing Through Practical Rationality

Abstract

There is an increasing concern that management theories are not relevant to practice. In this article we contend that the overall problem is that most management theories are unable to capture the logic of practice because they are developed within the framework of scientific rationality. We elaborate practical rationality as an alternative framework and show how it enables development of theories that grasp the logic of practice and, thus, are more relevant to management practice.

Performance measurement, modes of evaluation and the development of compromising accounts

“…Here there is a 'breakdown' such that issues and concerns that have arisen can no longer be absorbed into the usual way of operating (Sandberg & Tsoukas, 2011). Some breakdowns can be viewed as temporary and so the focus is on what is problematic about the current practice and how to fix it (Sandberg & Tsoukas, 2011). For example, doubts and criticisms can arise about the difficulties of implementing the practice, about whether it will result in the desired behaviours, and how it will influence other practices (Gehman et al, 2013).…”

“…Here there is a 'breakdown' such that issues and concerns that have arisen can no longer be absorbed into the usual way of operating (Sandberg & Tsoukas, 2011). Some breakdowns can be viewed as temporary and so the focus is on what is problematic about the current practice and how to fix it (Sandberg & Tsoukas, 2011).…”

Researching at the Intersection of Innovation, Operations Management, and Entrepreneurship

“…This potential opportunity represents internally generated knowledge, which is often created by experiencing the world. For example, when engaged in a task, an individual can be fully absorbed and make minor adaptations to small perturbations-absorbed coping (Sandberg & Tsoukas, 2011;Weick, 1999). However, when the tools the individual has are insufficient for problem solving, the problem stands out as an anomaly requiring deliberate reasoning to generate a solution.…”

Language and Communication at Work

“…We focus on the organizational work that goes into arriving at moral judgments. We are interested in the practices (Schatzki, 2005(Schatzki, , 2006, which equip practitioners with meanings and background distinctions among moral and immoral actions (Nicolini, 2011;Sandberg and Tsoukas, 2011) and through which the making of moral judgments becomes a collective accomplishment. <PI>Conceptualizing the making of moral judgments as an organized assemblage of practices (Schatzki 2006) may seem counter-intuitive.…”

“…That is, moral judgments are recurrently produced, and rendered possible, plausible, and meaningful, within a set of particular practices. To probe further the distinctive practice of moral judgments, we draw on practice theory (Feldman and Orlikowski, 2011;Nicolini, 2009Nicolini, , 2011Nicolini, , 2012Sandberg and Tsoukas, 2011;Tsoukas, 2009Tsoukas, , 2010. A practice lens probes empirical phenomena as ongoing accomplishment based on the premise that: <EXT>social reality is fundamentally made up of practices; that is, rather than seeing the social world as external to human agents or as socially constructed by them, this approach sees the social world as brought into being through everyday activity .…”