„Nun sag, wie hast du’s mit den Geisteswissenschaften?“ Ein Review wissenschaftstheoretischer Grundlagen deutschsprachiger Lehrbücher der Allgemeinen Betriebswirtschaftslehre

Abstract

Tell me now, how do you feel about the humanities?" A review of the meta-theoretical foundations of German textbooks in general business administration Abstract Business administration today pursues a methodological openness in its research practice. Quantitative and qualitative research is considered equally legitimate. In contrast, general business administration in Germany still seems to adhere to a one-sided research ideal that only accepts the methodology of the natural sciences. Since general business administration strives for a uniform foundation of its discipline, this narrowing of scientific theory would not be compatible with its openness in scientific practice. However, there are no systematic studies available to date that prove an actual narrowing of general business administration to the methodology of the natural sciences. Therefore, this article reviews the meta-theoretical foundations of general business administration. Subject of the review are all German textbooks of general business administration published since 2005. The result shows unanimously that business administration is indeed an application-oriented discipline whose research ideal corresponds to the natural sciences. Following the review, the article discusses possibilities of a meta-theoretical revision in general business administration. Overall, the article argues for a methodological pluralism that recognizes the practical relevance of research in the humanities.