Organizational Processes and Received Wisdom

A volume in the Research in Organizational SciencesSeries Editor Daniel J. Svyantek Auburn UniversityThis Research in Organizational Sciences volume to explore and question the received wisdomof organizational sciences. The chapters in this volume (and the companion volume) seek toestablish boundary conditions for important organizational constructs and processes. Theyillustrate the importance of context for interpreting the received wisdom of organizationalscience by showing when constructs must be adapted to changing circumstances.The volume begins with four chapters looking at the construct of leadership. Each of theseaddresses an important aspect of our understanding of leadership and its practice. The fourchapters on leadership are followed by five chapters dealing with other organizational processesincluding motivation organizational change the role of diversity in organizations and organizational citizenship. The last three chaptersdeal with the issue of knowledge in large systems. Two chapters address how information may be transmitted across organizations andgenerations of workers. The final chapter deals with the use of information by organizational decision-makers.The 12 papers in this volume all in some way question received wisdom and present alternatives which expand our understanding oforganizational behavior. These chapters each strive to present new ways of understanding organizational constructs and in so doingreveal how received wisdom does not always lead to best practice in research or application. It is our hope that these chapters illustratehow challenging received wisdom in organizational studies can provide new ways of thinking about organizational processes. Thesenew ways of thinking in turn can provide better understanding of the processes necessary to increase organizational effectiveness.