PhD in Business Administration and Quantitative Methods

Management – Homework #2

André Manuel Teixeira

1. Defining the concept of paradigm.

There are several definitions of paradigm. The Merriam-Webster Online dictionary

defines this concept as “a philosophical and theoretical framework of a scientific

school or discipline within which theories, laws, and generalizations and the

experiments performed in support of them are formulated”.

But perhaps the most widely used definition comes from Thomas Kuhn. In The

Structure of Scientific Revolutions he refers to the concept of “paradigms” in the

following way: “These I take to be universally recognized scientific achievements that

for a time provide model problems and solutions to a community of practitioners”. In

other words, a paradigm is a set of practices that define a scientific discipline at any

particular period of time.

2. Using the core typology (parameters), locate economics, physics, medicine and

management.

According to Kuhn, paradigms can be found in the natural sciences but are absent in

the social sciences. This happens because natural sciences lack the controversies over

fundamentals that are characteristic of the social sciences.

To answer this question we can use the methodology proposed by Mark Smith that

states that there are different ways in which the word “paradigm” is used and that

these uses can be divided in three broad categories.

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The first category contains the uses of the word paradigm, which can be identified by

Kuhn’s account of the natural sciences. Here we can include physics followed by

medicine. These are sciences characterized by dominant frameworks of scientific

practice succeeding one another and almost no discussions about bedrock

assumptions. They also face a high rate of obsolescence and knowledge growth since

recent work becomes quickly obsolete and is rapidly replaced by new knowledge.

A less rigorous definition is applied in the second category. Here, in contrast with the

first category, the presence of competing paradigms in the same field of knowledge is

allowed. This is the case of economics, which has different scientific approaches and

each of them differing in methods, skills and values. Thus, the discipline of

economics face relatively low levels of consensus and a lower rate of “progress” than

natural sciences, such as physics and medicine.

Finally, at the bottom of our hierarchy we may find the study of organizations and

management. The lack of a dominant framework in this academic discipline as well as

a lower rate of “progress” and accumulation of knowledge when compared to natural

sciences, excludes management from belonging to the first category (in the sense of

Mark Smith). Notwithstanding, the general consensus and unity on the field’s

research justifies the discipline to follow economics in the second category (and

excluded it from belonging to the third category).

3. Presenting the main guidelines of “notice to contributors” on any issue of

Administrative Science Quarterly journal.

The publications of ASQ must always contain a significant degree of theory since

theory enables “further research and improved practice”. Apart from that,

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researchers submitting work should focus on “interesting” insights rather than

“stagnant, repetitious, and closed topics”. Thus, authors should check precedents

over the last publication years, as “manuscripts considered inappropriate will be

returned promptly”.

In ASQ publications, there is neither a standard methodology style nor priorities to

subjects for study. Presentations need to be compact and contain a clear line of

argument. It is of extreme important that manuscripts are well phrased and that

arguments are clear and logical. Moreover, authors must have the ability to critically

evaluate their own work, discussing alternative explanations and possible flaws. By

doing so, they are “anticipating reviewers and improve the probability of

acceptance”.

Regarding the preparation of the manuscripts, papers must include an informative

100-word abstract that describes the material presented in the paper. The document

should not include tables (they should be attached after references, properly labeled)

and be double-spaced in 12-point type. Typing should be in block form, with an extra

double-space between paragraphs. Footnotes should be used sparingly and headings

organized by using primary, secondary, and tertiary headings, rather than numbered

headings. More to the point, to preserve anonymity in the blind-review process,

authors should avoid revealing their identity in text, through obvious self-references

to previous work, or in footnotes. Nevertheless, they can reference their own work

like the work of any other scholar.

Writing is also conditioned: italics should be omitted and parenthesis avoided;

abbreviations must be restricted to well known ones, and spelled out when first used;

unnecessary acronyms should be eschewed; quotation marks must be applied only for
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direct quotations; “percent” must be used in text and percentage sign in tables; verb

tenses need to be adjusted to the type of analysis (graphical, textual and so on); and,

only pertinent literature should be discussed.

To conclude, regarding the set of references, there are also rules to be followed. In-

text references should be cited – in parentheses – by mentioning the name of the

author, year of publication and page numbers. Additionally, the writer must assure

that references are alphabetized by author and, for each author, listed in chronological

sequence. Finally, authors’ information must be resumed using some formal

techniques (e.g. using “et al” if there is a large number of authors, post scripting

dates, tagging press references and so on).

4. Explaining Maslow’s approach on motivation.

Abraham H. Maslow (1943) attempted to formulate a needs-based framework of

human motivation based upon his clinical experiences with people.

Simply stated, Maslow’s motivation theory argues that human beings are motivated

by unsatisfied needs, and that certain lower factors need to be satisfied before higher

needs can be satisfied. According to Maslow, there are general types of needs

(physiological, survival, safety, love, and esteem) that must be satisfied before a

person can act unselfishly. He called these needs “deficiency needs”. As long as we

are motivated to satisfy these cravings, we are moving towards growth, toward self-

actualization. The theory can be illustrated using the self-styled “Maslow’s Needs

Pyramid”, shown below:

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This theory tells managers that (i) not everyone is motivated by same needs, and that

(2) employees will be motivated by completely different needs in different moments

of their careers. In order ensure motivation of a workforce, leadership

must understand the current level of needs at which the employees find themselves,

and leverage needs for workplace motivation.