Center for Strategic Management and Globalization

Social and Organization Theory: States of Nature and First Principles by Teppo Felin (Brigham Young University)

ABSTRACT: Theories of organization start with some taken-for-granted assumptions that deserve further consideration and theoretical development. The purpose of this presentation is to unpack these implicit assumptions in organization theory and to highlight the first principles of organization theory and associated states of nature. I point to important (information-related) changes in the organizational landscape that warrant a re-visitation of organizational first principles, with important normative prescriptions. I also offer a comparative framework for deriving organizational first principles, by discussing how such first principles and associated progress has been made in the sciences. Finally, I suggest key directions for future research based on a first principles program of research and discuss implications for the future of organization theory and theories of the firm.

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Center for Strategic

Management and Globalization