‘Old’ organizational paradigms die hard: ‘New’ organizational paradigms may denote opportunities

This paper explores selected aspects of sustainability and organizational paradigms. In a more simple interpretation: how can we benefit from accumulated experience, even when the situation and context of operation changes? First, interpretations of paradigms are discussed, and their importance are emphasized. It is argued that paradigms, in the “Kuhn” sense, can be regarded valid in the natural sciences. Yet it is questionable whether they apply to social sciences, or in our everyday life. A discussion of ‘paradigms’ may also deal with context when little remains constant (eg.business), and when theories are contingent upon circumstances. From such a perspective a discussion concerning the existence of classical ‘paradigms’ in organizational theory is conducted, including examples of how difficult it is for some “organizational paradigms” to disappear. This outline is followed by examples of newly created paradigms that revolutionize our life. These new paradigms bring glory and fortunes to their authors; yet the same was true of paradigms that were valid decades or centuries ago. There are also “life (or personal) paradigms”, relative to small issues, which mark somewhat a shift from the world of micro-economy, to daily reality. The specific importance of these micro rules is explored based on incident related to the scholarly achievements of Professor Wiesław Grudzewski.

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