Does Negativity Counterpoint Positivity, or the Other Way Round? On Positive Organizational Scholarship

Abstract

Management science and organization theory is thriving, as evidenced by thousands of popular and academic publications exploring the subject, as well as a great number of conferences held in recent years. Every year new (and fashionable) concepts and theories are created and POS (Positive Organizational Scholarship) is among the most popular ones. Despite the advancement of the discipline, its current condition is criticised and considered disappointing This dissatisfaction stems from frustration caused by conflicting expectations of the community, i.e. business and other stakeholders, and of researchers themselves, and the impossibility of satisfying these demands. Failure to fulfil contradictory expectations generates legitimacy problems, which is problematic considering that any activity is easier and more satisfying when it enjoys the recognition of its community (Hensel, 2017). We address these problems in our analysis by discussing POS as one of the most significant movements in the twenty-first-century management research. We present the basic assumptions of POS along with some major threats connected with POS development, such as 1) baroque and grandiloquent language and style that may direct attention to minor problems of organizations and degenerate into a great narrative of novelty and total innovativeness of the concept, or 2) the tendency to neglect the complexity of organizational processes. In order to avoid these pitfalls and overcome current limitations, we suggest here possible directions for the further development of POS, such as more comparative studies, including more countries in research projects, or constant effort toward a better operationalization of key constructs.

Keywords

• positive organizational scholarship
• negative organizational phenomena
• management research