In the light of increasing interest in the study of culture in organisations, this paper advocates the use of 'frames of meaning' as a concept for the study of forms of rationality in such cultures or sub-cultures. Some aspects of the social science treatment of rationality are examined and particular attention is paid to the work of March and Simon on 'bounded rationality'. Then reference is made to phenomenology, anthropology, and the sociology of knowledge in order to develop an adequate definition of the term, 'frame of meaning' Finally, the concept is located in its place in Giddens's theory , of social structuration and related to some recent contributions to organi sation theory.
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