A Muckraker Battles Alienation in Organization Studies

Abstract

For years Samuel Culbert has been providing penetrating analysis of how modern organizations are mismanaged, and the dysfunctional assumptions managers make. Presented are two papers describing his phenomenological investigatory approach. The first places his methodology in a broad intellectual framework, and describes it’s avoidance of social science strictures. The second is an autobiographical account of the experiential and intellectual paths that led to Culbert’s choice of methodology, and the reasoning that guides his use of it. It presents a detailed account of how he collects data, analyzes it, goes about validating his conclusions, and trying out remedies suggested by the theoretical frameworks he constructs.