Abstract
This article addresses the issue of how to generalise the results of case studies, which are the main instrument of most cross-national studies on organisations. Drawing on his own studies and those of others, the author reconstructs three ways of dealing with this problem: an `experimental' procedure resting on the classical approach of comparing `matched' pairs; a `holistic', usually interpretive procedure based on the `cultural' or `systemic' reconstruction of social totalities and patterns of interdependence; and, lastly, an ideal-type procedure that is grounded in the construction of society-plant constellations that can stimulate an inductive-exploratory way of developing and verifying more general statements. The third procedure is partially illustrated by a Franco-German study previously conducted by the author.
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