Pluralism and the Problem of Variety

Organizational theorists tend to homogenize what is, in reality, a pluralistic world, emphasizing the discovery of unifying principles that lend organizational focus, legitimacy, and identity while downplaying some of the complexity that pluralism often entails. In their original formulation, most organizational theories have richness and depth in modeling pluralistic variety; over time, however, theorizing seems to have purchased parsimony and generality at the cost of accuracy or realism. The dominant questions from 3 influential paradigms - strategic management, institutionalism, and organizational identity - and revisited and alternative theorizing that advantages pluralism is explored.