Perspectives or a Method? (Jessy)

In the introduction of Cultures in Organizations, Martin goes to lengths to articulate that her book does not offer three different paradigms (Integration, Differentiation, and Fragmentation) but rather perspectives organizational culture(16). Martin states that "[w]hen any single organization is viewed from all three perspectives, a greater understanding emerges than if it were viewed from any single perspective," yet she does not explicitly suggest that researchers should use all three perspectives simultaneously when conducting research. Moreover, Martin argues that the "three-perspective framework itself should not be treated as a paradigm"(16). I agree with Martin that it might not be accurate or useful to treat the three perspectives as a paradigm. However, I believe that it would be appropriate to conceptualize the union of the two perspectives of integration and differentiation as a useful method of organizational inquiry. (I exclude Fragmentation for the time being since we did not read that far in the text).

My reasoning for looking to both perspectives in organizational culture research is this: taken in isolation both integration and differentiation perspectives appear to be at some level a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you enter an organizational context looking for evidence of integration you will certainly find it. Conversely, researchers studying organizational culture for sign of differentiation will not be disappointed. In other words, every organization's culture is constituted by both integration and differentiation. Thus, studying one in isolation seem epistemologically problematic. Instead, scholars might be better off examining how integration and differentiation intersect to create culture within organizations. Do you see Martin's scholarly contribution as a description of multiple methods? Or, do you think that the book could be viewed as a method in itself if scholars elected to pair integration and differentiation in the creation of organizational culture?