Metaphorizing Methodology in Organization and Management Studies: a Descriptive Approach

According to the new theory of metaphor, metaphors contribute a crucial role in understanding phenomena by structuring and classifying concepts and the semantic system of the human mind. Based on this, by diagnosing the metaphors governing people’s minds, it is possible to understand their way of looking at the world to some extent and predict their actions towards their surrounding environment. On the other hand, the purpose of social sciences, including management, is to understand, predict and control human actions. A simple comparison between the stated function of identifying people’s mind metaphors and the purpose of social sciences can well explain the status of metaphor research (with the aim of describing people’s mind metaphors) in social sciences. However, despite the stated importance, no coherent and systematic method for metaphor research has been presented so far, and often the results of these researches, i.e., metaphors, have been given attention. The authors intend to present a revised method for metaphor research in organization and management studies in the form of five main steps: statement of the problem and research rationale, research question, data collection method, data interpretation method, and how to write the conclusion in metaphorical research.