Foundations of Reflexive Strategy for Analysis Incorporating Researcher Lived Experience in Management Research

Responding to calls for more diverse management research methodologies, this paper proposes a methodological approach based on hermeneutics. This methodology is a reflexive strategy for analysis, which incorporates the researcher's personal lived experience in comparison to the lived experience of interviewees. Drawing on the philosophical hermeneutics of Heidegger and Gadamer, it argues that the preunderstanding cannot be set aside, so could be utilised as a productive tool for analysis. It is combined with the reflexive turn within hermeneutics in order to illuminate previously unseen aspects of a phenomenon and reflexively analyse underlying assumptions. Research using philosophical hermeneutics is not common among management research, so this paper draws on methodologies from qualitative health research to develop the approach. To demonstrate the application of the methodology, two case studies from an on-going study are used as examples. Finally, the benefits and limitations of utilizing this hermeneutic approach are discussed.