Linking theory and practice in management research: scientific research programmes and alethic pluralism

This paper explores the potential for contemporary management research of the theory of scientific research programmes originally proposed by Lakatos. In doing this, we explore several related ideas in methodology, epistemology and ontology, including alethic pluralism. Lakatos himself would probably have had some (perhaps considerable) disagreement with the directions in which his theory is taken in this paper. However, if his theory is itself seen as a scientific research programme, then this paper fits the spirit of his methodology. The paper is in four parts. The first part sets the context, while the second part introduces and explores the Lakatosian framework of scientific research programmes and proposes a number of extensions. The third part examines the implications of alethic pluralism, and argues that this enriches further the framework being developed. The final part then reviews the argument, and considers the implications for management research.