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Organization Studies
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On the Way to Theory: A Processual Approach

Ajit Nayak

University of Bath, UK, a.nayak{at}bath.ac.uk

Debates on theory have focused on the nature of good theories and the process of theorizing, but have failed to engage with the ontology of becoming emphasized by process philosophers such as Heraclitus, Bergson and James, and more recently by Cooper, Shotter and Chia. This paper argues that engaging with reality as becoming implies departing from any claims of `essence' in theories. Theories are not representations, better or worse, of a particular phenomenon, real or socially constructed. Instead, mobility, movement and creativity are the primordial qualities of theory. A becoming ontology also points to the non-sequential, imaginative and paradoxical `way' of theory-building. This paper argues that a processual approach which is reposed on introspective reality and the method of intuition is better suited to revealing a becoming reality.

Key Words: becoming • Bergson • Cooper • Heraclitus • intuition • ontology • process • theory

Organization Studies, Vol. 29, No. 2, 173-190 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0170840607082227
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