Challenging trends in configuration research: Where are the configurations?

Abstract

The configuration approach to the study of organizations is enjoying increasing popularity, in part, due to the methodological advances of qualitative comparative analysis. I argue that there are significant contrasts between earlier taxonomic clustering and typology approaches to configuration and the newer ones being pursued with the qualitative comparative analysis methodology. I compare the two approaches and their application, arguing that what is missing in many studies, old and new, often due to the lack of qualitative evidence, is “configuration itself”—that is, contrasting common, thematic, and rich characterizations that provide insight into how organizations function.