Is it Possible to be a Constructionist Consultant?

Abstract

This article explores difficulties of employing a constructionist stance when confronted with the institutionalized expectations of managers. The difficulty reveals itself to be grounded in a contrast between the logic of representation, conventionally used in contacts between researchers and managers, and the logic of practice, which is the medium of everyday organizational life and the focus of constructionist interest. The final discussion raises the question of whether the two kinds of logic can be reconciled with the logic of theory and the contract between managerial practice and managerial theory rewritten along new lines.