An Analytical Methodology for Management Research: Insights from Semiotics

Abstract

In the field of business management, managers have a tendency to think in a linear fashion that is restricted to cause and effect relationships. This mindset limits understanding of complex phenomena, including those that managers and business people face in their activities. This article proposes an Analytical Methodology for Management Research (AMMR) using a triadic logic gleaned from semiotics. The AMMR tool used herein diagnoses the meaning people assign to complex concepts such as "business success" and is based on three logical categories within semiotics where success is understood as business sustainability over time. This article ap- plies the AMMR to an empirical sample comprised of managers and business people. The results highlight the similarities and differences in attributing meaning to the concept of sustainability. The study also analyses the knowledge, behaviours and values that respondents considered most important for the success of an enterprise, i.e. its sustainability. This article concludes that the applied methodology creatively enriches the analy- sis of the phenomenon studied opening up many possible responses. The AMMR can be applied to the assessment of managers and business people from different organisations or people working in the same organisation at different hierarchical levels. In addition, the analysis can be performed individually or collectively. The classification of the responses obtained by applying the AMMR is open for future research, following 10 possible configurations, with each of them emerging as a logical combination that allows for the organisation of the emphasis given to concepts, behaviours and values.