Beyond the limits of a deductive approach based on ideal types and configurations
Charlotte Moreau, François Pichault, Sybille Mertens de Wilmars · ORBi (University of Liège) · 2014
This paper presents an original theoretical model combining ideal-types and bundles in order to apprehend a poorly studied phenomenon, the professionalization of human resource management (HRM) in social enterprises. This theoretical model elaborated from a literature review fits into a deductive approach. The first objective of this contribution is to show the added values and limits of such an a priori conceptualization. By replacing that model within the contextualist framework of analysis (Pettigrew, 1987) and by equipping that approach with adapted methodologies, some limits inherent in a deductive approach are avoided. The second goal of this paper is then to demonstrate how such a combination helps to pass over the limits of the theoretical model based on bundles and ideal types.