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| The Term of “Mechanism” in Organizational Management Study: A Preliminary Definition and Available Research Approaches |
| LI Huijun，GE Jing，XI Youmin，WANG Lei，PANG Dalong |
| 1. Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China; 2. Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China |
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Abstract During recent decades, the term of‘mechanism’ has become a buzzword in organizational management study. However, the understanding and using of this concept has remained vague and even contradictory. Based on analyzing 55 papers published in 9 organizational management journals from 2001 to 2015, and referring to related studies from sociology and philosophy of science, we make a relatively clarified, exact, and richer definition for “mechanism” and suggest four feasible approaches to the study of mechanism in organizational management domain. At last, we discuss the most important challenges we will face and available directions we should explore in the future.
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Received: 01 December 2016
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2017, Vol. 14 
