Critical realism : a way forward for integrating leadership theories across paradigms : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of a Master of Business Studies in Management at Massey University, (Distance), New Zealand

Abstract

The number of leadership theories has grown rapidly over the past decade, and this expansion has some researchers calling for the development of more integrated approaches. However, while some frameworks have been proposed, these lack the ability to incorporate leadership perspectives stemming from different social science paradigms, such as positivism, interpretivism, and critical theory. To address this issue, this thesis argues that the depth of critical realism’s ontology, and its openness to multiple epistemological perspectives overcomes the key paradigmatic divisions within leadership inquiry and offers an alternative social paradigm that can accommodate both the empirical nature of positivist perspectives and the relational and meaning-making nature of interpretivism. This theoretical study develops a multidimensional critical realist-inspired framework by combining Roy Bhaskar’s critical realist philosophy of science with Margaret Archer’s Morphogenetic realist social ontology to create a high-level ontological canvas on which to co-locate accounts of leadership from different research paradigms. This demonstrates the ability of a critical realist perspective to recognise the role of both positive and interpretive perspectives as evidence of possible underlying structures (material and ideational) of the social world and, more importantly, how the process of influencing the relation between these structures contributes to the attribution of leadership. While this study shows that critical realism offers a valuable lens for integrating leadership theories, its philosophical complexity and lack of clear methodological guidance create barriers to its use by researchers. Further work is required to effectively communicate and demonstrate the benefits of critical realism to the study of leadership, which could include its practical application within an empirical context.