The terms “inference to the best explanation” and “abduction” are often used interchangeably. Yet inference to the best explanation is concerned mostly with the choice of explanations by researchers based on their findings generated from data and is supposed to be in the last stage of an empirical study. In contrast, abduction is about formulating hypotheses and selecting the more promising ones to test before or after data collection, and thus corresponds to an earlier stage of inquiry. Given a set of data collected on a phenomenon, there are no systematic steps for reaching the best explanation for the phenomenon. That said, this concluding chapter suggests seven heuristics derived from Chapters 5 to 7, aimed at assisting management researchers to explain their findings. Constructing an explanation involves a great deal of judgement and decision making as well as requires imagination and intuition. The process arouses a variety of feelings and emotions. In short, explaining management phenomena is not just a scientific endeavor but also an art.

This introductory chapter discusses the nature of explanation. It first distinguishes between the epistemic versus ontic conceptions of explanation; the former deems that explanations explain by subsuming a phenomenon under a general proposition while the latter regards explanations as physical entities residing and participating in the causal structure of the world. Using the example of entrepreneurial opportunities, the chapter describes how an ontological position plays a role in shaping an explanation. Explanation promotes understanding. However, tautological explanations, such as Barney’s (1991) explanation of competitive advantage based on firm resources, do not increase our understanding of the phenomenon in question. Then the chapter discusses the contrastive approach to explanation, showing that an explanation is necessarily incomplete. The discussion is followed by examining whether causal explanations have to be general and whether good explanations have to be interesting. The chapter ends with a brief description of the subsequent chapters of the book.

The aim of the microfoundations movement in management is to link macro management phenomena, such as corporate governance and strategic alliances, with more micro disciplines, such as organizational behavior and psychology. The core ideas of microfoundations are closely related to methodological individualism, which is the epistemological stance stressing the explanatory primacy of individuals and their purposeful behavior. Methodological individualism should be distinguished from ontological individualism, which is the thesis that all social phenomena are created, or caused, by individuals. Coleman’s boat is a visual representation showing how large-scale entities (the macro) influence smaller-scale entities (the micro) and how a macro phenomenon is composed of microscale events and activities. A key limitation of the microfoundations movement is that emergent entities, such as organizations, and their properties are common in management research. The properties of an emergent entity itself cannot be explained away and thus eliminated entirely from explanations involving the exercise of the entity’s causal powers.

Although diversity in companies is a topic of great interest, significant aspects of the issue are often left out of the debate. The Corporate Diversity Jigsaw connects all the dots so that steps taken to address issues of diversity in business organisations can be more effective. Akshaya Kamalnath offers a nuanced justification of exactly what types of diversity are most useful for corporations, where they should be implemented, and how best to address diversity in ways that account for recent social movements such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter. After a critical assessment of quotas and disclosure requirements across jurisdictions, she provides a different way to solve the problem, by encouraging companies to make improvements to their culture and internal processes. This timely book offers a balanced analysis, practical solutions, and fresh perspectives on how corporate culture and social movements impact diversity efforts.

Although diversity in companies is a topic of great interest, significant aspects of the issue are often left out of the debate. The Corporate Diversity Jigsaw connects all the dots so that steps taken to address issues of diversity in business organisations can be more effective. Akshaya Kamalnath offers a nuanced justification of exactly what types of diversity are most useful for corporations, where they should be implemented, and how best to address diversity in ways that account for recent social movements such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter. After a critical assessment of quotas and disclosure requirements across jurisdictions, she provides a different way to solve the problem, by encouraging companies to make improvements to their culture and internal processes. This timely book offers a balanced analysis, practical solutions, and fresh perspectives on how corporate culture and social movements impact diversity efforts.

Although diversity in companies is a topic of great interest, significant aspects of the issue are often left out of the debate. The Corporate Diversity Jigsaw connects all the dots so that steps taken to address issues of diversity in business organisations can be more effective. Akshaya Kamalnath offers a nuanced justification of exactly what types of diversity are most useful for corporations, where they should be implemented, and how best to address diversity in ways that account for recent social movements such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter. After a critical assessment of quotas and disclosure requirements across jurisdictions, she provides a different way to solve the problem, by encouraging companies to make improvements to their culture and internal processes. This timely book offers a balanced analysis, practical solutions, and fresh perspectives on how corporate culture and social movements impact diversity efforts.