What Is Symbolic Interpretive Perspective?

Introduction

Knowledge diversity happened due to different ways of individual views on the world leading to multiple perspectives. In organizational theory, there are four key perspectives namely, modernist, critical theorist, symbolic interpretivist and post-modernist to assist people in understanding and analyzing organizational structures to achieve organization success. In this essay, I will be evaluating what does technology mean in the context of organizations, discussing and comparing the differences mainly on the modernist perspective and symbolic interpretivist perspective and how it contributes different understanding of technology within organizations.

Technology to the many people means the internet, computers, software or any

It is studied on how people create meanings and symbols to a physical structure that can be shared and understood among members of a certain cultural society, which is called intersubjectivity. It is about shared meanings and interpretation that evolves into certain kind of learning community. Symbolic interpretivist analytical approach is by using qualitative data gathering and analysis unlike modernist which adopt quantitative method. Hatch and Cunliffe says that social construction function through objectification, externalization and internalization. Externalization is when we have understanding through symbols like objects, actions and words. In the long run, these processes create a shared construction of reality and continue to pass on to future generations

For example a person’s views on whether to implement an innovation is worth or not in the expense of economic and personal cost. It is also an important stage in the domestication process is the stipulation of technology by the consumer, where the individual tries to objectify the technology. For example by giving it a symbolic, physical and social place and integrate into the everyday life of the household.

Ciborra & Lanzara mentioned the downside of modernist in comparison to the symbolic perspective saying that by using only cognitive constructs like frames or schemata will disregard the fact that organizational abilities and many important human skills are not required to link with a capacity for external symbolic expression (1994).

Modernist and symbolic interpretivists are two very different perspectives to organization due to their ontology and epistemology. Modernist epistemology is positivist, which they believe truth can be discovered through utilization of scientific method. However as time changes, symbolic interpretivist emerges. Symbolic epistemology is interpretivist, which they believe knowledge