Constructing Opportunities for Contribution: Structuring Intertextual Coherence and “Problematizing” in Organizational Studies

Abstract

Examining a sample of journal articles, we develop a grounded theory of contribution that shows how organization studies theorists textually construct opportunities for making contributions to the field. The analyses reveal two major processes and the associated rhetorical practices that texts invoke in establishing opportunities for contribution. The study's findings point to the richness of contribution by illuminating how uniqueness claims are textually produced and legitimated in the context of science. The construction of contribution in organization studies is more complicated than has been assumed.