Affiliations: [a] Decision Sciences, Georgia State University Department of Management, Atlanta, USA. E-mail: whalen@gsu.edu | [b] Information Technology and Decision Sciences, Georgia State University Department of Management, Atlanta, USA. E-mail: s-samaddar@gsu.edu
Abstract: One of the distinguishing characteristics of ‘postmodernism’ in philosophy and the humanities generally is the de-emphasis on fixed meanings and precise structures of measurement, and the emphasis on discourses, which dynamically shape and are shaped by the perceptions, concepts, and participants making them up. In this paper, we posit that post-modern management science will benefit from two separate related foundations. First, we argue that soft computing as a foundation for a computational theory of perception is one sign that the postmodern viewpoint has begun to contribute to the advancement of the management sciences. Second, the growing knowledge management emphasis on continuously creating, discovering, reshaping and deploying corporate knowledge by converting its tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge and vice-versa lays the other foundation for post-modern management science. This new philosophy of management science, we speculate, will have critical influence on the research and practice of management science in real world problem solving.
Keywords: Knowledge management, soft computing, post-modern management science, and education
