Antecedents and Implications of Uncertainty in Management: Critical Perspective in Historical Context

Abstract

Purpose: To explain the antecedents of environmental uncertainty in management using a historical framework. Our goal of developing passion and compassion in management practice and research cannot be achieved unless a better understanding is developed of the main challenge facing researchers and practitioners – uncertainty. Findings and Value: The importance of environmental uncertainty is escalating. Our historical, philosophical and critical view helps scholars explain and interpret uncertainty within their own research and formulate new research questions. Understanding the epistemological assumptions underlying paradigms will better enable researchers and practitioners to face a future filled with uncertainty and equivocality.