On the Management of Inquiry

The problem of managing inquiry is a generalization of the more limited problem of managing research and development projects. As management science attends to the complex problem of educational systems or national science systems, then an awareness is worthwhile of other literatures relevant to the problem. This papersuggests that the manager must determine these major relationships: (a) The institution construct in which inquiry will take place--the literature on universities is reviewed as a source of models for establishing institutional relationships. This involves relating institutionalized activities to external value systems. (b) The internal organizational structure and norms of the inquiry groups themselves--the literature on professionalism is reviewed as a source of models for establishing internal norms and relationships. This involves relating individual member's value systems to the legitimate group norms. (c) The dominating methodology and epistemology employed by the inquirers--relevant literature in philosophy of science (especially social science) is reviewed as a source of models for analyzing different techniques and decision-modes of inquirers. This involves relating the values requisite for efficiency in a given inquiring mode to the values inherent in the purpose of the inquiry.