Construcción de conocimiento Rizomático en las ciencias de la gestión: Implicancias para la comprensión de organizaciones de alta confiabilidad

From the arborescent structure of positivist mainstream to the current paradigmatic diversity, management sciences are provided with multiple epistemological sources. This paper indicates the rhizomatic character of organizational studies and its implications to understand High Reliability Organizations (HROs).First we analyse the epistemological sources of organization theory in order to show the passage of positivist mainstream to paradigmatic diversity. At present, organization theory is a disciplinaryrhizomatic field thus for its epistemological approaches, the multiplicity of research topics, the profusion of disciplinary sources as for the diversity of methodological strategies. The Rhizomatic epistemological nature coexists with certain arborescent knots.Secondly, the focus of study moves into HROs, organizational phenomenon inherent to risk societies that constitutes an epistemological challenge for organizational theories as well to understand HROs nature as to explain their performance.Finally, a series of epistemological challenges are presented in addition to specificities of the Argentinean organizational universe.A national context characterized by the profusion of risky organizations, the recurrence of accidents and the incipient presence of research groups focused on developing the disciplinary field.