Sociology for managers or Sociology of management ?textbookSectionVilletteMichelautIn this paper, I suggest that theorizing about capitalism or developing a large scale overview on business is not enough. In depth investigations are needed so that the sociological eyes may see more and more of the reality of the institutions of capitalism (marketplaces, profit-organizations and regulations agencies) at a micro level. The sociological eyes should not focus only on the visible side of management. We suggest to concentrate sociological studies on how business is actually done and to look at the details of the most profitable operations. To be feasible, this type of disturbing but fundamental studies need to be combined with some kind of job devoted to making companies been more efficient and more successful. This complementary job may provide the researcher with the revenue he needs to pursue his studies. It will also provide the practical entry and practical knowledge necessary to study practices. In brief the research process and the researcher identity has to be ambiguous but this does not imply that the published results should be ambiguous: the process may be subtle and the result very clear. There is an unavoidable contraction between professional sociology and public sociology (Burawoy, 2004), between sociology for managers and sociology of management. Nerveless, working sociologically on management practices means taking the risk of ambiguity, been involved in business and making the Socratic choice to conclude. ER - End of Referencebook1730Wydawnictwo Wyzszej Szkoly Komunikacji i ZarzadzaniaPoznan (Poland)2009-03-28 19:00:03monographicSocjologiczne, pedagogiczne i psychologiczne problemy organizacji i zarzadzania