Prescriptive-Normative Knowledge

Definition

Prescriptive-normative knowledge goes beyond descriptive research (how organizations currently function) to specify how to design and create rare or non-existent organizational states and how to move from present reality to those desired states. It requires identifying governing values that do not currently exist (normative) and specifying concrete actions to implement them (prescriptive).

In the Book

Argyris argues in Chapter 5 that research focused only on describing the universe "as is" is inherently incomplete when addressing non-trivial change. A complete description must eventually include research on how the universe reacts when its core features are threatened—but documenting such reactions requires scholars to intervene and create conditions that do not exist. This creates a paradox: to describe the full universe requires creating rare universes, yet the emphasis on describing what exists makes this unlikely.

The move to normative and prescriptive research transforms research from describing organizations dominated by Model I and defensive routines to designing and testing how to create Model II organizational conditions. This requires scholars to: (1) invent and introduce changes; (2) have a vision of a new universe; (3) produce normative research (describing features of a universe that does not yet exist, created to meet governing values that presently do not exist); and (4) produce prescriptive research that specifies how to get from here to there. Argyris illustrates this in Chapters 6 and 7 with examples of interventions designed to facilitate double-loop learning—not just describing what prevents it but demonstrating how to create conditions where it becomes possible.

Why It Matters

The division between descriptive and prescriptive knowledge has real consequences: it allows knowledge producers (researchers) to divorce themselves from implementation responsibility. An organization can be thoroughly documented as defensive and anti-learning without anyone being responsible for changing it. Prescriptive-normative knowledge reunites the responsibility: if you describe a problem, your research should extend to specify how practitioners could actually solve it.