Pär Vasko

My research seeks to create an understanding of the fundamental assumptions underlying the way to theorize about a specific field of business economics. In my dissertation, I explore the fundamental assumptions and philosophical foundations for how leaders and managers are constructed in two central theories in the research field of corporate governance: stewardship theory and agency theory. Given this approach, two seemingly opposing ideals emerge, appearing to be absolute dichotomies, that in turn, have shaped the scholarly discussion in corporate governance. This positions the researcher to choose either one theory and its ideals or the other, but never both at the same time.

With the awareness that leaders and managers are anything but consistent to one ideal or the other, I instead attempt to point out one possibility to theorize beyond the scholarly discussion's either/or form and instead illustrate that both/and is possible. To do this, I argue that theorizing about leaders and managers can also rest on an existentialist standpoint. In a field that has traditionally placed a great deal of emphasis on control, I seek to create an understanding that leaders and managers fundamentally strive for freedom, and that this strive is a way to develop an organization. Freedom as a business phenomenon can be understood – and explored in various ways, including managers' and leaders' everyday endeavors of creating the future as meaningful. This is done by imagining, creating, and engaging oneself and others in long-term corporate strategies, innovative projects, and plans for everything that is not yet - but still can be.