Studying at York
Rethinking Management Knowledge - MAN00046H
Module summary
Something seems to be seriously wrong with ‘management’. Many organizations have severe problems with poor leadership, weak performance, low employee morale and poor ethical standards. Has the problem to do with inadequate management training? Or maybe there is something also wrong with management knowledge itself? Why, for the huge size of the leadership, management and consulting industry, are leadership and management standards often so poor? This module aims to rethink famous management ideas and to explore how management practice might be improved.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 2 2024-25 |
Module aims
This module will develop students’ understanding of how contemporary management ideas are developed, spread and used. It will explore both academic management literature derived from universities and business schools, as well as the more commercial knowledge generated by management gurus, consultancies, executive memoirs, etc. Rather than simply impart abstract knowledge, the module empowers students in their final year as they embark on careers in which they will be consumers of management ideas and practices (as managers and managed), developers of new management ideas, and implementors of managerial change. Students completing this course should be more able to make informed choices about the selection of management approaches, their strengths and weaknesses in national and international contexts, and recognise the processes, for the good and otherwise, whereby management models and philosophies become fashionable and unfashionable.
Module learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
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Develop an understanding of how contemporary management ideas develop and spread across the private, public and third sector
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Assess the extent to which new management knowledge products are genuinely innovative and effective
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Rethink the implications of management ideas for their own lives and practise as managers
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Critically explore some 'classical' management texts and concepts
Module content
Specific themes may include
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Historical roots of management ideas
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The creation and diffusion of management ideas through academia, consulting, training, and 'pop' management
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The effectiveness and otherwise of management ideas
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Specific management ideas, such as KPIs and targets, psychometric testing, lean management, and the work of high-profile 'gurus' such as Jim Collins and Tom Peters
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Management ideas and controversies that come from outside the management discipline, e.g. from psychology (such as the Milgram and Zimbardo experiments)
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Controversies around management education and business schools
- The Management of Culture and ‘Soft Management’ roles in marketized transformations of organizations
- The MBA and the formation of Global elites
- How managers and organisations ‘use history’ for strategic and/or operational advantage
Teaching will focus on set readings ranging from ‘standard’ academic texts, through to popular management publications and media – magazines, airport management theory, guru presentations – and major management consultancy publications and web resources. Lectures will be accompanied by seminars which enable the framing concepts to be explored.
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 20 |
| Essay/coursework | 80 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 20 |
| Essay/coursework | 80 |
Module feedback
Feedback will be given in accordance with the University Policy on feedback in the Guide to Assessment as well as in line with the School policy.
Indicative reading
Indicative texts include:
Brannigan, A., (2013) ‘Stanley Milgram’s Obedience Experiments: A Report Card 50 Years Later’, Society, 50, 6: 623-628
Bridgman, T, and Cummings, S. (2020). A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Management Theory. London: SAGE.
Clark, T., and Salaman, G. (1996) ‘The Management Guru as Organisational Witchdoctor’, Organization, 3(1): 85-107.
Cooke B. (2003) The Denial of Slavery in Management Studies, Journal of Management Studies, December, 40, 8, 1895 - 1918
Hanlon, G. (2016) The Dark Side of Management: A Secret History of Management Theory. London: Routledge.
Klikauer, T. (2015) “What Is Managerialism?” Critical Sociology 41 (7-8): 1103–19.
McKenna, C.D (2010) The World’s Newest Profession: Management Consulting in the Twentieth Century, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ordonez, L., et al., (2009) ‘Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Overprescribing Goal Setting,’ Academy of Management Perspectives, 23, 1: 6-16.
Parker, M. (2018) Shut Down the Business School: What’s Wrong with Management Education. London: Pluto