4000 words required with references, writing at doctoral level
Module Aims
This module aims to evaluate the theory and practice of management with a view to understanding the role that management plays in organizations and society. The module is designed to critically appraise management policy and its impact on other organizational stakeholders. Students will develop skills in critical writing and evaluation as a basis for understanding contemporary management. The emphasis in the module will be critical approaches to management.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of the module, you will be able to:
Critically evaluate the difference between rhetoric, policy and practice;
Recognise and critically evaluate different perspectives on management and organisations;
Reflect critically on the practice of management and its impact on other stakeholders;
Demonstrate reasoned arguments and valid conclusions.
Syllabus
The syllabus is divided into three parts.
Part one considers the different perspectives which can be used for understanding management and organisations.
Part two looks at the practice of management, managerialism, and the ideology of management.
Part three considers dominant ideologies and power and authority in management.
Useful introductory texts to critical perspectives on management theory are;
Grey, C. (2017), A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonable Cheap Book about Studying Organizations, London, Sage, (4th ed.)
Knights, D. and Willmott, H. (2017), Introducing organizational Behaviour and Management, London,Thomson Learning, (3rd ed.)
Thompson, P.& McHugh, D. (2009), Work Organisations, London, Palgrave, MacMillan, (4th ed).
For texts which consider perspectives for organisational analysis and for perspectives on management you could consult the following;
Burrel, G. & Morgan, G. (1979), Socological Paradigms and Organisational Analysis, Farham, Ashgate.
Thomas, A.B. (2002), Controversies in Management, London, Routledge, (2nd ed.)
Other readings are indicated below some of which will be distributed in class sessions. Readings will be distributed for each topic area to form the basis of discussion
PART ONE: Perspectives on Organisations and Management
We begin by asking the question, ‘What is management?’, before moving on to consider different perspectives which consider the assumptions we make about management and organisations. We also consider rationality in management theory and the sectional interest which are evident in organisations.
As well as consulting the text above, you might find some of the following useful;
Alvesson, M. & Deetz, S. (2000) Doing Critical Management Research, London, Sage
Alvesson, M. and Willmott, H. (2003), ‘Introduction’, in Studying Management Critically London: Sage.
Brown R (1988) ‘The employment relationship in sociological theory’ in Gallie D (ed.) Employment in Britain Oxford Blackwell pp 33-66
Fox A (1966) ‘Industrial sociology and industrial relations’, Royal Commission Research Paper N0.3 London, HMSO
Gowler, D. & Legge, K. (1983), ‘The Meaning of Management and the Management of Meaning’ in Earl, M. (ed), Perspectives on Management; A multidisciplinary Analysis, Oxford, Oxford University Press reprinted in Linstad, S, Grafton Small, R, and Jeffcutt, P (eds), (1996) Understanding Management, Sage, London
Grey, C. (1999), ‘We are all managers now, we always were’, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 36 (5) pp561-58
Hales, C. (2001) ‘Chapter One’, in Managing Through Organization. London: Thomson (2nd ed.)
Hales, C. (1999), ‘Why do managers do what they do?’ Journal of Management Studies, Vol 23, pp 88-115
Morgan G (2006) Images of Organisation (revised ed.) Sage London passim
Reed M (1989) The Sociology of Management Harvester Hemel Hempstead Wheatsheaf
Rutgers MR (1999) ‘Be rational! But what does it mean’ Journal of Management Studies Vol.5 (1) pp 17-35
Voronov, M. (2008), ‘Towards Engaged Critical Management Studies’ Organization Vol. 15(6): 939-945.
Wilmot, H. (1984) ‘Images and Ideals of Managerial Work: a critical examination of conceptual and empirical accounts’, Journal of Management Studies Vol 21 ((3) pp349-368
Part 2: Management Ideology and Managerialism
The social significance of management can be considered within the context of the debates around managerialism and the growing dominance of management as a practice but also as an ideology. The growth in management education and the increasing reliance of management as a solution to organisational complexity is considered.
Some useful sources are listed below.
Anthony, P. (2005), ‘Management Ideology’, in Grey, C. & Willmott, H. (eds.) Critical Management Studies, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Cunliffe, A. (2009), A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonable Cheap Book about Management, London, Sage
Parker, M. (2002), Against Management, Polity, Cambridge, chapter 1
Reed, M. & Anthony, P. (1992), ‘Professionalizing Management and Managing Professionalization: British Management in the 1980s’ Journal of Management Studies Vol.29 No.5 pp591-613
Part 3. Power, politics and practice.
Here we consider power in organisations and the ways in which managers use power to serve sectional interests. We consider some of the dominant rhetoric in management such as leadership, measuring performance and ethics, and how this relates to managerial power.
Power
Burawoy, M. (1979) Manufacturing Consent. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
Clegg S Kornberger M & PitsisT (2008) Managing and Organizations (2nd ed.) Sage ch 6
Johnson, P. and Gill J. (1993) Management Control and Organizational Behaviour. London: Paul Chapman.
Lukes S (2005) Power: a Radical View (2nd ed.) Palgrave
Odih P & Knights D (2007) ‘Political Organizations and Decision Making’ in Knights D. and Willmott H. Introducing Organizational Behaviour and Management Thomson Chapter 8
Pfeffer, J. (1994) Managing with Power Harvard Business Press: Chapter 7
Sewell, G. and Wilkinson, B. (1992) ‘Someone to watch over me: Surveillance, discipline and the just-in-time labour process’, in Sociology, 26, 2: 271—289.
Scott, A. (1994) Willing Slaves. Cambridge University Press
Willmott, H. (1993) ‘Strength is ignorance; slavery is freedom: managing culture in modern organizations’, in Journal of Management Studies, 30, 4: 515—552.
Leadership
Clegg, S, Kornberger, M. & Pitsis, T (2008) Managing & Organizations (2nd ed) London, Sage, Chapter 3
Fulpop, L., Linstead, S. and Dunford, R. (2009) ‘Leading and managing’, in Linstead, S., Fulop, L. and Lilley, S. (eds) Management and Organization: A Critical Text. London; Palgrave.
Grint, K. (1995) Management: A Sociological Introduction. Ch. 6, Oxford: Polity.
Jackson, B. & Parry, K. (2008), A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Studying Leadership, London Sage
Knights D & Wilmott H (2017) Introducing Organizational Behaviour and Management London Thompson Chapter 7
Thomas, A.B. (2002), Controversies in Management, Ch. 8, London: Routledge.
Ethics and Management Practice
Knights, D. and Willmott, H. (1999) Management Lives. London: Sage.
Moss Kanter, R. (1977) Men and Women of the Corporation. New York: Basic Books.
Hales, C.P. (1986) ‘What do managers do?: A critical review of the evidence’, in Journal of Management Studies, 23, 1: 88—115.
Jackall, R. (1988) Moral Mazes: The world of Corporate Managers New York, Oxford University Press
Kotter, J. (1982) The General Manager. New York: Free Press.
Mintzberg, H. (1973) The Nature of Managerial Work. New York: Harper Row.
Watson, T. (2001) In Search of Management. Revised ed. London: Thomson Learning.
Willmott, H. (1987) ‘Images and ideals of managerial work’, in Journal of Management Studies, 21, 3: 349—368.
Teaching and Learning Strategy
Sessions will comprise an appropriate blend of tutor input and group discussion to maximise learning opportunities.
Assessment Strategy
There will be one piece of assessed coursework.
Assessment
You are required to produce a critical essay in response to the following;
“Elements of “stupidity management” (Alvesson and Spicer, 2012) in the economy of persuasion then involve encouragement not to think about what really works, but instead normalizing imitations, fashion-following and conformism, as well as celebrating grandiosity as a general virtue”. (Alvesson, 2013:219)
Critically evaluate Alvesson’s statement in relation to mainstream and critical perspectives on management theory and practice.
Assessment Criteria
Demonstration of a sound understanding of multiple perspectives on organisations and management.
Demonstration of the ability to synthesise arguments and to provide high quality analysis in response to the set question.
Logical and coherent structure leading to a justified conclusion.
Appropriate structure for essay format.
High quality referencing and a bibliography.
Essay length: 4000 words
Format: Critical Essay
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Core Texts
Grey, C. (2012) A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book About Studying Organizations. London: Sage. 3rd ed.
Knights, D. and Willmott, H. (2012) Introducing organizational Behaviour and Management. London: Thomson Learning, 2nd ed.
Thompson, P. and McHugh, D. (2009) Work Organizations. London: Palgrave. 4th ed.
Mainstream Textbooks
Buchanan, D. and Huczynski, A., (2010) Organisational Behaviour, Prentice Hall. 7th ed.
Hatch, M.J. and Cunliffe, A. (2006) Organization Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2nd ed.
Mullins L.J. (2010) Management and Organizational Behaviour. Harlow: Prentice Hall 9th ed.
Sheldrake J. (2003) Management Theory. London: Thomson Learning 2nd ed.
Critical and Supplementary Texts
Alvesson, M. & Willmott, H. (2011) Making Sense of Management. 2nd ed. London: Sage
Alvesson M. and Willmott, H. (eds.) (2003) Studying Management Critically. London: Sage.
Bakan, J. (2004) The Corporation. London: Constable.
Chang, J. (2010) 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism. London: Allen Lane
Clegg, S. and Dunkerley, D. (1980) Organization Class and Control. London: Routledge.
Clegg, S.R., Kornberger, M. And Pitsis, T. (2011) Managing and Organizations. 3rd ed. London: Sage.
Cummings S. (2002) ReCreating Strategy. London: Sage.
Cunliffe, A. (2009) A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book About Management. London: Sage.
Donkin, R. (2010) The History of Work. London: Palgrave.
Frank, T. (2001) One Market Under God. London: Weidenfield and Nicolson.
Fusaro, P. and Miller, R. (2002) What Went Wrong at Enron. London: Wiley and Sons.
Grint, K. (1995) Management: A Sociological Introduction. Oxford: Polity.
Hales C. (2001) Managing Through Organization. London: Thomson Learning.
Harvey D. (2010) The Enigma of Capital. London: Profile.
Hollway, W. (1991) Work Psychology and Organizational Behaviour. London: Sage.
Jackson N. and Carter P. (2000) Rethinking Organizational Behaviour. Harlow: Prentice Hall.
Knights, D. and Willmott, H. (1999) Management Lives. London: Sage.
Khurana, R. (2007) From Higher Aims to Hired Hands. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Legge, K. (2004) Human Resource Management. London: Macmillan. Anniversary ed.
Linstead, S., Fulop, L. and Lilley, S. (eds) (2009) Management and Organization: A Critical Text. London; Palgrave.2nd ed.
Linstead, S., Grafton Small, R, and Jeffcutt, P. (eds.) (1996) Understanding Management. London: Sage.
Micklethwaite, J. and Woodridge, A. (1997) The Witch Doctors, Heinemann
Morgan, G. (1997) Images of Organization. London: Sage.
Parker, M. (2002) Against Management. Cambridge: Polity.
Power M. (1997) The Audit Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sennett, R. (2007) The Culture of the New Capitalism. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Thomas A.B. (2002) Controversies in Management. London: Routledge.2nd ed.
Ward, C. (1982) Anarchy in Action. London: Freedom Press.
Watson, T. J. (2001) In Search of Management. 2nd ed. London: Thomson Learning.
Wren, D.A. (2006) The Evolution of Management Thought. New York: John Wiley. 6th ed.
Web Resources
www.davidharvey.org – Marxist scholar but featuring some interesting recordings of lectures about the current economic crisis, plus other references and resources.
http://criticalmanagement.org/cms/?q=en – portal to various critical management resources.
www.thomsonlearning.co.uk/knightswillmott – Companion website for the textbook.
www.sagepub.co.uk/managingandorganizations – Companion site for Clegg et al (2008)
http://www.monbiot.com/ – George Monbiot Blog Homepage featuring some critical articles relevant to management, business and academia.
Useful Journals
Journal of Management Studies
Academy of Management Journal
The Academy of Management Review
Strategic Change
Long Range Planning
Strategic management Journal
Industrial Relations Journal
Journal of HRM
Organization
Organization Studies
Administrative Science Quarterly
Human Relations
