Showing papers in "Management Learning in 2020"
TL;DR: The authors argues that university governance is becoming increasingly autocratic as marketization intensifies, far from the classical ideal of a professional collegium run according to academic norms, today's universitie...
Abstract: University governance is becoming increasingly autocratic as marketization intensifies. Far from the classical ideal of a professional collegium run according to academic norms, today’s universitie...
55 citations
TL;DR: The authors assembles eight papers which provide insights into the working lives of early career to more senior academics, from several different countries The first common theme which emerged from these papers was the importance of the early career in academic life.
Abstract: This special issue assembles eight papers which provide insights into the working lives of early career to more senior academics, from several different countries The first common theme which emer
39 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors apply the concept of targets and terror to the audit culture within business schools and explore to what extent the inculcation of fear through processes of domination is identifiable in the micro-level experiences of early career academics.
Abstract: In this article, we apply the concept of ‘targets and terror’, previously used in the healthcare sector, to the audit culture within business schools. We explore to what extent terror, or the inculcation of fear through processes of domination, is identifiable in the micro-level experiences of early career academics. Drawing on an international study of 38 Critical Management Studies early career academics from 15 countries, we develop a theoretical framework combining Bourdieu’s modes of domination and Meyerson and Scully’s Tempered Radicalism, which helps us identify top-down and horizontal processes of micro-terror and bottom-up processes of micro-terrorism, specifically self-terrorisation and counter-terrorisation. In extending the study of ‘targets and terror’ cultures to contemporary business schools, we develop a clearer understanding of how domination plays out in the everyday processes of management and self-management. From Bourdieu’s modes of domination, we discern a dark picture of institutional and interpersonal overt and symbolic violence in the name of target achievement. The Tempered Radicalism lens helps us to understand early career academic challenges that can lead to self-terrorisation but also brings possible ways forward, showing early career academics how to resist mechanisms of micro-terror through their own small acts of counter-terrorisation, providing some hope specifically as the basis for collective resistance.
37 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the purpose of the article is to deepen the understanding of academic bullying as a consequence of neoliberal reforms in a university, and the authors propose a framework to understand academic bullying in contemporary universities.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to deepen the understanding of academic bullying as a consequence of neoliberal reforms in a university. Academics in contemporary universities have been put under pr...
34 citations
TL;DR: The authors unpack how spiritual practices from the Buddhist tradition and the Quaker tradition can encourage transformative learning, and show that they can encourage a better understanding of the meaning of the world.
Abstract: Can spiritual practice encourage transformative learning? In this article, we unpack how spiritual practices from the Buddhist tradition—mindfulness—and the Quaker tradition—discernment—encourage t...
32 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue and advocate strategies for the development of historical consciousness to stimulate both first and second-order critical reflexivity in management students with the goal of c...
Abstract: This article argues and advocates strategies for the development of historical consciousness to stimulate both first- and second-order critical reflexivity in management students with the goal of c...
22 citations
TL;DR: Business schools have played a significant role in creating and sustaining many of today's grand challenges, including income inequality, the gig economy and climate change as discussed by the authors. Yet calls for change go...
Abstract: Business schools have played a significant role in creating and sustaining many of today’s grand challenges, including income inequality, the gig economy and climate change. Yet calls for change go...
20 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors suggest that it is increasingly common to describe academic research as a publication game, a metaphor that connotes instrumental strategies for publishing in highly rated journals.
Abstract: It is increasingly common to describe academic research as a “publication game,” a metaphor that connotes instrumental strategies for publishing in highly rated journals. However, we suggest that t...
19 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors advocate a more balanced approach to the study of the past in management and organization studies, and define organizational mnemonics as a broader field of inquiry focused on the past.
Abstract: In this article, we advocate for a more balanced approach to the study of the past in management and organization studies. We define organizational mnemonics as a broader field of inquiry focused o...
17 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, historical, practice-oriented, and critical research perspectives in management are affected by digitalization, and two digital research approaches can be used to analyze the impact of digitalization on management.
Abstract: How are historical, practice-oriented, and critical research perspectives in management affected by digitalization? In this article, we describe and discuss how two digital research approaches can ...
17 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the origins and development of the management learning movement are traced and explained in a way closely associated with the journal Management Learning and explain how ideas that shaped the creation of management learning were discussed.
Abstract: We trace the origins and development of the management learning movement that has come to be closely associated with the journal Management Learning and explain how ideas that shaped the creation o...
TL;DR: The authors discuss the events leading up to the resignation of the former Open University Vice Chancellor in April 2018, focusing on the enactment of a form of resistance against proposals for the unive...
Abstract: In discussing the events leading up to the resignation of the former Open University Vice Chancellor in April 2018, we focus on the enactment of a form of resistance against proposals for the unive...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present empirical insights into how the unlearning process unfolds in practice, based on the findings of a study with change co-authors and organizational unlearning models.
Abstract: Following recent calls to extend our understanding of organizational unlearning, we gain empirical insights into how the process unfolds in practice. Based on the findings of a study with change co...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the case of the Economic Commission for Latin America in Brazil to discuss how modernization theory was mobilized to influence management education and the theories formulated by the Ec...
Abstract: We investigate the case of the Economic Commission for Latin America in Brazil to discuss how modernization theory was mobilized to influence management education. The theories formulated by the Ec...
TL;DR: From a Foucauldian perspective, the authors regard "excellence" and "gender" as discourses that become relevant in academia and analyze the organizational dispositives of these discourses as organi...
Abstract: From a Foucauldian perspective, we regard “excellence” and “gender” as discourses that become relevant in academia. We analyze the organizational dispositives of “excellence” and “gender” as organi...
TL;DR: In higher education, increased competition for students and financial resources has contributed to a managerialist perspective in higher education as mentioned in this paper, and institutional decision-making may priorize prior knowledge of students.
Abstract: Increased competition for students and financial resources has contributed to a managerialist perspective in higher education. In this competitive landscape, institutional decision-making may prior...
TL;DR: This paper explored how students learn outside of the classroom as they undertake a self-directed exploration of the world through reflective logs and interview data, and found that the importance of context for student learning was emphasized.
Abstract: In this article, we emphasize the importance of context for student learning. Based on reflective logs and interview data, we explore how students learn outside of the classroom as they undertake a...
TL;DR: The currently implemented reform of Poland's science and higher education system extensively draws on the principles of new public management in both curricula and management as discussed by the authors, and replicates, a...
Abstract: The currently implemented reform of Poland’s science and higher education system extensively draws on the principles of new public management in both curricula and management. It also replicates, a...
TL;DR: We hear much about the "democratic ideal" as if it were unreachable within the walls of the organization as mentioned in this paper, and we hear a lot of apologists suggesting that there is no need to worry; democracy exists;...
Abstract: We hear much about the “democratic ideal” as if it were unreachable within the walls of the organization. Of late, apologists have begun suggesting that there is no need to worry; democracy exists;...
TL;DR: The Provocation Essays section in Management Learning as mentioned in this paper provides a forum for essay-like, polemical writing on important and topical issues concerning management learning, education and knowledge in organisations.
Abstract: In this editorial, we reflect on the purpose of the Provocation Essays section in Management Learning from the perspective of an incoming Section Editor and an outgoing Editor-in-Chief. We provide insight into the editorial thinking that led to the development of this section 4 years ago and reflect on what it has achieved since then. We take stock of the possibilities that this has opened up and encourage authors, reviewers and readers to engage with the section as a source of critical, reflexive insight and opportunity. Willmott’s (1994) article in this journal ‘Management education: Provocations to a debate’, provided the initial impetus behind the decision to create a separate section in this journal. The purpose was to provide a forum for essay-like, polemical writing on important and topical issues concerning management learning, education and knowledge in organisations. The value of such writing arises from its potential in contributing to ‘a process of critical reflection’ (Willmott, 1994: 105). Essay writing is inherently more ‘discursive and speculative’ (p. 129) than conventionally found in standard academic articles and can be more conversational, experimental or poetic. For Willmott, the issue at hand is the normalisation and standardisation of technocratically-driven forms of management education. He argues that we need to reconsider development-driven approaches, which address the broader, societal impact and contributions of management education. As Willmott’s essay highlights, provocation seeks to acknowledge uncertainty. This requires ‘a very different orientation to feelings of ignorance, uncertainty, confusion, ambiguity and even chaos’ (p. 122). Willmott’s claims are particularly resonant in the current moment when the management learning community faces global challenges related to the unsustainability of ‘business as usual’ in the face of current global crises including climate change, social inequalities and the Covid-19 pandemic.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the value of combining transformative and service learning pedagogical practices in management education programs to encourage management students to be more critical in their decision making.
Abstract: In this article, we examine the value of combining transformative and service learning pedagogical practices in management education programmes to encourage management students to be more critical ...
TL;DR: In this paper, a co-constructed (auto-ethnographic) account of an individual's longitudinal experience of leadership in the context of an international development project in Laos is presented.
Abstract: This article contributes to the growing body of literature developed within the leadership-as-practice perspective, focusing on issues of learning and power. It draws on a co-constructed (auto)ethnographic account of an individual’s longitudinal experience of leadership in the context of an international development project in Laos. This person’s circumstances as a non-Lao-speaking foreigner provided him with a unique opportunity to learn about and participate in the embodied, sociomaterial unfolding of leadership practice in an unfamiliar setting. The analysis examines (1) what ‘leadership learning’ involves when viewed through an ‘entative soft’ leadership-as-practice lens and (2) how individual attempts at exercising power and influence can be understood and represented in leadership-as-practice terms. The study highlights that participants are not given equal scope to exercise power within the emerging, hybrid agency orienting the flow of leadership, and that one task of leadership learning at an individual level is to develop reflexive knowledge about one’s own and others’ contribution to the unfolding of leadership process. Such knowledge draws increased attention to the responsibilities commensurate with attempts to exercise influence within leadership practice.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors draw on ideas and practices of the art movement Situationist International who proposed the derive, informed by the concept of psychogeography as a way of exploring and reimagining the atmospheres of everyday life and argue that derive in management education may foster future managers' imaginative skills and inspire an imaginative self-reflection of the business school and its spatial organization.
Abstract: This article responds to the recent calls for rethinking management education, particularly to those that emphasize space, affect and atmosphere, and makes the case for the practice of derive as a way of infusing management education with experiential, experimental and reflexive learning processes. The authors draw on ideas and practices of the art movement Situationist International who proposed the derive, informed by the concept of psychogeography as a way of exploring and reimagining the atmospheres of everyday life. The paper is illustrated by the authors’ teaching experiences in this area (or space as one might say). The authors argue that the derive in management education may foster future managers’ imaginative skills and inspire an imaginative self-reflection of the business school and its spatial organization. The paper concludes that in re-enacting their experience of educational space, participants may learn about, reflect on, and develop their affective capacities for becoming part of organizational processes, both as students of the business school and as future managers.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the various processes through which sociomaterial relations constitute the performance of a routine, and the study's theoretical underpinnings are linked to sociateriality in unsupervised learning.
Abstract: This article examines the various processes through which sociomaterial relations constitute the performance of a routine. The study’s theoretical underpinnings are linked to sociomateriality in un...
TL;DR: The Management Learning journal marks its 50th anniversary in 2020 as discussed by the authors and has a long history of publishing critical, reflexive scholarship on organizational learning and knowledge, including a special issue dedicated to organizational learning.
Abstract: Management Learning marks its 50th anniversary in 2020. The journal has a long history of publishing critical, reflexive scholarship on organizational learning and knowledge. This Special Issue is ...
TL;DR: The adoption of packaged management knowledge in the field of human resource management (HRM) and human resource development (HRD) purporting to lead to performance has been questioned.
Abstract: I am interested in organisational practices, but I have long questioned the adoption of packaged management knowledge in the field of human resource management (HRM) and human resource development (HRD) purporting to lead to performance. I was excited, therefore, at the prospect of reviewing this book and even more reassured to learn from this collection that others were also interested in this question:
TL;DR: The authors look at the history of the journal from a unique vantage point, our interconnected, academic lived experience o...In this reflective essay, written for the 50th anniversary of Management Learning, they look at their own history from a different perspective.
Abstract: In this reflective essay, written for the 50th anniversary of Management Learning, we look at the history of the journal from a unique vantage point, our interconnected, academic lived experience o...
TL;DR: In this article, the role of relational power and discursive positioning in the knowledge integration process of an interdisciplinary project developing a steam turbine is explored, as boundaries are an impeding force.
Abstract: This study explores the role of relational power and discursive positioning in the knowledge integration process of an interdisciplinary project developing a steam turbine. As boundaries are an imp ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors draw on the notion of historical empathy to analyze the effect of diversity management in the context of activism, legislation and scholarship in Europe and North America, respectively.
Abstract: Diversity management is generally considered to be rooted in activism, legislation and scholarship in Europe and North America. In this article, we draw on the notion of historical empathy to analy...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use discursive qualitative interviews to explore identity challenges and opportunities experienced by younger academics in the business school environment, and frame identity challenges as a set of "constraints" and "opportunities".
Abstract: In this article, we use discursive qualitative interviews to explore identity challenges and opportunities experienced by younger academics in the business school environment. We frame identity con...