Critical Perspectives on Management Education
Abstract This paper presents a critical perspective of Management Education (ME). ... It was found that many students attend Management and Business Schools with the pretence that it will be a fast track to the higher echelons of management. This study also found that Management and Business Schools believed that their courses fully equipped their students to enter the business world as managers. ... Introduction The aim of this paper is to identify and contest the theoretical based assumptions surrounding management education and to offer social-theoretical alternatives. It is also intended that this paper will provide a platform for further discussion regarding the broader implications of management, management education, and education in general. ... What is Critical Theory? Critical theory is the theoretical approach originated in the 1920’s from the Frankfurt School of social philosophers, including Adorno, Horkheimer, and Marcuse. ... The aim of all critical theorists is to explain the causes of oppression and hope that these will result in emancipation of those marginalised (www. ... Critical perspectives is a broad church made up of two main strands, Critical theory and Postmoderism, of which both are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Within these two schools of thought, you will find other theoretical perspectives, including: Poststructuralism, Ecologism, Feminist thinking, Postcolonialism, and Post-traditionalism. The major discrepancy between the two perspectives concerns the enlightenment project. Critical theorists believe the project to be incomplete whereas postmodernists perceive it simply to be wrong (Honneth, 1987). ... 1 ME produces better managers The dominant truth that suggests management education provides better managers. The idea that learning the science of management will create ‘better’ business men and women for society and that a lack of management education would mean an inability to become a good manager. ... 2 Management can be taught The implication that business and management are subjects that can be academically taught, assuming management is tangible. ... 3 ME is a fast track to the top A business/management degree is a fast track to the higher positions on the corporate ladder. “The MBA (Master of Business Administration) degree is internationally recognised and is seen as a passport to a successful management career. ... com) “I came to business school because I wanted an accelerated leap into management rather than having to wade through six or seven years of managerial experience. ... 4 Wider dominant assumptions Encompassing these dominant theories are wider dominant assumptions regarding higher education as a whole, including the idea that universities provide their students with lasting and relevant knowledge and expertise in their chosen fields. ... The idea that everyone needs a degree to succeed and that everyone should strive to achieve the highest possible level of education obtainable. This theory is supported by the governments ‘Aim Higher’ policy of March 2003, which proposes to get as many students as possible into some form of higher education (www. ... The rapid spread of business education in American colleges and universities began after the First World War (Coulson-Thomas 1975). ... 2 Business Schools in Britain In contrast to the history of management education in the US, British schools date back to the 1960’s. Prior to this management education in Britain was provided by polytechnics, technical colleges and private colleges and was primarily aimed at the post-experience sector, i. ... The London and Manchester Business schools were founded in 1965, post-graduate management education in other European countries also tends to be a post-war phenomenon (Coulson-Thomas 1975).