Business Schools at the Crossroads? A Trip Back from Sparta to Athens

Murcia, María José; Rocha, Héctor O.; Birkinshaw, Julian

doi:10.1007/s10551-016-3129-3

Cited by 28 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…perspectives’ (p. 174). If we make the humanities our touchstone, we accept that management education should encompass not just technical knowledge but also personal growth, defined by Aristotle as growth in ‘virtues or character strength’ (Murcia et al, 2018: 579–581). Making the humanities a key aspect of management education means that we will need to take more seriously the role of the imagination and fiction in our economic and social life.…”

Section: Discussion: Engaging Absurditymentioning

confidence: 99%

Management education and the theatre of the absurd

Starkey

Tempest

Cinque

2019

Management Learning

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In this article, we recommend the drama of theatre of the absurd as a novel space for critically reflecting upon management and management education as shaped by the forces of emotion, irrationality and conformism rather than reason. We discuss the theatre of the absurd as uniquely relevant to understanding our troubled times. We present a brief overview of the history of business schools and management education. We apply the idea of absurdity to the world of business schools and management education, focusing on the work of one of the theatre of the absurd’s leading proponents, Eugène Ionesco. We emphasise the importance of fiction and fantasy as key aspects of organisation and education. We contribute to debates about management education by reflecting on possible futures for management education and the business school, embracing the humanities as a core disciplinary focus. We suggest that this will help rebalance management education, retaining the best of the existing curriculum, while re-situating the study of management in its broader historical and philosophical nexus.

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Section: Discussion: Engaging Absurditymentioning

confidence: 99%

Management education and the theatre of the absurd

Starkey

Tempest

Cinque

2019

Management Learning

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“…As with all change, it is not enough that the facts be known for practices, institutional structures, and relationships to be reformed. There is a significant body of research on factors that protect the status quo in each ME domain (see, for example, Cornuel & Hommel, 2015; Murcia, Rocha, & Birkinshaw, 2016; Painter-Morland, Sabet, Molthan-Hill, Goworek, & Leeuw, 2016; Snelson-Powell, Grosvold, & Millington, 2016; Solitander, Fougère, Sobczak, & Herlin, 2012; Warin & Beddewela, 2016). Beyond ME, there are more general structural factors in society that stymie change efforts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Management Education and Earth System Science: Transformation as if Planetary Boundaries Mattered

2018

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Earth system science (ESS) has identified worrying trends in the human impact on fundamental planetary systems. In this conceptual article, we discuss the implications of this research for business schools and management education (ME). We argue that ESS findings raise significant concerns about the relationship between business and nature and, consequently, a radical reframing is required to embed economic and social activity within the global sustainability of natural systems. This has transformative implications for ME. To illustrate this reframing, we apply the ESS lenses of social-ecological interdependence, multiscalar relations, environmental governance, and environmental values to the ME functional domains of institutional purpose, social context and engagement, pedagogical practice, curricular design, and research focus. Our work contributes to the literature on business education for sustainability and the business-society-nature nexus. We explore and apply key ESS findings and concepts, discuss normative implications of these ideas, and offer guidance on transformational pathways for business schools and ME.

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“…We have unquestioningly accepted faulty ontological assumptions from economic theory in which the human condition is defined by guile, selfinterest, and laziness. But we now have the opportunity to re-discover the ontological assumptions of the business organization, the business school, and the image of the manager, not in the image of a Spartan warrior, but rather in the image of the Athenian citizen (Murcia et al, 2018). We need to rethink and go beyond the limited assumptions of calculative rationality and individual self-interest to reach the deeper ontological assumptions of practical rationality and harmonious heterogeneous motivation (Rocha & Ghoshal, 2006).…”

Section: Reflections and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Business with Purpose and the Purpose of Business Schools: Re-Imagining Capitalism in a Post Pandemic World: A Conversation with Jay Coen Gilbert, Raymond Miles, Christian Felber, Raj Sisodia, Paul Adler, and Charles Wookey

Rocha

Pirson

Suddaby

2020

Journal of Management Inquiry

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The emergence of innovative business models suggests that the foundational assumptions of competitive capitalism are increasingly in doubt. Business schools, however, appear to be followers rather than leaders in this historical moment of social change. While consumers and businesses are experimenting with new models of capitalism, business schools have been slow to change. What role should business schools play in this emerging new era of purpose-driven capitalism and business with purpose? We explore this question in conversation with six global experts, three in academia and three in practice, who are leading this change. The experts conclude that business must serve the needs of humanity rather than the needs of business. Business schools, therefore, need to reduce their emphasis on how to make businesses more rational and efficient and should instead focus on how businesses can help address more fundamental questions of the human condition.

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Business Schools at the Crossroads? A Trip Back from Sparta to Athens

Cited by 28 publications

References 56 publications

Management education and the theatre of the absurd

Management education and the theatre of the absurd

Management Education and Earth System Science: Transformation as if Planetary Boundaries Mattered

Business with Purpose and the Purpose of Business Schools: Re-Imagining Capitalism in a Post Pandemic World: A Conversation with Jay Coen Gilbert, Raymond Miles, Christian Felber, Raj Sisodia, Paul Adler, and Charles Wookey

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