Expert Knowledge in Management

Abstract

A common complaint of practicing managers is that the body of knowledge developed through management research and taught in colleges of business is difficult to apply, or even irrelevant to their work (Anonymous). For example, a recent study by Brown, Shreve, and Turk (1984) indicated that current theories of organizational structure have limited usefulness for management practitioners because the creators lacked work experience, and the theories were not written for practitioners. More specifically, poor operational definitions, lack of clarity, difficult terminology, lack of pragmatism, overuse of statistical analysis, and poor implementation information were cited as barriers to implementing these theories.Many academicians acknowledge that application problems exist; however, there is disagreement as to why they exist and what to do about them. Several theses have been developed as to the crux of this problem and how it should be dealt with. One thesis is that management cannot be taught in an educational settingindeed, the mission of universities involves broad, cognitive knowledge and not specific applications (House, 1975)and that the learning of management skills can only be accomplished through actual experience in management positions. Proponents of this thesis may advocate activities outside of the university as a way of gaining practical skills; e.g., work-study programs, internships, credit for life experience, and on-the-job mentoring.A second thesis is that managerial skills are not being taught correctly. Proponents of this thesis may advocate the addition of more practical university courses, moving away from conceptual-theoretical approaches to teaching management, adoption of more practice-oriented texts, and use of experiential or skill training methodologies in management classes (e.g., Miner, 1977).