Course Resources Archive

This module will address questions about management, organisations, society and ourselves in order to explicate (analyse and develop) the concept of the 'thinking manager'.

The content will consider the consequences of taking management and the manager as an object of philosophical inquiry. It will ask students to study how an understanding of philosophy helps people to become improved managers, both in their working and personal environments, and therefore make organisations better places to work in. The module will address issues including, manager identity, morality, and the use of power and sustainability from a philosophical perspective.

The syllabus is largely formed from the articles the students have to read over the course of the module. Themes/material covered are largely questions and could include;  What does management consist of? Key questions? What do managers do?

How can philosophising help managers think about what they do and how to do it? Management is about who we are – as people and professionals

How does management education contribute to management practice? Ethics and management and management as a relational practice

On successful completion of the module the student should be able to:

1. Understand the shift in management thought and practice from the traditional concepts, theories and ideas to the post-modern critique of these notions (PLO1).
2. Identify and debate models of management (PLO2).
3. Compare and contrast of the problems and possibilities within modernism and postmodernism for managers (PLO2,4)
4. Demonstrate a confidence in their own abilities based on valid and meaningful theories and personal experience of the module (PLO1).
5. Provide a critical explication of the role of the The Reflective manager (PLO4).
6. Discuss and share their new knowledge with clarity, coherence and conciseness in writing and speech. (PLO1,6)

Students should use the research done for the annotated bibliographies to formulate a ‘research question/topic’ of their own for the critical essay.

The Library Catalogue contains full details of the current reading list for this module. Further details may also be found in the Module Guide.