'A critical-academic-analysis of received wisdom, for serious students of the subject'
- Long Range Planning Provocative and thoughtful, this book provides a fresh perspective on management that is both broad and critical. The authors argue for the importance of subjecting received wisdoms about management to scrutiny. Such scrutiny needs to address not only the means but also the outcomes of management theory and practices as social and ecological problems proliferate in the global economy.
The book begins by examining why we should question notions of management as a neutral `technology' with no moral commitments and consequences, and the role of critical reflection in such questioning. It introduces Critical Theory in the context of other critical traditions in management and the social sciences, and then explores various core management sub-disciplines, examining dominant perspectives within each specialism. In the final section, the authors consider the possibilities for synthesis between the insights and ideals of Critical Theory and progressive elements in current management thinking. They discuss theoretical implications and issues of practice, in teaching and research in the field, and for managers themselves in their organizational settings.
Mats Alvesson is a Visiting Lecterer at Exeter University, He holds a chair in the Business Administration department at Lund University in Sweden. He has published a large selection of journals and has contributed too many handbooks as well. He is also on the Board for the Academy of Management Review, Journal of Management Studies, and Strategic Organizations, Management Communication Quarterly and Organizational Research Methods and a co-editor of Organization. He is currently leading a large scale europe wide study on how specialists secure and enhance their managerial identity.
Mats Alvesson is on the editorial board for The Academy Academy of Management Review, Journal of Management Studies, Strategic Organinzation, Management Communication Quarterly and Organizational Research Methods and a co-editor of Organization.