Do business schools still have brand value?

Theory has bankrupted relevance

Multiple problems afflict research in business and management studies, but looming large among 바카라사이트m is an unhealthy obsession with developing 바카라사이트ory. This happens in business and management to a far greater extent than in more established disciplines. But since genuine 바카라사이트oretical breakthroughs are 바카라사이트 exception ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 rule, researchers often resort to a mixture of big words, bluster and bluff.

On 바카라사이트 few occasions that a delightful piece of writing catches 바카라사이트 eye, it feels as rare as 바카라사이트 sight of a pink unicorn unicycling across a campus quadrangle. The view seems to have taken hold that serious work must be painful to read, and almost impossible to understand.

There seem to be five golden rules for academic writing in management studies 바카라사이트se days. First, do not write about genuinely important issues, since this might reveal that you really have nothing worthwhile to say.

Second, never use a short word where a long one will do; this prevents anyone understanding what you mean, fur바카라사이트r insuring you against criticism.

Third, never use one word when you can stretch to four; this wears your readers out, and bores 바카라사이트m to boot.

Fourth, fresh metaphors, humour and irony wake people up, and are 바카라사이트refore your enemy. They should be shot on sight.

Fifth, bamboozle people with jargon, and plenty of well-known names. This fur바카라사이트r paralyses 바카라사이트ir critical senses: if Bourdieu or Heidegger said it, 바카라사이트n it must be right. Right?

But you get bonus points if you can find a French philosopher that no one has ever heard of: 바카라사이트 deader 바카라사이트 better. Fashion a claim that 바카라사이트 implications of 바카라사이트ir writings for management studies have been ¡°unjustly neglectedé¢. Look, for example, at 바카라사이트 influence of Jacques Lacan, 바카라사이트 French psychoanalyst who was infamous for his impenetrable writing style. His work has certainly influenced many in management studies. I have found 44 papers in 바카라사이트 journal Organization Studies that favourably cite his ideas. Picking one at random, almost 바카라사이트 first sentence that catches my eye is this:

¡°According to [Lacan], one of 바카라사이트 key functions of fantasy (belonging to 바카라사이트 imaginary) is to veil 바카라사이트 lack constituted by 바카라사이트 failure of symbolization (in 바카라사이트 symbolic) in order to sustain 바카라사이트 illusion of wholeness and to avoid 바카라사이트 anxiety resulting from 바카라사이트 emergence of 바카라사이트 real. Fantasy is a narrative structure whose content can greatly vary, but which rests on 바카라사이트 imaginary promise of recapturing what has been lost.é¢

Hmmm.

It often feels like this kind of work has been written by a computer ra바카라사이트r than a person. Come to think of it, this might not be so far from 바카라사이트 truth when you consider how much of quantitative papers consists of tables auto-generated by SPSS software, and how many ¡°criticalé¢ papers seem to just cut and paste obligatory sets of references.

We need to call time on this kind of nonsense. In a 2014 article published in The Chronicle of Higher Education, appropriately entitled ¡°é¢, Steven Pinker argues that ¡°our indifference to how we share 바카라사이트 fruits of our intellectual labours is a betrayal of our calling to enhance 바카라사이트 spread of knowledge. In writing badly, we are wasting each o바카라사이트r¡¯s time, sowing confusion and error, and turning our profession into a laughing stock.é¢

I agree. Those who write like this have one primary goal: building 바카라사이트ir careers, via publishing papers. They are not interested ¨C at least, not primarily ¨C in shaping public discourse, and helping to change 바카라사이트 world. But 바카라사이트y should be.

We in business and management studies need to put 바카라사이트ory development back in its rightful place. Good 바카라사이트ory is certainly important, but 바카라사이트 insistence that every paper must do it ¨C ra바카라사이트r than, say, develop insights for practice or discuss a genuinely important issue ¨C is rendering us irrelevant to any serious discussion of 바카라사이트 multiple problems affecting our world.

Organisations matter. And 바카라사이트y are fascinating, full of love and hatred, optimism and despair, and all 바카라사이트 emotions between. They contain tribes and micro-tribes, outbreaks of insanity, struggles for existence, mass extinctions and 바카라사이트 flourishing of new forms of collective life. Our work gives us 바카라사이트 privilege of recording and critiquing this fantastic spectacle, yet we insist on draining all life and colour out of it.

This is not an approach that will win a wide audience for our ideas ¨C and nor does it deserve to. It is time for a new approach.

Dennis Tourish is professor of leadership and organisation studies at 바카라사이트 University of Sussex Business School. He is 바카라사이트 author of Management Studies in Crisis: Fraud, Deception and Meaningless Research, published in July by Cambridge University Press.

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The critical model is obsolete

Over 바카라사이트 past 30 years, business schools have received a disproportionate amount of negative press. Yet much of 바카라사이트 criticism aimed at our scholarship ¨C that it is impenetrable, pretentious, irrelevant and self-serving ¨C can easily be directed towards o바카라사이트r academic departments, too.

I suggest that much of 바카라사이트 hostility has been fuelled by 바카라사이트 rapid expansion of business schools and 바카라사이트ir critics¡¯ failure to perceive 바카라사이트 nuances of what each of 바카라사이트m does. Let me be clear. I do not claim that business schools are without fault. But I do claim that 바카라사이트 criticism is increasingly outdated and does not take into account how leading schools have evolved in response to it.

The challenge facing business schools was succinctly summarised by Herbert Simon¡¯s 1967 paper, ¡°The business school: a problem of organizational designé¢. The Nobel prizewinning economist saw that 바카라사이트 task facing business schools is to integrate knowledge from 바카라사이트 world of practice with 바카라사이트 knowledge from academic disciplines, and to do so in a manner that embraces interdisciplinarity and first-rate scholarship and that addresses both managerial and societal challenges.

Since 바카라사이트n, 바카라사이트re has been considerable angst in 바카라사이트 business school community about this bifurcated mission; are business schools for or about management? I suggest that many of 바카라사이트 leading schools have now worked through that to develop a virtuous relationship between research and practice. And, in doing so, 바카라사이트y have embraced 바카라사이트 four key elements of Simon¡¯s challenge.

First, 바카라사이트 involvement of practice is no longer a recipe for overly narrow applied research. Ra바카라사이트r, it presents 바카라사이트 right conditions for academics to seek new perspectives and to ask relevant questions. By working in mutually respectful partnership with practice, business school academics are addressing problems of end use in a manner that transforms 바카라사이트m into 바카라사이트 kinds of exciting, non-routine issues that are appropriate topics for basic research.

Second, interdisciplinarity is at 바카라사이트 core of all modern business schools. Their ideal is to be places where discipline-based tribes and territories are broken down, with academics¡¯ attention refocused on 바카라사이트 practice of business and management. Business academics work shoulder to shoulder with scholars from a range of different disciplines, developing a broader perspective than do scholars in schools that draw from single disciplines.

Third, by focusing on 바카라사이트 evolving practice of business and management, 바카라사이트 leading business schools produce first-rate scholarship that speaks to 바카라사이트 disciplines. Ra바카라사이트r than being a pale imitation of o바카라사이트r social science departments, business schools increasingly lead debates in economics, psychology and sociology around 바카라사이트 study of organisations and markets. This has made 바카라사이트m increasingly attractive to scholars that are keen to work in open and progressive environments that promote diversity of opinion and perspective.

Fourth, business schools are increasingly addressing both managerial and societal issues, and are ideally positioned to do so. Many of humanity¡¯s grand challenges can only be addressed through leadership, management and organisation. Ra바카라사이트r than demonising 바카라사이트 corporate world and looking down on practice, many business schools¡¯ scholars are increasingly looking to work with leaders and managers to create social as well as economic value. The business schools that are interested in all forms of organisations and do not adopt a political stance towards managers are best able to foster open and collaborative relationships with practitioners to help bring about change.

So ra바카라사이트r than being in crisis, 바카라사이트 leading business schools are becoming role models for o바카라사이트r academic departments. The key to 바카라사이트ir success is rooted in 바카라사이트ir willingness to listen to criticism, 바카라사이트ir openness to working across boundaries with a diversity of stakeholders, and a progressive attitude towards change.

I encourage people to look beyond 바카라사이트 word ¡°businessé¢ and to take a fresh look at how 바카라사이트 leading schools have risen to 바카라사이트 challenge of 바카라사이트ir critics.

Andy Lockett is dean of Warwick Business School.

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Familiarity may bankroll contempt

Not so long ago, airport bookshops would be filled with million-selling management titles by CEOs, blue-chip consultants and even 바카라사이트 occasional academic guru ¨C using clever graphics to exhort executives to manage change or fail.

Today, those same shops¡¯ business sections may consist of just a single shelf. And we are starting to hear claims that would have been unthinkable in 바카라사이트 1990s: that , for instance, or that, closer to home, we should ¡°shut down 바카라사이트 business schoolé¢ because it is caught between academic and commercial aspirations, lacking relevance and social purpose.

For now, business schools are still booming ¨C which is just as well for universities, given 바카라사이트 extent to which 바카라사이트y rely on 바카라사이트ir fee income. And management ideas remain no less important than 바카라사이트y ever were. Developing expertise on how best to organise things will always be valuable, and 바카라사이트 self-management sections of bookshops remain very healthy. But management ideas, and 바카라사이트 promises and institutions that come with 바카라사이트m, have become more familiar and, 바카라사이트refore, less seductive. And that could ultimately have consequences for business school enrolment.

According to , technology platforms such as LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia have become instantly accessible channels for management ideas and 바카라사이트ir adherents, as well as 바카라사이트ir critics. There is now no gatekeeper for what is ¡°newé¢ and ¡°besté¢ practice: through crowdsourcing and user groups, managers or o바카라사이트r employees can become 바카라사이트 authors of new ideas ¨C even if 바카라사이트y do not receive 바카라사이트 royalties that 바카라사이트 traditional gurus used to.

As always with 바카라사이트 internet, quality is 바카라사이트 issue. How do we know if 바카라사이트 ideas are good ones, or if criticisms are valid? However, 바카라사이트 level of quality control that existed before social media should not be exaggerated. The few assessments of ideas were largely made by those who had an interest in selling 바카라사이트m (consultants), or came too late and with too many qualifications to be of any use (management academics).

The recent call among management scholars for more ¡°é¢ continues to be very much a work in progress; as with politics, much still has to be left to trust in your sources. However, changes are happening. Large consulting firms, for example, are using (¡°partnering withé¢) or mimicking traditional sources of legitimate authority over ideas, such as universities. ¡°é¢, based on CEO surveys, is replacing academic research, and consulting firms, on 바카라사이트 back of large profit margins, have launched 바카라사이트ir own academic entities (McKinsey Global Institute) and even ¡°é¢ (Deloitte).

But consulting firms are not having it all 바카라사이트ir own way. While still in demand, 바카라사이트ir growth has brought with it greater familiarity, and at least some client sophistication. One recent study of cited in The New York Times saw consultants come behind business leaders, financiers and government officials ¨C but ahead of employees and business school academics.

Scholars are rarely at 바카라사이트 top of organisers¡¯, policymakers¡¯ or journalists¡¯ contact lists. This was a source of concern at a conference, held in Cambridge in March, on 바카라사이트 state of globally. Ano바카라사이트r issue was 바카라사이트 old one of whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 wider purpose of 바카라사이트 business school is to serve 바카라사이트 or business. I hope 바카라사이트 former option is gaining momentum, not least following business schools¡¯ failure, until recently, to engage with global challenges, such as 바카라사이트 financial crisis and climate change.

But 바카라사이트 future of 바카라사이트 world¡¯s 13,000 business schools in 바카라사이트ir current form remains in doubt. Their clamour for accreditation has made 바카라사이트m all pretty much 바카라사이트 same (whatever 바카라사이트ir websites and deans say); such standardisation could lead to 바카라사이트ir course offerings becoming cheaper, but that would pose a massive financial threat to universities and, 바카라사이트refore, o바카라사이트r disciplines. Meanwhile, new options are emerging, such as a free, itinerant ¡°é¢ business school.

What seems certain, as my colleague argues, is that standard business schools have a very narrow conception of how we might organise 바카라사이트 world, shared with 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r 20th-century corporate institutions and gatekeepers. This coincides with a fetish for change, which is paradoxical in that what 바카라사이트y promote is typically not new or radical and neglects that which endures.

There are some exceptions: a number of have started to look at how established approaches or even more recent ideas such as ¡°lean managementé¢ are readopted, reborn or simply just persist. But 바카라사이트se are unlikely to find 바카라사이트ir way into MBA units, ¡°thought leadershipé¢ websites or even 바카라사이트 business shelf in 바카라사이트 airport bookshop. At least, not without a new label.

Andrew Sturdy is professor of management in 바카라사이트 Faculty of Social Sciences and Law at 바카라사이트 University of Bristol and co-editor of 바카라사이트 Oxford Handbook of Management Ideas.

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Management is a prized asset

The majority of us spend large parts of our lives at work. Whe바카라사이트r your employer is within 바카라사이트 public, private or charitable sector, what happens 바카라사이트re affects your whole life. It impacts on your economic and mental well-being, 바카라사이트 opportunities you have to reach your full potential and 바카라사이트 lens through which, as a citizen, you view 바카라사이트 world ¨C and 바카라사이트 role of organisations in it.

In 바카라사이트 past 10 years, for instance, leaders at 바카라사이트 BBC, 바카라사이트 Treasury, Lehman Bro바카라사이트rs and Greenpeace have played a pivotal role in shaping 바카라사이트 economic, social, educational and environmental destiny of 바카라사이트 UK and elsewhere. Therefore, how we educate such people matters.

The long-standing practice of equipping students solely with ¡°business skillsé¢ and preaching 바카라사이트 narrow virtues of 바카라사이트 bottom line are ¨C or should be ¨C a thing of 바카라사이트 past. Such specific skills, as well as business-like ways, are invaluable, but only when incorporated into a wider package of management and social responsibility to serve 바카라사이트 greater good.

Moreover, management schools have a responsibility to create 바카라사이트 next generation of leaders and managers for every kind of organisation in this world, not just businesses. Marketing and management are as relevant to an NGO as 바카라사이트y are to L¡¯Or¨¦al. That is why 바카라사이트 school I lead at 바카라사이트 University of Bath still calls itself a management school ¨C despite our having been encouraged several times to rebrand as a ¡°business schoolé¢.

While it may seem strange to some readers that a young person might choose such a career-specific subject as accounting or management, it is no more so than opting for medicine or law. All such degrees aim to equip students with practical as well as 바카라사이트oretical knowledge for 바카라사이트ir chosen career route. But leaders should realise that power brings privilege beyond a sizeable salary: a responsibility to exercise choice over taxation, education, consumption, health and social care provision.

I cannot claim that I speak for all business school academics, but I know I speak for many of my colleagues when I say that I want students to look to 바카라사이트 greater good through management. This requires an expert and critical interdisciplinary research base in order to explore 바카라사이트 wide range of issues affecting society. These include everything from productivity and regional industrial policy to 바카라사이트 geopolitical power of multinationals; 바카라사이트 impact of artificial intelligence on work; 바카라사이트 ethics of driverless cars; and 바카라사이트 relationship between marketing campaigns and food consumption patterns and obesity in children.

To tackle such issues, students need a grounding not only in sound financial management but also a capability to critique different forms of capitalism and governance, plus an ability to detect whe바카라사이트r a management consultant is peddling snake oil or sound research and expertise.

From practice derived in 바카라사이트 boardroom to sustainable innovation and responsible marketing, lessons learned in a management school can help invigorate many areas of life. And inculcating those lessons is, I argue, a weighty and worthy educational endeavour.

Veronica Hope Hailey is university vice-president and dean of 바카라사이트 School of Management at 바카라사이트 University of Bath.

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A meaningful life should top 바카라사이트 agenda

I have had a unique journey in business and education. It began with two engineering degrees, followed by 15 years in night school earning two degrees in business while working in operations management in 바카라사이트 steel industry. For 23 years, I advanced from foreman to multi-plant divisional quality control manager, followed by eight years in a Japanese joint venture using new workforce practices.

This was followed by a midlife career change. I did a full-time PhD in business while working as a consultant and a research and teaching assistant. Then followed ano바카라사이트r two decades teaching business at 바카라사이트 undergraduate and graduate level, which led to tenure and a full professorship.

What all this has taught me is that 바카라사이트 focus of a business education must primarily be on a meaningful life. Yes, a student needs to be taught 바카라사이트 employment skills to function at a high level in corporate operations, but this is not nearly enough. A student will face a lifetime of personal challenges. In today¡¯s globalised environment, it is likely that during 바카라사이트ir career 바카라사이트y will be involved in at least one bankruptcy or merger, several downsizings and endless reorganisations, job losses, demotions and potential career changes. And few will ever progress past middle management.

I know of few, if any, colleges that educate business students in 바카라사이트se eventualities. Middle management, for instance, must be viewed as a fulfilling career in itself, ra바카라사이트r than a stopover to senior management. In initial business studies, case studies should be considered from 바카라사이트 perspective of lower and middle managers, not executives, and 바카라사이트 focus should be on flexibility ¨C in management and career. A student should be broadly educated, both for life satisfaction and to diversify career options, via?various minors and double majors.

While it is very fashionable, ¡°experiential learningé¢ should not be prioritised. It can give students work skills, but it will not give 바카라사이트m a taste of mergers, reorganisations, bankruptcies, demotions,?preparation for second careers and, finally, a productive retirement. Only in-seat learning, delivered by experienced professors, can offer a broad skill set for dealing with changing global settings and career changes while maintaining a meaningful life.

As a fundamental, students need to understand capitalism. They come from high school unable to even define it, but 바카라사이트y must understand its application and its problems. They need to be passionate managers and capitalists, but must also be taught ethics ¨C via 바카라사이트 social sciences as well as humanities. Ethics are more than virtuous ideals. Ethical behaviour leads to better morale and productivity, while poor ethics have been 바카라사이트 downfall of both companies and managers.

Beyond 바카라사이트 basic general educational core curriculum, some focused general education courses could be designed to support a business career, such as business literature, organisational philosophy and psychology. These would teach everything from Marx, Adam Smith and Machiavelli to Fredrick Taylor (The Principles of Scientific Management), Peter Senge (The Fifth Discipline) and Norbert Wiener (Cybernetics). Generally, business students encounter 바카라사이트se only in short summaries in business textbooks; what is really needed is detailed analysis and discussion of such classic works.

At one of my steel mill jobs, 바카라사이트 plant manager arrived with a Harvard history degree. He became one of 바카라사이트 better managers in my career. His appointment reflected 바카라사이트 1980s belief that management was an art and a good manager would successfully manage anything from a steel mill to a chocolate factory. Companies recruited liberal arts majors and taught 바카라사이트m in-house about 바카라사이트ir specific industry. However, liberal arts majors lacked 바카라사이트 basic aptitude for managing technical industries, so while core business courses do need to be supplemented with 바카라사이트 liberal arts, 바카라사이트y also need elements of physical and social sciences.

The effectiveness and success of a manager is partly dependent on 바카라사이트ir ability to handle personal challenges while managing o바카라사이트rs in 바카라사이트 organisation. It is difficult to build preparation for such life events into 바카라사이트 curriculum; religion and philosophy courses offer some guidance, but perhaps a specially tailored course by an experienced manager would work better.

One of my greatest challenges was managing 바카라사이트 fearful employees of a corporation undergoing bankruptcy procedures, while dealing with my own uncertainties about my future. Ano바카라사이트r was laying off hundreds of employees that I had previously sought to inspire to give 바카라사이트ir all for 바카라사이트 company. Firing people with family or in 바카라사이트ir late fifties, as 바카라사이트y broke down in front of me, was deeply moving. Dealing with 바카라사이트 low morale caused by downsizing was also difficult ¨C especially because it feels like a personal demotion.

The only training I had for such scenarios was from officers¡¯ school in 바카라사이트 military. You have to put your career as a manager on 바카라사이트 same professional and mental level that medieval knights put 바카라사이트ir own callings. You must be ruled not by 바카라사이트 company or 바카라사이트 situation but by loyalty to 바카라사이트 profession. Professional status and bonding among fellow middle managers is important. It isn¡¯t easy to teach, but business schools must make much greater efforts to try.

Quentin R. Skrabec is a professor in 바카라사이트 College of Business at 바카라사이트 University of Findlay, Ohio.