International PhD course/workshop. May 7 - 11 2007
Organised by Mats Alvesson and Dan Kärreman,
University of Lund
Critical management studies (7.5 credits)
Many researchers in management and organization
studies hold the assumption that companies and other
organizations are institutions working for the common
good, that the outputs are making things better for
customers, employees, owners and the general public.
Organizational structures and practices are understood
as functional for the accomplishment of organizational
objectives, which then serve various stakeholders.
Typically, organizational and institutional
arrangements are viewed as fair and/or unproblematic.
In contrast, critical management studies problematize
the status quo. It focuses on the darker side of
business and organizations, or what Gareth Morgan in
Images of Organizations called the ugly face. The
word critical has, of course, a number of meanings.
All research is critical in the sense that the
researcher is observant and intolerant of weak
argumentation, speculative statements, erroneous
conclusions etc. In critical management studies,
critical is understood as the stimulation of a more
extensive reflection upon established ideas,
ideologies and institutions in order to liberate from
or at least reduce repression, self-constraints or
suffering. Critical research aims to stand on the
weaker parts side when studying or commenting upon
relations of dominance. Critical theory is referred to
as a tradition of social science, including the
Frankfurt School and related authors and lines of
thought such as Foucault, critical poststructuralism,
certain versions of feminism and so on. Critical
management studies is a large and expanding research
orientation, prominent in organization studies but
also to some extent in accounting, marketing and
strategy.
The PhD course/workshop aims to give an advanced
introduction to the theoretical frameworks, research
interests and methodologies in Critical management
studies, especially in organization studies but to
some extent also in other subdisciplines of
management. The course/workshop will also give
examples of critical studies and show how critical
research can be produced. Participants will have an
opportunity to discuss their own PhD projects or other
projects.
For students in PhD programs requiring courses an
examination in the form of a written paper discussing
and applying selected parts of the course content will
be required. The course will give 7.5 credits. For PhD
students in programs not requiring courses, the event
can be seen as a workshop. The course/workshop is also
open for junior faculty interested in CMS.
Content:
Critical theory
Poststructuralism
Foucault
Feminism
Critical organization studies
Critical marketing studies
Critical accounting studies
Critical management research methods
Research styles in CMS
Debates in CMS
CMS and social relevance
CMS applications in areas like identity, leadership,
gender, professionalism, ethics, learning, HRM etc.
etc.
Teaching
The course/workshop will include 30 hours of lectures
and seminars. There will also be social events.
Examination (for those wanting credits)
Written exam paper to be produced within six weeks
after the teaching/seminar week.
Literature
Alvesson & Deetz: Doing Critical Management Research.
Sage 2000 (some chapters)
Alvesson & Willmott (eds) Studying Management
Critically. Sage 2003
Grey & Willmott (eds): Critical Management Studies.
Oxford University Press 2005
Compendium with a selection of papers
Teachers
Responsible for the course/workshop will be Mats
Alvesson and Dan Kärreman, Lund University. Lectures
and seminars will be given by Chris Grey, André
Spicer, Hugh Willmott and others.
Schedule
The course will be given in a concentrated format,
during 7-11th May 2007, Monday-Friday.
Course/workshop fee
The course/workshop fee is 300 euro. (Under special
circumstances this is negotiable)
Location and practicalites
Lund is a charming old University town located in
Southern Sweden, 1 hour train ride from Copenhagen.
There is a direct Ryanair flight from Stanstead to
Lund/Malmoe. We will assist in finding cheap
accommodation.
Application
Application with a short bio and motivation of
interest for the course should be sent to
Susanne.Lundholm@fek.lu.se by March 1st. We can give
earlier notication of acceptance if needed.
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