Teaching and learning methods
Teaching methods and learning activities:
Lectures will set out the background in familiarising students with topics in intellectual history. The second hour of each session will typically involve the drawing of links between various (typically abstract) approaches with more down-to-earth problems at the heart of contemporary management. Towards the end of each lecture students will be given an assignment for the class of the upcoming week. All assignments will converge in encouraging students to utilise philosophical perspectives and modes of thought in order to address quite concrete problems. Students will often have to take sides on a debate of a well-rehearsed dilemma. All lectures will have suggested reading material, which will typically be a combination of journal papers and book chapters. In addition, there will be visiting lectures (from Dr Gatenby and Dr Wainwright), whereas students will be strongly encouraged to attend related departmental seminars to be delivered by invited academics.
Learning activities include:
Individual/group assignments
In class debate and discussion
Private study
Use of online material
Study time
Type |
Hours |
Revision |
12 |
Preparation for scheduled sessions |
10 |
Follow-up work |
12 |
Seminar |
11 |
Tutorial |
1 |
Wider reading or practice |
40 |
Completion of assessment task |
40 |
Lecture |
24 |
Total study time |
150 |
Resources & Reading list
General Resources
Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy.
Organization Studies. Journal
Organization. Journal
Philosophy of Management. Journal
Academy of Management Review. Journal
Textbooks
Perrow, C. (1986). Complex organisations: A critical essay. McGraw-Hill.
Fuller, S. (2012). Knowledge management foundations. Routledge.
Fleetwood, S., & Ackroyd, S. (Eds.) (2004). Critical realist applications in organisation and management studies. Psychology Press.
Heilbroner, R. L. (2011). The worldly philosophers: The lives, times and ideas of the great economic thinkers. Simon and Schuster.
Blackburn, S (2001). Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Tsoukas, H. (2005). Complex knowledge. Oxford University Press.
Morgan, G (1997). Images of Organization. Sage.
Hatch, M. J. (2012). Organization theory: Modern, symbolic and postmodern perspectives. Oxford University Press.
Griseri, P. (2001). Management Knowledge: A critical view. Palgrave.
Tsoukas, H., & Knudsen, C. (Eds.) (2005). The Oxford handbook of organization theory. Oxford University Press.
Alvesson, M., Bridgman, T., & Willmott, H. (Eds.) (2009). The Oxford handbook of critical management studies. Oxford University Press.
Okasha, S. (2002). Philosophy of science: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
Griseri, P. (2013). An Introduction to the Philosophy of Management. Sage.
Aldrich, H. (1999). Organisations evolving. Sage.
Lipton, P. (2004). Inference to the best explanation. Psychology Press.
Pugh, D. S., & Hickson, D. J. (2007). Writers on organisations. Penguin.