Critique of Management

Vincent Blok is associate professor in Philosophy of Technology, Business Ethics, and Responsible Innovation, Wageningen University, The Netherlands. He holds a PhD in philosophy of technology from Leiden University. His books include Ernst Jünger’s Philosophy of Technology: Heidegger and the Poetics of the Anthropocene (Routledge 2017) and Heidegger’s Concept of Philosophical Method: Innovating Philosophy in the Age of Global Warming (Routledge 2019).

"Finally, a book in Management Philosophy providing clear and concise definitions gluing the fields together, making us understand the possibilities and impossibilities of management better." -- Anders Bordum, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark"At last, a philosopher looks critically at the idea of management, and some its associated literature in business ethics. Vincent Blok has done management theory a favor in showing how philosophy can be useful in understanding the basic ideas of management in a sophisticated way." -- R. Edward Freeman, Professor of Business Ethics, professor business administration at the Darden School of the University of Virginia, USA."Vincent Blok is one of the most important contemporary philosophers of innovation, technology and management. He engages deeply with various expert literatures to tackle important questions in an accessible way. What is management? What is the best it could be? What sort of knowledge can managers use to make decisions? I expect that anyone reading this book, as expert as they might be, will come away with a new insight and a new learning." -- Wim Vandekerckhove, Professor of Business Ethics, University of Greenwich and Editor-in-Chief Philosophy of Management, UK. "This book is one of the most important contributions to the developing field of the philosophy of management in this century. A simple but fundamental question is raised, which many have pondered over – what is management? – and is pursued with a thoroughness that enables the reader to follow the many different facets of the argument, through ancient Greek philosophy to modern critical theory, across political, social and ethical disciplines,, and covering management in the widest range of different contexts. The author builds his position carefully and iteratively over succeeding chapters, to arrive at a broad and comprehensive perspective on the field. This is a book which speaks simultaneously to several audiences: managers in general wishing to understand more deeply the issues involved in their day-to-day decisions, philosophers formulating ways to apply their frameworks to business issues, business ethicists looking for a groundwork for their investigations, management scholars seeking a sound foundation for their ideas, as well as students on MBA and related programmes as they develop their understanding of management. A valuable addition to the literature." -- Paul Griseri, author of An Introduction to the Philosophy of Management

• Introduction1. Setting the Scene: Opening Up the Self-Evident Concept of Management2. Management as Participation, Responsive Action, and Constitution of Meaning3. Management as Politico-Economic Governance4. Management as Non-Reductive Stakeholder Engagement5. Management as Epistemic Insufficient Entrepreneurship6. Managing for the Common Good: Toward an Integrated Principle of Business EthicsConclusion