Christopher John Grey - Böcker

At a time of ever-increasing debate about orthodox approaches to management education, and their application in the post-industrial era, this innovative book brings together the work of authors actively engaged in developing new forms of education.

The introduction contrasts dominant utilitarian and functionalist conceptions of management education with various alternatives. It argues the need for a critical and pluralistic form of management education whereby participants are introduced to the full diversity of appropriate perspectives and debates. The remainder of the book echoes this commitment by exploring a range of approaches, including those based in psychoanalysis, critical theory and poststructuralism. Throughout the book, there is a focus is upon the implications of problematizing management knowledge so as to facilitate alternative and critical modalities of teaching and learning. In this context management is seen not simply as a bundle of skills and techniques but, rather, as a complex social, political and moral practice.

At a time of ever-increasing debate about orthodox approaches to management education, and their application in the post-industrial era, this innovative book brings together the work of authors actively engaged in developing new forms of education.

The introduction contrasts dominant utilitarian and functionalist conceptions of management education with various alternatives. It argues the need for a critical and pluralistic form of management education whereby participants are introduced to the full diversity of appropriate perspectives and debates. The remainder of the book echoes this commitment by exploring a range of approaches, including those based in psychoanalysis, critical theory and poststructuralism. Throughout the book, there is a focus is upon the implications of problematizing management knowledge so as to facilitate alternative and critical modalities of teaching and learning. In this context management is seen not simply as a bundle of skills and techniques but, rather, as a complex social, political and moral practice.

This volume brings together some of the best writing published in the journal Management Learning since its re-launch under this title in 1994. The selection very much reflects the mission of the journal to act as a showcase for innovative, international and interdisciplinary work which covers a wide gamut of issues connected to management, organizations, learning and knowledge. The field of management learning, widely drawn in this way, brings together some of the key preoccupations within several areas of management, organization studies and social science more generally. Learning and knowledge have become central themes within thee areas for several reasons, both practical and theoretical. These include the way that organizational learning is seen as a key source of competitive advantage, and the wider analysis that individuals and organizations now inhabit a `knowledge economy'. Theoretically, recent years have seen emerging understandings of the social significance of `communities of practice', whilst learning in its many manifestations is increasingly seen as being imbricated in issues of power. This latter points to one of the particular areas which has been a focus for the journal, namely more critically orientated approaches to management learning.

This collection provides readings grouped under six key headings which reflect where some of the most influential and provocative work in the field has been done over recent years, namely:

- Organizational Learning and Learning Organizations

- Individual Learning

- Critical Approaches to Management Education and Learning

- Pedagogical Practice

- Globalization and Management Learning

- Beyond Management Learning

Along with an editorial introduction, this volume will provide a unique and invaluable resource for anyone studying or researching management learning and cognate areas, by bringing together some of the best peer-reviewed work in the field.