Drawing on both historical and contemporary sources, this module introduces students to a range of approaches to, and ways of thinking about, organisations and their management.
In doing so, it will provide students with a secure conceptual, theoretical, and discursive understanding of the academic foundations of the field vital for their academic progression.
The first five weeks of the module will introduce students to a series of core concepts, and styles of organizing, that constitute the established landscape against which contemporary management and organisation studies take place. Taking both an historical and comparative approach, this section commences with a critical revaluation of the concepts of management and organisation and their historical incorporation into a 'mainstream' doxa based on the unquestioned maximisation of instrumental utility and economic growth. This theme is then further explored through consideration of the historical development of 'modern' organisational styles and their management.
The second four weeks will be more fluid in design and delivery. It will draw upon faculty research interests and expertise, as well as topical debates within the field and beyond. Attention will be paid, however, to the contemporary organisational challenges posed by issues including the climate emergency, the persistence of structural inequalities within organisations, and the rise of alternative organisational forms and practices.
- Module Supervisor: David Watson