Overview

This module provided an introduction as to how current thinking about management and managers has been shaped by academics, top executives, consultants, and management gurus.

Topics include the power of ideas to explain organizational change and the diffusion of management ideas (business education, management consultants, knowledge management within the firm).

Assessment Strategy

-threshold -D- to D+ (40-49%): No major omissions or inaccuracies in the deployment of information/skills. Some grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practical elements. Integration of theory/practice/information present intermittently in pursuit of the assessed work's objectives.

-good -B- to B+ (60-69%): Very good performance Most of the relevant information accurately deployed. Good grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practical elements. Good integration of theory/practice/information in pursuit of the assessed work's objectives. Evidence of the use of creative and reflective skills.

-excellent -A- to A+ (70%+): Outstanding performance. The relevant information accurately deployed. Excellent grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practice elements. Good integration of theory/practice/information in pursuit of the assessed work's objectives. Strong evidence of the use of creative and reflective skills.

-another level-C- to C+ (50-59%): Much of the relevant information and skills mostly accurately deployed. Adequate grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practical elements. Fair integration of theory/practice/information in the pursuit of the assessed work's objectives. Some evidence of the use of creative and reflective skills.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate an awareness of the contexts where different views on organising and managing have emerged, who were the early contributors and who are the main current contributors.

• Identify the main spaces where theories, views and framework about what is management and managers do emerged.

• Identify the various dimensions of management thought, including when and how it began and how it has evolved.

• Outline how management thinking in the past influences current views in management today. Also how these views are potentially likely to influence our thinking about what managers do and what is management in the near future.

• Recognise the large number of cultural, political, economic and environmental factors that gave rise to different concepts of the structure of organisations, its implications for managing work, and employee behaviour.

• Recognize the main elements and features of key contributors to management, as well as those contributors conceptualising what managers do in organisations.