TITLE

The Nature of Knowledge in Business Schools

AUTHOR(S)

CHIA, ROBERT; HOLT, ROBIN

PUB. DATE

December 2008

SOURCE

Academy of Management Learning & Education;Dec2008, Vol. 7 Issue 4, p471

SOURCE TYPE

Academic Journal

DOC. TYPE

Article

ABSTRACT

We contribute to the debate on the future of business schools by investigating the nature of knowledge being produced and taught within them. We identify how a preference for abstract causal explanation over practical knowledge, and for reason and truth over what works, has led to a privileging of detached contemplation over involved action. Despite repeated calls to make management research and education more "relevant" to practice, many business schools continue to privilege rigor and precision as the arbiters of authoritative knowledge using representational devices such as conceptual models, case studies, and other formal classifications. We argue that risks of ignorance and detachment emerge from this singular attachment to knowledge-by-representation in business schools. We identify the need for an alternative, accompanying form of knowledge associated with the art of management that can only be transmitted through exemplary behavior within the business education process. We call this knowledge-by-exemplification: one that is demonstrative, creative and unreflectively performative, transmitted directly through the demeanor, style, and mannerism of management educators rather than through the content of lectures. For us, it is this relatively unnoticed aspect of the education process that provides one possible answer to the predicament of relevance facing business schools.

ACCESSION #

35882188

Tags: BUSINESS schools;  CURRICULUM evaluation;  EDUCATIONAL change;  BUSINESS education;  UNIVERSITIES & colleges -- Curricula;  BUSINESS students

 

Related Articles

• Introducing Idea Mapping into the Business Curriculum: Results from Two Experiments. Schweizer, Tim // International Journal of Technology, Knowledge & Society;2011, Vol. 7 Issue 1, p191 

  Idea Mapping is a skill needed by today's managers and leaders. In fact, Idea Mapping and Mind Mapping are part of the training regularly given at Infosys, Wipro, Boeing, and other global organizations. Two experiments were conducted during the Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 semesters in a Principles...

• Quickulum: A Process For Quick Response Curriculum Verification. Lovett, Marvin; Jones, Irma S.; Stingley, Paul // Journal of Aviation Management & Education;2009, Vol. 1, p15 

  This paper addresses the need for a method of continual and frequent verification regarding course content taught in some post-secondary courses. . With excessive amounts of information generated within the workplace, continual change exists for what is taught in some of our business courses....

• Teaching History in Business Schools: An Outsider's View. MADANSKY, ALBERT // Academy of Management Learning & Education;Dec2008, Vol. 7 Issue 4, p553 

  I comment on the role of the study of history in the business school curriculum. I first survey an analogous endeavor, the role of the study of history in political decision making, finding a valuable body of literature on the problems inherent in the use of history as a guide to political...

• Project 1239-PPB in Schools of Business. Hough, Granville // Academy of Management Proceedings (00650668);1974, p68 

  The California State University system is the home of Project 1239, a pilot effort in applying to Schools of Business the approaches of Planning, Programming, and Budgeting. If Project 1239 gives a more effective and efficient learning experience in Schools of Business, it will be seen in other...

• A LOOK TO THE FUTURE OF MARKETING EDUCATION: OBSERVATIONS OF ONE TEACHER-RESEARCHER CURMUDGEON. Chonko, Lawrence B. // Marketing Education Review;Spring2003, Vol. 13 Issue 1, p1 

  The subject of this paper is the future of marketing education. One focal point of the paper concerns the readiness for change of marketing departments. The culture, climate and policies of marketing departments are discussed with an emphasis on their conduciveness to change. Several elements...

• New-age specialists.  // India Today;10/12/2009, p15 

  The article looks at popular courses that have been launched by business schools and institutes in India. Agri-business Management is a course offered at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute. A regular International Business Management...

• AN APPROACH TO INTERDISCIPLINARY CURRICULUM FOR A SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS.  // Review of Business Research;2010, Vol. 10 Issue 5, p115 

  No abstract available.

• An efficiency analysis of U.S. business schools. Sexton, Thomas R.; Comunale, Christie L. // Journal of Aviation Management & Education;2009, Vol. 1, p1 

  In the current economic climate, business schools face crucial decisions. As resources become scarcer, schools must either streamline operations or limit them. An efficiency analysis of U.S. business schools is presented that computes, for each business school, an overall efficiency score and...

• Same as It Ever Was: Recognizing Stability in the Business Week Rankings. Morgeson, Frederick P.; Nahrgang, Jennifer D. // Academy of Management Learning & Education;Mar2008, Vol. 7 Issue 1, p26 

  Since their arrival in 1988, the BusinessWeek rankings of full-time MBA programs have had an increasingly greater influence on business school education. Implicit in attempts to improve in the rankings is the assumption that it is possible to improve. We empirically examine the BusinessWeek...

Read the Article