The getting of wisdom? : critical explorations in management education

Freedman, Paul Edward (1996) The getting of wisdom? : critical explorations in management education. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

This dissertation explores the discursive construction of managerial identity. It seeks to analyse both theoretically and empirically how managers are 'made' through the process of management education, first, by creating a theoretical framework for exploring the discursive production of managerial identity, then by utilising this framework to examine the production of managerial identity and the construction of particular managers through an extant course of management education. The organization of the dissertation reflects this dual purpose. Chapters one to three explore the limitations of extant approaches to the analysis of managerial identity and construct the foundations of an alternative framework for analysing the construction of managerial identity. The concepts of'discourse' and 'governmentality', it is argued, provide a means for overcoming the binary oppositions that have marked critical analyses of managerial identity by indicating the relational and dislocated nature of any social identity. In chapter four the framework is deployed to examine the construction of managerial identity through the operation of management education. In this way, the management education sector, and the MBA in particular, functions as a case study for exploring how managers are 'made' through the operation of management education. Chapter five presents some concluding thoughts and avenues for future research.

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