Bad Management Theories Are Destroying Good Management Practices - Essay Example

“Bad Management Theories Are Destroying Good Management Practices Surprises in JA1 The article I have chosen for reading was d in a quite provocative and intriguing manner - 'Bad management theories are destroying good management practices' (Ghoshal, 2005). The name of the article itself was the starting point which made me feel surprised. The author was brave enough to question the effectiveness of academic theories taught to students and applied in management and other relative business fields.

Thus, for example, Ghoshal (2005, p.75) claimed at the beginning of the article: “Our theories and ideas have done much to strengthen the management practices that we are all now so loudly condemning”. After reading this phrase I have naturally changed the usual way of my thinking and started to follow the ideas of the author. Idea that “academic research related to the conduct of business and management has had some very significant and negative influences on the practice of management” has left particular impact on me as well as desire for further investigation (Ghoshal, 2005, p.76). An overall style of the author surprised me by its boldness and open minded approach.

Ghoshal’s vision of amoral theories propagated by business schools, idea of necessity to reconsider corporate governance issue, idea of positive organizational scholarship and some other thoughts made me to think through. 2. Surprises in JA 2 The second journal article that I have chosen for further analysis also was given loud and provocative name – “'Damned by our own theories: contradictions between theories and management education” (Donaldson 2002, p.96). Here the author surprised me less than Ghoshal did, as the idea of contradictions in management education and practice has already occupied my mind after reading the first article.

However, Donaldson managed to explain in details why “there is a contradiction between the views expressed by some major contemporary social science theories taught in management schools and the assumptions on which management education is founded” (2002, p. 97). And it was quite surprising to read that economics and finance, strategy theory, judgmental bias theory, institutional theory and agency theory, are all somehow conflicting with one or another basic ideas of business and management education.

Such a statement of question made me feel not only surprised but even frustrated, as it assumes that students learning wrong theories which are not really applicable for 100% in real life. 3. The evidence Ghoshal has provided evidence for his assertions by referring to the recent business scandals such as Enron, Global Grossing, and Tyco where executives of the companies treated their employees in very bad manner, but granted themselves excessive stock options (Ghoshal 2005, p.76) and how these scandals are taught in business schools to future managers.

In addition to “real-life” examples, Ghoshal refers to various theories laid out for the reader in a very logical and clever manner. Thus, for example, he refers to the law of natural selection in biology (2005, 78) or the laws of physics and compares it with the social sciences, explaining thus that management theories fail to shape mental phenomena of human beings. Additionally, in order to generate evidence for his assertions, Ghoshal uses a roadmap of arguments and other graphical visuals to better explain his ideas, and also he refers to various authoritative literature sources.

Donaldson has examined five social science theories used in schools of business and management and has critically assessed all these theories by referring to academic sources and books. Thus, for example, he cited what does the agency theory says and then he cited contradictory view of what institutional theory says about managers (Donaldson 2002, p. 103). By presenting such a comparative analysis of the key theoretical ideas taught in business schools, Donaldson reflects contradictions. The author believes that combination of academic knowledge with practical outcomes might result in impermanent gains for organization’s competitive performance, but more permanent gains in its non-competitive performance environment (Donaldson 2002, p. 105). 4.

Comparison Introduction What can be more exciting for a student at business school than reading an article arguing that “academic research related to the conduct of business and management has had some very significant and negative influences on the practice of management” (Ghoshal 2002, p.76). or another article saying that “there is a contradiction between the views expressed by some major contemporary social science theories taught in management schools and the assumptions on which management education is founded” (Donaldson 2002, p.97)? While both these articles were written by different authors, they both argued that modern academic theories are not true and may have negative impact on practical management.

The authors of both articles present their ideas that business education taught to students as well as to executives does have significant contradictions (Donaldson, 2002) and fails to take into consideration mental phenomena (Ghoshal, 2005, p.80). And what is even more important some economic theories do impose danger to decisions of practicing managers (Ghoshal, 2002). While Donaldson carefully criticizes the five theories related to business by comparing the ideas of one and other and highlights some contradictory statements, Ghoshal provides a much broader and deeper analysis of the problem.

Thus, for example, Ghoshal radically states that even though economic theory is wrong, it can become right because managers who were taught this theory adapt their practical experience to the learned doctrines (2002, p.77). Also, in order to strengthen his position, Ghoshal confronts business science to physics, and clarifies that current “management theories are overwhelmingly causal or functional” which is impossible because ethics or morality do not conform to any laws as the law of natural selection in biology does (2002, p.78). Ghoshal view on management theory is far less optimistic than the view of Donaldson.

While Donaldson suggests that in order to improve management and business theories it is necessary to “specify the causal connections between managerially valued outcomes and practices” (2005, p.105), Ghoshal argues that it is not right, as analysis of “particular action of an individual caused by a particular intention” should not be considered as a causal explanation (2002, p.78). In addition to this, Ghoshal also uses as a reference an idea of “a paradigm-based gloomy vision” which is a significant barrier to better understanding of complex social phenomena (2002, p.82). In his article Ghoshal claims that social theory cannot be values-free and it has to be motivated ideologically (2002, p. 84). Donaldson in his research applies much less to the social phenomena than Ghoshal does.

Despite this contrast, there are some common ideas expressed by both Donaldson and Ghoshal. Thus, for example, both authors believe that it might be very helpful to focus on study of especially positive processes, outcomes and attributes of organizations and its stakeholders (Ghoshal, 2002, p. 86). Ghoshal names this approach as Positive Organizational Scholarship. While Donaldson does not provide his vision of actions that need to be taken by academic leaders, Ghoshal believes that the deans are responsible for introducing and leading some changes in both recruitment and promotion processes in their schools (2002, p.89). Conclusion Both authors believe that modern academic theories are not absolutely true and may have negative impact on practical management outcomes.

Donaldson concentrates his critique on five key business theories and Ghoshal focuses on the idea of social phenomena. While both Donaldson and Ghoshal use different arguments to support their vision, they also express some common ideas. The idea which both authors support is to focus on study of especially positive processes, outcomes and attributes of organizations and its stakeholders rather than to concentrate all efforts on negative business life experiences. Total number of words: 1228 References Donaldson, L 2002, 'Damned by Our Own Theories: Contradictions Between Theories and Management Education', Academy Of Management Learning & Education, 1, 1, pp.

96-106, Business Source Elite, EBSCOhost, viewed 30 October 2013. Ghoshal, S 2005, 'Bad Management Theories Are Destroying Good Management Practices', Academy Of Management Learning & Education, 1, pp. 75-91, JSTOR Arts & Sciences X, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 October 2013.