Foundations of Management Thought (PG)

This subject is available under ICMS postgraduate degrees, please click the button below to find a postgraduate course for you.

Subject Code:

MGT803A

Subject Aim:

Organisations have refined the ability to survive and grow through division of labour, hiring of individuals, quality measurement and more generally coordination of a multiplicity of efforts towards a common outcome. The concepts underpinning these processes have not appeared all formed; they rest on psychological, epistemological, and moral assumptions that have informed their theoretical and practical developments. A study of these foundational assumptions leads to insights into the significance and relevance of the concepts and practices that managers are supposed to apply and which form, for better or worse, their daily reality. 

The aim of the subject is to provide you with various lenses of understanding that will enable students to better analyse the concepts that they have studied and to apply them as managers. This will be achieved through: An overview of the origin of the main management and organisation theories; Critical discussion of the idea that management is or should be a science; A focus on psychology, as this discipline is having an ever-increasing influence in management theory and practice, be it through the fields of Organisational Behaviour, Human Resources Management or Marketing; and a critical analysis of management language; an analysis of the role of power, authority and freedom in organisations. 

Learning Outcomes:

a) Apply advanced and integrated mainstream management concepts within their historical and intellectual contexts. 

b) Critically evaluate the impact of contradictions in popular management theories on current managerial practices. 

c) Critically analyse the impact of language choices and cultural contexts on the ongoing evolution of management theories. 

d) Apply critical thinking skills through objective learning and effective communication, incorporating persuasive arguments grounded in management theories and practical application. 

Student Assessment: