Critical Management Studies In South Africa

This book shows how Critical Management Studies (CMS) scholarship is starting to develop a character of its own in South Africa. It attests to CMS slowly gaining momentum and acquiring an identity of its own amongst South African scholars. However, management studies in South Africa is dominated by capitalist ideology and positivist methodology. Although Interpretive scholarship has gained some momentum, it still falls within the parameters of ‘mainstream’ capitalist thinking. Scholarship outside the domain of capitalist thinking, such as critical scholarship, remains sorely underexplored. Being entrenched in the positivist tradition is arguably a major Achilles’ Heel for the progression of management as a field of inquiry. CMS presents a vehicle for alternative epistemologies to be heard in the management discourse. With its focus on power imbalances, struggles for emancipation from oppression, and distrust of capitalism, CMS provides the peripheral point of view with a voice. CMS presents a space where scholars can engage with South African realities surrounding political, cultural, social, and historical contexts and issues in management. This book is promoting CMS to the scholarly community to show that there are exciting possibilities being offered by a different approach to management scholarship. This book also forms part of a larger project of growing CMS in South Africa and is a collection of original works by academics actively working in CMS, following various methodological approaches which can be categorised into two broad methodological categories, namely, conceptual work and empirical work following an Interpretive approach.

The purpose of this book is to establish the first formalised scholarly work on critical management studies (CMS) in the South African context. The book is a collection of seven chapters, six of which employ a conceptual methodology and one of which follows an interpretive paradigm employing qualitative methods of inquiry. CMS is a relatively young school of thought, arising in the early 1990s and still very much a peripheral movement within the academic discipline of management. South Africa has very little scholarship on CMS as precious few scholars work in this space. Furthermore, publication opportunities are virtually non-existent as CMS is virtually unknown in the South African community of management scholars. Thus, this book represents the first academic work on CMS published in South Africa, written and reviewed by scholars who are familiar with the field. The primary target readership would be management academics, but it could also be a useful reference for postgraduate students in management.

This is an excellent text. It covers an impressive range of salient topics. Moreover, it provides a nuanced, considered and balanced treatment of both conceptual and practical aspects of critical management studies. Cliff Oswick, Queen Mary, University of London, UK This book is the first of its kind to reflect on what it means to actually perform critical management studies (CMS): how consultants, researchers, teachers and managers negotiate the tensions they experience in their everyday practice. Critical management studies seeks to expose the hidden workings of power, as well as to identify and reform the mundane and frequently unnoticed practices that privilege some groups and individuals at the expense of others, creating injustices in organizations and in the society at large. The authors show how CMS draws on a variety of approaches to translate its insights into practice. Combining rich theoretical and empirical contributions with reflections on CMS practice in various forms, this unique book is essential reading for critical researchers, educators and graduate students in business and management fields.

The purpose of the book is to establish the first formalised scholarly work on critical management studies (CMS) in the South African context. The book is a collection of seven chapters, six of which employ a conceptual methodology and one of which follows an interpretive paradigm employing qualitative methods of inquiry. CMS is a relatively young school of thought, arising in the early 1990s and still very much being a peripheral movement within the academic discipline of management. South Africa has very little scholarship on CMS as precious few scholars work in this space. Furthermore, publication opportunities are virtually non-existent as CMS is virtually unknown in the South African community of management scholars. Thus, this book represents the first academic work on CMS published in South Africa, written and reviewed by scholars who are familiar with the field. The primary target readership would be management academics, but it could also be a useful reference for postgraduate students in management. A digital similarities index report confirms the originality of the work and that it has not been plagiarised or published elsewhere.

This book examines the trajectory of management studies in South Africa during the apartheid and post-apartheid periods. The unique political journey of South Africa provides a distinctive context in which to explore the progression of management studies within a developing state. The authors consider how Apartheid has configured the discipline of management studies to reflect certain racial, institutional and gendered trends, and analyse the extent to which these trends have adapted or changed in post-Apartheid times. Appealing to management scholars and professionals, this book provides implications for policy and practice within the South African higher education sector, and presents avenues for future research.

The scholarly field of Critical Management Studies (CMS) is in a state of flux. Against a backdrop of dramatic global shifts, CMS scholarship has lately taken a number of new and exciting directions and, at times, challenged older critical voices. Novel theoretical frameworks and diverse research interests mark the CMS field as never before. Interrogating conventional critiques of management and arguing for fresh approaches, The Routledge Companion to Critical Management Studies captures this intellectual ferment and new spirit of inquiry within CMS, and showcases the pluralistic generation of CMS scholars that has emerged in recent years. Setting the scene for a crucial period for the discipline, this insightful volume covers new ground and essential areas grouped under the following themes: Critique and its (dis-)contents Difference, otherness, marginality Knowledge at the crossroads History and discourse Global predicaments. Drawing on the expertise of an international team of contributing scholars, The Routledge Companion to Critical Management Studies is a rich resource and the perfect reference tool for students and researchers of management and organization.

'Critical Management Studies', or 'CMS', describes a diverse group of work that has adopted a critical or questioning approach to the traditional concerns of Management Studies, and the growing interest in CMS has produced a vibrant and exciting body of research. Christopher Grey and Hugh Willmott, leading authorities in this area, introduce seventeen readings which reflect these developments, and show CMS' importance. As an assessment of CMS, the Reader will be of interest to academics, researchers, and students of Management Studies. As an introduction to CMS, it will prove invaluable to stu.