Macquarie University

Foundations of Management Thought - MGSM880

This unit is subject to a quota. Limited places are available. Please refer to the Faculty for further information

This is a unit that examines management in the context of the history of Western thought. It details, clarifies and deepens our understanding of the role of rationality, science, democracy, culture and communication in managing organisations. Various philosophies of management are pursued through a critical analysis of the contribution of distinguished writers: Homer, Plato, Machiavelli, Descartes, Hume, Marx, Nietzsche, Sartre and Heidegger. The unit has been designed to convey the view that what is important about any explanatory perspective is not what it explains, but what it assumes. A central aim of the unit is, therefore, to encourage students to uncover assumptions, analyse them critically and build personal perspectives. The following three assumptions, which govern the unit, should be especially noted. First, managing is essentially a philosophical activity because the world is interpreted through different perspectives. Second, there is no authoritative criterion for determining that one perspective is more valid than another. Third, management training needs to be combined with management education. To train is to instruct, drill and subordinate individuals to routines, standards, practices. To educate is to develop the intellectual, moral and aesthetic powers of individuals.

Timetable Information

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