Critical Perspectives Core lecture recordings and readings as well as extra readings for final
year examinations that scored a high first
Critical perspectives - BS3004
5 questions and you pick 2 to answer, topics highlighted in the module handbook
• ïThis second assessment is worth 60% of your overall module mark
• ïThe assessment is a 2-hour online exam
• ïThe exam is based on semester 2 materials
• ïThe assessment is an essay-based exam
• ïThe exam for this module will take place on Friday 21 May
• o(check your exam timetable on sims – any problems with it
contact the UG hub)
• oThe exam comprises of a total of FIVE questions – you answer TWO
of those questions. You have a free choice as to which two you decide to answer
• oTopics you can expect in the exam – one question on each of these:
• oEmployability (teaching week 4)
• oEntrepreneurial Self (teaching week 6)
• oGender (teaching week 7)
• oAge (teaching week 8)
• oWork/Life (teaching week 9)
• oPower (teaching weeks 1-2) and neoliberalism (teaching week 3) are
part of each of these topics so in order to provide critical analysis you will need to show
awareness of this – we have also highlighted in the mini lectures each week how power
and neoliberalism relate to a given topic
• oMore advice and guidance for the assessment will be provided in
teaching weeks 9 and 10
• Power and organisations - W1
• Critical accounts of power - W2
• Neoliberalism (?)
• Employability week 4
• (Week 7) gender and organisations
Questions for Cara ;
• we engage in critical perspectives, shall we always be critical or shall we
argue one thing but recognise the other critical arguments?
BS3004 CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES FOR CONTEMPORARY MANAGERS:
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
1. 1.‘Supply-side definitions now dominate our understanding of
employability.’ Critically evaluate this statement.
1. 1.To what extent should individuals think about themselves as
entrepreneurial selves, always seeking to develop, maintain, and increase their
human capital?
, 1. 1.Is an analysis of gender crucial to understanding the management of
organisations? Draw upon a range of theoretical perspectives and research evidence
in the formulation of your response.
Week 1 - Power and organisations
Video 1:
Brief reminder of the module
Purpose of the module - consider a range of critical perspective on issues that
matter to contemporary managers and develop critical skills in relation to
understanding management, be more questioning and analytical
CMS is the core of this module - its a field of study, open ended and contested
Interdisciplinary - different concepts, theories and models from wide range of
social sciences and humanities subjects
Knowledge contention, low level of knowledge codification, a lot of arguments
and debates, a lot of different perspectives
Questions mainstram management
Entrenched within capitalist economic formations
Study of and sometimes against management
CMS tries to give a voice to the alternate rather than just traditional, rational
ideas about management and organisations
What they want from us…
Critical thinking…
• being questioning
• Being sceptical
Critical analysis
• weighing up arguments
• Considering how arguments by others are formed
• Using critical literature to construct argument
Themes of this semester -
1. CMS dominant perspectives
• topic 1-3
• Online tutorial 1
2. Critical perspectives on organisations/work and who we are
• topic 4-6
• Online tutorial 2
3. Critical perspectives on organisations and society
• topic 7-9
• Online tutorial 3
,Practicalities of the module -
2 hour online examination, worth 60% of the overall module mark
• assess material from semester 2
• Essay themed exam
• Feedback from essay will help in semester 2
• Look at feedback for the assignment, week 4/5 video
• Week 10 revision, hints and tips etc. more detail will come on that as
semester progresses
Video 2: Power - why and what
Agenda?
• why look at power?
• What is power?
• managerial/unitarist
• Pluralist
• Implications for organisations
• Critical perspectives is always interested in power, or sensitive to issues in
power
• Need to analyse managing work and organisation in relation to power, key
thing linking to everyone working in critical management studies
• Broad umbrella term of CMS, all of them are attentive to power in one shape
or form
• Dominant perspective that we need to understand and analyse
• Focus on how its been theorised
• This will help our understanding of CMS
• Constantly revisiting power
• Engage in more critical analysis and perspectives on this in week 2
• Week 1 more mainstream
Why look at power?
• importance of power
• Its a cnetral aspect of organisational life
• Power and politics everywhere
• Power struggles within organisations… whether between manager and
employees or amongst managers over resources, recruitment
• Disagreement often overt evidence of power struggles
• Infiltrates all parts of our lives
• Can see this in popular culture, all to do with issues of power
• E.g. athlete a, documentary on US gymnastic sport, power of governing body
within US gymnastic operated to silence abuse of gymnast
• e.g. Industry, dramatisation, explores power dynamics and relations, between
each other as graduates in investment banking, new people to organisation to
more senior people in the organisation
, Current examples of power;
• Donald trump, refusal to concede post election
• Cover restrictions
• Brexit, emblematic of power struggles between UK and EU
• Organisational level…
• Boohoo accused of slavery practices in Leicester factory
• This shows how organisation level, the use and abuse of power and far
reaching effects, power might be way things get done, also way certain
agendas operate, and certain agenda prevade, need to be attentive to these
issues
• Power is everywhere
• Can have detrimental effects
• We need to consider various different ways power can be understood
What is power?
There is a range of perspectives on this
Mainstream views of power…unitarist (managerial) and pluralist
Unitarist view (managerial)
• power and politics are a problem
• Dirty word
• Dysfunctional
• Negative view of power and politics, sees it as getting in the way of achieving
the organisations goals
• Hinders the smooth running of the organisation
• Sometimes power can be justified by managers in self-defence to deal with
awkward trouble makers
• Violating proper way things should be done
• Trouble makers, upsetting the way things are done
• Ironic that power isn’t a priority in this view, mainstream has only recently
started considering power and it has been viewed as power as a problem
• Generally not a lot to worry about in power, apart from mainstream literature
on leadership
• This is a theory that’s been written from perspective of a manager, politics not
a part of it
• They don’t see to understand that they themselves have power
• If power and politics emerge its the fault of others
• Hence notion of deviance etc.
• Its individuals ‘bad apples’ spoiling it for everyone else
• Ultimately this view is power = things going wrong, breakdown in proper way
things should be done
• No features of politics
… only time power can be justified is in self defence to deal with awkard trouble
makers
Why this view of power?
Unitarist assumptions:
• Operates and looks at organisation in this way with these assumptions, hence
views power as negative
• This perspective doesn’t recognise power all this much
