International PhD course, 

Lund University, Sweden.

May 21-25, 2012

Supervised by: Tony Huzzard and Sara Louise Muhr

Lund University arranges again this year a PhD course in Critical Management Studies. The Course will take place in Lund from May 21-May 25, and will be taught by among others Mats Alvesson (Lund University), Tony Huzard (Lund University), Sara Louise Muhr (Lund University), Sverre Spoelstra (Lund University), Yiannis Gabriel (University of Bath), and Dan Kärreman (CBS).

Applicants should submit a short bio, 1 page on their motivation for joining the course, and a short abstract describing their own research project. These should be sent to tony.huzzard@fek.lu.se and sara_louise.muhr@fek.lu.se by February 1^st 2012.

See the details below:

_______________________________________________________________________________

Critical Management Studies (7.5 ects credits)

Many researchers in management and organization studies assume that companies and other organizations work for ‘the common good’, that their outputs make things better for customers, employees, owners and the general public. Organizational structures and practices are thought to accomplish organizational objectives and serve stakeholders. In short, organizational and institutional arrangements are seen as fair and unproblematic.

In contrast, critical management studies problematize the status quo. It focuses on the ’darker’ side of business and organizations. The word ‘critical’ has, of course, a number of meanings. All research is critical in the sense that the researcher is observant and intolerant of weak argumentation, speculative statements, erroneous conclusions etc. In Critical Management Studies, ‘critical’ is understood as the stimulation of a more extensive reflection upon established ideas, ideologies and institutions in order to encourage liberation or at least reduce repression.  Critical theory is referred to as a tradition of social science, including the Frankfurt School and related authors and lines of thought such as Foucault, critical poststructuralism, certain versions of feminism and so on. Critical Management Studies is a large and expanding research orientation, prominent in organization studies but also to some extent in accounting, marketing and strategy. 

The PhD course aims to give an advanced introduction to the theoretical frameworks, research interests and methodologies in Critical Management Studies. We will look at how this has been applied in organization studies as well as other subdisciplines of management. The course will also give examples of critical studies and show how critical research can be produced. During the course, participants will be asked to present their own PhD projects. They will have an opportunity to receive feedback on their project from faculty and other course participants.

Content:

The Theoretical Basis of Critical Management Studies. 

This part of the course will look at the theoretical roots of CMS such as critical theory, post-structuralism, labour process theory, critical realism, post-colonialism and feminism. 

Applying Critical Management Studies

This part of the course will look at how these theoretical roots have been applied to various topics such as branding, philosophy, ethics and so on.

Doing Critical Management Studies

This part of the course will look at the methodological approaches, which can be used in doing critical management studies. It will also involve detailed engagement with students around how they are using CMS in their own projects. 

Teaching

The course will include 30 hours of teaching, lectures and seminars.

Examination

Written paper based on student’s own project.

Literature

Alvesson & Deetz: Doing Critical Management Research. Sage 2000 (some chapters)

Alvesson & Willmott (eds) Studying Management Critically. Sage 2003

Alvesson, Bridgman & Willmott. Handbook of Critical Management Studies. Oxford 2009. 

Teachers

Tony Huzzard and Sara Louise Muhr (Lund University) will supervise the course. Other teachers will include Mats Alvesson (Lund University), Yiannis Gabriel (University of Bath) and Dan Kärreman (Copenhagen Business School). More teachers will be announced. 

Schedule

The course will be given in a concentrated format, 21 – 25 May 2012.

Course fee

The course fee will be 500 Euros plus VAT (25%). 

Practicalities

Lund is located in Southern Sweden, a 35 minute train ride from Copenhagen Airport. We will assist in finding cheap accommodation.  

Application

Applicants should submit a short bio, 1 page on their motivation for joining the course, and short abstract describing their own research project. These should be sent to  tony.huzzard@fek.lu.se and sara_louise.muhr@fek.lu.se by February 1^st 2012 for provisional acceptance. (We can give earlier notification of provisional acceptance if needed). Students who are provisionally accepted will be forwarded details of a CMS bank account number held by the host department. The course fee will need to be paid into this account by 1^st May 2012 for applicants to be definitely accepted to the course.