A critique of the knowledge base of organizational studies in business education
LE3 .A278 2016
2016
Weatherbee, Terrance
Acadia University
Bachelor of Business Administration
Honours
Business Administration
Business
The field of organizational studies is relatively new and therefore still developing. As fields develop, consensus in the field increases, meaning that academics begin to agree on what is and what is not important. This consensus should trickle down into the textbooks, and appears to have in many ways. However, what is seen in textbooks might not accurately reflect the field as textbooks also reflect various other forces. Publishers are subject to market forces: they need to sell their product. This means they may be mimicking what is working for other publishers rather than what is relevant in the research. This has resulted in out dated theories being taught to students. Therefore although there is increased evelopment in the field, the indicators of that in the textbooks are actually due to a different factor–one that is negatively impacting undergraduate management and business education. Keywords: paradigm development, field maturation, textbook, homogenization, consensus, organizational studies , m anagement education
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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:1406