Problematics in management theory and practice

This paper is concerned with the methodological and epistemological foundations of management theory. It develops the argument that management theory is essentially unreliable and in terms of a modernist or postmodernist epistemology, unable to offer any insights or understandings beyond those argued from the study of the specific instances of a specific case. This dismal argument casts doubt on the philosophical validity of much formal management theory, and has serious implications about the use and application of theory by managers. Similarly, the argument can be used to cast doubt on the ethical stance of gurus and consultants that have allowed readers, users and clients to believe mistakenly that they have bought prescriptions, theories and models which have validity and wide applicability beyond the instances of a specific case or a specific industry. Within the context of the philosophy of science, such scepticism about formal theory should be regarded as normal and healthy (Kuhn, 1970). Within the field of management, scepticism about formal theory offers managers the opportunity to seize the empty creative space ignored by the generalizing modernist solutions and thereby create, share and laud theory grounded in their own management practice. In this context, the impossibility of management theory based on the modernist paradigm should be seen as liberating rather than constraining. The abandonment of management theories spawned by modernism and the false claims of science provides managers with an opportunity to escape the dictums of the gurus and the tired models entombed within the hard covers of hundreds of strategy textbooks. In brief, the end of modernism and the abandonment of the myth of a general theory of management offers managers a chance to rethink and repractise ways of understanding, choosing and creating different and hopefully more fulfilling futures.Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.