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Is management science or art?
Author(s) -
Gao Fei
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
systems research and behavioral science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1099-1743
pISSN - 1092-7026
DOI - 10.1002/sres.867
Subject(s) - subjectivism , objectivism , postmodernism , modernism (music) , epistemology , sociology , systems thinking , point (geometry) , systems science , aesthetics , philosophy , social science , computer science , artificial intelligence , mathematics , geometry
Abstract In this paper I have drawn a brief picture to map the nature of management in modern high‐tech organizations from the viewpoint of critical systems thinking. First, I point out the difference between science and art. Then, following Jackson's classification of different systems approaches such as modernism and postmodernism, I connect modernism with objectivism and collective subjectivism, and postmodernism with individual subjectivism. Through clarifying three ways of knowing/understanding the world and introducing a new knowledge systems model of modern high‐tech corporations, I argue that in the knowledge age, management is both a science and an art. Objects under consideration belonging to different parts of reality require different approaches to deal with. The purpose of this article is to give a brief explanation of why management is both a science and an art, and to inspire further debate and discussion on the essence of management among academics and practitioners. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.