Introduction: the crisis in management studies; 1. Flawed from the get go: the early misadventures of management research; 2. How audit damages research and academic freedom; 3. 'When the levee breaks': academic life on the brink; 4. The corruption of academic integrity; 5. Paradise lost but not yet regained: retractions and management studies; 6. The triumph of nonsense in management studies; 7. Flawed theorising, dodgy statistics and (in) authentic leadership theory; 8. The promises, problems and paradoxes of evidence based management; 9. Reclaiming meaningful research in management studies; 10. Putting zest and purpose back into academic life.
Management research is criticised for poor research practices and not addressing important problems. Tourish proposes fundamental changes to rescue it from crisis.
Dennis Tourish is Professor of Leadership and Organization Studies at the University of Sussex. He is editor of the journal Leadership, and widely regarded as one of the leading figures in the emerging area of 'Critical Leadership Studies'. His most recent authored book was The Dark Side of Transformational Leadership: A Critical Perspective (2013).
'Recent studies have revealed good reasons to view social and
management studies very skeptically. Many researchers use dishonest
practices in pursuit of promotions and salaries, and false reports
are corrupting research and teaching. Recognition of this sorry
situation has created a crisis of legitimacy for management
scholars and social scientists more generally. Universities must
change; training of faculty must change. Dennis Tourish points to
key forces that foster corruption, and he proposes practical
changes that can make research and teaching more honest and more
useful to humanity. Every management scholar should read his
analysis and heed his advice.' William Starbuck, University of
Oregon and New York University
'An excoriating assessment of the present state of management
research, and a rallying call to do better. Tourish provides an
uncomfortable challenge to management researchers to start doing
'work that matters', and to the business school establishment to
reform before it is too late.' Christopher Grey, Royal Holloway,
University of London
'Many have sought to puncture the balloon of management studies in
today's universities, but the balloon has proven remarkably
resilient. If anyone is going to succeed, it is Dennis Tourish. His
devastating book is not another jeremiad on the failures of
management scholarship but a systematic critique of a field built
on corrupt practices and vacuous theorizing since its beginnings
and of the cynicism, disenchantment and burnout of those who
inhabit it. This book should be mandatory reading for anyone
thinking of entering this field as student, academic, administrator
or policy-maker. It should also serve as a rallying point for those
of us who seek to reform it.' Yiannis Gabriel, University of
Bath
'Professor Tourish offers a sobering message of how we succeeded in
making our research inaccessible to practitioners and ourselves
irrelevant to the world. He shows that our problems go beyond the
two crises of rigor and relevance. We treat faculty as commodity to
satisfy metrics for school or university rankings and faculty has
bought into the system by chasing publications as the only goal in
their professional life, losing their souls along the way. This
insular and self-referent system stymies creativity and destroys
humanity in the ivory tower. Is this the best we can do with our
talents and with society's resources and trust? Professor Tourish
does not stop with complaining. He suggests solutions and provides
examples of how we can stop this self-destructive trend. As
Professor Tourish repeatedly appeals, 'We can do better'. To echo
with optimism, I add, 'We can do it'.' Anne S. Tsui, Co-founder of
Responsible Research in Business and Management
'This is a well argued, bold, important and very interesting text.
It is also entertaining. The book should be read by anyone who
feels either comfortable or bothered about contemporary management
theory and research and who is open to provocation and insight.'
Mats Alvesson, Lund University, Sweden
'Many have sought to puncture the balloon of management studies in
today's universities, but the balloon has proven remarkably
resilient. If anyone is going to succeed, it is Dennis Tourish.
This devastating book is not another jeremiad on the failure of
management scholarship but a systematic critique of a field built
on corrupt practices and vacuous theorizing since its very
beginnings; and of the cynicism, disenchantment and burnout of
those who inhabit it.' Yiannis Gabriel, Organization
'This book will be of interest to many academic researchers, for
its contribution to established debates on not only rigour and
relevance, but also the accessibility of research for managers and
wider society. It's also relevant for applied researchers,
consultants or managers who make use of academic research insights.
Many working in the world of people management practice want to
engage with research (I would say, make evidence-based decisions).
But getting hold of, digesting and making use of scientific
management research can be a tough endeavour. In exploring these
challenges, this book gives some useful pointers to what can be
done.' Jonny Gifford, In a Nutshell Newsletter
'It will be valuable and entertaining for all who teach management
or are in management doctoral programs. It will help the discipline
aim at pursuit of truth and knowledge and ask 'bigger and more
critical questions about the world of organizations [and] do the
work that matters'.' C. Wankel, Choice
'This book deserves to be widely read by both academics and
management practitioners … Professor Tourish has produced a work of
genuine scholarship that is accessible, elegantly written, forensic
in its analysis, comprehensive in scope, exceptionally well
referenced and occasionally embellished with appropriately witty
asides. It offers an exemplary synthesis of, and introduction to,
the subject in hand.' Roy C. Wood, Tourism Management
'With considerable flair and lightness of touch, Dennis Tourish has
written a devastating broadside against the business school, a
scathing record of the missteps and misdeeds of management research
from its inception to the present day. The book offers a
multi-pronged attack on poor academic practices … this book ought
to be required reading for every management scholar, whether
functionalist or interpretivist in orientation. Tourish offers a
clear-sighted analysis of the predicament we find ourselves in as
well as an escape-hatch for those who have become disenchanted with
management research.' Nick Butler, Prometheus
'… Dennis Tourish's Management Studies in Crisis: Fraud, Deceptions
and Meaningless Research provides one of the most insightful
illuminations of the pathologies of Management Studies.' Thomas
Klikauer and Norman Simms, Australian Universities Review
'In the end, Dennis Tourish's Management Studies: Fraud, Deceptions
and Meaningless Research provides one of the most insightful
illuminations of the pathologies of Management Studies. Based on a
substantial amount of evidence, case studies, and statistics,
Tourish's book shows how often less than why Management Studies
operates with fraud and deceptions while producing meaningless
research and worthless articles in what the field calls top
journals.' Thomas Klikauer and Norman Simms, Australian
Universities Review
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