Evidence, Please? Rejoinder to “The Menace of Misinformation: Faculty Misstatements in Management Education and Their Consequences”

Abstract

In this rejoinder, we provide a different perspective on the positions put forth by Giacalone and Promislo as they relate to (1) the claims of the pervasiveness of “misinformation” that is communicated by management faculty and (2) the proposition that management educators should teach in a nonideological fashion. Our position on these topics is that the pervasiveness of the misinformation problem in the focal article is unsubstantiated and not supported by data, and that it is impossible to effectively teach social science without at least acknowledging the impact of individual bias or ideology on all parties involved, including faculty. We present our rationale along with data gathered from a variety of current management textbooks to support our assertions.

Untitled

“…Although there probably exist textbooks with various views on rationality, specifically if the selection is made from other areas of the management discipline (cf. Charlier et al 2019), there are indications that numerous students worldwide are asked to familiarize themselves with the formal rationality ideal, as it is presented in my selection of textbooks:…”

“…Worse, students may misunderstand the very nature of what they are taught and believe that there are objective and unambiguous truths (Brahm and Jenert 2019). Arguably, all teaching within the social sciences is biased and based on ideology (e.g., Charlier et al 2019), Yet the question remains whether "intellectually embarrassing" textbooks on management accounting and control should continue to incite students to conform to situations of "functional stupidity" (Alvesson and Spicer 2012, Demski 2007. Should the (authoritative) authors of management accounting and control textbooks remain uncontested, as they disseminate the specific ideology that comes with formal rationality?…”