From the Frankfurt School to business schools: critical management studies in Turkey

Abstract

PurposeCritical management studies (CMS), as an unorthodox management perspective, has become more and more accepted in Western business schools. The purpose of this paper is to problematize its circulation area and interrogate to what extent CMS has penetrated Turkish academia.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews papers presented and published in The National Management/Organization Conference which has been held annually for the last 19 years. In addition, the paper examines the management programs of the top 20 Turkish universities' business schools, in terms of whether their curricula include any critical content.FindingsIt is suggested that CMS has not found resonance in Turkey. This case is argued on a set of dynamics as follows: the Americanization process in knowledge producing, economic integration into American vision, late industrialization, bureaucratic political tradition, statism, and some cultural characteristics.Originality/valueStudies employing critical management arguments and those on the dissemination of critical theory in Turkey seem to be quite silent. This paper questions CMS's place in Turkish management literature, explains the dynamics of its (under)development, and suggests ways in which CMS could be become more attractive in this part of the world.

Bakmak ya da Görmek: Türk Yönetim Yazınını İnceleyen Çalışmaların Seyri

“…Tablo 5'de bu kapsamda değerlendirilebilecek çalışmaların listesi görülmektedir. Bu çalışmalar genel olarak ilgili yazında belli konuların durumunu (Semerciöz,1998;Köseoğlu vd., 2013), belli yaklaşımların veya kuramların durumunu (Özen, 2004;Taşçı ve Koç, 2006;Duygulu ve Bağçı, 2008;Alakavuklar, 2010;Alakavuklar ve Parker, 2011;Özcan, 2012;Tayşir, 2014) ve son olarak da belli konulardaki çalışmaların durumunu değerlendiren çalışmalardır (Tak vd., 2009;Koç, 2010;Sezerel ve Tonus, 2014;Eroğlu, 2015). Çalışmaların yayın tarihine göre sıralayarak bu kategoriye ait çalışmaların bulgularını değerlendirebiliriz.…”

A New Path for Management Education in an Emerging Country

“…There is evidence about the lack of studies for critical management thinking in the management field of Turkey. Ozcan (2012) has proved that by his study about investigating the proceedings which was presented in National Management Organization Conference since 1993. The results of the study have shown that there have been a high level of studies about bullying and mobbing, gender based power relations, discrimination, sexual harassment, managerialism, etc.…”

“…However, these topics generally have focused on "behavioral" part of management field. The study shows that Turkish management education has grown an adequate critical approach in behavioral field of organizational study and these attempts probably would have reflections in classroom teaching (Ozcan, 2012). Students should be imposed to criticize about the facts of business life by expanding the topics about power relationships, discrimination, sexual harassment and performance based evolutions in management departments.…”

“…Ozcan (2012), mentioned this problem by showing the immaturity of critical management studies which has been made so far. To understand the management education and its problems, it is an obligation to assess the history of management education of Turkey.…”

Analysing power and control in work organizations: Assimilating a critical socio-psychodynamic perspective

“…Supporting the required theoretically comprehensive and indepth analytical approach, critical socio-and psychodynamic perspectives, aimed at exposing, problematizing ("denaturalizing"), deconstructing, and counteracting these interdependent and conflictual systemic tendencies, tensions, and underlying drivers, antagonisms, and dialectics, however, are largely marginalized or ignored in mainstream academic psychology (Gabriel and Carr, 2002). The field of work and organizational psychology, in particular, tends to treat omnipresent and ubiquitous issues of power at work in a rather superficial (and ideological) way, compared to critical perspectives in sociology and management studies (Bal and Dóci, 2018;McDonald and Bubna-Litic, 2012;Mumby, 2019;Ozcan, 2012). Based on the preliminary assessment that the relevant literature is sprawling and fragmented by disciplinary fault lines, this contribution sketches out an attempt to integrate relevant theories, models, and concepts from the fields of psychology, sociology, management studies, and related social science disciplines into the foundations of a socio-psychodynamic understanding of power and control in work organizations.…”