[Use Ctrl F to search this page]
There is much more to management and organization than the application of
specialist techniques. In my teaching I seek to develop an understanding of how
management - its theory as well as its practice - is culturally and
politically defined and enacted (see Mats Alvesson and Hugh Willmott,
Making
Sense of Management : A Critical Introduction, Sage, 1996). Even the
development and application of techniques is necessarily mediated by complex and
ambiguous social processes involving diverse, competing and conflicting
understandings about individuals, organizations and social relations. The
philosophy underpinning my approach is set out in David Knights and Hugh
Willmott, Management Lives, Sage, 1999. A considerable amount of my
writing and administrative activity has been devoted, especially in recent
years, to the development of teaching and learning
as well as articles and conference papers on management learning, management
education and situated learning). A major, first year Organizational Behaviour
textbook, titled
Introducing Organization Behaviour and Management
co-edited with David Knights was published by Thomson International
Publishing in 2006. I have also collaborated in creating a
web portal for critical management
studies that includes links to teaching as well as other relevant material.
Cardiff (2006 - )
As the occupant of a research chair, my teaching is focused on research methodology. I have had responsibility for the design and delivery of The Principles of Qualitative Research. Full details are on the website.
Cambridge (2001-2006
)
At Cambridge my teaching contributions extended across the entire range of programmes, including supervision undergraduate students, teaching on the MBA and MPhil programmes, contributing to the Research Methodology course and Executive Education courses.
Undergraduate - Supervisions for Final Year Organizational Behaviour 2001-2
MPhil – Organizations. Module for MPhil course. Further details can be found at the extensive web site for this course 2001-6
MBA – Management Practice module 2002-5
Research Methodology – Qualitative Methodology II 2002-5
MBA – Organizational Behaviour 2004
Executive Education – Contributions to various executive education courses 2001-5
UMIST (1988 - 2001)
At UMIST, I the tailored new contributions to existing courses and was responsible for the design and delivery of a completely new second year undergraduate course People, Management and Change. I was also involved in preparing a new set of lectures for Term 2 of the BSc Year 3 course Work, Industry and Society. In the latter years at UMIST, I was course leader for Work, Industry and Society, giving all the lectures and also giving a weekly seminar. There were 85 students on this course.
BSc Year 1. Introduction to Sociology. Delivered a major section of this course which focused upon the sociology of management and managerial work.
BSc Year 2. People, Management and Change. This
course was introduced in 1990/1. It was
multidisciplinary in conception, with a core of organizational analysis
which then expanded into a consideration of the
organizational work of an number of management specialisms. It
linked directly to a number of other 2nd year courses as well as
providing an additional link between the discipline-based Year 1 course and the
specialist options of Year 3. The course began with an
overview of the development of the theory and practice of work organization
which takes account of the variety its forms and perspectives for its analysis.
This incorporated an examination of how organizations
change people as well as how people change organizations. In the second half of
the course, the work organization of a number of management specialisms was examined where I drew upon my
research interests in accounting, operational research and information systems.
BSc Year 3. Work, Industry and Society. Further
details can be found at the extensive
website for this course. See
MSc (P/T). Organizational Sociology. Following a review of this course is early 1990, the focus shifted from the sociology of work to the sociology of organizations. The P/T MSc was discontinued in 1993.
MSc International Business. International Management and Organization. My contribution to this course focused upon changes in accounting regulation as a case study of the internationalization of management and organization.
Other. I provided seminar training for hourly paid seminar leaders and gave lectures on innovative teaching methods, primarily drawing upon the experiential aspects of elements of Work, Industry and Society
Aston University (1977-88)
During this
period, I contributed to the design delivery and development of Undergraduate,
Postgraduate and Doctoral Programmes.
BSc Year 1. Introduction to Social Science. Responsible for the delivery of lectures which introduced students to social science. This included links with the disciplines of psychology and economics as well as sociology.
BSc Year 2. Responsible for the complete course on Organizational Analysis. This option explored the variety of structures and processes which have been developed to co-ordinate and control modern organizations.
MBA. Responsible for the design and delivery of a major segment of a foundation module on Organizational Behaviour. This was primarily concerned with strategies of management control and their effect upon organizational performance.
MSc Personnel Management. Jointly responsible for a module on Job Design and solely responsible for a module on Organizational Structure and Performance. These explored, respectively, the range of options available for the (re)design of individual tasks and group work and the conditions for successful organizational change with special reference to the role of personnel specialists in this process.
Doctoral Programme. I was jointly responsible for the design and delivery of the Research Methodology course. My contribution was concerned with the relationship between theoretical frameworks and the collection and analysis of empirical data and the use of qualitative methods.
Other Teaching Appointments
During my
appointment as Guest Professor at Copenhagen Business School (1989), I designed
and lectured a course on Management, Organization and Society for the
International MBA. When at Copenhagen, I also jointly designed and presented a
number of accounting research seminars, sponsored by the Danish Social Research
Council, which was organized for doctoral students from all Danish Universities.
I organized and presented a series of seminars on `New Directions in
Accounting Research' at the Business School, University of Lund, Sweden.
When visiting Copenhagen, I was invited to give lectures to doctoral students at
a number of Swedish Universities, including the Stockholm School of Economics,
Stockholm University and Uppsala University. In 1998/9 I gave a series of
lectures at the University of Innsbruck. I have also contributed to Masters
teaching programmes at the Universities of Lancaster and Birmingham. From
1999-2004, I was Visiting Professor at Lund University. This involved visiting Lund
3-4 times per year for 3-7 days on each occasion to give guest lectures (MBA,
Research Students and Undergraduates) and present seminars and provide feedback
and guidance to
researchers. Between 2000-2003, I was appointed as Visiting Professor to Cranfield University, principally to provide advice and guidance for a
major research project on change management.