What are Business Schools for? On Silence and Voice in Management Education

Abstract

There are widespread reports of poor working conditions, especially in developing countries. If these are commercially necessary and if business schools exist to enable effective management, why are they not taught in such schools? This article argues that the reason is that business schools are not primarily concerned with producing effective managers but withsocializing and legitimating managers. Critical manage ment education needs to give voice to concerns about management practice, which presents pedagogical problems to which some solutions are suggested.