Unit information: Principles of Management in 2009/10

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Unit name Principles of Management
Unit code ECON22650
Credit points 20
Level of study I/5
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director Dr. Gaya
Open unit status Not open
Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

None

School/department School of Management - Business School
Faculty Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

This unit engages critically with the concept and practice of management. It focuses specifically on understanding management as a social process, embedded within particular societal contexts and social dynamics. The unit starts with a critical analysis of the various perspectives and constructions of $�management&�, and moves on to examine some of the most significant activities and processes associated with management, both historically and in current times: the dilemmas of motivating and controlling, and decision-making and the adoption of management ideas or fads.

Drawing on a broadly sociologically-informed perspective, the unit goes on to consider key themes and debates in the field of management and society. These include an examination of the ways in which culture, ethics, gender, sexuality, aesthetics and emotions come to shape how management is seen and practiced. Simultaneously, we focus on the ways in which management in turn contributes to the shaping of these issues in wider society. This leads us to consider and problematise the ways in which discourses and practices of management are increasingly salient and pervasive in everyday life. We end by speculating on possible alternatives to management, and by considering the implications of any potential shifts towards other forms of organising social endeavours. .