IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jculte/v10y2017i3p265-279.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Twilight in the leadership playground: and the training of the business self

Author

Listed:
  • Javier Lezaun
  • Fabian Muniesa

Abstract

What sort of reality is produced and conveyed to the business trainee through the set of pedagogical techniques that characterize the experiential business curriculum, and how does immersion in this particular kind of reality configure the business self? This essay discusses some of the rhetorical and theatrical contrivances that are used to generate artificial business situations in which the student can experience a moment of decision and test his quality as a leader. These training formulas, we argue, rely on the therapeutic hope of dramaturgical self-realization, but often degenerate into a form of regressive fetishism in which the fantasy of existential resolve and serious decision-making can be playfully and safely enacted. Surrealism and its demise provide an angle from which the peculiar fragility of these operations can be understood: what the experiential business curriculum provides, in this interpretation, amounts to a sort of subrealist shield, a protective dilution of the challenges that await in the world at large. When the element of the ethical pledge is added to this compendium of techniques, the result is a self-referential (and essentially indulgent) form of spiritual exercise solely oriented to the auto-elevation of the business self.

Suggested Citation

  • Javier Lezaun & Fabian Muniesa, 2017. "Twilight in the leadership playground: and the training of the business self," Journal of Cultural Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 265-279, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jculte:v:10:y:2017:i:3:p:265-279
    DOI: 10.1080/17530350.2017.1312486
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/17530350.2017.1312486
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/17530350.2017.1312486?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rakesh Khurana, 2007. "Introduction to From Higher Aims to Hired Hands The Social Transformation of American Business Schools and the Unfulfilled Promise of Management as a Profession," Introductory Chapters, in: From Higher Aims to Hired Hands The Social Transformation of American Business Schools and the Unfulfilled Promise of Management as a Profession, Princeton University Press.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Deakin, S. & Koukiadaki, A., 2011. "Capability Theory, Employee Voice and Corporate Restructuring: Evidence from UK Case Studies," Working Papers wp429, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    2. Claus Dierksmeier, 2011. "The Freedom–Responsibility Nexus in Management Philosophy and Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(2), pages 263-283, June.
    3. Camelia Ilie & Gaston Fornes & Guillermo Cardoza & Juan Carlos Mondragón Quintana, 2020. "Development of Business Schools in Emerging Markets: Learning through Adoption and Adaptation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-28, October.
    4. Giorgia Miotto & Marc Polo López & Josep Rom Rodríguez, 2019. "Gender Equality and UN Sustainable Development Goals: Priorities and Correlations in the Top Business Schools’ Communication and Legitimation Strategies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-18, January.
    5. Michael Pirson, 2019. "A Humanistic Perspective for Management Theory: Protecting Dignity and Promoting Well-Being," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 39-57, September.
    6. Claus Dierksmeier, 2020. "From Jensen to Jensen: Mechanistic Management Education or Humanistic Management Learning?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 73-87, September.
    7. repec:hal:journl:halshs-00699985 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Ulrike Landfester & Jörg Metelmann, 2020. "The Value of Doubt: Humanities-Based Literacy in Management Education," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 5(2), pages 159-175, December.
    9. David Gindis, 0. "On the origins, meaning and influence of Jensen and Meckling’s definition of the firm," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 72(4), pages 966-984.
    10. J. -C. Spender, 2017. "BSchools and Their Business Models," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 187-204, April.
    11. Margaret Armstrong & Guillaume Cornut & Stéphane Delacôte & Marc Lenglet & Yuval Millo & Fabian Muniesa & Alexandre Pointier & Yamina Tadjeddine, 2011. "Towards a practical approach to responsible innovation in finance: New Product Committees revisited," Working Papers halshs-00699985, HAL.
    12. Angela Sutan & Radu Vranceanu, 2019. "Managerial Behavior in the Lab: Information Disclosure, Decision Process and Leadership Style," Working Papers hal-02291210, HAL.
    13. Vaihekoski, Mika, 2008. "History of finance research and education in Finland : the first thirty years," Research Discussion Papers 18/2008, Bank of Finland.
    14. Siri Terjesen & Amy Willis, 2016. "Experimental economics and business education: an interview with Nobel Laureate Vernon Lomax Smith," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 261-275, June.
    15. Jesús de Frutos-Belizón & Fernando Martín-Alcázar & Gonzalo Sánchez-Gardey, 2021. "The research–practice gap in the field of HRM: a qualitative study from the academic side of the gap," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(6), pages 1465-1515, August.
    16. Currie, Graeme & El Enany, Nellie & Lockett, Andy, 2014. "Intra-professional dynamics in translational health research: The perspective of social scientists," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 81-88.
    17. Josep M. Lozano, 2017. "Leadership: The Being Component. Can the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Contribute to the Debate on Business Education?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(4), pages 795-809, November.
    18. Giovanni Gavetti, 2012. "PERSPECTIVE—Toward a Behavioral Theory of Strategy," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 267-285, February.
    19. Daniel Souleles, 2017. "Don't mix Paxil, Viagra, and Xanax: What financiers' jokes say about inequality," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(1), pages 107-119, January.
    20. Blanche Segrestin & Andrew Johnston & Armand Hatchuel, 2019. "The Separation Of Directors And Managers: A Historical Examination Of The Status Of Managers," Post-Print hal-01957329, HAL.
    21. Benito Teehankee, 2018. "Critical Realist Action Research and Humanistic Management Education," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 71-90, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:jculte:v:10:y:2017:i:3:p:265-279. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RJCE20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.