Ken Starkey

The Nature, Social Organization and Promotion of Management Research: Towards Policy

This paper argues for the distinctiveness of management research and develops a perspective concerning management research policy. It argues that the key defining characteristic of management research is its applied nature, and that its central concern should be ‘the general (engineering) problem of design’. Because a key goal of management research is to improve the relationship between theory and practice, a fundamental concern lies with its diverse nature and the consequential difficulty of integration of sub-disciplines, as well as with the issue of the relevance and the application of findings. As a policy paper, it aims to introduce a limited number of analytical frameworks in order to develop a policy position, thus helping frame the debate concerning the role of management research. Specifically, it achieves this, first by exploring the ontology of management research, examining its form, features, peculiarities and idiosyncrasies using Bechers conceptual schema for exploring the nature of disciplines; second by identifying a requisite form of social organization to support management research activity using the Gibbons et al. taxonomy of knowledge production systems; and finally, by identifying some conclusions, research policy implications, and suggesting a set of policy propositions concerning the conduct of management research.

The Effects of Liminality on Individual and Organizational Learning

This article uses an examination of the changing nature of organization in the UK television industry to reflect on the impact of liminality on learning. We take as our starting point Garsten’s (1999) use of the term ‘liminality’ (being situated ‘betwixt and between’) to examine individual and organizational learning in the context of organizational recomposition, where learning increasingly occurs at the limits of organizations within networks and teams that cross organizational divides. Garsten argues that the contractualization of work can be seen to challenge the old boundaries of organization and that it suggests new ways of organizing and experiencing work. By extending liminality to the concept of learning, we suggest that as more industries adopt temporary project teams as a way of organizing work, this not only challenges the concept of organization as an enduring social artefact, but also raises issues about how learning and knowledge development takes place. We examine the effects of liminal episodes on learning, both for organizations and individuals, in a context where the old limits of organization are being redefined while new ways of organizing are throwing up their own learning challenges. We suggest that it is crucial to explore how, in a more transient organizational context arising from the greater use of temporary teams, individualized careers, fashioned out of liminality, impact upon organizational learning.

Entrepreneurship education and the business school

Abstract This paper examines entrepreneurship education in the light of debates about the future of the business school, the nature of the MBA, with which management education is generally synonymous, and the links that need to be created between teaching and research. There is increasing focus on the general utility of entrepreneurial skills and aptitudes (i.e. creativity, independent thinking, opportunity recognition and exploitation, etc.), and it is our contention that entrepreneurship education offers an innovative new paradigm for business school education that answers some of the challenges that are currently levelled against the MBA. Given the breadth of relevance in terms of the issues around Entrepreneurship Education and future pedagogical development in Business Schools, this paper is also well placed as a vehicle to introduce the rest of the coverage in this special issue of TASM. This paper therefore also summarises the papers presented in terms of their contribution to our understanding of the role of entrepreneurship and innovation in higher education. All suggest the need for the broadening of human and social capital, while some propose a fundamental shift in the delivery of professional education.

The future of the business school: Knowledge challenges and opportunities

Despite its importance, there is relatively little serious academic research into the business school. This article sets out to stimulate debate that will fill this gap. We review the origins and evolution of the business school and debates about management research and teaching in terms of ideals and practice. Increasingly, the role of the business school is being questioned but much of this debate looks at the business school in isolation from changes in the wider university sector. We situate our analysis within the broader context of debates about the university as a privileged knowledge space. We conclude by suggesting that the future of the business school can best be discussed in terms of changes in knowledge production and that the business school has the opportunity to position itself as a unique site of knowledge generation and diffusion.

Size and Efficiency in European Long–term Insurance Companies: An International Comparison

This paper explores the efficiency of European specialist and composite insurers transacting long-term insurance business. Value measures of insurance company inputs and outputs are utilised to undertake an exploration of the technical efficiency of European insurers. This is achieved by benchmarking the relative performance of insurers licensed to transact long-term business in fifteen European countries using data from Standard & Poor’s Eurothesys database for the years 1996-1999. Data Envelopment Analysis is utilised to generate three different efficiency measures for each long-term insurer (namely pure technical efficiency, scale efficiency, and mix efficiency. It is clear from the analysis that there are wide variations in all types of efficiency. The most efficient insurers in pure technical terms are likely to be either very large or very small (specialist) insurers. Mutuality and financial security are also conducive to technical efficiency. A comparison of average efficiency among fifteen European countries shows some striking international differences. Insurers transacting long-term business in the UK, Spain, Sweden and Denmark are likely to have highest average levels of technical efficiency. On the other hand UK insurers appear to have particularly low levels of scale and mix efficiency when compared to their European counterparts. Size and Efficiency in European Long-Term Insurance Companies Stephen Diacon, Ken Starkey and Christopher O’Brien

New careers for old? Organizational and individual responses to changing boundaries

Much has been written about the implications for employees in the post-corporate era of boundaryless careers. Much less has been written about the problems and challenges facing employers within a boundaryless career context. This paper contributes to both levels of analysis. At the level of the individual employee, focusing upon the middle of the organization, we suggest that there has been a differential impact upon individuals with some ‘losers’ and some ‘winners’. Skilled specialist employees and younger employees may welcome changing career boundaries, whereas those with more generic skills and older employees may be less enthusiastic. At the employer level, our research suggests that the rise of new career boundaries has left employers marginalized in unforeseen ways from the emerging new social structures that individuals are increasingly reliant upon to support the development of their skills and professional networks. We agree with Van Buren (2003) that the demise of the organization-career poses challenges at the organization and industry level in terms of developing and leveraging knowledge. However, the emergence of new boundaries has compounded the difficulties that organizations and industries now face. Thus it may be that even if employers were willing and eager to tackle the employability challenge, the shifting form of career boundaries make this a significant strategic human resource challenge.

A clear sense of purpose? The evolving role of the business school

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to question the purpose of the business school and its role in management education.Design/methodology/approach – The paper develops an historical analysis of the origins, development and identity of the business school, reflecting the views of the business schools multiple stakeholders. The paper reviews traditional business school design and how this is driven by particular concepts of purpose and identity. It questions whether these concepts are sustainable in the light of current forces for change.Findings – The paper identifies the current major design challenges facing business schools as knowledge, narratives and practices and argues for a new narrative of sustainable strategic management as a guiding force for future development.Originality/value – The paper identifies the current knowledge challenges facing business schools and argues that business schools need to rethink their focus on “school” as well as “business”.

Careering alone: Careers and social capital in the financial services and television industries

The relationship between career and social capital is an important but relatively unexplored research topic. In this article, we draw on the literatures on social capital and careers, and on empirical studies of the shifting nature of careers in financial services and television production firms, to argue that, in labour markets where key skills are in short supply, the concept of social capital constitutes a rich resource for understanding the implications of changing forms of organization. We argue that social capital has a particularly important impact on an organization’s ability to leverage knowledge and is, thus, of strategic significance. The ability to manage social capital might, therefore, prove to be a major management competence. Use of the social capital concept gives us an important insight into the changing nature of careers and organizations.

In the Death Zone: A study of limits in the 1996 Mount Everest disaster

This article examines the May 1996 Everest disaster through the lens of limits and liminality to provide an alternative interpretation of the significance of the event as a counterpoint to existing accounts. The Everest disaster is an example of management under the most extreme conditions and also an example of a common managerial mindset that is prevalent in the literature on leadership and strategy that anything can be achieved by organizations with appropriate strategic intent and leadership. Rather than focusing upon how disaster could have been avoided by better management, we trace the roots of the disaster to the impact of liminality in extreme conditions and we consider the implications for organizations with liminal team members, a condition that is becoming more prevalent in contemporary organizations.

From crisis to purpose

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to argue that the current economic crisis offers an opportunity to rethink the role of the business school and how business schools can reinvent what they do by an engagement with history and the design sciences.Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on an ongoing research project into the role of the business school. It provides an historical analysis of the business schools evolving role.Findings – Debates about the nature of the business school fall into two camps, one that argues that the business school is a professional school, and another that says the business school needs to be a better social science school. This paper suggests an alternative perspective, more geared to a view of management as an art, rather than a science, offering less economics, more humanities and history.Originality/value – The paper aligns itself with a growing call for business school reform and suggests how alternative disciplines might help shape its future.