Truth or Dare: Management Theory at a Crossroads

Abstract

This dissertation examines the state of management theory, whether as espoused by the (largely self-proclaimed) gurus, or by management academics. Given that philosophers of science have determined that theory is supposed to provide reliable, non-obvious predictions I test whether management theory meets those requirements. I examine certain famous guru works for reliability through a case-study method. I examine the published results of management academia through a statistical analysis. I examine the non-obviousness of published management academia's hypotheses through a series of interviews and by posing a survey of those hypotheses to volunteers untrained in management knowledge to determine whether they find those predictions to be obvious. Management theory is currently found to be wanting. However, I then propose a set of prescriptions that might allow management to become a truly progressive discipline as well as what management academics and gurus could fruitfully deliver to audiences today