Do business schools create leaders or conformists?

Beech, D

Abstract

This paper addresses the question of who benefits from the biocultural power, practices, and effects of competitive market capitalism. In particular the paper asks whether managers are ‘conformists rather than leaders in the larger affairs of society’ Business schools aim to educate managerial leaders for business and society. To fulfil this aim there is an obligation on business schools to enable students to understand how the biocultural power and effects of competitive market capitalism can be evolved and deployed for the common good. In this chapter I draw upon the work of American sociologist Talcott Parsons and others to address these issues. A scene setting introduction on the challenges facing capitalism and business education in the 21st century is followed by three sections: first, on biocultural power; second, on value configurations; and, third, on institutional leadership. I conclude with a call for business schools to deploy, research, and evolve the concepts and analytical tools set out here in their curricula for undergraduate, postgraduate, and executive education.

Citation

Beech, D. (2015). Do business schools create leaders or conformists?. In Developing Leadership : questions business schools don't ask. Sage

• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Jul 10, 2018
• Book Title: Developing Leadership : questions business schools don't ask
• ISBN: 9781446296110
• Additional Information: Additional Information : Originally published as Chapter 8 in C.Mabey and W. Mayrhofer. (2015). Developing leadership: Questions business schools don’t ask. Los Angeles: Sage. Revised June 2018; minor updates to text and updates to Boxes 1 and 2.