There are many ways to gain insights into and develop approaches to acquiring and enhancing management skills. This article explores one of them—through examining analogies between strategic management and the creative arts fields, especially drama and dramatic literature and the experiences of symphony conductors. The article describes a variety of ways in which these art fields have been and are being used to enrich management learning experiences. These are neither the only nor necessarily the best approaches for everyone in every learning situation. Their study, nonetheless, does provide stimulating insights into the subject for many working in the field.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Actors mean business: Training for change. (1999). Retrieved May 15, 1999, from the World Wide Web: http://www.acttor.demon.co.uk/
2.
Aspden, P.
(1997, December 26). Perspectives: The man to recharge spent batteries: Breakfast with the FT: Benjamin Zander, musical conductor and business school teacher. Financial Times, p. 17-17.
3.
Augustine, N.
, & Adelman, K. (1999). Shakespeare in charge: The Bard’s guide to leading and succeeding on the business stage. New York: Hyperion.
4.
Barker, H. G.
(1934). The Voysey inheritance. Boston: Little, Brown.
5.
Barroll, L.
(1991). Politics, plague, and Shakespeare’s theater. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
6.
Bloom, H.
(1994). The Western canon. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace.
7.
Bloom, H.
(1998). Shakespeare: The invention of the human. New York: Riverhead.
8.
Buck, G.
(1998, June 10). Teaching artists their business. Chicago Tribune, p. 38-38.
9.
Buffet, W.
(1996, March6). The importance of personal values to success. Paper presented at the Colman Mockler Distinguished Leadership Program Seminar, St. John’s University, New York.
10.
Burke, R.
, & Mayer, D. E. (1993). The henriad. Oneonta, NY: Hartwick Humanities in Management Institute.
11.
Business education
. (1999, November 8). Financial Times, p. 16-16.
12.
Coen, S.
(1996, January). How to make a musical. American Theater, pp. 26-29.
13.
Collins, J.
(2001, January). Level 5 leadership: The triumph of humility and fierce resolve. Harvard Business Review, pp. 66-76.
14.
Corrigan, P.
(1999). Shakespeare on management. London, UK: Kogan Page.
15.
Cowell, A.
(1999, June 20). In Britain, mining the arts for management metaphor. The New York Times, p. 4-4.
16.
Coy, P.
(1999, June 7). Exploiting uncertainty: The “real options” revolution in decision-making. Business Week, pp. 118-124.
17.
Dhir, K. S.
(1999, November 20-23). Decision modeling in literary works. Paper presented at the Colloquium Decision Sciences Institute 30thannual meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana.
18.
Feder, B. J.
(1999, June 24). Plotting corporate futures. The New York Times, pp. C1-C1, C25-C25.
19.
Georgantzas, N. D.
, & Acar, W. (1995). Scenario-driven planning. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
20.
Grose, T. K.
(1999, September 13). Happiness is a warm M.B.A. from Liverpool. U.S. News & World Report,p. 42-42.
21.
Hamilton, A.
(1999, April 7). The pay’s the thing for business Bard. The Times (London), p.9-9.
22.
Harris, C.
, & Brown, W. (1989).Teaching business ethics using fiction: A case that failed. Organizational Behavior Teaching Journal, 13, 38-47.
23.
Herring, H. B.
(1998, December 6). To teach, perchance to manage. The New York Times,p.C8-C8.
24.
Higgs, N.
(1993). You mean like John Cleese. Executive Development, 6(4), 29-29.
25.
Jonassen, J. R.
(1999). Leadership: Sharing the passion. Alresford, Hampshire, UK: Management Pocketbooks.
26.
Loesser, F.
(1961). How to succeed in business without really trying. New York: Frank Music Corporation.
27.
Martin, G.
(1992). Verdi, his music, life and times. New York: Limelight Editions.
28.
McKenzie, M. N.
(1997, February 23). For today’s M.B.A.’s, a Serious Bit of levity. The New York Times,p.11-11.
29.
Miller, A.
(1947). All my sons. New York: Reynal & Hitchcock.
30.
Miller, A.
(1949). Death of a salesman. New York: Viking.
31.
Mockler, R. J.
(1994, Fall). Strategic management research and teaching: Critical problems and possible solutions. Management Learning, pp. 371-386.
32.
Mockler, R. J.
(1995, May 21). Shakespeare as a creative business artist. Presented at the St. Vincent de Paul Award Address, St. John’s University, New York.
33.
Mockler, R. J.
(1999). Learning how to learn. New York: St. John’s University.
34.
O’Neil, E.
(1926). The great god brown. New York: Boni & Liveright.
35.
Powell, G. N.
, & Viega, J. E. (1986).Using popular music to examine management and OB concepts: A rejoinder to Springsteen’s thesis. Organizational Behavior Teaching Journal, 10, 79-81.
36.
Quintanilla, C.
(1999, June 15). Corporate drones go off to improv class. The Wall Street Journal, pp. B1-B1, B20-B20.
37.
Rice, E.
(1923). The adding machine. New York: Samuel French.
38.
Schoenbaum, S.
(1991). Shakespeare’s lives. New York: Oxford University Press.
39.
Schofield, P.
(1999, May 9). Independent on Sunday: Smart moves: Listen to the music makers: Persuading 100 talented, opinionated musicians to play exactly the way a conductor wishes takes sophisticated leadership skills, as managers are discovering. Financial Times,p.10-10.
40.
Schwartz, P.
, & Rignland, G. (1998). Scenario planning: Managing the future. New York: John Wiley.
41.
Sciolino, E.
(2001, July 26). Allegio, andonte, adagio and corporate harmony. The New York Times,p.E1-E1.
42.
Shafritz, J. M.
(1992). Shakespeare on management: Wise business counsel from the Bard. New York: HarperCollins.
43.
Shaw G.
, & Locke, K. (1993).Using fiction to develop managerial judgment. Journal of Management Education, 17, 349-359.
44.
Sterner, J.
(1991). Other peoples money: The ultimate seduction. New York: New American Library.
45.
Stevenson, W. B.
(1996, February). A muse of fire or a winter of discontent? Teaching Shakespeare in the leadership course. Journal of Management Education, pp. 39-48.
46.
Vaill, P. B.
(1981).Thoughts on using poetry in the teaching of OB. Organizational Behavior Teaching Journal, 6, 50-51.
47.
Van der Heijden, K.
(1996). Scenarios: The art of strategic conversation. New York: John Wiley.
48.
Whitney, J. O.
, Packer, T., & Noble, S. (2000). Power plays: Shakespeare’s lessons in leadership and management. New York: Simon & Schuster.
49.
Zajdel, M. M.
, & Vinton, K. L. (1988).Beyond the story: How to use a literary critic in the organizational behavior class. Organizational Behavior Teaching Review, 12, 62-67.
50.
Zander, B.
, & Zander, R. S. (2000). The art of possibility. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
