Current university and on-the-job learning programs for managers seldom address managerial wisdom. Yet a number of authors point to the importance of wisdom in the management of a firm. This article identifies the changes that occur in a person as he or she becomes wiser; it also presents a model of the process of becoming wise. Implications for university education and in-house development of managerial wisdom are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Anonymous
. (1954). A treasury of proverbs and epigrams. New York: Avenel.
2.
Argyris, D.
, & Schön, D. (1977). Theory in practice: Increasing professional effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
3.
Baida, P.
(1986, January-February). Flying kites with Benjamin Franklin. Harvard Business Review, pp. 98-107.
4.
Bigelow, J.
(1983). Relational learning in the university and the demands of business: A mismatch?Exchange, 8(1), 17-22.
5.
Butler, R.
(1963). The life review: An interpretation of reminiscence in the aged. Psychiatry, 26, 65-76.
6.
Campbell, D. T.
(1965). Variation and selective retention in socio-cultural evolution. In H. R. Barringer, G. I. Blankstein, & R. W. Mack (Eds.), Social change in developing areas. Cambridge, MA: Schenkman.
7.
Clayton, V.
(1975). Erikson's theory of human development as it applies to the aged: Wisdom as contradictive cognition. Human Development, 18, 119-128.
8.
Clayton, V. (1977). A multidimensional scaling analysis of the concept of wisdom. Dissertation Abstracts International, 38, 1857B.
9.
Clayton, V.
(1982). Wisdom and intelligence: The nature and function of knowledge in later years. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 15, 315-320.
10.
Collins, J. D.
(1962). The lure of wisdom. Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University Press.
11.
Conry, E.
& Nelson, D. (1989). Business law and moral growth. American Business Law Journal, 27(1), 1-39.
12.
Dertouzos, M.Lester, R.
, Solow, R., & The MIT Commission on Industrial Productivity. (1989). Made in America: Regaining the productive edge. Cambridge: MIT Press.
13.
Dimond, R.
(1980). The wisdom of paradox: A new perspective on contralogical methods of problem formation and resolution. Psychology: A Quarterly Journal of Human Behavior, 11, 29-41.
14.
Dittman-Kohli, F.
(1984). Wisdom as a possible result of intellectual development in adulthood. Sprache and Kognition, 3, 112-132.
15.
Dittman-Kohli, F.
, & Baltes, P. B. (1989). Towards a neofunctionalist conception of adult intellectual development: Wisdom as a prototypical case of intellectual growth. In C. Alexander & E. Langer (Eds.), Beyond formal operations 2: Alternative endpoints to human development. New York: Oxford University Press.
16.
Dreyfuss, J.
(1983, June 13). Handing down the old hands' wisdom. Fortune, pp. 97-98, 100-107.
17.
Erikson, E.
(1964). Insight and responsibility. New York: Norton.
18.
Erikson, E.
(1982). The life cycle completed. New York: Norton.
19.
Fletcher, G.
(1984). Psychology and common sense. American Psychologist, 39(3), 203-213.
20.
Franklin, B.
(1737). Poor Richard's almanac. White Plains, NY: Peter Pauper.
21.
Giblin, E. J.
(1984, April). The road to managerial wisdom- And how to get on it. Management Review, pp. 42-47.
22.
Grover, R.
, & Weiss, W. (1987, May). Theory articulation and analysis exercise: A tool forgetting students to think critically about OB knowledge. Paper presented at the 1987 Organizational Behavior Teaching Conference, Bentley, MA.
23.
Hall, C. S.
, & Lindzey, G. (1957). Theories of personality. New York: Wiley.
24.
Harris, T.
(1988). The silence of the lambs. New York: St. Martin.
25.
Henry, L. C.
(1961). Best quotations for all occasions. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett.
26.
Holliday, S.
, & Chandler, M. (1986). Wisdom: Explorations in adult competence. New York: Karger.
27.
Hua, E. K
(1973). Kung fu meditations and Chinese proverbial wisdom. New York: Bantam.
28.
Hurst, D. K.
(1984, May-June). Of boxes, bubbles, and effective management. Harvard Business Review, pp. 78-88.
29.
Jacques, E.
(1965). Death and the mid-life crisis. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 46, 502-514.
30.
Johnson, R. (1979). A study of wisdom as reported by older adults in America. Dissertation Abstracts International, 42, 748B.
31.
Kaplan, R. S.
(1988, January-February). One cost system isn't enough. Harvard Business Review, p. 61.
32.
Kekes, J.
(1983, July). Wisdom. American Philosophical Quarterly, p. 3.
33.
Kelley, R. E.
(1979, November-December). Should you have an internal consultant?Harvard Business Review, p. 110.
34.
Kirp, D. L.
, & Rice, D. S. (1988, January-February). Fast forward-Styles of California management. Harvard Business Review, p. 74.
35.
Kitchener, K. S.
(1983). Cognition, metacognition, and epistemic cognition: A three-level model of cognitive processing. Human Development, 26, 222-232.
36.
Koplowitz, H.
(1984, August). Post-logical thinking. Paper presented at the Harvard International Conference on Thinking, Cambridge, MA.
37.
Kramer, D.
(1983). Post-formal operations? A need for further conceptualization. Human Development, 26, 91-105.
38.
Kramer, D.
(1987, April). Improved learning in aging: Implications for education. Paper presented at "Information and Aging: Coalitions for the Future,'New Brunswick, NJ.
39.
Leiffer, R.
, & Carrier, H. (1987, May). Aphorisms, cases and video: Elements of an approach to teaching introduction to management. Paper presented at the 1987 Organizational Behavior Teaching Conference, Bentley, MA.
40.
Littler, D. A.
, & Sweeting, R. C. (1987, April). Innovative business development: Selection and management issues. Futures, p. 155.
41.
Lorsch, J. W.
, & Mathias, P. F. (1987, July-August). When professionals have to manage. Harvard Business Review, p. 78.
42.
Maidique, M. A.
, & Zirger, B. J. (1985). The new product learning cyde. In R. A. Burgelman & M. A. Maidique, Strategic management of technology and innovation (pp. 320-337). Homewood, IL: Irwin.
43.
Main, J.
(1989, July 17). B-schools get a global vision. Fortune, pp. 78-86.
44.
Manasian, D.
(1988, July-August). Marathon man: Memorex Telex executive Giorgio Ronchi. International Management, pp. 30-33.
45.
March, J. G.
, & Simon, H. A. (1958). Organizations. New York: Wiley.
46.
McCall, M.
, Lombardo, M., & Morrison, A. (1988). The lessons of experience: How successful executives develop on the job. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
47.
McGill, M.
(1988, December). Attack of the Biz Kids. Business Month, pp. 75-78.
48.
McWhinney, W.
(1982, March). Resolving complex issues. Paper presented at the 1983 Western Academy of Management meeting, Santa Barbara, CA.
49.
Meacham, J.
(1983, June). Wisdom and the context of knowledge: Knowing that one doesn't know. Contributions to Human Development, 111-134.
50.
Mintzberg, H.
(1987, July-August). Crafting strategy. Harvard Business Review, p. 66.
51.
Neilsen, E. H.
, & Gypen, J. (1979, September-October). The subordinate's predicaments. Harvard Business Review, p. 133.
52.
Neugarten, B.
(1973). Personality changes in later life: A developmental perspective. In The psychology of adult development and aging (pp. 311-335). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
53.
Platt, J.
(1964). Behavioral traps. Sociological Quarterly, 3, 24-37.
54.
Porter, L.
, & McKibbin, L. (1988). Management education and development: Drift or thrust into the21st century?New York: McGraw-Hill.
55.
Quick, S.
(1981). The need for recognizing and developing intuitive wisdom. College Student Journal, 15, 378-383.
56.
Richman, J.
(1977). The foolishness and wisdom of age: Attitudes toward the elderly as reflected in jokes. Gerontologist, 17, 210-219.
57.
Schweiso, J.
(1984). What is common to common sense?Bulletin of the British Psychological Society, 37, 43-45.
58.
Scott, W.
, & Mitchell, T. (1986). Markets and morals in management education. Selections, 3(2), 3-8.
59.
Selby, B.
(1986, December). Learning to like leverage: Managing corporate debt. Institutional Investor, pp. 118-123.
60.
Sethi, M. K.
(1962). Hindu proverbs and wisdom. Mount Vernon, NY: Peter Pauper.
61.
Shapiro, B. P.
, Rangan, V. K., Moriarty, R. T., & Ross, E. B. (1987, September-October). McKinsey & Co. manage customers for profits (not just sales). Harvard Business Review, p.101.
62.
Shaw, J.
, Giglierano, J., & Kallis, J. (1989, February). Marketing complex technical products: The importance of intangible attributes. Industrial Marketing Management, pp. 45-54.
63.
Sternberg, R. J.
(1985). Implicit theories of intelligence, creativity, and wisdom. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 607-627.
64.
Taranto, M. A.
(1989). Facets of wisdom: A theoretical synthesis. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 29(1), 1-21.
65.
Tripp, R. T.
(1970). The international thesaurus of quotations. New York: Harper & Row.
66.
Van De Vliet, A.
(1984, April). The computer pay-back. Management Today, pp. 77-80, 82.
67.
Waters, J.
(1980). Managerial skill development. Academy of Management Review, 5, 449-453.
68.
Westin, A.
, & Aram, J. (1988). Managerial dilemmas: Cases in social, legal, and technological change. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
69.
Where the schools aren't doing their homework
. (1988, November 28). Business Week, pp. 84-92.
70.
White, R.
(1987). The last word on management. Secaucus, NJ: Lyle Stuart.
