This article aims to provide insight into MBA lecturers’ curriculum interests in relation to the topic of leadership. Central to this inquiry is the exploration of MBA lecturers’ beliefs and expectations of leadership learning. An attempt is made to categorize the purpose of leadership study in five English and French MBAs by investigating lecturers’ assumptions about what counts as a leadership success in the corporate world. Guided by the work of Habermas on human knowledge interests, the main value of this inquiry is to provide research-based evidence of the prevailing interests in the teaching of leadership in MBA curricula. The analysis reveals that, although driven by different pedagogical motives, the majority of MBA lecturers are not committed to providing participants with a full understanding of leadership that might serve people and society beyond mere business ends.
Alvesson, M. and Willmott, H. ( 2001) Making Sense of Management: A Critical Introduction . London: SAGE.
2.
Apfel, R.J. and Fisher, S.M. ( 1984) To Do No Harm: Diethylstilbestrol and the Dilemmas of Modern Medicine. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
3.
Apple, M.W. ( 1990) Ideology and Curriculum. Routledge : London.
4.
Barnett, R. ( 1994) The Limits of Competence. Buckingham : Open University Press.
5.
Barnett, R. and Coate, K. ( 2005) Engaging the Curriculum in Higher Education. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
6.
Beck, R.N. ( 1979) Handbook in Social Philosophy. New York, NY: Macmillan.
7.
Bickerstaffe, G. ( 2005) Which MBA?: Making the Right Choice of Executive Education . London: The Economist Intelligence Unit.
8.
Bickerstaffe, G. ( 2007) Which MBA?: Making the Right Choice of Executive Education . London: The Economist Intelligence Unit.
9.
Bowles, S. and Gintis, H. ( 1976) Schooling in Capitalist America: Educational Reform and the Contradictions of Economic Life. New York: Basic Books.
10.
Burns, J.M. ( 2003) Transforming Leadership: A New Pursuit of Happiness . New York: Grove/Atlantic .
11.
Bush, T. and Glover, D. ( 2004) Leadership Development: Evidence and Beliefs. Lincoln (UK): National College for School Leadership .
12.
Clarke, J. and Newman, J.E. ( 1997) The Managerial State: Power, Politics and Ideology in the Remaking of Social Welfare. London: SAGE.
13.
Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. ( 2003) Research Methods in Education. London : RoutledgeFalmer.
14.
Collinson, D. and Grint, K. ( 2005) ‘Editorial: The Leadership Agenda’ , Leadership1(1): 5-9.
15.
Crainer, S. and Dearlove, D. ( 1998) Gravy Training: Inside the Shadowy World of Business Schools . London: Capstone.
16.
Creswell, J.W. ( 1998) Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design. London: SAGE.
17.
Dehler, G.E., Welsh, A. and Lewis, M.W. ( 2001) ‘Critical Pedagogy in the "New Paradigm"’ , Management Learning32(4): 493-511.
18.
Denzin, N.K. ( 1970) The Research Act in Sociology: A. Theoretical Introduction to Sociological Methods. London: Butterworths.
19.
Elmuti, D., Minnis, W. and Abebe, M. ( 2005) ‘Does Education have a Role in Developing Leadership Skills?’ Management Decision43(7/8): 1018-31.
20.
Engwall, L. and Zamagni, V. ( 1998) ‘Introduction’, in L. Engwall, and V. Zamagni (eds) Management Education in Historical Perspective . Manchester : Manchester University Press.
21.
Foster, W. ( 1989) ‘Toward a Critical Practice of Leadership’ , in: J. Smyth (ed.) Critical Perspectives on Educational Leadership, pp. 39-63. London : Falmer.
22.
Gabriel, Y. ( 2005) ‘MBA and the Education of Leaders: The New Playing Fields of Eton?’ Leadership1(2): 147-63.
23.
Giddens, A. ( 1976) New Rules of Sociological Method: A Positive Critique of Interpretative Strategies. London: Hutchinson.
24.
Gill, R. ( 2006) Theory and Practice of Leadership. London: SAGE.
25.
Gini, A. ( 1998) ‘Moral Leadership and Business Ethics’ , in J.B. Ciulla (ed.) Ethics, The Heart of Leadership, pp. 25-42. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.
26.
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R.E. and McKee, A. ( 2003) ‘Primal Leadership’, in J.M. Kouzes (ed.) Business Leadership , pp. 44-59. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
27.
Grace, M. ( 2003) Origins of Leadership: The Etymology of Leadership . Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico : ILA (International Leadership Association) URL (accessed August 2009): http://www.ila-net.org/Publications/Proceedings/2003/mgrace.pdf
28.
Greenleaf, R.K. ( 1977) Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness. New York: Paulist Press.
29.
Grey, C. and French, R. ( 1996) ‘Rethinking Management Education: An Introduction’ , in R. French, and C. Grey (eds.), Rethinking Management Education. London: SAGE.
30.
Habermas, J. ( 1971) Toward a Rational Society: Student Protest Science and Politics. London: Heinemann .
31.
Habermas, J. ( 1972) Knowledge and Human Interests. London : Heinemann.
32.
Hay, A. and Hodgkinson, M. ( 2008) ‘More Success than Meets the Eye: A Challenge to Critiques of the MBA’, Management Learning39(21): 21-40.
33.
Held, D. ( 1980) Introduction to Critical Theory: Horkhaimer to Habermas . Los Angeles: University of California Press.
34.
Hofstede, G. ( 2001) Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations. London : SAGE.
35.
Kouzes, J.M. and Posner, B.Z. ( 1987) The Leadership Challenge: How to Keep Getting Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations. New York: Jossey-Bass.
36.
Locke, R.R. ( 1989) Management and Higher Education Since 1940: The Influence of America and Japan on West Germany, Great Britain, and France . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
37.
Luxemburg, R. ( 1973) Reform or Revolution. New York : Pathfinder.
38.
Lyotard, J.-F. ( 1984) The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge . Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Mellahi, K. ( 2000) ‘The Teaching of Leadership on UK MBA Programmes: A Critical Analysis from an International Perspective’, Journal of Management Development19(4): 297-308.
41.
Mintzberg, H. ( 2004) Managers not MBAs. San Francisco, CA : Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
42.
ODE (2003) Oxford Dictionary of English. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pfeffer, J. ( 1993) ‘The Ambiguity of Leadership’, in: M. Matteson, and J. Ivancevich (eds) Management and Organizational Behavior Classics. Homewood, IL: Irwin .
45.
Pfeffer, J. and Fong, C.T. ( 2002) ‘The End of the Business School? Less Success Than Meets the Eye’, Academy of Management Learning and Education1(1): 78-95.
46.
Poggi, G. ( 1965) ‘A Main Theme of Contemporary Sociological Analysis: Its Achievements and Limitations’, British Journal of Sociology16(4): 263-94.
47.
Reed, M. and Anthony, P.D. ( 1992) ‘Professionalising Management and Managing Professionalisation: British Management in the 1980s’, Journal of Management Studies29(5): 591-613.
48.
Ritchie, J., Spencer, L. and O’Connor, W. ( 2003) ‘Carrying out Qualitative Analysis’ , in J. Ritchie and J. Lewis (eds) Qualitative Research Practice, pp. 219-62. London : SAGE.
49.
Roberts, J. ( 1996) ‘Management Education and the Limits of Technical Rationality: The Conditions and Consequences of Management Practice’ , in R. French, and C. Grey (eds) Rethinking Management Education , pp. 54-75. London : SAGE.
50.
Rosen, D.M. ( 1984) ‘Leadership Systems in World Cultures’ , in B. Kellerman (ed.) Leadership: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
51.
Rost, J.C. ( 1993) Leadership for the Twenty-First Century. New York: Praeger Publishers.
52.
Schön, D.A. ( 1984) ‘Leadership as Reflection-in-Action’ , in T.J. Sergiovanni, and J.E. Corbally (eds) Leadership and Organizational Culture: New Perspectives on Administrative Theory and Practice, pp. 36-63. Urbana : University of Illinois Press.
53.
Sinclair, A. ( 2005) ‘Teaching Leadership Critically to MBAs: Experiences From Heaven and Hell’, Management Learning38(4): 458-72.
54.
Smith, A. ( 1776) The Wealth of Nations. Amherst, NY : Prometheus Books.
55.
Starkey, K. and Tempest, S. ( 2005) ‘The Future of the Business School: Knowledge Challenges and Opportunities’, Human Relations58(1): 61-82.
56.
Steffy, B.D. and Grimes, A.J. ( 1992) ‘Personnel/Organisational Psychology: A Critique of the Discipline’, in M. Alvesson, and H. Willmott (eds) Critical Management Studies. London: SAGE.
57.
Steger, M.B. ( 1997) The Quest for Evolutionary Socialism: Eduard Bernstein and Social Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
58.
Storey, J. ( 1993) An Introductory Guide to Cultural Theory and Popular Culture . Hemel Hempsted: Harvester Wheatsheaf .
59.
Thomas, M.R. ( 1998) Conducting Educational Research: A Comparative View. London: Bergin and Garvey .
60.
Weber, M. ( 1947) The Theory of Social and Economic Organization . New York: Free Press.
61.
Williams, S. ( 2000) Management and Leadership Teaching: Present Trends and Future. Demand. Lancaster: Lancaster University Management School.
