From crisis to purpose

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to argue that the current economic crisis offers an opportunity to rethink the role of the business school and how business schools can reinvent what they do by an engagement with history and the design sciences.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on an ongoing research project into the role of the business school. It provides an historical analysis of the business school's evolving role.

Findings

Debates about the nature of the business school fall into two camps, one that argues that the business school is a professional school, and another that says the business school needs to be a better social science school. This paper suggests an alternative perspective, more geared to a view of management as an art, rather than a science, offering less economics, more humanities and history.

Originality/value

The paper aligns itself with a growing call for business school reform and suggests how alternative disciplines might help shape its future.

Citation

Starkey, K. and Tempest, S. (2009), "From crisis to purpose", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 28 No. 8, pp. 700-710. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621710910985478