Management Gurus and Management Fashions: A Dramatistic Inquiry

Citation

Walker, R. (2001), "Management Gurus and Management Fashions: A Dramatistic Inquiry", Women in Management Review, Vol. 16 No. 8, pp. 417-419. https://doi.org/10.1108/wimr.2001.16.8.417.1

Think guru, think male!Tom Peters, Peter Drucker, Charles Handy … an informal survey of a few colleagues confirmed my suspicions that not many women feature among those identified as contemporary management gurus. And the central “characters” affiliated with the three management fashions that Brad Jackson analyses fit that gender criterion: Michael Hammer and James Champy of reengineering fame; Stephen Covey, associated with the effectiveness movement; and Peter Senge, the person most commonly connected with the learning organisation. So on one level this can be viewed as another book about men written by a man for the men who dominate senior positions in business and in academia. However, Jackson’s book is more than a panegyric on males. It represents an accessible, original and proficient analysis of why gurus exert such popular appeal to managers, and how they do that.

The subject of this book reflects an explosion of interest on the part of management scholars in addressing actual textual practices. Chris Argyris, in his forward, describes Management Gurus and Management Fashions as: “a fine example of striving to achieve a more fundamental understanding of management consultants and their clients”. It also:

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  affords a useful up‐to‐date overview and summary of the guru and management fashion literature;

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  introduces the reader to dramatistic critique and, in particular, to Bormann’s Fantasy Theme Analysis;

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  provides an overview of the contributions of four gurus associated with three influential management fashions of the 1990s, drawing on an impressive array of books, articles and live or satellite performances; and

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  contributes a novel analysis of the gurus’ work.

Largely devoid of loftiness or pretension, the book (much of which has been previously published in academic journal articles) offers the reader a perceptive and useful insight into the way management gurus operate.

“Guru” is a term bearing associations of teaching and spirituality. Jackson reminds us of its Sanskrit root (“weighty, grave, dignified”); its etymological link to the latin “gravis” and its entry into popular discourse via the 1960s counterculture movement (p. 9). The title “management guru” today describes a largely North American phenomenon emerging in the 1980s. Jackson explores the ambiguity of the term “management guru”, concluding that “guru status is a social creation … [and] guruship is in the eyes of the follower” (p. 13).

To pick up on one of the author’s own metaphors, it appears that Jackson has caught the wave of a relatively recent area of academic inquiry and is one of a growing number of researchers who recognize that such an influential group as management gurus needs to be treated seriously. The message is that you might not like the fads and fashions gurus promote, but given their appeal you can not reject them out of hand. Publications by these gurus are hugely popular “must‐haves”, and, as Jackson points out, many managers will buy a book and pick up on some of the themes, even if they do not read it. Others attend seminars and listen rather than read. And gurus command huge fees for their seminars – this is big business. It is refreshing to have someone getting away from cynical put‐downs and dismissals of guru solutions, to actually ask questions about the underlying dramatic appeal of the management guru.

In Management Gurus and Management Fashions Jackson sets out with a clear set of objectives:

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  To build on and add to the emergent theoretical debate about guru theory.

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  To expand the available empirical material that could inform the debate.

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  To develop a rhetorical critique that might engage both practitioners and academics in a critical dialogue about the sources of the underlying appeal of the fashions (p.152, edited).

Despite the author’s own misgivings as to the achievement of the last objective, I believe he achieves all three.

Emerging from his PhD research, the structure of Management Gurus and Management Fashions unashamedly reflects the thesis format. However, this is no boring, opaque, “academic” tome. Jackson is at ease with language, adopting a clear style and personal, engaging persona. He guides the reader through the ideas and analysis. The book’s introduction sets out the background and structure, drawing the reader to identify with the author, who talks of his own feelings of admiration, skepticism and curiosity upon encountering management gurus. He establishes his credibility as manager, educator and researcher. Chapter Two discusses what has previously been written about management gurus and management fashion. Among other things, Jackson draws our attention to the love‐hate ambivalence apparent from academics and journalists alike. How many of us can relate to being initially intrigued by the power of the hype surrounding Peters and Waterman’s In Search of Excellence, only to lapse into smug satisfaction as those “excellent” companies declined and we had “proof” that their ideas did not necessarily work.

By the end of Chapter Two the discussion has moved toward a justification of a rhetorical critique. This is explored in some detail in Chapter Three where the author discusses his choice of fantasy theme analysis (FTA), a dramatistic method which emerged from symbolic convergence theory. Developed by Ernest Bormann and colleagues in the 1970s, FTA seeks “… to understand better how and why certain messages excite widespread public attention on sporadic and cyclical bases” (p. 44). Here Jackson argues for the application of the method for investigating the guru and fashion phenomena. In a fairly balanced and thoughtful analysis, he explores the recognized shortcomings of FTA, choosing to focus on what it has to offer rather than the deficiencies.

Chapters Four, Five and Six each concentrate on a selected fashion and the guru(s) aligned with it. Analysis ranges not just over the written text, but also includes elements of the personal presentation style and even aspects of the private life (such as Covey’s Mormonism) as relevant influences on the dramatistic appeal of the messages. Selection of the three cases is founded partly on Jackson’s belief that they each represent exemplars of Bormann’s master analogues, thereby “highlight[ing] three quite different rhetorical strategies by which the gurus have established themselves” (p. 63): Hammer and Covey are aligned with the pragmatic analogue (your organizational survival depends on you following this vision); Covey with the righteous analogue (following this vision is the “right” thing to do); and Senge with the social analogue (pursuit of this vision is a “good” thing to do).

Analysis highlights a complementarity in both style and message on the part of gurus. It also touches on the roles of managers in the relationship. They are seen as diverse and active participants in the adoption and dissemination of fashions, not the needy dependents often portrayed by the media.

Chapters Seven and Eight represent the discussion and conclusion sections of the book. The former compares and contrasts the main rhetorical elements of the reengineering, effectiveness and learning organization fashions. Jackson draws attention to the similarities and differences between the personae of the “sanctioning agents” and highlights the need for the guru to “develop a persona that is distinctive, quickly recognizable and easy relate to” (p. 156). He also uses this section of the book to comment on the rhetorical communities that coalesce around the visions and the degree of collectivism or individualism each vision displays. Here too, Jackson explores the perceived shortcomings of his own work, stresses the exploratory nature of his project and possible future lines of inquiry.

Having considered the content, could you actually judge this book by its cover? Considerable trouble seems to have been taken to ensure that some of the themes of Management Gurus and Management Fashions are captured in the eye‐catching jacket design. Imagine the Hindu goddess Kali, transmogrified into male form, set against a cityscape replete with skyscrapers. Three sets of arms embrace the trappings of commercial, technological man: the mobile phone, computer and satellite dish and more!A halo crowns the head and the hair resembles angel wings. At the base of the page a sea of faces – predominantly male images representing (presumably) workers. That might all be enough to have you running for shelter. But it is well to recall that most so‐called gurus are male, and that Bormann’s analytical framework predates most critical inquiry into the status of women in management.

If you are interested in what makes particular new management ideas gain popularity, or why we might be so susceptible to fads and fashions, you will find this an engrossing read. Well … maybe it’s not the “page‐turner” that Bormann claims it to be, but it is certainly an interesting text, which I recommend to managers, consultants, students of management, academics and anyone else interested in organization studies.