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The purpose of this paper is to explore the power of using poetry as a process of critical reflection and organisational analysis in the management process. It intends to bring to life Armstrong's concepts of “organisation‐in‐the‐mind” and use critical role analysis in the interactions between manager and member of staff.

This is a qualitative, interpretive study using first and second person inquiry. Poems are created from the experiences of two organisational members in dialogue in relation to their roles and focus on specific decision‐making critical incidents within the life of the organisation. The creation of poetry is used as a form of communication and provides a focus for thematic analysis of key organisational themes and issues.

The creative use of poetry to illuminate unconscious processes and organisational issues has enabled revitalised working relationships and a new perspective on the organisational dynamic. The critical incidents and surrounding events caused considerable emotional discomfort. Writing in the form of poetry enabled a finding of voice, increased personal learning, and new insights in relation to roles, management processes of decision‐making and interpersonal dynamics in the organisation.

This paper contributes to understanding the importance of unconscious processes in gaining an understanding of organisational dynamics and management processes. These processes are brought to light through the creation of poetry to sit alongside rational modes of understanding and analysis.

The approach is under‐developed and largely unrecognised in relation to management processes. Reflection and analysis through the use of poetry offers an important contribution to the work of organisational analysis.

Explores the differences between two categories of in‐company management development programme: those that offer participants a nationally recognized qualification and those that are not assessed. The argument is made that certificating a programme will lead to different forms of experience and outcome for the participants and for the organization and believes that it is important for clients and providers to be aware of these differences when engaged in selecting, planning and running a management development programme if maximum benefit from the investment is to be gained. A tentative contingency theory is outlined.

This paper seeks to investigate what the marketing field can learn, with regard to the academic/practitioner divide, from other management disciplines that have a range of different relationships with their respective practitioners.

The authors carried out 68 interviews of academics, practitioners and experts/consultants involved in academic/practitioner engagement from the marketing, accountancy, strategic management and organisation studies disciplines.

The most interesting aspects relate to two areas: exclusive engagement (as exemplified in accountancy) versus inclusive engagement (as exemplified in strategic management), and the practices associated with participative research (as exemplified in organisation studies). The appropriate approach to engagement will depend on the nature of the relationship between the academic field and its particular community of practitioners.

The research is limited to academics, practitioners and experts/consultants operating from the UK. However, the findings on the challenges of engagement are consistent with those reported in the extant literature.

The first implication relates to defining what we mean when we talk about “practice”. The literature is often vague with regard to this. Does it relate to functional professionals or a far wider group of non‐specialists? A useful starting point might be to conduct an audit to clarify where aspects of marketing theory are relevant. The second implication relates to what needs to be done to engage with non‐inclusive groups of practitioners. Some conditions required for success are outlined.

The paper explores a knowledge gap in relation to the practice of engagement. It identifies why it is important to debate the nature of the practitioner community, and provides some guidelines for effective engagement.

This paper explores the emotional experience of working with an organisation which was “hurt” or “upset” by a major reorganisation. It is argued that the emotional aspects of being a consultant are under‐discussed, and that an acknowledgement of the emotional effects of clients’ and organisational members’ projections is necessary in order to understand better the role, contribution and values of consultancy. The analysis is based on a recent intervention in a UK public agency. The context for the consultancy is discussed with reference to public sector change, including the growth of managerialism. The objectives of the consultancy, and the methodologies used, are outlined. The resultant data collected by the consultancy team are presented. The data are then analysed, and the emotional and relational aspects of the intervention are explored prior to a discussion of the implications of the team’s learning for the practice of consutancy.