Abstract
We propose a reawakening of interest in the role of artistic knowing for managerial education, presenting a pedagogy that is sensitive to cultural context and aimed at enabling the phronetic management of paradox. Inspired by fado, the iconic Portuguese popular music, especially the ways in which it embodies the stresses of society, we develop strategies for management learning based on engagement with art that fosters sensitivity to paradox. We contribute to management learning by inviting practitioners to be sensitive to the complexity of competing tensions in the cultures and language in and through which everyday lives are lived by bringing attention to the potential of artistic knowing for highlighting and navigating management paradoxes, to develop phronesis.
Highlights
Inspired by the theme of European Academy of Management (EURAM)’s 2019 conference1 and by work on how local-popular forms of art may inform management studies (e.g. Stovall, 2006), we advance an original approach to management education
Continuing the theme of a four-step progression, we draw on paradox and the aesthetic to propose a further four-step pedagogical framework for enabling management students to learn about paradox as applied experiential learning: (1) recognize paradoxes in an art culture piece or history, (2) discern paradox management strategies represented in the art, (3) identify cases where those paradoxes arise in management and organizational contexts, and (4), distil essential practical wisdom from the experience to capture management insights and even facilitate personal transformation (See Figure 1)
In this paper we have proposed a novel approach to management learning that builds both on paradox and on artistic knowledge, with the intent of informing practical wisdom in dealing with organizational challenges
Summary
Inspired by the theme of EURAM’s 2019 conference and by work on how local-popular forms of art may inform management studies (e.g. Stovall, 2006), we advance an original approach to management education. Continuing the theme of a four-step progression, we draw on paradox and the aesthetic to propose a further four-step pedagogical framework for enabling management students to learn about paradox as applied experiential learning: (1) recognize paradoxes in an art culture piece or history, (2) discern paradox management strategies represented in the art, (3) identify cases where those paradoxes arise in management and organizational contexts, and (4), distil essential practical wisdom from the experience to capture management insights and even facilitate personal transformation (See Figure 1) We discuss these four steps in sequence, before applying them to a specific aesthetic/cultural context—that of Portuguese fado. Along with the regimes’ stage-managed rallies, it embraced fado songs justifying the people’s poverty, as in “Uma Casa Portuguesa” sung by the legendary Amália Rodrigues (cited in Broughton, 2006):
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