Design is cool, but … A critical appraisal of design thinking in management education

Abstract

The adoption of design thinking (DT) as content or methodology for management education has increased. Despite the recognizable potentials of it, this paper argues the need to explain the nature of DT as a distinctive approach and aims to elaborate on a critical appraisal of DT in management education. In order to accomplish it, specific objectives are pursued: (1) to contrast the understanding of design (erly) thinking in the academic field of design with an understanding of DT within management, and (2) to understand the fundamental arguments for the approximation between design and management education, the antecedents of this movement and the ontological and epistemological implications of it in the research and professional training in the scope of management. Finally, the text recapitulates the possibilities opened up by the critical appraisal of DT and indicates the need to advance the discussions on the integration between theory and practice in management education.