Meeting Mintzberg —and thinking again about management education

Abstract

Henry Mintzberg's contribution to management theory is summarised as a classification of managerial decisionmaking which distinguishes between analysis and intuition. We are also taken through Mintzberg's deeper and broader concerns with organisations and management education. Against a background of the development of management theory, particularly with its “cameralist” (statistical and scientific) tradition, John-Christopher Spender sets out Mintzberg's lessons for management educators. They are: recognising intuition and pursuing “all-round” knowledge, seeking an active organisational balance, and incorporating social and ethical issues in management.