Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
2-2004
Abstract
Drawing on the work of Guy Debord's Society of the Spectacle and Daniel Boorstin's The Image, this article argues that aesthetic and management fashions are not separate forms, as both represent the preeminence of the image spectacle. Central to this is the increasing emergence of pseudoevents and synthetic products. Using empirical findings from a study of the production of six best-selling management books, it shows that they are manufactured coproductions that result from an intricate editorial process in which the original ideas are moulded in order for them to have a positive impact on the intended audience. Central to this is a set of conventions that stress the vivification of ideas. The editorial process thus seeks to enhance the aesthetic attractiveness of the ideas. The implications of the conceptual approach and empirical findings are considered with respect to current understandings of management fashion.
Keywords
management gurus, management fashion, spectacle
Discipline
Organizational Behavior and Theory | Scholarly Publishing
Research Areas
Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources
Publication
Management Communication Quarterly
Volume
17
Issue
3
First Page
396
Last Page
424
ISSN
0893-3189
Identifier
10.1177/0893318903257979
Publisher
SAGE Publications (UK and US)
Citation
CLARK, Timothy Adrian Robert and GREATBATCH, David.
Management fashion as image-spectacle: The production of best-selling management books. (2004). Management Communication Quarterly. 17, (3), 396-424.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/6289
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318903257979
Comments
Reprinted in Minahan, S. and Wolfram Cox, J. (eds.) (2007) The aesthetic turn in management. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.