Politics, Philosophy and Management

The summer dissertation takes place in the last four months of the programme. This is an opportunity to bring together the learning you have acquired throughout the programme in a systematic and integrative piece of work on a topic developed by you. The dissertation acts as an integrative exercise, enabling you to focus your analytic and research skills on a particular issue or series of issues.

As with each large essay, for the dissertation, each student will have a personal supervisor. The form of the dissertation is most commonly an organisational research project in which a student undertakes a case study of a particular organisation, but it can also be a library-based project.

The module will introduce the students to the nature of knowledge within the organisation studies/management field, and the ways in which the literature can be researched and critically evaluated. It will then provide a systematic consideration of different approaches to research in the social sciences and in organisational studies in particular. This will include an evaluation of different research designs and methodologies, and of a range of methods likely to be particularly useful in organisational research such as: surveys, ethnography, case studies, interviews, questionnaires. The module will also address methods of qualitative and quantitative data analysis. Throughout, links will be made to the practical planning and execution of a piece of research.

The course aims to explore a variety of approaches to conflict management in contemporary conflicts, by third parties and parties in conflict, and critically assesses their effectiveness and potential. The course draws its theoretical foundations from peace and conflict research but is aimed at enabling students to learn to assess the scope for conflict management and peace-building in practice. The module includes both academic literature as well as policy relevant papers.

The focus of the course is on analysing peace processes and practical problems of conflict prevention, conflict management and peace-building in a range of contemporary international, internal, ethnic, community and environmental conflicts.

Students will be divided up into groups of two or three, and each group will take responsibility for identifying and investigating a specific approach to conflict management in a conflict of their choice. The choice of cases will vary with the interest of students. In recent year topics included Afghanistan, Chechnya, Georgia, Kashmir, Kosovo, Macedonia, Northern Ireland, Liberia/Sierra Leone, Timor Elste, conflict prevention and the emergent global climate change negotiations, and peace-building in contemporary Africa and Asia.

The course is taught in 10 2-hour lecture seminars, with the first half devoted to the lecture and the second half dedicated to substantial presentations by the student / group.

Select Bibliography:

Barash, David P. & Webel, Charles P. (2008) Peace and Conflict Studies, London: Sage.Darby J & Mac Ginty, R, Contemporary Peacemaking (Palgrave Macmillan, 2002)Eriksen, T. H., Ethnicity and Nationalism (Zed, 2010).Kaldor, M., New & Old Wars (Polity Press, 2006) Lyons, T. (2008) Conflict Management and African Conflicts – Ripeness, Bargaining and Mediation, London: Routledge, 2008)Misra, A. Afghanistan: The Labyrinth of Violence (Polity, 2004).Misra A., Politics of Civil Wars (Routledge 2008)Paris, R., At War’s End (Cambridge Univ. Press. 2005)Ramsbotham, O, Woodhouse T. & Miall, H, Contemporary Conflict Resolution – 3rd edition (Blackwell's, 2010)Rupesinghe, K, Civil Wars, Civil Peace (Pluto Press, 1998)Zartman, I.W., Peacemaking in International Conflict (USIP, 2005)European Centre for Conflict Prevention, People Building Peace (1999)Wallensteen, P., Understanding Conflict Resolution (Sage, 2006)

This module introduces the major debates and perspectives on Human Resource Management. It critically examines controversies about the nature of HRM, placing it in context to understand how it developed and what it constitutes in contemporary ‘globalised’ organisations. The module examines those issues that are seen as central to the practice of HRM, such as recruitment and selection, performance management, and remuneration strategies.

Your tutors will draw on their own research to provide an insight into the HRM process, explored in a way that critiques its taken-for-granted ‘normality’, and unpacks the assumptions underlying this central organisational function.

HRM II builds upon the foundations of HRM I. We will continue to examine examples of some of the most important current HRM practices. This module aims to build a wide-ranging cultural image of HRM practices today. We will show that the essence of HRM is to govern one of the central questions of all our lives: who are we when we work today? How does HRM seek to take control over this fundamental question?

We will explore areas such as employability, performativity and self-realisation. We will look at the complex apparatus of recruitment today, from job advertisements, CVs, to power words and images of ideal human subjects. We will see how performance control and appraisal systems make their cultural contribution to contemporary management in tight connection with work motivation and the idea of self-actualisation. We will also consider how human resources have become the strategic assets of contemporary organisations in the knowledge economy and try to understand what is implied in central trends in contemporary work, including talent management, employee wellness and happiness at work, ‘play@work’ and workplace architectures in 21st-century organisations.

In essence this module aims to explore the significance and complications of managing human resources in the international arena. The management of employees is one of the key elements in the success of global organisations and over time managers have adapted a range of approaches to this task. This module will also provide useful insights on such processes. By the completion of the study you will be able develop the skills of analysis and critical evaluation through the examination of human resource issues utilizing HRM models and frameworks in the global context. It is also an opportunity to demonstrate team working, presentation and secondary research skills.

This module aims to provide you with a broad understanding of the main areas of study within the field of international relations (IR). The introductory session seeks to address the general question as to what constitutes the study of IR. Subsequent sessions aim to examine the major approaches to the discipline (both mainstream and critical), focusing upon the distinctive insights and analyses that they have brought to bear.You will have the opportunity to gain an understanding of the nature of the wide-ranging theoretical debates that have shaped the discipline and will also be encouraged to take a critical approach to these debates to consider the ways in which we study IR.

More particularly, you have the opportunity to:

• understand and critically assess the interpretation of the world and of IR put forward by each theory
• evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each theory
• apply the theoretical tools to the “facts out there” (linking theory with practice)

This module introduces contemporary organisations as institutional structures in which management functions. We begin by considering the formal organisation (and the role of management) which was developed through the twentieth century, and which provides the basis for much of our present-day understanding of organising.

The main part of the module deals with the contemporary situation and it is argued that the present time is one of extraordinary change in organisations, which offers a considerable challenge to orthodox organisational theory. The material presented looks at what seems to be happening to organisations large and small and examines key issues in the contemporary organisation including bureaucracy, managerial control, technological change and leadership. The latest range of organisational theories, such as institutional theory, discourse analysis and critical realism will be introduced to frame the understanding of ‘new realities’ in organisations.

What is meant by ‘change’? How can organisational change be analysed? This module to provides students with a broad theoretical and practical understanding of some key concepts and issues in managing organisational changes.

The contemporary world is characterised by a range of social, political, economic, technological, ecological and organisational changes that challenge accepted understandings and practices. This module introduces contributions from the social sciences that are useful in thinking about change. The focus is upon the development of an account of change that steers between reformist tinkering and revolutionary upheaval.

As managers and others seek to engage with change it is important that taken-for-granted assumptions and simplistic solutions about organisational life are both articulated and rethought. Prevailing assumptions in the managerial literature are compared to contrasting approaches within organisation studies. The contention of the module is that the emerging socio-technical-politico-economic context necessitates a reflexive appreciation of the complexities and uncertainties of change and intervention.

Diplomacy and Foreign Policy are central to the understanding of international politics. The structure of the international system induces a constant need for political dialogue and negotiations. Besides war, diplomacy is the common language states are using to interact on the world stage.

This module introduces students to ways of conceptualizing diplomacy and foreign policy in the 21st century:

• Why do states rely on diplomacy?
• What are the current forms and features of diplomacy and foreign policy?
• Is diplomacy the only form of international dialogue besides war?
• How do states (and statesmen) negotiate?
• How has diplomacy evolved throughout history?
• Does ‘global governance’ exist?

This module is designed to provide you with the opportunity to develop your knowledge of both theoretical and practical understanding of contemporary issues in diplomacy and foreign policy. Where appropriate, academic teaching may be complemented by lectures and in-class activities carried out by practitioners (diplomats, civil servants, etc).

Philosophy is a various and contested discipline, about which we can and should ask metaphilosophical questions: What is philosophy? How ought we to go about doing it? What is its purpose or value? What kinds of knowledge does it produce? What is the relation between it and other disciplines, e.g. literary criticism, history, psychology? Or between it and other forms of writing, e.g. poetry, fiction, political rhetoric? Is philosophy as currently practiced in Anglo-American universities problematically Western or male? Is university philosophy real philosophy?

The aims of this module are (1) to give you a taste of some of the topics and approaches of contemporary professional philosophy as done here at Lancaster, and (2) to help you to reflect on metaphilosophical questions, both in the discipline and in your own practice.

This module will usually comprise of three parts:

• short talks by philosophy staff on their current research and on the metaphilosophical issues it raises, followed by moderated discussion.
• close reading and discussion of some significant published work in the discipline
• work and presentation on essays in progress.