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.

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 organisations. The module examines those issues that are seen as central to the practice of HRM, such as recruitment and selection, performance management, and flexible working.

The module provides 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.

This module examines the conceptual and cultural foundations of Human Resource Management.

• Where does its appeal come from?
• How is HRM done today – and what exactly does HRM do so successfully?

The answers to these questions are around us, all the time, everywhere – except we do not see them because we are accustomed to the assumptions of HRM.

In this module, we will investigate these assumptions and their roots, and so the task of HRM will appear in a different light. The essential question HRM has to answer seems simple: what is the value of a person’s work? The problem, of course, is that the relationship between work effort and the value of work is always indeterminate. How much is an hour of work worth? How much should anyone be paid so that work is ‘fair’ or ‘just’?

These essential questions cannot be answered independently; they depend on other crucial questions: What is the work that I have to do? What counts as the work covered by an employment contract? Where does effort begin and end? What does it mean, for instance, to be ‘committed’ to one’s job, to be ‘passionate’ company or team – in terms of effort? What does it mean to be creative or innovative? Who has ‘potential’? Are these part of the employment contract? What is work today, after all?

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.

Major Approaches to the Study of International Relations will explore the development of International Relations (IR) theory in the 20th and 21st centuries and examine it in the light of major historical developments and contemporary events. The module aims at providing the students with the necessary skills and background knowledge to engage critically with the world that we live in. To do so, the module pays special attention to the unequal power relations and Western dominance in the study of IR and politics, and to how they have become embedded into our institutions, theories and methods. The module will also introduce students to theories and debates in human and environmental sustainability.

Learning Outcomes

• compare and contrast the major international relations theories and apply them to contemporary international relations, security and sustainability issues and problems;
• understand the different historical contexts behind these theoretical developments and see how they change and develop over time;
• understand the different political implications of the main IR theories and how these interact with different political movements;
• better understand specialised debates in international relations, security and foreign policy, including a knowledge of specialised terminology;
• put into historical context, understand and criticise debates about international relations, security and sustainability;understand the larger theoretical framework in which international relations are positioned;
• provide space to engage in critical discussions about power, gender and race in IR, and help in developing a more critical eye to the challenges and possibilities of different approaches to and visions of IR;
• obtain an introductory knowledge of environmental sustainability.

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. It examines a range of key issues in the contemporary organisation including bureaucracy, managerial control, technological change, leadership and management ethics as viewed through the lenses of current debates in social theory, management and organisation studies.

What is meant by change management and how to analyse organisational change is an important, contested and complex question. It is the focus of this course.

In recent decades, management gurus, consultants, politicians and academics have talked about a transformation of the workplace but what does this mean? A series of change initiatives have emerged such as Teamworking, Quality Management and Business Process Reengineering which can be understood as part of this transformation and a means to achieve it. This course aims to challenge accepted and simplistic understandings and practices associated with change. Our contention is that to understand what is going on necessitates a reflexive and critical appreciation of the contradictions, complexities and paradoxes of organisational change and interventions that seek to secure change.

The course aims to provide students with a theoretical and practical understanding of key ideas and perspectives in the management of organisational change. Throughout the course we will introduce concepts, theories and cases from studies of managers and organisations. Our focus is upon the development your abilities to analyse change management critically, systemically and reflectively.

As managers and others seek to initiate, implement and account for the impacts of change projects it is important that taken for granted assumptions and simplistic solutions about organisational life are both articulated, understood and rethought. Throughout the course prevailing assumptions in the managerial literature are examined and evaluated from a range of advanced social scientific perspectives. By the end of course you should have developed an understanding of the complex and contested nature and practice of the management of organisational change.

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.

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?

The teaching and learning strategy of Diplomacy and Foreign Policy is designed to give students both theoretical and practical understanding of contemporary issues in diplomacy and foreign policy. Academic teaching can be complemented by lectures and in-class activities carried out by practitioners (e.g. diplomats, civil servants, etc.).

Assessment is by 5,000 word essay.

Philosophy is a various, contested, self-reflective discipline. It includes many different areas, questions, and approaches to answering them. Metaphysics, ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and aesthetics are just some of the more obvious areas. Philosophers at Lancaster investigate questions about the nature of mental illness, free will, the self, the ethics of new medical technologies, Romantic thought, the emotions, autonomy, and many other topics. Our approaches range across critical reading of historical texts, engagement with special sciences including biology and psychology, conceptual analysis, literary studies, phenomenology, and more.

The aim of this module is to use guided practice in doing philosophy, and in thinking about what we’re doing, to develop the skills and virtues of a postgraduate-level philosopher. We pursue this aim in three strands:

(1) Presentations from philosophy staff on their research work, followed by discussion, to offer a tasting menu of some of the varied questions and approaches in contemporary professional philosophy as done here at Lancaster

(2) Reading and guided discussion of an important text or texts in one or more contemporary sub-disciplines of philosophy

(3) Reflective practice in central philosophical styles of skilled reading, writing, research, discussion, and presentation.

Assessment is by 5,000 word essay.