Report 2002: Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy (MPP)
Blaagaardsgade 23B
DK-2200 Copenhagen N
Head of Department: Søren Barlebo Wenneberg
Telefon: +45 3815 3630
Fax: +45 3815 3635
E-mail: heh.lpf@cbs.dk
DK-2200 Copenhagen N
Head of Department: Søren Barlebo Wenneberg
Telefon: +45 3815 3630
Fax: +45 3815 3635
E-mail: heh.lpf@cbs.dk
Management plays a central and significant role in modern society. At LPF we see management as a sociality-creating phenomenon. Over the last year, we have defined the following Department mission: To conduct internationally recognised critically-constructive management research, to educate our students to become reflective practicians and to convert our knowledge into practice and to responsibly make a difference to practice.
Our management research must be constructive to make it useful, but it must also be critical in order to create a distance to and added value for other organisations, whether private, public, political or voluntary. If we are just paying lip service to people, no one will learn anything from us.
Highlights of 2002
- The number of Department PhD students and assistant professors is constantly growing and now constitutes about 50 persons. This is an increase of 35 per cent against the previous year. The Department now has a total staff of approx. 120. Several internationally recognised guest professors (e.g. Steve Fuller and Mitchell Dean) visited the Department in the past year.
- The Department held numerous conferences, seminars and workshops over the year - both research-oriented conferences and conferences aimed at a wider audience. LPF hosted the fourth international Triple Helix Conference, which became a great success with more than 250 participants from all over the world. Helge Sander, the Danish Minister of Science, was among the participants.
- The Department is constantly developing new, interesting disciplines, study programmes and PhD courses. For example, the Department contributed to the development of the new, highly popular BSc programme in business administration and communication. It is also developing an international executive master programme in knowledge management.
- The Center for Corporate Communication (CCC) was affiliated to the Department in connection with its reorganisation. Ole Thyssen from LPF became new head of the Center. In November 2002, the relaunched CCC held a conference entitled: " Hvad vil det sige at tale på virksomhedens vegne" (What does it mean to speak on behalf of an enterprise). Danske Bank Chairman Peter Straarup and newspaper editor Hans Engell were among the participants.
- For several years the Department has hosted the LOK Research Center (management, organisation, competence). The research productivity of the Center was exceedingly high, and presentation of results was also high on the list of achievements. The annual LOK Newspaper was published and distributed in more than 10,000 copies to organisations, enterprises and researchers.
Academic profile
The field of the Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy is management of all types of organisations. We focus on management as a sociality-creating phenomenon rather than management from an economic and efficiency-oriented point of view. Hence, we see management as something that creates norms, rules, terminologies, organisations, groups, regions (such as the Oresund region), etc. Department research is organised in five research groups: 1. Management Philosophy, 2. Public and Political Management, 3. Business History, 4. Strategic Management, 5. Management of Innovation and Knowledge.
The aim of the Philosophy Group is to understand the phenomena of society and sociality. It addresses this objective through a number of 'traditional' philosophical approaches such as phenomenology, social analytics, system theory and critical theory. Typical subjects include knowledge, normativity (values, morals, ethics), aesthetics, organisation and power. More recent concepts such as corporate communication, social responsibility, loyalty, discipline and subjectivity production are also important. The Group houses the "Center for Corporate Communication" (CCC). Seven Group members are affiliated to the "Center for Corporate Values and Responsibility" (CVR). Furthermore, a centre focusing on art and leadership is being established.
The Politics Group is concerned with the borderline between the public and private domain and with public and political management. Both are highly productive areas for the study and observation of social change. Changes in the relation between state and market are pivotal to social change. Similarly, themes such as "corporate politicisation", "the politics of self", campaign management and management of NGO's have enormous potential for the understanding of social change and collective influence on individuals.
The primary aim of the History Group (Center for Business History) is to understand the role of modern enterprises in social development with an emphasis on the development of the economy. Another focus area of the Group is the significance of social development on enterprises. It takes a methodical approach by focusing on historical analyses of the development of certain enterprises in a social (political and technological) context.
The Strategy Group focuses on strategic management. Regionalisation is a key area of research, and the Oresund Region is among the most important subjects of study. Other subjects of the Group are e-learning and e-business and how these new technologies and business practices are creating new strategic challenges to enterprises. The Group houses the LOK Research Center, the Center for Applied Management Studies (CAMS) and the Scandinavian Academy for Management Studies (SAMS).
The Innovation Group focuses on social changes concerning knowledge, particularly the relation between knowledge and value and the generation of knowledge in networks. Special focus areas include:
- How to manage knowledge production and application.
- Generation of knowledge and innovation and related micro processes.
- How to handle distributed knowledge production and application.
All three knowledge areas are placed in a wider social context. A special focus area of the Group is cooperation between universities and the business community. The Group houses the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and REMAP, a major research project on research management.
Research strategy
The common focus of the Department is management as a sociality-creating phenomenon. In the course of 2002, key research themes were confidence and loyalty. From 2003 onwards, we are going to address the themes of time, space, normativity and technology. Time categories such as change, speed, timing and stress are of increasing importance to management. In the same way, it is becoming more and more crucial to address spatial phenomena like networks, aesthetics, construction of working spaces, communication and globalisation from a management point of view. Management technologies (e.g. Balanced Scorecard, Business Process Reengineering and HR development interviews) is increasingly important to ways of management. Hence, we are going to focus on the technology concept and to try to understand how various management technologies work in organisations in general. Many LPF projects already incorporate normative phenomena such as ethics, values and social responsibility. However, in future we are going to study normativity in a broader sense. Generally speaking, normativity is everything that changes and moves sociality.
The common focus of the Department is management as a sociality-creating phenomenon. In the course of 2002, key research themes were confidence and loyalty. From 2003 onwards, we are going to address the themes of time, space, normativity and technology. Time categories such as change, speed, timing and stress are of increasing importance to management. In the same way, it is becoming more and more crucial to address spatial phenomena like networks, aesthetics, construction of working spaces, communication and globalisation from a management point of view. Management technologies (e.g. Balanced Scorecard, Business Process Reengineering and HR development interviews) is increasingly important to ways of management. Hence, we are going to focus on the technology concept and to try to understand how various management technologies work in organisations in general. Many LPF projects already incorporate normative phenomena such as ethics, values and social responsibility. However, in future we are going to study normativity in a broader sense. Generally speaking, normativity is everything that changes and moves sociality.
The four themes of space, time, technology and normativity will be addressed across the five research groups of the Department.
Research results
LPF has always had a high publication rate. In recent years, however, a couple of important shifts have occurred. Firstly, the number of foreign-language publications (especially in English) has increased and the number of Nordic-language publications has declined. Secondly, there has been an increase in reviewed articles published in journals and a decline in the number of books. This is the result of deliberate prioritisation. International articles ensure the quality of our work and that it is not of local interest only. However, it is important to maintain the right balance at all times. The Danish public is still entitled to Danish books, and we still want to publish them.
LPF has always had a high publication rate. In recent years, however, a couple of important shifts have occurred. Firstly, the number of foreign-language publications (especially in English) has increased and the number of Nordic-language publications has declined. Secondly, there has been an increase in reviewed articles published in journals and a decline in the number of books. This is the result of deliberate prioritisation. International articles ensure the quality of our work and that it is not of local interest only. However, it is important to maintain the right balance at all times. The Danish public is still entitled to Danish books, and we still want to publish them.
This development is also reflected in Figure 1 illustrating the number of Department publications over the last five years.
Figure 1: Types of Department publications 1998-2002.
The Figure shows a substantial increase in international publications in 2002. Unfortunately, the increased commitment to international publication also resulted in a drastic reduction in the Nordic-language publication. The Department's research production did not increase as much as the number of staff, but the effect of the enlargement is expected to show next year. At least this is our declared goal.
Research relations to practice
The Department has wide working relations to the business community and public institutions. All of the five research groups are involved in several joint ventures with external partners. A large number of PhD students are funded by external organisations - for the purpose of solving specific tasks and to have a relation of commitment to the Department and our research. In general, Department researchers consider external relations rewarding and valuable. Trying to convert research results into practice is a highly efficient way to evaluate knowledge.
The Department has wide working relations to the business community and public institutions. All of the five research groups are involved in several joint ventures with external partners. A large number of PhD students are funded by external organisations - for the purpose of solving specific tasks and to have a relation of commitment to the Department and our research. In general, Department researchers consider external relations rewarding and valuable. Trying to convert research results into practice is a highly efficient way to evaluate knowledge.
In the course of 2002, the Department held a large number of conferences with participants mainly from public and private organisations, for example two conferences on confidence as the management challenge of the future. The first conference had approx. 250 participants and the next over 400. Both conferences had presenters from the Department and from the private business sector.
The Department has also been highly visible in the media. Department researchers have acted as experts and opinion-makers in connection with a wide range of topics. Today, management and philosophical social conditions are highly topical, thereby placing Department research in a central position.
In 2002, we worked to establish a Department advisory board. The purpose is to have a panel representing a broad public interest and capable of assessing the legitimacy of our future research strategy and efforts. The first advisory board will be established in early March 2003. Such boards are also included in the draft University Bill. During the establishment phase, Danish Commerce and Service and a number of their member companies helped us understand what external stakeholders expect from us and from a working relationship with us.
As an indication of the Department's efforts to create partnerships and to acquire external research funding, Figure 2 shows a rapidly increasing level of activity in this area.
Figure 2: Department research funding in DKK mill., 1998-2002. In 1998, external funds were not divided into funds from partnerships, the European Union and Research Councils.
LPF has indeed grown substantially - not least due to external funding. This is a good thing in many respects. It indicates that the public considers our work to be of high quality. On the other hand, we should not continue to grow. It is time to consolidate and to make sure that the external resources contribute to ensuring an international standard in the future.
Reports from selected centres and projects
In 2002, the Center for Corporate Communication was restructured after the return of Lars Thøger Christensen to the University of Southern Denmark. The new head is Ole Thyssen, LPF, who relaunched CCC on 22 November 2002 with a conference on what it means to speak on behalf of an enterprise. Danske Bank Chairman Peter Straarup, newspaper editor Hans Engell and German sociologist Dirk Baecker were among the participants. Center secretary is Lonnie Hansen, and a number of ambitious seminars and conferences were planned for 2003. Den æstetiske organisation (The aesthetic organisation) was the title of a two-day conference (20-21 February); The Opening of Systems Science was an international conference held in Copenhagen on 23-25 May. In addition, a number of other conferences will be held on food and communication (arranged in cooperation with Danish chef Claus Meyer), design (arranged in cooperation with Bang and Olufsen) and on CBS's role in the knowledge society.
In 2002, the Center for Corporate Communication was restructured after the return of Lars Thøger Christensen to the University of Southern Denmark. The new head is Ole Thyssen, LPF, who relaunched CCC on 22 November 2002 with a conference on what it means to speak on behalf of an enterprise. Danske Bank Chairman Peter Straarup, newspaper editor Hans Engell and German sociologist Dirk Baecker were among the participants. Center secretary is Lonnie Hansen, and a number of ambitious seminars and conferences were planned for 2003. Den æstetiske organisation (The aesthetic organisation) was the title of a two-day conference (20-21 February); The Opening of Systems Science was an international conference held in Copenhagen on 23-25 May. In addition, a number of other conferences will be held on food and communication (arranged in cooperation with Danish chef Claus Meyer), design (arranged in cooperation with Bang and Olufsen) and on CBS's role in the knowledge society.
The LOK Research Center (management, organisation and competence). The LOK programme and its 15 research projects were highly productive in 2001-2002 and the results are beginning to emerge. This was reflected in substantial publication activity over the year as regards scientific contributions but also contributions aimed at a wider audience. A case in point is the annual LOK Newspaper which is a collection of interesting articles on LOK's research projects with some elaborative comments from practice. The newspaper is distributed in approx. 10,000 copies to organisations, enterprises and researchers.
The working relationship between the LOK Programme and enterprises and organisations continued and was further developed during the past year to the benefit of all concerned. A case in point is LOK's annual Research Conference which took place in December 2002. Representatives from organisations and LOK members were invited to discuss how presentation activities could be further strengthened. A number of interesting initiatives have been the result. In the coming period, the Research Center will continue to pursue its activities both nationally and internationally, focusing on scientific as well as communicative achievements
Last updated by Anders Krag 09/02/2005
