Faculty
Pierre Guillet de Monthoux, Ole Bjerg, Per H. Hansen

Course Coordinator
Pierre Guillet de Monthoux

BA and BSc. We are addressing issues fundamental to more instrumental approaches in management such as accounting and finance showing the philosophical and historical conditions necessary for using money as a tool in new enterprise; in other words innovate by means of money. Therefore we also welcome both students in finance, accounting and operations management.

The fundamental ideas for the course are as follows:

If management simply is the art of running human affairs why make it a special subject of study? Why not dissolve the business schools and have future leaders and managers study history, economics, sociology, psychology, philosophy or any other university subject.

Firstly this course explores what makes management so special and different from handling other human affairs in general namely; Money.

Secondly the course addresses the question how money might affect human action and the managerial consequences to draw from this insight. We apply monetary history and philosophies of money, but also more literary and artistic sources, to address these issues in the following ways.

Money as Scapegoat?

Let us critically investigate a number of philosophico-moral ideas from Plato and onwards blaming it all on money. What are the arguments put forth and how have these ideas gained foothold in both popular mentalities, religious faith and political agendas? Money and poverty?

Money as Messiah?

So how come many have hailed money as an institution fundamental to progress and human development? What kinds of monies have these thinkers had in mind and how do they conceive their evolutions? From language-games to money-games! Money and wealth?

Monies and Institutions?

Let us go through the emergence of different monies in economic history. Are these monies actually different concepts or definitions? What has been the legal reason for inventing the concepts? What are the connections to interest, risk and insurance? How do monetary institutions organize economics action?

Money-Making?

What is the connection between money and action. Is there a difference between money-making and making money? How do we manage a development from demanding money to supplying money. Here we look at the institutional history of banking and finance. What does it mean to go from a monetarized society to the financialization of global economies?

Management and Money?

Finally we ask; given our discussions of the points above; should be rethink what managers are doing and what kind of knowledge management implies?

Gain an understanding of how to reflect on money using both philosophy and history

Link this understanding to how to manage money-making in practice; fighting poverty, increasing wealth.

Gain an understanding of money for action beyond the idea of “neutral money”. Money as a tool or Money as a toy!

Ability to assess if and how different cultures work with different concept of monies.

Individual oral exam based on a mini project (individual or group). Internal censor.

The project consist in investigating a specific money-case in the recommended literature list and compare it to an actual money- situation to be observed in everyday life.

The curriculum of the course will only consist of some of the following