ABSTRACT
Management researchers and management educators stand accused of creating and disseminating knowledge that lacks relevance to managerial practice (Starkey and Madan 2001; Grey 2004). Some have even argued that bad management theories are actually destroying good management practice (Goshal 2005). Associated with the concern about management education is a related concern that management education does nothing more than equip potential managers with the tools to talk about practice rather than producing managers who are competent practitioners (Armstrong 2005). It is damning criticisms like these that led Starkey and Tempest (2005) to wonder whether the future of business schools is in doubt because both their research and teaching missions are perhaps fatally compromised. This is despite the fact that there have been calls for more relevant approaches designed to attend to the needs of managers spanning over 30 years (e.g., Argyris and Schön 1974).
