Encouraging the managerial imagination: ethnography, smart phones and novel ways of seeing

McMurray, R.

doi:10.1504/ijwoe.2014.059430

Encouraging the managerial imagination: ethnography, smart phones and novel ways of seeing

McMurray, R.

Authors

R. McMurray

Abstract

This paper invites discussion of the role, potential and limitations of employing the ethnographic lens in undergraduate management teaching as a response to growing concerns over the usefulness of critical management education. Specifically, it outlines the case for employing the smart phone as a novel channel through which to introduce would-be managers to new 'ways of seeing' (Berger, 1972). Describing how this is achieved in practice through the production of photo essays and online films, the paper contributes to our understanding of how the apparent freedom afforded by the ethnographic lens to 'see anew' is necessarily constructed through the disciplinary effects of ethics, copyrights and the privileging of a very particular academic audience. The result is a necessarily circumscribed pedagogic space that nonetheless allows room for the doubt, uncertainty, contradiction and experimentation that is essential for more engaged learning and critical managing.

Citation

McMurray, R. (2014). Encouraging the managerial imagination: ethnography, smart phones and novel ways of seeing. International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 6(1), 24-39. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijwoe.2014.059430

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Feb 1, 2014
Deposit Date	Mar 6, 2014
Publicly Available Date	Mar 17, 2014
Journal	International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion
Print ISSN	1740-8938
Electronic ISSN	1740-8946
Publisher	Inderscience
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	6
Issue	1
Pages	24-39
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1504/ijwoe.2014.059430
Keywords	Critical management studies, CMS, Ethnography, Engaged learning, Managerial imagination, Smartphones, Undergraduate management teaching, Management education, Higher education, Berger, Ways of seeing, Photo essays, Online films, Ethics, Copyright.