Management Theory Meets the 'Other'

The 1980s and 1990s have witnessed rapid transformations in our social practices and institutions. Structural adjustment, the role of the state, privatisation and new modes of organising and management have brought forth 'new' perspectives and the engendering of new techniques and analyses of management theory and practice. Feminism and the import of postmodernist analyses have focussed on the silences and absences within management theory. This paper is part of the attempt to examine absence, in particular, that of 'race' and 'differences' within management theory and practices. It argues that the base of management theory, its positivism, is flawed and neglects history, dimensions of power, domination and identities. The paper locates management theory within the discourse of modernity and suggests that an altemative epistemology can be created. The paper moves on to attempt to synthesise approaches derived from alternative theoretical perspectives and practices, arguing that a more informed management theory can be created from such a fusion.