Accessibility statement

The Literature & Art of Management - MAN00047H

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  • Department: The York Management School
  • Module co-ordinator: Prof. Stephen Linstead
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: H
  • Academic year of delivery: 2023-24

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 1 2023-24

Module aims

This module explores key issues in contemporary management through the humanistic lenses of literature and art. Success in business and management that is sustainable and ethical requires more than an exclusively materialist economic view of the world. Learning to think critically and with sensitivity to the needs of diverse workforces and customers requires moral judgement, awareness of differing epistemological and ontological assumptions about society and culture, appreciation of aesthetics, and the ability to communicate across disciplinary boundaries. Students will learn techniques in literary and art-historical analysis, deepening their interdisciplinary cultural intelligence.

Module learning outcomes

  1. Read diverse texts and images closely and critically, and interpret them with reference to the period and tradition in which they were produced.

  2. Analyse the affective power of language and narrative, and their cultural and political impact, and use this awareness to better understand management in context.

  3. Evaluate complex management situations and their consequences by drawing on diverse literary and aesthetic perspectives.

  4. Make creative management decisions by synthesising visual sources and literary texts.

  5. Develop reflective awareness as a professional manager, including understanding of the importance of empathy and sensemaking in management practice.

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Individual Creative Project		 N/A 40
Essay/coursework
Reflective Journal 2000 Words		 N/A 40
Essay/coursework
Student Participation		 N/A 20

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

Formative assessments will receive feedback as follows:

  • Critical question composition: verbal and written feedback from tutor, verbal feedback from peers

  • Project plan presentation: written feedback from tutor, verbal feedback from peers

  • Reflective visual: written feedback from tutor

Summative participation assessments will receive written feedback from tutor on a weekly basis.

Module assessment reports to students are written by the module leader for all assessments and placed on the VLE after the Board of Examiners has received the module marks.

The timescale for the return of feedback will accord with TYMS policy.

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Individual Creative Project		 N/A 40
Essay/coursework
Question Set		 N/A 20
Essay/coursework
Reflective Journal		 N/A 40

Module feedback

Feedback will be given in accordance with the University Policy on feedback in the Guide to Assessment as well as in line with the School policy.

Indicative reading

Arbus, D. (1970). Jewish Giant at Home with His Parents in the Bronx, NYC, photograph.

Coles, R. (1989). The call of stories: Teaching and the moral imagination. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Czarniawska- Joerges, B and Guillet de Monthoux, P.(2004) Good Novels, Better Management reading organizational realities in fiction London: Routledge

Gunn, E. (2004). "Stable strategies for middle management," in Stable strategies and others. San Francisco: Tachyon.

Madsbjerg, C. (2017). Sensemaking: The power of the humanities in the age of the algorithm. New York: Hachette Books.

Morgan, C (2010) What Poetry Brings to Business (with K. Lange and C. Buswick) Ann Arbor: Un. of MIchigan Press

Orwell, G. (1996 [1954]). Animal farm. Harlow, England: Longman.

Ravn, O. (2020). The employees: A workplace novel of the 22nd century. Trans. Aitken, M. London: Lolli Editions.

Shonebare, Y. (1998). Mr and Mrs Andrews without Their Heads. 165 x 570 x 254 cm.

Tolstoy, L. (2008 [1895]). “Master and man.” In Coles, R., and LaFarge, A. (Eds.). Minding the store: Great writing about business, from Tolstoy to now. New York: New Press, pp. 251-299.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.