Hi Folks, my response to the debate. Individual responses to me are best
received at my hotmail account:
edgonsalves@hotmail.com. Thanks
Ed
> Hey Bernardo
>
> Top question and realization challenge, so thanks for raising it.
> My take on this is that whilst 'peripheral' yet significant
> human & social
> science faculties in the US have a tradition of struggle and
> experience in
> challenging the unreconstructed, logical positivist approach
> to knowledge
> acquisition and dissemination- most Business School faculty
> are consumed
> within just that model. The idea of critical studies then is
> problematic.
> Strong theories of culture in the US may still tend to reside
> outside of the
> Business School mainstream. Whilst in the UK many of our schools have
> recognised the relevance of the 'cultural' turn, although they still
> struggle to find a material place for it in the curriculum.
> I'd suspect that
> Giddens and Hambermas for instance barely register on US Bus
> School radar
> screen debates when reflecting on either Curriculum Content, or
> Development.The Grant versus J&S choice sits right under that tension.
-----Original Message-----
From: Charles Wankel
To:
MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
Sent: 09/05/02 17:09
Subject: [MG-ED-DV] FW: Biases - Re: Strategy Textbooks - The way forward?
From:
esteban.trevino@neoris.com [mailto:
esteban.trevino@neoris.com]
Steven,
The American focus, may or may not apply in other parts of the world,
and
the sorts of things to keep in mind (and include in books) may differ
from
culture to culture. Probably because the audience is American and
America
is such a huge market, there exists little need to explore and resolve
others problems. For example Accounting under large inflation has to
discount that 'distortion' and may change the 'effective business
practices' (having large inventory becomes better because currency
looses
its value so rapidly under inflation). In theory, when dealing with
other
cultures Americans may have to adapt to the other cultures, in reality
the
other culture often must adapt to the American way. What is the de
facto
academic language, which gives the most freedom? English, right? Does an
American benefit from the richness of different languages to think in?
Do
they have the need to shift into a second language in order to exchange
ideas ? I presume anyone could get along throughout the world speaking
English, since many have adopted that as their second language .
Certainly the sort of things that become central vary depending on the
cultural stuff, for you an me it may be perfectly fine to know the
frozen
water crystals that fall in winter as 'snow', though for the people who
live in it almost all year and have over 50 different ways to
differentiate
that stuff 'snow' may be like stating that the rainbow has color instead
of
colors.
It may be that the reason that American scholars predominantly select
their
own texts has to do with including what is most applicable to them and
the
more subtle distinction may just complicate things which are only
applicable somewhere else...
Finally to end this post with a cultural anecdote... I remember in the
late 70´s being asked by an American if I had a donkey to move around as
if
cars did not exist where I live ... Hollywood does a great job of
distorting the way some countries are perceived within America...
Cordially,
Esteban