Seductive Concepts: How Management Fashions become Management Theories

Posted on: 28 March 2023

Professor Catherine Welch will deliver her Inaugural Lecture entitled "Seductive Concepts: How Management Fashions become Management Theories" on Tuesday 4th April at 6pm in the Dargan Lecture Theatre, Trinity Business School.

This event is free and open to the public and you can register for it here.

About Seductive Concepts: How Management Fashions become Management Theories

Why do management researchers study what they do? What explains the popularity of some research topics over others? Where do management theories come from and why does this matter? How do we decide which ideas attain the status of theory? 

Catherine said "In this lecture I examine an alluring source of inspiration for theory development in management and strategy research: management fashions. Management fashions are simplistic recipes for success accompanied by catchy phrases but scant empirical evidence.  A powerful source of fashions in the contemporary global economy is management consultants. I examine how consulting-derived fashions are established and legitimized in the management field. I follow the lifecycle of an influential fashion in international strategy, from its creation to import, institutionalization and mutation. In doing so, I address how the concept was able to gain legitimacy, despite lacking strong empirical foundations or robust scrutiny. I conclude with the broader implications for management research and the societal role of universities."

About Prof Catherine Welch

Catherine Welch is Chair of Strategic Management at Trinity, having previously been a Professor at the University of Sydney, Australia. She is also a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Aalto University, Finland. Catherine's research has concentrated on approaches to context in international business research, particularly the use of qualitative research methodology and process approaches to studying firm internationalization. Her work has appeared in leading journals in international business and management, including the full range of major international business journals. 

More information and registration for the event is available here.

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