Transcript TOK and Business

THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE
and
SCHOOL ECONOMICS AND
BUSINESS
Whose Perspectives?
and other Problems of Knowledge
The Theory of Knowledge Diagram
Where is Business and Management?
WAYS OF KNOWING
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Perception
Emotion
Reason
Language
HOW DO THEY PLAY A ROLE IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF ECONOMIC AND
BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE?
PROBLEMS OF KNOWLEDGE
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Sources - bias and subjectivity
Evidence - reliability
Degree of Certainty
Methods and standards of Justification
Whose knowledge?
History of knowledge
PERCEPTION
What we PERCEIVE of the real world is a
product of a FILTERING PROCESS
involving:
a BIOLOGICAL filter
a COGNITIVE filter which includes
a PSYCHOLOGICAL and LINGUISTIC filter
a CULTURAL and VALUES filter
PERCEPTIONS AND KNOWLEDGE
CONSTRUCTION
The COGNITIVE FILTER can itself be
broken down further into
• a rational filter (“head”) – psychological,
linguistic
• an axiological filter (“heart”) – cultural,
moral, aesthetic
These filters may take the forms of models,
theories, paradigms and value
judgements.
Knowledge, paradigms, and the world
**”Head” - LANGUAGE, THOUGHT PROCESSES,
“Heart” - CULTURE, VALUES, PARADIGMS and IDEOLOGIES
Biological Filter
“Head” and “heart” filters**
Knowledge
The world
Knowledge re-shaping the world through human action
NATURE OF BUSINESS
KNOWLEDGE
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What is the role of intuitions and tacit knowledge in
business decisions?
Can management be taught from a book? Do
successful managers know more than they can tell?
Whose perspective does B&M adopt?
Is the management of organizations an art or a
science?
What roles do emotions and creativity play in
business, and how are they manifested?
Changing assumptions about human beings and
culture in business.
SPECIFIC ISSUES IN B&M THAT
CONNECT WITH TOK
• Measuring what we value vs. valuing what we
measure. Can quality be reliably captured in
quantitative measures?
• Cost-benefit reasoning vs. ethical reasoning in
business decisions and strategy
• The reliability of business accounts
• Sources of bias in business knowledge
• Whose knowledge – management’s or
employee’s?
• Others?
ETHICAL ISSUES IN BUSINESS
AND ORGANIZATIONAL LIFE
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Can ethical judgments be applied to the
behaviour of corporations (as distinct from its
managers or other agents)?
Is it ethical for businesses to develop ethical
objectives as a marketing strategy?
Is it possible to be humane and successful in
business at the same time?
WHAT WE CAN DO AS
TEACHERS
• Pay special attention to the distinction between
technical and non-technical uses of words
• Encourage students to look for the limitations of
economic and strategic analysis
• Encourage focus on institutional, behavioural,
moral and political assumptions of any analysis
• Encourage students to identify, wherever
possible, the gainers and losers from policies.