The Critical Management Studies Division is a forum within the Academy for the expression of views critical of unethical management practices and exploitative social order. Our premise is that structural features of contemporary society, such as the profit imperative, patriarchy, racial inequality, and ecological irresponsibility often turn organizations into instruments of domination and exploitation. Driven by a shared desire to change this situation, we aim in our research, teaching, and practice to develop critical interpretations of management and society and to generate radical alternatives. Our critique seeks to connect the practical shortcomings in management and individual managers to the demands of a socially divisive and ecologically destructive system within which managers work. Please read  our domain statement in full.

WHY and HOW Join US

As for the HOW:

Academy members are entitled to join two divisions/interest groups with their regular membership dues.  To add an additional interest group costs $5 – which is the cost to add a membership in CMS if you are already a member of two divisions and/or interest groups.

You may add CMS as an Division when you complete your membership renewal online or using your mailed invoice.  To add CMS or change your division/interest group membership prior to renewal, please contact Isabel Barney, at the Academy offices.

The CMS runs a listserv for people who sympathize with our goals. Its purpose is to share information and facilitate discussion and debate among our members. It is a "closed" list, meaning that you cannot post to it unless you are a subscriber. To subscribe, contact Charles Booth.

CMS HISTORY

The Critical Management Studies Workshop was first organized for the pre-conference portion of the 1998 Academy of Management Meetings in San Diego. The purpose of the Workshop was to provide a forum in which researchers with an interest in critical approaches (broadly defined) to diverse aspects of management and organization studies could meet and discuss their research interests.

The Workshop has since been approved as an Interest Group by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Management and, as voted by the general assembly of members in Atlanta 2007, and confirmed in Philadelphia in 2007, and following an online survey of the membership, we are now seeking division status.

CMS GOVERNANCE:

Our system of governance follows the Academy rules. See our By Laws for any relevant detail and visit our Executive Committee page.