Beyond Modernity- Is Postmodernism Relevant To Management Development?

I want to explore the concept of post-modernism as it might apply to management development. I shall take a particular stance and interpretation of the concept of post-modernism. I am conscious of Eco’s (1985) point that in the 1980s the term became applied ’to anything the user of the term happens to live’ (p. 65). He went on to complain that ’there seems to be an attempt to make it increasingly retroactive: first it was apparently applied to certain writers or artists active in the last 20 years, then gradually it reached the beginning of the century, then still further back. And this reverse procedure continues; soon the postmodern category will include Homer’ (pp. 65-66). Ree (1990) and others have also raised concern about the overuse of the term and its ambiguity. As he says &dquo;’Postmodern&dquo; may be a safe word, but it is a rather ambiguous one. In particular, does it refer to a historical period (postmodernity) or to an up-to-date style (postmodernism) ?’ (p. 15). I want to be awkward and suggest that if we are to get any mileage out of the concept we might look at it in ways not covered by Ree. I shall choose to write the word in the form ’Post-Modern’ (that is, hyphenated) rather than ’postmodern’. I want to imply something that responds to Modernism, but is not necessarily trapped in a historical time frame, nor meaning merely up-to-date or new. This latter use might appeal to many managers and management development practitioners who overvalue newness, the latest gimmicks and ’flavour of the month’ techniques. I