The Dean's disease: the Darker Side of Power
Art Bedeian's hilarious and sobering paper about how power corrupts even Academic Deans
I love Art Bedeian's work. He has written a range of often slightly subversive papers about theories and methodologies of scholarly research and academia in general. He has written about the peer review process, academics' response to publication pressures, the importance of a proper understanding of descriptive statistics, career mobility of academics, the role of referees, authors, and editor, and editorial board legitimacy.
The Dean's disease
The Dean's disease was one of Art's first papers about "the academic tribe" and is based on Art's three decades of first-hand observations on the effect of power in academic context.
- Bedeian, A. G. (2002). The dean's disease: How the darker side of power manifests itself in the office of dean. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 1(2), 164-173.
Art is careful to say that not every Dean is struck with the disease. However, I have observed enough Deans all over the world that had caught a very virulent strand of the disease. The prevalence of the disease explains why many readers have asked Art: "How on earth do you know my Dean so well?"
You can read the entire paper on Art's personal website. If you want to know more about Art, the following paper might be of interest.
- Moore, K. The Life and Times of a Senior Scholar: An Interview with Arthur Bedeian. Journal of Management History, 2014, 20, 347-351. [no free access unfortunately].
Copyright © 2023 Anne-Wil Harzing. All rights reserved. Page last modified on Sun 15 Oct 2023 07:44
Anne-Wil Harzing is Emerita Professor of International Management at Middlesex University, London. She is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business, a select group of distinguished AIB members who are recognized for their outstanding contributions to the scholarly development of the field of international business. In addition to her academic duties, she also maintains the Journal Quality List and is the driving force behind the popular Publish or Perish software program.
