Undercover philosophy? Demystifying philosophy for management education

Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand the types of philosophy programmes that are taught to managers and management students around the world. Design/methodology/approach A thematic analysis was conducted based on semi-structured interviews with 62 professors and trainers who teach philosophy for management in 22 different countries. Findings The results reveal that there are at least 24 types of philosophy for management programmes, which fall into two broad categories: (1) traditional management courses that are based on philosophy (MP4M) and (2) philosophy programmes designed for management (PP4M). Interestingly, many of these are taught in an “undercover” manner, which opens a discussion on the use of hidden curricula in philosophy for management. Originality/value This study contributes to demystifying the field of philosophy for management (P4M) as a subset of management learning and education (MLE). It is the first paper to coin the term “philosophy for management” and to provide a typology of philosophy programmes in business based on empirical data from various geographies. Through mapping out the types of programmes within the discipline, researchers and practitioners can reflect on how to approach business education from a philosophical angle. Ultimately, this study illustrates the diversity of ways that make it possible to integrate philosophy into management education.