Ideology in management studies

Ideology is a core concept in the social sciences and, in management, has long been deployed to highlight the political and embedded nature of management ideas and practices. We provide an overview, classification and evaluation of the meanings and use of ideology in the field of management studies. This is based on a review of 169 peer-reviewed empirical and theoretical articles and 41 related books published between 1956 and 2015. We find seven dominant views of ideology in management studies and connect them to different broader social science conceptualizations of ideology as: (1) domination; (2) legitimation; (3) a way of describing and explaining; (4) social integration; (5) a normative logic; (6) an object of critique; and (7) a fantasy structuring social reality. In doing so, we draw attention to the variety of contributions of ideology to understanding management and organisations and conclude by outlining its continuing relevance and avenues for future research.