Elephant and the Flea: Reflections of a Reluctant Capitalist (Reflection of a Reluctant Capitalist) - Softcover

Handy, Fellow Charles

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1591391288 ISBN 13: 9781591391289

Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press, 2003

Synopsis

Language:Chinese.Paperback. Pub Date: 2003-2-1 Pages: 233 Publisher: Perseus This is not another how to start your own business book. but rather one mans struggle to find meaning and fulfillment inwork. latching onto elephants when needed. but mostly flying solowithout a net. -Booklist Social philosopher and international business guru. CharlesHandy provides a firsthand account of how we got here and where weare headed. Handy takes us on his lifes journey. looking back tosuch topics as his childhood and education and how they prepared (or . rather. did not prepare) him for a career in business; thechanging nature of organizational life within the context of theold economy and the new; the great variety of capitalism around theworld; and. through it all. his struggle to find meaning andfulfillment in work. This book is both a poignant personal memoirand a deep reflection on t...

About this title

Product Description:

From his childhood in a Irish vicarage, to Oxford University, to his first job as an oil executive with Royal Dutch/Shell in the Far East, to a professorship at the London Business School, to chairmanship of the Royal Society of Arts, and finally to his current status as an eminent social philosopher and international business guru.

Review:

Charles Handy is always a delight to read, and The Elephant and the Flea--his autobiography-laced analysis of business over the past two decades--is no exception. In his 13th book, the United Kingdom's pre-eminent sage on commercial and industrial matters looks within and at education, marriage, religion and society in order to assess the changing nature of employment. His literate and knowledgeable tale begins in 1981, when Handy decided to exchange a safe but stifling life with a corporation (the "elephant" of his title) for the riskier but potentially more rewarding existence of an independent (or "flea"). Mixing diverse experiences with cogent observations on the evolving workplace, he sets the scene for plausible projections about where we might yet be headed. "Just as the signs were there 20 years ago for those who wished to see them, so I believe we can glimpse the shape of the new capitalist world even if it may take another 20 years to develop," he writes. "We may not like what is coming but we would be foolish to think that we can plan our lives, or our children's lives, without giving some thought to the shape of the stage on which we and they will be strutting". Intensely personal yet remarkably universal, the result is another provocative, illuminating and enjoyable book from the oil executive turned bestselling author.--Howard Rothman

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1591391288
• ISBN 13: 9781591391289
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240