Rethinking Management: Confronting the Roots and Consequences of Current Theory and Practice - Softcover

Douglas, Neil; Wykowski, Terry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3319824597 ISBN 13: 9783319824598

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018

Synopsis

This book challenges the roots and elements of the existing dominant paradigm of management, which can legitimize artless practices and result in dysfunction, and proposes an alternative based on a different understanding of human nature and social and economic life. This paradigm is designed to bring about the conception of organizations as wholes rather than assemblies of disembodied fragments, with managers as facilitators of the work of others and shapers of culture, with a clear sense of purpose and a moral compass. Such a paradigm would result in a practice of management that is more competent, more purposeful, and more ethical, based on a more accurate and complete comprehension of reality. 

This book sets forth a more optimistic understanding of human nature and collective life, and the hope that we can be and do better.  It is a major contribution to the field of management and will benefit academics, managers, and consultants working in the fields of organizational development and strategic change.

About this title

About the Author

Neil Douglas and Terry Wykowski are principals of the Oxford Consulting Group in Houston, Texas.  They are authors of From Belief to Knowledge: Achieving and Sustaining an Adaptive Culture in Organizations and Beyond Reductionism: Gateways for Learning and Change.

From the Back Cover

This book challenges the roots and elements of the existing dominant paradigm of management, which can legitimize artless practices and result in dysfunction, and proposes an alternative based on a different understanding of human nature and social and economic life. This paradigm is designed to bring about the conception of organizations as wholes rather than assemblies of disembodied fragments, with managers as facilitators of the work of others and shapers of culture, with a clear sense of purpose and a moral compass. Such a paradigm would result in a practice of management that is more competent, more purposeful, and more ethical, based on a more accurate and complete comprehension of reality. 

This book sets forth a more optimistic understanding of human nature and collective life, and the hope that we can be and do better.  It is a major contribution to the field of management and will benefit academics, managers, and consultants working in the fields of organizational development and strategic change.

Edition details

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3319824597
• ISBN 13: 9783319824598
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 295