The Collapse of the American Management Mystique

The Collapse of the American Management Mystique PDF Author: Robert R. Locke
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780198774068
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 378

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Book Description
Every nation likes to believe myths about itself. Americans' belief in the superiority of their managerial know-how seemed to be among those most solidly based in reality. Yet, Locke argues, despite its universal claims, American managerialism has never been more than a cultural peculiarity, one whose claims to superiority had not been proved but assumed, on the premise that the best economy must have the best management. That premise, moreover, has not served American managerialism particularly well, for in the 1970s a gap opened up between the mystique of American management and the realty of a mediocre American managerial performance. The 'mystique' collapsed and those looking for best practice began to look elsewhere. Locke traces the evolution of American management in the postwar era - the phenomenon once described by Churchill as that 'clear cut, logical, mass production style of thought'. He goes on to discuss in detail the views of such business writers as Chandler, Reich, Senge, and Deming. But the force of his critique rests on a thorough examination of alternative forms of management that grew up in West Germany and Japan during the past decades. He argues that these alternative management forms have done a better job managing capitalist economies since the 1970s than has American managerialism. But the book is not an essay in negativism. In the final chapter the author suggests paths that American management can follow in order to fulfil its original promise.

The Collapse of the American Management Mystique

The Collapse of the American Management Mystique PDF Author: Robert R. Locke
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780198774068
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 378

Get Book

Book Description
Every nation likes to believe myths about itself. Americans' belief in the superiority of their managerial know-how seemed to be among those most solidly based in reality. Yet, Locke argues, despite its universal claims, American managerialism has never been more than a cultural peculiarity, one whose claims to superiority had not been proved but assumed, on the premise that the best economy must have the best management. That premise, moreover, has not served American managerialism particularly well, for in the 1970s a gap opened up between the mystique of American management and the realty of a mediocre American managerial performance. The 'mystique' collapsed and those looking for best practice began to look elsewhere. Locke traces the evolution of American management in the postwar era - the phenomenon once described by Churchill as that 'clear cut, logical, mass production style of thought'. He goes on to discuss in detail the views of such business writers as Chandler, Reich, Senge, and Deming. But the force of his critique rests on a thorough examination of alternative forms of management that grew up in West Germany and Japan during the past decades. He argues that these alternative management forms have done a better job managing capitalist economies since the 1970s than has American managerialism. But the book is not an essay in negativism. In the final chapter the author suggests paths that American management can follow in order to fulfil its original promise.

Management Innovation

Management Innovation PDF Author: William Lazonick
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199695687
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 391

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Book Description
This book assesses the work, ideas, and influence of the doyen of business historians, Alfred Chandler, particularly on management innovation, strategy, organization, and finance.

German Business Management

German Business Management PDF Author: Toshio Yamazaki
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 4431543031
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
How are German capitalism and German business management to be understood from the perspective of Japan? Both Germany and Japan as defeated nations in World War II received significant American leadership and support after the war. Both countries developed their enterprises, industries, and economy by deploying and adapting technology and management methods from the United States while establishing systems of industrial concentration in their own ways. By these means, both nations became major trading countries. However, current economic and business conditions differ greatly between Germany and Japan. In trade, American influence on Japanese business is still strong. Japan could not and cannot establish a complementary relationship with American industrial sectors and their products in the American market. In addition, a common market structure like the E.U. does not exist in Asia. In contrast to Japan, Germany developed independently from the American influence and became part of a well-integrated regional economy. What were the driving forces that created those differences? That question is approached from a Japanese point of view in this book, based on the assumption that the origins of distinct characteristics of German business management after World War II were developed in the 1950s and ’60s. The book analyzes the transformation of business management in Germany and explains the characteristics and structures of German management. The author describes how the development of German companies determined the current German condition— “the Europeanization of Germany”—while the world faced the globalization process. Demonstrating the basic foundation of European integration by analyzing market factors in Europe as well as the internal structural transformation of management in Germany, this book is a valuable resource for undergraduate and graduate students, educators, and researchers in the fields of business management, business history, and economic history.

A History of Management Thought

A History of Management Thought PDF Author: Morgen Witzel
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1317433351
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
Of all the sciences and social sciences, management is the one that most deliberately turns its back on the past. Yet management as we know it today did not spring into life fully formed. Management has more than just a present; it also has a past, and a future, and all three are inextricably linked. This book charts the evolution of management as an intellectual discipline, from ancient times to the present day. Contemporary management challenges, including sustainability, technology and data, and legitimacy are analysed through an historical lens and with the benefit of new case studies. The author helps readers understand how the evolution of management ideas has interacted with changes in society. By framing management's history as one of challenge and response, this new edition is the perfect accompaniment for students and scholars seeking meaningful study in the business school and beyond. Essential reading as a core textbook in management history, the book is also valuable supplementary reading across the humanities and social sciences.

Handbook of Critical Information Systems Research

Handbook of Critical Information Systems Research PDF Author: Debra Howcroft
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 9781845426743
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description
'Although critical research represents a small portion of all IS research, it has always posed insightful challenges to more conventional approaches. This volume assembles a wide array of contributions by leading researchers in the field. The editors clarify the broad range of critical research beyond the seminal contributions that appeared early in IS research, making this an essential guide to contemporary approaches as well as a summation of prior contributions.' – Daniel Robey, Georgia State University, US 'This indispensable book provides an excellent overview of the variety of perspectives that characterize critical research in the information systems field.' – Michael D. Myers, University of Auckland, New Zealand This important Handbook provides a unique overview of information systems (IS) research by focusing on the increasing interest in critical-related issues. Representing a significant step forward in the development of critical perspectives on the IS field, the Handbook draws together original contributions from leading authors who offer alternatives to the current mainstream approaches to IS research. In order to accommodate the various strands of critical understanding, a broad range of views and theoretical standpoints are encompassed, thereby combining theory with practical applications, and offering a valuable source of reference for this emerging area of research. Recent years have witnessed a more explicit focus on critical research and, continuing in that vein, the editors adopt an inclusive approach which considers alternative insights that can arise from critical IS research. Topics explored include, amongst others: • management trends and IS • flexibility, freedom and women's emancipation • 'consuming passions' in the global knowledge economy • critical discourse analysis for the study of information systems • evaluation of e-governance projects in India • rationalities and emotions in IS innovation • capital, information technology and enterprise development • mediated work in global business organizations. Reflecting on key themes and emergent issues in critical information systems research, this Handbook will be invaluable reading for both academics and practitioners with an interest in a critical understanding of information systems from a variety of perspectives.

A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book About Studying Organizations

A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book About Studying Organizations PDF Author: Chris Grey
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1529764645
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 155

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Book Description
′Indispensable and subversive′ - Simon Caulkin, The Observer ′A highly entertaining polemic.... This slim volume more than lives up to its title′ - Stefan Stern, Financial Times Conceived by Chris Grey and written to get you thinking, the ′Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap’ series offers informal, conversational and critical overviews of popular areas of study. Updated throughout with examples from the biggest global news events, including the Trump presidency, cost-cutting at Boeing, working conditions at Sports Direct and the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, the fifth edition explores contemporary developments in organizations. This book is ideal for students of organizational studies, management professionals and anyone curious about the workings of organizations. Chris Grey is Emeritus Professor of Organization Studies at the School of Business and Management at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK.

The Rise of Digital Management

The Rise of Digital Management PDF Author: François-Xavier de Vaujany
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040033873
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 171

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Book Description
This book analyzes the history of management, placing it in perspective with both American history and the genealogy of digital technology. Focusing on the years of industrial mobilization in the United States (from 1937 to 1945) and their extension into the Cold War, it shows particularly how "scientific management" was reconfigured and re-legitimized in favor of a new profoundly American geopolitics. In a context where the future was at a standstill, this research also explains what became of the managerial processes at the heart of capitalism from the 40s onwards: the shift from a managerial capitalism of calculation to a narrative capitalism made up of "desiring machines". This digital management no longer simply contributes, along with others, to unveiling and revealing the future. Aligned with the American obsession with novelty, it is the very process of revelation and unveiling, with managers and consumers alike becoming the intersecting subjects of desires borne of managerial apocalypses. To explore this period of American history, the author has combined a triple narrative anchored in three types of archives: an intimate history of this reconfiguration from the presence in New York of Saint-Exupéry, Burnham and Wiener; a description of the great historical moment of industrial mobilization; and a philosophical speculation about reconfiguration and its links to American history.

A Very Short Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book About Studying Organizations

A Very Short Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book About Studying Organizations PDF Author: Christopher Grey
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1446241149
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
Relevant across a range of management courses, the Second Edition of A Very Short Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book About Studying Organizations offers students a lively, focused and challenging discussion of classical and current ideas about organizations and their management. Building on the hugely popular first edition, a new chapter explores the relationship between organization theory and behaviour as it exists today. Chris Grey shies away from the sterility of conventional textbooks, offering students an accessible and palatable overview of the field of organization studies that questions and challenges the traditional literature.

West German Industrialists and the Making of the Economic Miracle

West German Industrialists and the Making of the Economic Miracle PDF Author: Armin Grünbacher
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 147251128X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
West German Industrialists and the Making of the Economic Miracle investigates the mentality of post-war German (heavy) industrialists through an analysis of their attitudes, thinking and views on social, political and, of course, economic matters at the time, including the 'social market economy' and how they saw their own role in society, with this investigation taking place against the backdrop of the 'economic miracle' and the Cold War of the 1950s and 60s. The book also includes an assessment of whether the self-declared, new 'aristocracy of merit' justified its place in society and carried out its actions in a new spirit of political responsibility. This is an important text for all students interested in the history of Germany and the modern economic history of Europe.

Managing Britannia

Managing Britannia PDF Author: Robert Protherough
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited
ISBN: 1845404807
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
For more than thirty years the solution to all Britain’s problems has been better management. As a result management schools dominate higher education and managers are at work everywhere developing ‘strategies’ and ‘systems’ and quantifying ‘outcomes’. There are now more managers on the rail network than train drivers, yet the benefits of modern management of railways, schools, hospitals and universities are elusive. This is because ‘management’ does not exist—the academic study of ‘management science’ and the assumption that there are universal management skills are bogus. This book shows how modern management practices have all but destroyed politics, education, culture and religion—modern management is the cause of our national malaise.