Living theory is a way of making use of personal accounts of experienced practice. As the Pac-Man perspective on organisational change helps the change agent articulate the personal values he is committed to and how these values may be resisted in practice, living theory is useful for developing knowledge that has a practical impact on self-improvement and social change, but it is also a type of theory that is difficult to publish in academic outlets. As a consequence of this, publishing Pac-Man living-theory research becomes a Pac-Man game in itself, with the journal editors as one of the four adversary gatekeepers, but it is a rewarding game for those who want to contribute both theoretically and practically on how to make the world a better place.

It has been argued that the reason seventy percent of all IT projects fail is due to lack of a formal system for guiding and monitoring IT decisions. Organisations having explicit IT governance systems are generally twice as successful as those with poor governance, given the same strategic objectives, but implementing IT governance can be difficult. In this book, Dr. Ogland looks at the public sector and argues that the implementation of IT governance has to be done through bootstrapping. The bootstrap algorithm (BA) is a time-tested approach that is known to work, but it is an approach that breaks with much of the logic of the public sector bureaucracy and is expected to be met with resistance. By analysing patterns in a study of trying to convince a Norwegian public sector organisation to implement IT governance through the use of the BA, the book is able to provide rich insights on what causes failure and how to make the implementation process succeed.

This PhD thesis contributes to the theory of information infrastructures by explaining how to use game theory and genetic algorithms for turning the pseudo-code of the bootstrap algorithm into proper code. The study is the first known study to analyse the bootstrap algorithm from an action research perspective, and it has become an important reference for further research on how to bootstrap information infrastructures.

'Using the Bootstrap Algorithm for Changing the Control Game' is clearly written and points are supported by real life case studies. Dr. Ogland demonstrates how a Total Quality Management strategy articulated through the use of bootstrap algorithms can be used to achieve world-class performance in challenging environments such as complex organisations saturated with power struggles and internal politics. The book features insights on critical systems thinking, game theory, quality management systems, the Efqm Business Excellence Model, self-assessment, and the implementation of Tqm. Case studies provide practical insights from twenty years of empirical research on how to bootstrap Tqm and Business Excellence in complex environments. The ideas developed in the book have been acknowledged as a major contribution to the theory of Tqm, and the book itself is an indispensable resource for practitioners trying to implement Tqm in environments where traditional implementation methods are bound to fail.

William H. Starbuck is one of the most creative, productive, and wide-ranging writers in management and organization studies. His work spans three decades and encompasses a whole variety of issues, yet it has never been collected together in one place. This book does just that - bringing together his most seminal writings, prefaced by a personal reflection on some of the themes and conclusions of that emerge from this, and the context in which they were written.What emerges from this is a picture of organizations and their strategies that emphasizes the characteristics of real-life human beings: their idiosyncratic preferences, their distrust for each other, their struggele for dominance, their personal interests which don't always coincide with the interests of the organization, and the internal politicking and contests between interest groups that take place in organizations. Some chapters review research literature, some report empirical findings,some propose conceptual reformulations, and some offer advice to managers.This book will be a unique guide to the work of an influential thinker in management and organization studies, and will be of interest to academics, researchers, and students of management, strategy, and organization studies.

This accessible and comprehensive textbook is designed specifically to develop students' understanding of leadership in a variety of contexts. Assuming no prior executive experience, the book combines a wealth of diverse case studies with an engaging writing style to illustrate the practical application of leadership theory in the real-world.

Finally! A comprehensive volume on the management of corporate acquisitions that summarizes contemporary research, and that moves what we know about acquisition management a step further. The book encompasses innovative works from several countries, related to a variety of issues; managerial motives, the role of acquisitions in competitive strategy, as well as organizational and political processes. Unlike several other works on acquisitions, this book emphasizes the most critical issue faced by managers today; how to manage successfully already acquired companies and operations. Both researchers, managers and students of strategy and organization will find this book an important supplement.