In this lively and wide-ranging essay, Göran Ahrne sketches an organizational theory of society. Combining the insights of organization theory with the traditional concerns of social theory, he makes an innovative and creative contribution to both fields. Using a broad definition of organizations, the author shows that what goes on inside, outside and among organizations is central to understanding social relations. Organizations provide people with resources and motives, and they set the frames for human action. Although organizations do not form societies or systems, society is shaped and changed through interaction between organizations. Drawing on various schools of organization theory, including institutional, ecological and contingency theories, the book shows how their synthesis with social theory clarifies the nature and effects of organizational interactions.

Moving away from the common/traditional focus on studying organizations from a distance, this highly engaging book introduces the idea of studying them from the inside. Inside Organizations: Exploring Organizational Experiences guides placement students, and any student undertaking part-time work in an organization, through ′insider inquiry′, helping them to develop key reflexive and critical thinking skills for their future careers. It encourages you to pay attention to what goes on in organizations, to question what you experience and ultimately to make sense of how organizations function, helping you to develop key reflexive and critical thinking skills for your future careers. This book is ideal for students on programmes with a placement or internship element such as business and management, nursing and health, and education and is especially useful to those doing reflective journals and essays.

Light-hearted yet profound, Inside Organizations will have a broad general appeal, complementing Handy's bestselling Understanding Organizations. It contains anecdotes, commentary and questions which challenge the reader.

"The way we manage organizations seems increasingly out of date. Deep inside, we sense that more is possible. We long for soulful workplaces, for authenticity, community, passion, and purpose. In this groundbreaking book, the author shows that every time, in the past, when humanity has shifted to a new stage of consciousness, it has achieved extraordinary breakthroughs in collaboration. A new shift in consciousness is currently underway. Could it help us invent a more soulful and purposeful way to run our businesses and nonprofits, schools and hospitals? A few pioneers have already cracked the code and they show us, in practical detail, how it can be done. Leaders, founders, coaches, and consultants will find this work a joyful handbook, full of insights, examples, and inspiring stories."--Page [4] of cover.

Now in a completely revised and updated Third Edition, Leadership in Public Organizations provides a compact but complete analysis of leadership for students and practitioners who work in public and nonprofit organizations. Offering a comprehensive review of leadership theories in the field, from the classic to the cutting-edge, and how they relate specifically to the public sector context, this textbook covers the major competency clusters in detail, supported by research findings as well as practical guidelines for improvement. These competencies are graphically portrayed in a leadership action cycle that aids readers in visually connecting theory and practice. Including questions for discussion and analysis and hypothetical scenarios for each chapter, as well as an easily reproducible leadership assessment instrument students may use to apply the theories they’ve learned, this Third Edition also explores: The rise of e-leadership, or the relationship between leadership and information and communication technologies, as well as the role leaders play in selecting those technologies The challenges of nonprofit management leadership, including an extensive case study designed to illustrate the differences between public and nonprofit sector leadership curricula Separate, dedicated chapters on charismatic and transformational leadership; distributed leadership; ethics-based leadership; and power, world cultures, diversity, gender, complexity, social change, and strategy. Leadership in Public Organizations is an essential core text designed specifically with upper-level and graduate Public Administration courses on leadership in mind, but it has also proven an indispensable guidebook for professionals seeking insight into the role of successful leadership behavior in the public sector. It can further be used as supplementary reading in introductory courses examining management competencies, in leadership classes to provide practical self-help and improvement models, and in Organizational Theory classes that wish to balance organizational perspectives with individual development.

`The book is a good read. Gabriel has an engaging writing style, liberally interspersed with vignettes, cases, and quotes.... While the reader may not agree with some of what Gabriel is espousing, the author presents his material in a non-judgemental manner.... And who knows ? Maybe Gabriel is foreshadowing some new directions in organizational theory and even new research methodology′ - Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology This book is a comprehensive and systematic examination of the insights psychoanalysis can offer to the study of organizations and organizational behaviour. Richly illustrated with examples, Yiannis Gabriel′s exhaustive study provides fresh understandings of the role of creativity, control mechanisms, leadership, culture, and emotions in organizations. Core theories are explained at length and there is a chapter on research strategies. Extensive reference is made to practical cases, and there is a review of the key debates.

A strong point in this book is its opening extensive review of creativity in organizations and professions. . . including helpful tabulations of articles that identify the motives, expectations, emotions, means, and opportunities that lead to creative acts. . . . it can provide valuable insights and encouragement to scholars and practitioners who are concerned with developing and tapping creativity in organizations. . . . Management professors and graduate students will find the book helpful. . . . --G. David Hughes in Journal of Product Innovation Management "This book definitely will be appropriate for class use in any setting focused on creativity in organizations. Presumably, these would be specialized upper-division, MBA, or Ph.D. electives. If you are interested in the topic of creativity in organizations, this is the book you must read. It is on the frontiers, and it provides a beacon for future scholarly progress on this topic because of its emphasis on how the organizational setting affects the creative process in the world of work." --Lyman Porter, University of California, Irvine "The book is itself a creative approach to creativity. The editors have attracted a talented and well-respected group of academic contributors. The message that we should abandon the romantic but flawed notion that creativity is principally the product of extraordinary individual acts is delivered forcefully, as is the companion notion that organizational contexts are the real seedbeds of creative behavior." --John R. Kimberly, Henry Bower Professor, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania "This is one of the better collections of information about creativity because it is data based, and it provides a useful comparison and contrast of conceptual and practical aspects. By clearly describing the benefits and problems associated with the topics, Creative Action in Organizations obviously practices what it preaches. I would recommend that it be used as a textbook for a graduate-level business course, particularly for an MBA program. In addition, I also recommend that it be used as a text reference for industrial ′training & development′ programs targeted at teaching employees how to develop new businesses, improve existing processes, or become better leaders (viz., corporate leadership development programs)." --Tom Wojcik, Manager, Office of Innovation, Hoechst Celanese Corporation Between the trade deficit, mergers, and the recession, the topic of creativity in organizations has become one of increasing importance. How does a company retool or refine its product with foreign and, often, less costly competition? How does human resources find creative solutions to budgeting, product development, marketing, and training? With pithy and engaging chapters from leading researchers and figures in business, government, and academia, Creative Action in Organizations explores the factors that are critical to the development and promotion of creativity to develop a revised view that is grounded in experience. This volume begins with a literature review (written as a mystery to be solved), followed by essays from researchers (Part II) and practitioners (Part III). Using the chapters as "data," the editors conclude with a content-analysis that presents a look at the most significant themes and offers a framework for conceptualizing creativity in organizations. This profound and fascinating volume is essential for students, professionals, and researchers in management and organization studies, public administration, public policy, evaluation, and psychology, as well as libraries in the above areas.