Around 5,000 business and management titles are published every year, and increasingly, their preferred mode of presentation is centred on the creation and marketing of buzzwords and fads. This book argues that these management fads and buzzwords deflect critical inquiry and limit useful action because they present a 'ready made' view of the world, which rejects the benefits of theoretical analysis and reflection. Topics covered include: * the 'guru industry' * 'excellence' * business process re-engineering * empowerment * culture * knowledge work * globalization. 'Unpacking' the 'guru industry' and analyzing the fads and buzzwords, this book provides a 'critical-practical' analysis, designed to allow readers to locate, understand and critique management fashion.

This text argues that the fads and buzzwords of management deflect critical inquiry and limit useful action because they present a "ready made" view of the world, which rejects the benefits of theoretical analysis and reflection. The book attempts to "unpack" the "guru industry" and the fads and buzzwords of management to provide a c̀ritical-practical' analysis, designed to allow readers to locate, to understand and to critique management fashion.

Around 5,000 business and management titles are published every year, and increasingly, their preferred mode of presentation is centred on the creation and marketing of buzzwords and fads. This book argues that these management fads and buzzwords deflect critical inquiry and limit useful action because they present a 'ready made' view of the world, which rejects the benefits of theoretical analysis and reflection. Topics covered include: * the 'guru industry' * 'excellence' * business process re-engineering * empowerment * culture * knowledge work * globalization. 'Unpacking' the 'guru industry' and analyzing the fads and buzzwords, this book provides a 'critical-practical' analysis, designed to allow readers to locate, understand and critique management fashion.

Explores where new ideas come from, how to evaluate which ideas are worth pursuing, and how to customize ideas to suit and organization's unique needs.

This is a reprint of a previously published work. It deals with good mangement based on action and the judgment of the individual manager on deciding appropriate action.

"Henry Mintzberg's views are a breath of fresh air which can only encourage the good guys." The Observer Tied up in knots by KPIs? Confused by core competencies? Management doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, it shouldn’t be! One of today’ best-known and most controversial thinkers on management has joined forces with other leading business figures to provide a thought-provoking mix of writing on management. The cutting edge views depicted in this book are controversially the opposite of what is often held up as the truth in management. Management? Its Not What you Think! brings readers an unusual mix of perspectives to help stimulate more creative management thinking and more enjoyable, challenging and more productive ways to lead their teams. This is a book readers can dip into, a book they can savour, a book that won’t fail to get them reflecting on what management really is…

Our organizations are flooded with empty talk. We are constantly "going forward" to lands of "deliverables", stopping off on the "journey" to "drill down" into "best practice". Being an expert at using management speak has become more important in corporate life than delivering long lasting results. The upshot is that meaningless corporate jargon is killing our organizations. In this book, management scholar the author argues we need to call this empty talk what it is: bullshit. The book looks at how organizations have become vast machines for manufacturing, distributing and consuming bullshit. It follows how the meaningless language of management has spread through schools, NGOs, politics and the media. Business Bullshit shows you how to spot business bullshit, considers why it is so popular, and outlines the impact it has on organizations and the people who work there. It also outlines what we can do to minimise bullshit at work. The author makes a case for why organizations need to avoid empty talk and reconnect with core activities.