This intellectual history interprets recent American business management ideas as political theory, describing their underlying assumptions about power and value. According to Stephen Waring, most business management theory descends from either Frederick Taylor's 'bureaucratic' theory of scientific management or Elton Mayo's 'corporatist' idea of human relations. Waring discusses the subsequent evolution of several management theories and techniques, including organization theory, computer simulation, management by objectives, sensitivity training, job enrichment, and innovations usually attributed to the Japanese, such as quality control circles.

This concise introduction explains in simple terms exactly what quality management means in practice and shows how the basic principles can be implemented in large and small organizations. The authors provide an overview and history of the major approaches, from Deming to Ishikawa to Feigenbaum, and explain how their approaches differ. This concise introduction explains in simple terms exactly what quality management means in practice and shows how the basic principles can be implemented in large and small organizations. The authors provide an overview and history of the major approaches, from Deming to Ishikawa to Feigenbaum, and explain how their approaches differ.

Productivity improvement is the biggest issue facing any manager at any level in any organisation in any sector - and the biggest peacetime issue facing any government minister too. Dick Smythe was educated at Bolton School, graduated in pure mathematics and statistics at St Andrews University and then took a masters in Operations Research at Birmingham University. He was then recruited by Europe's leading consultancy of the day, PA Consulting Group, and went on to set up and grow their Productivity Services Division into a significant part of the business, becoming a PA director and sitting on their UK management consultancy board - whilst there, he led a joint study with the CBI into UK productivity, and presented the results on TV, radio and to the national press with Director General Sir John Banham - The Times leader commented: "It is refreshing to come across something that has its feet firmly planted on the ground" Since then, he has mixed productivity consultancy work with playing the property and stock markets, skippering his own boat in the Fastnet and many other ocean yacht races and keeping his golf handicap down to single figures As the late Peter Drucker once said, managers have always sought something which lets them 'do their job with less effort, in less time, yet with greater impact'.

Work in the 21st century requires new understanding in organizational behaviour: how individuals interact together to get work done. This volume brings together research on essential topics such as motivation; job satisfaction; leadership; compensation; organizational justice; communication; intra- and inter-team functioning; judgement and decision-making; organizational development and change. Psychological insights are offered on: management interventions; organizational theory; organizational productivity; organizational culture and climate; strategic management; stress; and job loss and unemployment.