Management and the Dominance of Managers (Routledge Series in Management)

Managers are powerful. The organizations of our time are in essence managerial organizations, even our societies are managerial societies. This book looks behind the portrait of management as value-free ‘technicality’ and challenges the image of managers as the selfless pursuer of an organization’s survival and development. It explains that individual interests and careers of managers are only part of a wider epochal and historic picture – the picture of managers as the new ruling class using and misusing organizations for their own personal and group interests while portraying their own roles and actions as ‘increasing the efficiency of organizations’ and ‘serving the public interest’. But why exactly are managers so powerful? Why and how do managers dominate our organizations? It will be argued that the prevailing understanding of management and managers is only at the surface about functional aspects. In its very core management has been, and is, all about the power and control, interests and ideology of managers--in short, the dominance of managers over other groups of people. In order to investigate and explain this dominance, a multi-dimensional ‘theory of social dominance of managers’, will be developed which reveals the personal and group interests behind such claims and is based in its core on three explanatory factors; power, interests, and ideology. These factors themselves will be analyzed as comprehensive, multi-dimensional and interdisciplinary concepts in order to address the complex nature of managers’ dominance appropriately.

Managers are powerful. The organizations of our time are in essence managerial organizations, even our societies are managerial societies. This book looks behind the portrait of management as value-free ‘technicality’ and challenges the image of managers as the selfless pursuer of an organization’s survival and development. It explains that individual interests and careers of managers are only part of a wider epochal and historic picture – the picture of managers as the new ruling class using and misusing organizations for their own personal and group interests while portraying their own roles and actions as ‘increasing the efficiency of organizations’ and ‘serving the public interest’.

But why exactly are managers so powerful? Why and how do managers dominate our organizations? It will be argued that the prevailing understanding of management and managers is only at the surface about functional aspects. In its very core management has been, and is, all about the power and control, interests and ideology of managers--in short, the dominance of managers over other groups of people. In order to investigate and explain this dominance, a multi-dimensional ‘theory of social dominance of managers’, will be developed which reveals the personal and group interests behind such claims and is based in its core on three explanatory factors; power, interests, and ideology. These factors themselves will be analyzed as comprehensive, multi-dimensional and interdisciplinary concepts in order to address the complex nature of managers’ dominance appropriately.

Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Tables and Figures......Page 8 Acknowledgements......Page 10 1 Introduction......Page 12 2 Managers and Managerialism......Page 22 3 Power and Control within Organisations......Page 44 4 Managers’ Interests in Dominance......Page 85 5 The Ideology of Management......Page 119 6 A Theory of the Dominance of Managers......Page 171 7 How Managers Create, Justify and Conduct Strategic Change in Their Organisation—A Case Study......Page 201 8 Critique of Management and Orthodox Organisations......Page 230 Notes......Page 254 Bibliography......Page 260 Index......Page 276 This book investigates the portrait of management as value-free 'technicality' and challenges the image of managers as the selfless pursuer of an organization's survival and development. It explains that individual interests and careers of managers are only part of a wider picture with managers as the new ruling class using and misusing organizations for their own personal and group interests Introduction Managers and managerialism Power and control within organisations Managers' interests in dominance The ideology of management A theory of the dominance of managers How managers create, justify, and conduct strategic change in their organisation : a case study Critique of management and orthodox organisations. Challenges the image of managers as the selfless pursuer of an organization's survival and development. This book explains that individual interests and careers of managers are only part of a wider picture with managers as the ruling class using and misusing organizations for their own personal and group interests. This text looks behind the portrait of management as a functional and value-free 'technicality' and challenges the image of managers as the selfless pursuer of an organisation's survival and development