Popular Management Books: How They are Made and What They Mean for Organizations

The growing interest in management knowledge has generated an enormous literature and brought great success for a number of management gurus. This book is a timely and radical critique of the quick-fix solutions offered by popular management books. Features include: •Detailed criticism of the ideological hegemony of North American managerial discourse •An interrogation of books by leading populist management gurus such as Tom Peters, Richard Normann and Robert Waterman •An institutional approach to the creation, diffusion and consumption of management knowledge •The implications for organisations of acting on popular managerial discourse Popular Management Books is a much needed corrective to the under-researched truisms of many management books. Book Cover......Page 1 Half-Title......Page 2 Title......Page 3 Copyright......Page 4 Dedication......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Illustrations......Page 9 Preface......Page 10 Acknowledgements......Page 12 A growing interest in management knowledge in the 1980s......Page 14 Popular managerial manifestations as elements of the organisational environment......Page 16 From the production of popular managerial manifestations to their consumption by organisations......Page 18 Some limitations of the study......Page 19 Earlier studies of popularised management knowledge......Page 20 The diffusion and production of management books4......Page 24 An outline of the study......Page 26 The general managerial discourse......Page 28 Environments and organisations......Page 33 Trends in the environment and carriers of managerial manifestations......Page 35 The general managerial discourse as a layer in the institutional environment of organisations......Page 37 Institutional pressure, discourses and organisations......Page 38 The general managerial discourse: where ideas are textualised......Page 42 Introduction......Page 44 Knowledge in social science......Page 45 The ‘nature’ of managerial knowledge......Page 49 Management knowledge and the production of managerial manifestations......Page 52 The diffusion of management knowledge and the distribution of managerial manifestations......Page 54 Management knowledge and black boxes......Page 56 The consumption of managerial manifestations......Page 57 The translation of managerial manifestations......Page 59 Conclusions......Page 62 Introduction1......Page 63 General trends in the western managerial discourse......Page 64 General characteristics of the supply of management books......Page 65 Books distributed through management book clubs......Page 68 Books appearing on a Swedish bestseller list......Page 69 The bestselling books in Sweden during the 1980s......Page 71 Books used in academic management education......Page 73 Conclusion: Americanisation and nationalism......Page 75 Introduction1......Page 78 The main issues......Page 79 Similarities and differences between the main issues......Page 82 Fragmentary accounts as ‘metaphors’......Page 83 Universalism......Page 85 Personal expertise, normativity and positioning to other studies......Page 86 Platitudes......Page 89 Labels......Page 91 Deconstruction of the texts: the search for a hidden agenda......Page 92 Leadership......Page 93 Organisations and environments......Page 95 Conclusions: the hidden agenda......Page 96 What do the texts represent: knowledge or ideology?......Page 98 Conclusions......Page 101 Introduction......Page 102 From reseach institute to consulting firm......Page 103 Action-research......Page 104 Business orientation and consultation......Page 108 Expansion, internationalisation and standardised consultation......Page 110 Normann leaves and establishes SMG......Page 113 Early conclusions: from high concentration on research to standardised consultancy......Page 115 Doing business and being modern: what makes popular management books what they are......Page 117 Motives, considerations and internal social forces......Page 118 Exogenous forces which prompted standardised consulting......Page 119 A struggle towards legitimacy......Page 120 Being modern: towards standardisation of ideology......Page 121 Concluding remarks......Page 122 Introduction......Page 124 Towards standardisation of production and supply......Page 125 Allies in the popular managerial discourse......Page 126 Standardisation and the development of management knowledge......Page 129 Consumption prompts standardisation......Page 131 Organisations and standardised discourse......Page 132 The consumption of management standards......Page 134 Standards and the development of local organisational discourses......Page 136 Standards as symbols of meaning......Page 137 Standards and the construction of organisations......Page 139 The popular managerial discourse: a textualised paradise......Page 140 This is not the end.........Page 142 A pragmatic approach......Page 145 Studying the diffusion of management books......Page 147 Entering text5......Page 149 Characterising texts (step one)......Page 150 Deconstructing texts (step two)......Page 151 Studying what texts represent: knowledge or ideology? (step three)......Page 153 Examining the context of production......Page 155 An analytical scheme......Page 156 Conclusion......Page 158 Notes......Page 160 Bibliography......Page 165 Other sources: interviewees......Page 173 Index......Page 174 Annotation The growing interest in management knowledge has generated an enormous literature and brought great success for a number of management gurus. This book is a timely and radical critique of the quick-fix solutions offered by popular management books. Features include:*Detailed criticism of the ideological hegemony of North American managerial discourse*An interrogation of books by leading populist management gurus such as Tom Peters, Richard Normann and Robert Waterman*An institutional approach to the creation, diffusion and consumption of management knowledge*The implications for organisations of acting on popular managerial discoursePopular Management Booksis a much needed corrective to the under-researched truisms of many management books The growing interest in management knowledge has generated an enormous literature and brought great success for a number of management gurus. This book is a timely and radical critique of the quick-fix solutions offered by popular management books. Features include: Detailed criticism of the ideological hegemony of North American managerial discourse An interrogation of books by leading populist management gurus such as Tom Peters, Richard Normann and Robert Waterman An institutional approach to the creation, diffusion and consumption of management knowledge The implications for organisations of acting on popular managerial discourse Popular Management Books is a much needed corrective to the under-researched truisms of many management books The growing interest in management knowledge has generated an enormous literature and brought great success for a number of management gurus. This book is a timely and radical critique of the quick-fix solutions offered by popular management books. Features include:-- Detailed criticism of the ideological hegemony of North American managerial discourse-- An interrogation of books by leading populist management gurus such as Tom Peters, Richard Normann and Robert Waterman-- An institutional approach to the creation, diffusion and consumption of management knowledge-- The implications for organizations of acting on popular managerial discourse The growing interest in management theory has generated a large volume of literature and brought great success for a number of management gurus. This book offers a radical critique of the quick-fix solutions offered by popular management books