Thinking About Management

<p>This book invites the reader to explore the more puzzling aspects of those processes called 'management'. It provides a focused collection of readings to support and encourage wider consideration of alternative ways of thinking about management and its effectiveness in contemporary organisations. Key features of this text include:</p><p>* a selection of contributions which derive from historically grounded and politically aware considerations, examining alternative approaches, and drawing on a wider source of perspectives than those currently dominating management literature<br>* an exploration of the uncertainties and apparent contradictions encountered in management action, grounded in the reflective practices of the contributors, employing examples and experiences from a wide range of organizations<br>* ideas fundamental to understanding the complexities of management which will extend students' own ways of thinking<br>* an informed contextual approach to the study of management, grouping together themes and ideas which shed light upon the contested arenas of management action.<br><br>By placing emphasis on the development of improved critical abilities in management practice, this book will be an invaluable text for all management studies and MBA students.</p> <p>Preface <em>David Golding and David Currie</em> 1. The Nature of Management <em>David Golding</em> 2. Encountering Management <em>Vince Dispenza</em> 3. Treading Treacle at Parties and Parapets - Excursions into Managerial Ideology <em>Joe Nason</em> 4. The Enactment of Political Tensions in Management - A Historical Perspective <em>Judith Golding</em> 5. Reconstructing The Study of Management <em>Robert Protherough</em> 6. Teaching Management Through Reflective Practice <em>Janet McGivern and Jane Thompson</em> 7. Circles of Uncertainty in Management Learning <em>Judith Golding</em> 8. Promises, Promotions and Pristine Porcelain - Rhetorics and Essences in Management Action <em>Fred Dobson</em> 9. Nothing Starts From Nowhere <em>David Currie</em> Reflective <em>David Golding and David Currie.</em></p>