Managerial Prerogative and the Question of Control (Routledge Revivals)


Book Description

In both Marxist and non-Marxist scholarship there has been a remarkable neglect of the managerial control of labour. John Storey’s analysis of the modern labour process shows that managerial control is in fact more precarious than has been so far recorded. This book, first published in 1983, reassesses the Braverman theory of the inexorable degradation of work, and demonstrates the need to go beyond not only Braverman but also most of the ensuing attempts to complement or repair his underlying thesis. The book will be of interest to students of the social sciences.




Corporate Strategies in Recession and Recovery (Routledge Revivals)


Book Description

First published in 1989, this book is based on detailed comparative case studies of eight firms’ responses to the recession of the early 1980s, the worst crisis for British manufacturing in the post-war period. Following these companies’ progress from 1979 to 1985, Whittington examines the various recession strategies they adopted and the consequences of these for management change and financial performance in the recovery. Drawing on the Realist social theory of Roy Bhaskar, Whittington argues that the class, gender, generation and ethnicity of the decision-makers involved in the eight case studies collectively made an impact on their strategic choices. This is a timely and practical reissue, which will be of value to students, managers and academics concerned with strategic management, developments in organizational theory, and the current economic climate.




The Corporation


Book Description

The corporation has become an increasingly dominant force in contemporary society. However, comprehensive, in-depth analysis of the concept of the corporation is often restricted, or limited to one disciplinary approach. This handbook brings together the cutting-edge scholarship, expertise and insight of leading scholars in a wide range of disciplines, notably management studies, law, history, political science, anthropology, sociology and criminology, using a critical approach to dissect and understand the corporation. Ten chapters provide overviews of the state of play of critical scholarship on the corporation in each of these disciplines. Further contributors tackle current hot topics, such as corporate social responsibility, corporate crime, global value chains, financialization, and the interaction between corporations and communities. Finally, they consider resistance and alternatives to the corporation. With its interdisciplinary approach, this book is an invaluable resource for all readers studying the past, present and future of the corporation.




New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals)


Book Description

The idea of human resource management has become topical and controversial. The term suggests that people in any organization are an asset to be upgraded and fully utilized rather than merely a variable cost to be minimized. This in turn implies that the way in which people are managed is a matter of crucial strategic concern. Increased international competition has produced various initiatives world-wide for new approaches to management, in particular human resource management. This searching set of interpretations, first published in 1983, will be of interest to serious practitioners and students alike.




Sociology, Work and Industry


Book Description

First published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.




Key Issues in Organizational Communication


Book Description

Exploring key issues in communication and their impacts on organizational outcomes and management theory, this book considers the important changes in technology and globalization in the context of communications.




Democracy and Education


Book Description

. Renewal of Life by Transmission. The most notable distinction between living and inanimate things is that the former maintain themselves by renewal. A stone when struck resists. If its resistance is greater than the force of the blow struck, it remains outwardly unchanged. Otherwise, it is shattered into smaller bits. Never does the stone attempt to react in such a way that it may maintain itself against the blow, much less so as to render the blow a contributing factor to its own continued action. While the living thing may easily be crushed by superior force, it none the less tries to turn the energies which act upon it into means of its own further existence. If it cannot do so, it does not just split into smaller pieces (at least in the higher forms of life), but loses its identity as a living thing. As long as it endures, it struggles to use surrounding energies in its own behalf. It uses light, air, moisture, and the material of soil. To say that it uses them is to say that it turns them into means of its own conservation. As long as it is growing, the energy it expends in thus turning the environment to account is more than compensated for by the return it gets: it grows. Understanding the word "control" in this sense, it may be said that a living being is one that subjugates and controls for its own continued activity the energies that would otherwise use it up. Life is a self-renewing process through action upon the environment.




People and Performance


Book Description

What is management? What is a manager? How is a business organized, and how can managers use people's strengths more effectively? What is the relationship between management today and the society and culture it seeks to direct? These and many more questions are discussed in Peter Drucker's classic survey of management thought and practice. People and Performance is the ideal volume for those who want the essence of Drucker's thinking, but with limited time at their disposal. It spans all the main dimensions of management and its themes are based on Drucker's direct experience as an adviser to businesses, government departments, public institutions, and as a widely sought lecturer.




The Routledge Companion to Research in the Arts


Book Description

The Routledge Companion to Research in the Arts is a major collection of new writings on research in the creative and performing arts by leading authorities from around the world. It provides theoretical and practical approaches to identifying, structuring and resolving some of the key issues in the debate about the nature of research in the arts which have surfaced during the establishment of this subject over the last decade. Contributions are located in the contemporary intellectual environment of research in the arts, and more widely in the universities, in the strategic and political environment of national research funding, and in the international environment of trans-national cooperation and communication. The book is divided into three principal sections – Foundations, Voices and Contexts – each with an introduction from the editors highlighting the main issues, agreements and debates in each section. The Routledge Companion to Research in the Arts addresses a wide variety of concepts and issues, including: the diversity of views on what constitutes arts-based research and scholarship, what it should be, and its potential contribution the trans-national communication difficulties arising from terminological and ontological differences in arts-based research traditional and non-traditional concepts of knowledge, their relationship to professional practice, and their outcomes and audiences a consideration of the role of written, spoken and artefact-based languages in the formation and communication of understandings. This comprehensive collection makes an original and significant contribution to the field of arts-based research by setting down a framework for addressing these, and other, topical issues. It will be essential reading for research managers and policy-makers in research councils and universities, as well as individual researchers, research supervisors and doctoral candidates.




Organization Theory


Book Description

What is organization theory and why does it matter? Where did it start, how has it developed, and what impact does it have on organisations? This book brings a fresh approach to these questions and is aimed at undergraduates and postgraduates for whom the study of organizational theory or analysis is an integral part of their degree programme. What is organization theory and why does it matter? Where did it start, how has it developed, and what impact does it have on today's organisations? What challenges does it pose, what solutions can it offer, and how can it be used to make sense of contemporary management and organization? This book addresses these questions and explores organization theory from its origins right up to present-day debates. The authors pay sceptical respect to different schools of thought, encouraging the reader to engage in a critical dialogue between varying perspectives. In addition, the frequent and appealing examples show how concepts of organization theory can be seen in the context of managerial reality. A rich set of pedagogical features to support the reader includes: Stop and Think boxes to invite personal or group reflection; brief Biographies of seminal thinkers; and case Studies on organizations such as ... ideas and perspectives to introduce and summarize key theories.