A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Management Theory

by Todd Bridgman, Stephen Cummings

Overview

Conceived by Chris Grey, the Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap series offers an antidote to conventional textbooks. Each book takes a core area of the curriculum and turns it on its head by providing a critical and sophisticated overview of the key issues and debates in an informal, conversational and often humorous way.

In Management Theory, Todd Bridgman and Stephen Cummings uncover enduring myths about famous theorists, from Adam Smith and Max Weber to Frederick Taylor, Mary Parker Follett, Abraham Maslow and Kurt Lewin. By exploring how these myths became cast as the foundations of management, this accessible and engaging book generates new ways of thinking about what management could be today and in the future.

Students can head to You Tube to watch a selection of specially-curated, bitesize videos - 20 Insights on Management Theory - which explain key topics relating to management theory. Lecturers can visit https://study.sagepub.com/bridgman to access a range of Power Point slides that can be used in their teaching. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526495136
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	01/14/2021
Series:	Very Short, Fairly Interesting & Cheap Books
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.08(w) x 7.80(h) x (d)

About the Author

Todd Bridgman (@toddbridgman) is Associate Professor in the School of Management at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Todd completed his Ph D in organization studies at the University of Cambridge. His research interests lie at the intersection of management history, management education and critical management studies. In particular, he is interested in challenging conventional histories of management that appear in textbooks and writing alternative histories as a way of rethinking how management is taught to students. Todd edited The Oxford Handbook of Critical Management Studies (Oxford University Press, 2009) with Mats Alvesson and Hugh Willmott and his research won Best Paper prizes in Human Relations (with Stephen Cummings and Kenneth Brown) and Academy of Management Learning and Education (with Stephen Cummings and Colm Mc Laughlin). Todd is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Management Learning and is a member of the editorial boards of Academy of Management Learning and Education and Organization.

Stephen Cummings (@theatomnz) is Professor of Strategy and Innovation and Co-Director of The Atom Innovation Space, at Victoria University of Wellington. He completed his Ph D at Warwick Business School. Stephen’s research investigates how assumptions about history can limit innovation and he is currently Co-Chair of the Critical Management Studies Division at The Academy of Management. His recent books include Handbook of Management and Creativity (Edward Elgar, 2014 – with Chris Bilton), Strategy Builder (Wiley, 2015 – with Duncan Angwin), A New History of Management (Cambridge University Press, 2015 – with Todd Bridgman, John Hassard and Michael Rowlinson), and the forthcoming A New History of Sustainable Management (Palgrave – with Todd Bridgman). His article, Unfreezing Change as Three Steps published in Human Relations (with Todd Bridgman and Kenneth Brown) has been downloaded over 200,000 times.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Why another book on management theory?
Chapter 2 The Classical School: Looking again at the foundations of management theory
Chapter 3 Management theory discovers the human worker
Chapter 4 Fitting the worker to the organization: Personality, groups, teams and culture
Chapter 5 Heroic leaders and the glorification of change
Chapter 6 The rise of ethics and corporate social responsibility
Chapter 7 Conclusion: The past, present and future of management theory

Editorial Reviews

Relentlessly probing the field's foundations, the authors fully overturn the conventional wisdom of management. Their gift is a vast space for imagining new futures. For the first time since the field began, limitless possibility is a realistic framework for moving forward.

Ellen O’Connor

Todd Bridgman and Stephen Cummings make studying management theory very different to what you might expect. Instead of going through the same tired old clichés, they breathe new life into the subject by taking an excitingly critical approach. What’s more, they write with a light touch that makes reading their book straightforward but at the same time both refreshing and invigorating.

Mark Learmonth

I recommend this textbook for teachers and students alike and will be using it as an aid to learning to thinking differently on my own module. I was engaged by the authors’ conversational style and stimulated to reflect on my assumptions, which is the hallmark of critical reflection. This small book is replete with an unusually large number of incisive and important ideas, which is a testament to authors’ knowledge, identity work and sociological imagination.

Academy of Management Learning and Education - Guy Huber

Bridgman and Cummings do it again – produce a user-friendly, entertaining and profoundly informative book on management. The book is tailor-made for faculty and students alike who want to understand the relationship between historical context, management theory and the application of management practice. Yet, do we need “another book on management?” Yes, if it informs through critique of standard works on management and yes if its written by Todd Bridgman and Steve Cummings.

Albert J. Mills

Bridgman and Cummings do it again - produce a user-friendly, entertaining and profoundly informative book on management. The book is tailor-made for faculty and students alike who want to understand the relationship between historical context, management theory and the application of management practice. Yet, do we need "another book on management?" Yes, if it informs through critique of standard works on management and yes if its written by Todd Bridgman and Steve Cummings.

--Albert J. Mills (6/9/2020 12:00:00 AM)

Relentlessly probing the field′s foundations, the authors fully overturn the conventional wisdom of management. Their gift is a vast space for imagining new futures. For the first time since the field began, limitless possibility is a realistic framework for moving forward.

--Ellen O'Connor (5/11/2020 12:00:00 AM)

Todd Bridgman and Stephen Cummings make studying management theory very different to what you might expect. Instead of going through the same tired old clichés, they breathe new life into the subject by taking an excitingly critical approach. What's more, they write with a light touch that makes reading their book straightforward but at the same time both refreshing and invigorating.

--Mark Learmonth (5/12/2020 12:00:00 AM)

I recommend this textbook for teachers and students alike and will be using it as an aid to learning to thinking differently on my own module. I was engaged by the authors' conversational style and stimulated to reflect on my assumptions, which is the hallmark of critical reflection. This small book is replete with an unusually large number of incisive and important ideas, which is a testament to authors' knowledge, identity work and sociological imagination.--Guy Huber "Academy of Management Learning and Education"

If our goal for students is memorizing indubitable facts and seeing the world from a managerialist perspective, then any of the existing long, boring, and expensive texts on management will do just fine. But if educating our students about management involves critical thinking, questioning basic assumptions, and looking at things from different perspectives, then Bridgman and Cummings' "short, interesting, and cheap" book is mandatory reading.

--Thomas G. Cummings (5/26/2020 12:00:00 AM)

From the Publisher

If our goal for students is memorizing indubitable facts and seeing the world from a managerialist perspective, then any of the existing long, boring, and expensive texts on management will do just fine. But if educating our students about management involves critical thinking, questioning basic assumptions, and looking at things from different perspectives, then Bridgman and Cummings’ “short, interesting, and cheap” book is mandatory reading.

Thomas G. Cummings

Relentlessly probing the field's foundations, the authors fully overturn the conventional wisdom of management. Their gift is a vast space for imagining new futures. For the first time since the field began, limitless possibility is a realistic framework for moving forward.

Ellen O’Connor