The Oxford Handbook of Management Theorists

Concurrent with the increasing complexity of the field of management, the need to re-examine the foundations from which its theories have advanced has become ever more important and useful. The Oxford Handbook of Management Theorists examines and evaluates the contributions that seminal figures, past and present, have made to the theory of management by providing in-depth, up-to-date, and detailed scholarly analysis of their ideas and influence. Chapters by leading management and management history scholars explore the origins of each thinker or school of thought and their ideas, and discuss the significance and influence in a broader framework. The Handbook contextualises each theorist and their theories, analysing their actions, interactions, and re-actions to contemporary events and to each other. It is arranged in three parts: pioneers of management thinking from Frederick Taylor to Chester Barnard; post-war theorists, such as the Tavistock Institute and Edith Penrose; and the later phase of Business School theorists, including Alfred Chandler, Michael Porter, and Ikujiro Nonaka. This book will be essential reading for anyone interested in how and why management ideas have emerged, and the ways in which they are currently developing and will evolve in the future. Contributors include global scholars, notable authors, and consultants, whose fields range from management science and engineering to industrial competitiveness and neurology. E.J. Wood, Choice1. Introduction ; PART I PIONEERS ; 2. Frederick Winslow Taylor ; 3. Mind, Method, and Motion: Frank and Lillian Gilbreth ; 4. Henri Fayol ; 5. Mary Parker Follett ; 6. George Elton Mayo ; 7. Lyndall Urwick ; 8. Chester Barnard and the Systems Approach to Nurturing Organizations ; PART II POST-WAR THEORISTS ; 9. The Tavistock Group ; 10. Deeply Engaged, Intuitively Analytical, and Determinedly Applied: Tom Burns and Joan Woodward in Context but Not in Concert ; 11. W. Edwards Deming ; 12. The Life and Diverse Contributions of Dr J. M. Juran ; 13. Edith Penrose's Contribution to Economic and Management Scholarship ; 14. Peter F. Drucker (Peter Georg Ferdinand Drucker) ; 15. Herbert Alexander Simon: Philosopher of the Organizational Life-World ; PART III BUSINESS SCHOOL THEORISTS ; 16. Alfred Chandler's Managerial Revolution: Developing and Utilizing Productive Resources ; 17. The Aston Studies: A Journey towards a Science of Administration? ; 18. James March, Richard Cyert, and the Evolving Field of Organizations ; 19. Geert Hofstede ; 20. John Paul Kotter ; 21. Henry Mintzberg ; 22. The Competitive Advantage of Michael Porter ; 23. Ikujiro Nonaka ; 24. Sumantra Ghoshal ; 25. C. K. Prahalad