The Management Myth: Why the Experts Keep Getting it Wrong - Hardcover

Stewart, Matthew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393065537 ISBN 13: 9780393065534

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009

Synopsis

A brilliant, not-to-be missed account of the reasons why management thinks the way it does―and why they are flawed.

If CEOS, consultants, top managers, and other financial wizards are so smart, how come they screw up so badly? Why is there no correlation whatsoever between a business school education and success in business? Why might you be better off studying something as irrelevant as―philosophy?

In The Management Myth, Stewart offers:

 

• An insightful romp through the entire history of thinking about management, with memorable sketches of Frederick Winslow Taylor, Elton Mayo, Peter Drucker, Michael Porter, Tom Peters, and other management celebrities
• A devastating critique of pseudoscience in management theory, from the scientific management movement to the contemporary disciplines of strategy and organizational behavior
• A swashbuckling account of the rise and much-anticipated fall of management consulting, laced with personal tales about cryptic PowerPoint presentations; the bait-and-hold techniques that keep clients paying to be told what they already know; and the colorful internal politics at his own ill-fated consulting firm, where rivals for power found imaginative uses for an in-house shrink
• Historical perspective on why so many CEOs make so much more than they deserve
• A clear explanation of why the MBA usually amounts to so much BS

With wit and wisdom, Stewart makes an electrifying case that the questions and insights of management theorists belong not to the sciences but to philosophy, and that, in the final analysis, “a good manager is nothing more or less than a good and well-educated person.”

About this title

About the Author

Matthew Stewart is an independent philosopher and historian. He is the author of seven books, including National Book Award–longlisted Nature’s God, and his work has also appeared in the Atlantic, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal, among other publications. He lives in London.

From the Back Cover

Praise for The Management Myth

At last, a book that knocks the Kings of Consulting off their thrones. The Management Myth is a rare and often very humorous exposé on the shenanigans behind the corporate empire that has catapulted us down the current road to economic turmoil. John Perkins, best-selling author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man and The Secret History of the American Empire

Filled with fascinating insider anecdotes and featuring a who s who of the consulting world . . . this book will enlighten executives. Publishers Weekly

Reviews

Stewart (The Courtier and the Heretic) reflects on his unconventional path to becoming a successful management consultant—despite a complete lack of business knowledge or experience, let alone an MBA. He offers an insider's perspective on the industry, revealing the astonishingly high routine consultant fees and the absurdity of leading firms depending on consultants fresh out of school to tell them how to run their business. Following in the footsteps of shamans, consultants envelop their work with an aura of sacred mystery and outrageously unjustified levels of self-confidence to add to their perceived expertise. Gleefully revealing the magician's tricks, Stewart takes readers on a whirlwind tour of how this industry came to be a powerhouse. Filled with fascinating insider anecdotes and featuring a who's who in the consulting world, including Peter Drucker, Michael Porter and Bruce Henderson, this wry, absorbing book will enlighten executives about the value consultants actually bring to their clients. (Aug.)

Edition details

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393065537
• ISBN 13: 9780393065534
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352