Organization Theory and Public Management

Softcover

ISBN 10: 053417468X ISBN 13: 9780534174682

Publisher: Cengage Learning, 2004

Written with present and future public managers in mind, ORGANIZATION THEORY AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT arms students with the theoretical and conceptual knowledge necessary to be effective managers. The text examines each major school-of-thought by taking a chronological approach. This approach enables the reader to understand each major school in the context in which it emerged and gained prominence. Placing each school in historical context through the use of a chronological approach to the examination of theory allows for a deeper understanding of the material and encourages the reader to develop his or her own thoughts and ideas.

About the Author:

Jonathan Tompkins is a Professor of Public Administration at the University of Montana in Missoula. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington, and has taught this course for 21 years.

Review:

"Of the texts I have seen recently, Tompkins book is by far the most clearly written and does the best job of simplifying complex ideas. His scholarship is exemplary and explains beautifully some of the classic writers. I think students will understand his work and benefit from it. One of the major problems in teaching this class is clarity of both explanation and context. He does that wonderfully. . . . His writing style is lively and interesting."

"The proposed text, relative to [my current text] is much richer, more insightful, and generally more useful. The writing is accessible and clear. . . . Would I adopt this book? In a New York minute. The quality of both content and writing are first-rate.."

"This is a clearly presented, easily digestible presentation of the extremely large volume of traditional material related to Organizational Theory at both the macro and micro level. In addition, the section on "The Limits of Generic Management Models' for application in public management is among the best I have read. . . . I like the way the author presents current examples of how seemingly old theoretical perspectives are still applied today."

" I like this text a lot. . . . I like the historical approach, and I agree with Professor Tompkins' comments that such an approach helps us better understand the complex nature of organizational theory and helps us understand organizational theory as a whole."