What Management Is: How It Works and Why It's Everyone's Business - Hardcover

Joan Magretta

  • 3.72 out of 5 stars
    323 ratings by Goodreads
 
9781861975591: What Management Is: How It Works and Why It's Everyone's Business
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 1861975597 ISBN 13: 9781861975591
Publisher: Profile Business, 2002

Synopsis

What Management Is, by former Harvard Business Review editors Joan Magretta and Nan Stone, identifies management as the driving force behind key innovations of the past century and presents a jargon-free look at the way its core principles work. Designed to promote "managerial literacy" up and down the business food chain, as well as among those who simply "want better communities and a better world for our children," the book uses concrete examples to explain fundamental concepts and practices like value creation, the 80-20 rule, and decision analysis in a way that sheds light on them for the uninitiated while providing needed perspective for the more experienced. "Think of this book as everything you wanted to know about management but were afraid to ask," Magretta and Stone write. A comprehensive exploration of the overall process rather than a traditional how-to, in its first section What Management Is examines why and how people work together; the second section shows how ideas are translated into action. With case studies ranging from Old Economy stalwarts like Ford to New Economy upstarts like Dell, along with pioneering nonprofits such as the Nature Conservancy and India's Aravind Eye Hospital, the authors explicitly lay out the basics along with a framework for employing them in a wide variety of situations. --Howard Rothman

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review

What Management Is, by former Harvard Business Review editors Joan Magretta and Nan Stone, identifies management as the driving force behind key innovations of the past century and presents a jargon-free look at the way its core principles work. Designed to promote "managerial literacy" up and down the business food chain, as well as among those who simply "want better communities and a better world for our children," the book uses concrete examples to explain fundamental concepts and practices like value creation, the 80-20 rule, and decision analysis in a way that sheds light on them for the uninitiated while providing needed perspective for the more experienced. "Think of this book as everything you wanted to know about management but were afraid to ask," Magretta and Stone write. A comprehensive exploration of the overall process rather than a traditional how-to, in its first section What Management Is examines why and how people work together; the second section shows how ideas are translated into action. With case studies ranging from Old Economy stalwarts like Ford to New Economy upstarts like Dell, along with pioneering nonprofits such as the Nature Conservancy and India's Aravind Eye Hospital, the authors explicitly lay out the basics along with a framework for employing them in a wide variety of situations. --Howard Rothman

From the Author

If you’re trying to decide whether this book is worth your time, take a minute to read John Byrne’s review in Business Week ("A Road Map Back to Business Basics," May 27, 2002). Here’s the summary: "Rarely has anyone so succinctly and engagingly presented the core principles of managing in a single book." Byrne praises the book’s clear depiction of the power of good management, noting that What Management Is packs a "potent message" in this disillusioning time.

Here's what other top thinkers and executives had to say:

From Peter Drucker : "First-rate as an introduction....Excellent as a ...comprehensive ‘refresher course’ for the most experienced executive in businesses and non-profits alike."

From Michael Porter: Magretta and Stone are "superb writers and clear thinkers." This book, he says, "exposes the discipline of management and the enduring principles of organizational success."

From Jim Collins, author of Good to Great: The book "effectively distills key concepts that every executive should know into a useful toolkit." That, says Collins, offers readers a "wonderful service."

From Michael Dell: "This is a book we'll want every executive-in-training at Dell to read....Well done!"

From David Pottruck, co-CEO of Schwab: "This is a terrific introduction for anyone trying to get their arms around managerial issues. It’s comprehensive, well-written, easy-to-grasp."

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Profile Business
Publication date
2002
Language
English
ISBN 10 
1861975597
ISBN 13 
9781861975591
Binding
Hardcover
Number of pages
254
Rating
  • 3.72 out of 5 stars
    323 ratings by Goodreads

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780743203197: What Management Is: How It Works and Why It's Everyone's Business

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0743203194 ISBN 13:  9780743203197
Publisher: Free Press, 2012
Hardcover