Management Gurus and Management Fashions

Since the 1980s, popular management thinkers, or management gurus, have promoted a number of performance improvement programs or management fashions that have greatly influenced both the everyday conduct of organizational life and the preoccupations of academic researchers. This book provides a rhetorical critique of the management guru and management fashion phenomenon with a view to building on the important theoretical progress that has recently been made by a small, but growing, band of management researchers.

List of figures and tables

vii

Foreword

ix

Preface

xiii

Acknowledgments

xv

Introduction

1

(7)

Starting out

1

(2)

The wider view

3

(2)

The purpose of the book

5

(1)

The structure of the book

6

(2)

The management guru and management fashion phenomenon

8

(36)

Introduction

8

(1)

Describing the phenomenon

9

(7)

The backlash

16

(6)

Emerging explanatory accounts

22

(14)

Toward a rhetorical critique

36

(6)

Summary

42

(2)

Dramatistic rhetorical criticism

44

(27)

Introduction

44

(2)

The Fantasy Theme method of rhetorical criticism

46

(16)

Research design

62

(7)

Summary

69

(2)

Michael Hammer, James Champy and the reengineering movement

71

(23)

Introduction

71

(1)

The reengineering movement

72

(6)

The rhetorical vision of reengineering

78

(7)

The performance of reengineering

85

(8)

Summary

93

(1)

Stephen Covey and the effectiveness movement

94

(24)

Introduction

94

(1)

The seven highly effective habits of Stephen Covey

95

(4)

Defining the rhetorical community of the effectiveness movement

99

(2)

The rhetorical vision of the effectiveness movement

101

(9)

Managing spiritual movements in a secular age

110

(6)

Summary

116

(2)

Peter Senge and the learning organization

118

(35)

Introduction

118

(1)

Forerunners and variants of the learning organization vision

119

(3)

Organizing the learning organization vision

122

(9)

The rhetorical community of the learning organization

131

(4)

The rhetorical vision of the learning organization

135

(9)

Sustaining the vision of the learning organization

144

(7)

Summary

151

(2)

Discussion

153

(20)

Introduction

153

(1)

The three rhetorical visions compared

154

(9)

Assessing Fantasy Theme Analysis

163

(3)

Extending the analysis

166

(5)

Summary

171

(2)

Conclusion

173

(7)

Introduction

173

(1)

Fostering a dialogue between academics and practitioners

174

(1)

The road ahead

175

(3)

Curtain call

178

(2)

References

180

(21)

Index

201

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Management Gurus and Management Fashions

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials