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Understanding Organizations [Fourth Edition] (Paperback)

by Charles Handy (Author) "I came to the study of people in organizations expecting certainty and absolute knowledge in the behavioural sciences ..." (more)
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
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Understanding Organizations [Fourth Edition] + Gods of Management: The Changing Work of Organisations + Inside Organizations: 21 Ideas for Managers (Penguin Business)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 448 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin; Fourth Edition edition (1 Jan 1993)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0140156038
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140156034
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.4 x 2.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,648 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > Business, Finance & Law > Biographies & Histories > Company Histories
    #1 in  Books > Business, Finance & Law > Management > Management Skills > Negotiation
    #3 in  Books > Science & Nature > History & Philosophy > Reference

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  • See Complete Table of Contents

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Charles Handy's revolutionary 1989 bestseller The Age of Unreason catapulted him into the ranks of the top management consultants. In Understanding Organizations, he solidifies his reputation as a seminal business thinker, offering a brilliantly insightful, wide-ranging look at business organizations.

This classic text offers an illuminating discussion of key concepts of concern to all managers: culture, motivation, leadership, power, role-playing and working in groups. Ever mindful of actual business practice, Handy directly addresses how managers can translate the six main concepts into invaluble tools for effective management. He discusses how all organizations need to select, develop and reward their people; to structure and design their work; to resolve political conflicts; to lay down guidelines for their managers; and to plan for the future. In each case, the approaches and techniques described here are invaluable.

Equally important, Handy excels at presenting his ideas in colourful, immediately accessible ways, filling the book with illuminating examples and inventive metaphors that range from Tolstoy's ideas on the concept of self, to the many meanings of "good morning," to the conversations that occur in a stopped elevator, to the proper size for a vineyard or an elephant. He shows, for instance, how an optical illusion experiment sheds light on interdepartmental relations, and how the way schoolchildren are typecast by their peers helps explain corporate hierarchies. And along with case studies, graphs, charts, and questionnaires, Understanding Organizations is peppered with boxed sections that offer advice and stimulate thought, brimming with provocative quotations from business wizards such as Peter Drucker, Tom Peters, Warren Bennis, Alvin Toffler, and Rosabeth Moss Kanter, as well as from Aristotle, Shakespeare, Gilbert and Sullivan, Gail Sheehy, and Joseph Heller.

What the successful manager knows intuitively, Charles Handy puts into words. His powerful interpretive schemes will help managers grasp the underlying dynamics of their company, make sense of its past, and assess--and shape--its future. --Jake Bond

Product Description

Organizations are a part of everyday life, whether in schools, hospitals, police stations or commercial companies. In this classics text, Charles Handy argues that the key to successful organizations lies in a better understanding of the needs and motivations of the people within them. Understanding Organizations offers an extended 'dictionary' of the key concepts -- culture, motivations, leadership, role-playing, co-ordinating and consultation -- and then shows how this 'language' can help us find new solutions to familiar problems. Few management writers have been as consistently challenging and influential as Charles Handy. Firmly established as one of the core business texts, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in organizations and how to make them work better.
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Understanding Organizations [Fourth Edition]
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Understanding Organizations [Fourth Edition] 4.9 out of 5 stars (10)
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Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply one of the best management books around, 11 Jun 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Understanding Organizations (4th Edition) (Penguin Business) (Paperback)
I first came across this book when studying for my MBA.Later I started teaching management classes(1992);the official reading lists for the courses I taught were long and full of difficult to read texts. Some of the students asked me to recommend an easy to read text; I recommended this book because I had found it so easy to handle. I've recommended it ever since. Over the years it has been revised and improved so it still remains fresh and stuffed with current management thinking. The summaries of different theories are really useful for struggling students.If you are a first year BA or a CMS/DMS student - buy it!
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32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Really a management essential! No question!, 20 Feb 2000
This book draws upon and analyses most modern management theories, and gives Handys well informed perspectives. The work does indeed contain pearls of wisdom, and should be essential reading for any open minded manager. The work is intended as a diagnostic tool, and would be essential for any of us prudent enough to use it as such. It is also well written enough to make a stimulating and interesting read for any intellectual person, something that cannot be said of many management books.
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20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An essential book on Organization Theory, 12 Dec 1999
By A Customer
Charles Handy's book is an essential reader of the most modern developments in organizational theory and organizational behaviour. It provides a useful overview of the different key issues that matter to organizations: not just leadership and design (as it is often the case elsewhere), but the ecological and cultural factors as well.

Anybody who cares about organizations (whether they are hospitals, schools, a factories or businesses of any kind) will benefit from this down-to-earth yet profound and wise book.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars understanding organizations - a top book to buy
This book was purchased to complement my BSc(Hon). study materials. In general I found this book informative and easy to read and understand. Read more
Published 21 days ago by D. Mcalpine

5.0 out of 5 stars If you ony buy one book on Organisational Behaviour, make it this one
Charles Handy is arguably the UK's top business "guru", but in my opinion this title somewhat diminishes his life's work, which has gone beyond matters of simple business... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mr. Nicholas Dougan

5.0 out of 5 stars A great place to start learning about organisations
Charles Handy has been very influential shaping my attitudes to work, life styles and the management of organisations. This is a great primer for new students. Read more
Published on 27 May 2007 by Stephen Parry

5.0 out of 5 stars The Star
Easier to understand than other management books,
Excellent aptitude and examples

Down to Earth and Practical

When I got bored with the rest this... Read more
Published on 26 Sep 2006 by P. J. Tweedie

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential, effortless reading
This is truly a remarkable book. Handy has compiled a great body of classic management theory and practice - and made it effortless to absorb. Read more
Published on 27 April 2006 by BikeMan

4.0 out of 5 stars Overview of organisational behaviour
Handy's book is well-written and highly readable. By putting all litterature references at the end of the book the book becomes more readable as the book is free from reference... Read more
Published on 1 Dec 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars This book sets the foundations of strategic management
An in-depth read leaving no stones unturned. Have you ever thought for a minute that you have considered everything when dealing with people, projects and strategy... Read more
Published on 24 Sep 1999 by simon.allen@musicsales.co.uk

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