Organizational analysis has moved in a number of directions since its origins in mainstream theories of positivism and functionalism. This challenging new book sets out an alternative agenda for the field, discussing existing critical discourses, whilst exploring a selection of emerging ideas and arguments.

Addressing a series of key epistemological, conceptual and methodological issues, Disorganization Theory is designed to encourage reflexive thinking on the part of the reader. Influenced by critical philosophies of deconstruction and discourse, the book not only offers insight into established debates surrounding, for example, postmodernism and actor-network theory, but also brings forth new insights in the field: mimesis, consumption, retrospection, decoration, governmentality, and fluidity theories are all discussed.

Written by an international team of leading organizational theorists, this book is an important and contentious addition to the literature. It is an ideal companion for students and researchers working in the fields of advanced organization and management theory, and critical management studies.

The body occupies a prime position in contemporary theoretical work, yet there is no consensus on what it is and what constitutes it. Organizing the Sexed Body brings together a number of different accounts and perspectives on the body, drawing out some of the key connections and disjunctures from this most contested of topics. From revealing attempts at applying abstract body theory to real bodies, to thoughts on the 'virtual' nature of the transgendered body, this volume features fresh and fascinating contributions from some of the leading thinkers and upcoming theorists in the field. Themes that run through the work include the place of the body in theory, the notion of labour in the production of bodies and the transformative potential of bodies on spaces.
Contributors include: David Bell; Gargi Bhattacharyya; Richard Collier; Mark Featherstone; Ruth Holiday; Robyn Longhurst; Leslie J. Moran; Sally R. Munt; John O'Neill; Diane Roberts; Karen Stevenson; Graham Thompson and Stephen Whittle

Until now, research has given us only a limited understanding of how managers actually make sense of and apply management knowledge; how networks of interaction amongst managers help or hinder processes of knowledge diffusion and the sharing of best practice; and how these processes are all influenced both by the organisations in which managers act and by the professional communities of practice they belong to. Managing Modern Healthcare fills these important gaps in our understanding by drawing upon an in-depth study of management networks and practice in three healthcare organisations in the UK. It draws from the primary research a number of important and grounded lessons about how management networks develop and influence the spread of management knowledge and practice; how management training and development relates to the needs of managers facing challenging conditions; and how those conditions are themselves shaping the nature of management in healthcare. This book reveals how managers in practice are responding to the many contemporary challenges facing healthcare (and the NHS in particular) and how they are able or not to effectively exploit sources of knowledge, learning and best practice through the networks of practice they engage in to improve healthcare delivery and healthcare organisational performance. Managing Modern Healthcare makes a number of important theoretical contributions as well as practical recommendations. The theoretical and empirical contributions the book makes relate to wider work on networks and networking, management knowledge, situated learning/communities of practice, professionalization/professional identity and healthcare management more generally. The practical contribution comes in the form of recommendations for healthcare management practitioners and policy makers that are intended to impact upon and help enhance healthcare management delivery and performance.

Organizations change. They grow, they adapt, they evolve. The effects of organizational change are important, varied and complex and analyzing and understanding them is vital for students, academics and researchers in all business schools. The Routledge Companion to Organizational Change offers a comprehensive and authoritative overview of the field. The volume brings together the very best contributors not only from the field of organizational change, but also from adjacent fields, such as strategy and leadership. These contributors offer fresh and challenging insights to the mainstream themes of this discipline. Surveying the state of the discipline and introducing new, cutting-edge themes, this book is a valuable reference source for students and academics in this area.

The Theory and Philosophy of Organizations makes a major contribution to the debate on the status of organizational theory as a discipline. The volume is divided into three sections exploring issues under the headings `theory', `anasis' and `philosophy'. In each, the limitations of `traditional' or `scientific' organizational paradigms are illuminated and new forms of interpretation offered.

Until now, research has given us only a limited understanding of how managers actually make sense of and apply management knowledge; how networks of interaction amongst managers help or hinder processes of knowledge diffusion and the sharing of best practice; and how these processes are all influenced both by the organisations in which managers act and by the professional communities of practice they belong to. Managing Modern Healthcare fills these important gaps in our understanding by drawing upon an in-depth study of management networks and practice in three healthcare organisations in the UK. It draws from the primary research a number of important and grounded lessons about how management networks develop and influence the spread of management knowledge and practice; how management training and development relates to the needs of managers facing challenging conditions; and how those conditions are themselves shaping the nature of management in healthcare. This book reveals how managers in practice are responding to the many contemporary challenges facing healthcare (and the NHS in particular) and how they are able or not to effectively exploit sources of knowledge, learning and best practice through the networks of practice they engage in to improve healthcare delivery and healthcare organisational performance. Managing Modern Healthcare makes a number of important theoretical contributions as well as practical recommendations. The theoretical and empirical contributions the book makes relate to wider work on networks and networking, management knowledge, situated learning/communities of practice, professionalization/professional identity and healthcare management more generally. The practical contribution comes in the form of recommendations for healthcare management practitioners and policy makers that are intended to impact upon and help enhance healthcare management delivery and performance.

R&D Decisions, Strategy, Policy and Innovations explores how research and development decisions affect all of us. They are linked inextricably to the performance of firms and of economics as a whole. Their importance means that they are of concern to a large number of practitioners, policy-makers and researchers. This book demonstrates the range of issues and perspectives which R&D can encompass and at the same time brings out the elements which unite them. The papers in this book are organized into three main sections: * Strategy and Organization explores the importance of R&D and of the structures and strategies of individual organizations. The emerging 'core competence paradigm' is especially noted. * Policy and Performance looks at what new thinking on R&D more generally implies for government policy and the performance of industries, regions and economies. * Disclosure and the Market examines issues raised by changing regulations on the disclosure of R&D expenditure.

Organizations change. They grow, they adapt, they evolve. The effects of organizational change are important, varied and complex and analyzing and understanding them is vital for students, academics and researchers in all business schools.

The Routledge Companion to Organizational Change offers a comprehensive and authoritative overview of the field. The volume brings together the very best contributors not only from the field of organizational change, but also from adjacent fields, such as strategy and leadership. These contributors offer fresh and challenging insights to the mainstream themes of this discipline.

Surveying the state of the discipline and introducing new, cutting-edge themes, this book is a valuable reference source for students and academics in this area.

Based on extensive original research, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the current status of state enterprise reform in China.

Chinese State Enterprise Reform considers the relationship between public ownership and public enterprises, and the historical evolution of China's economic reform programme since 1978, including assessments of the Contrast Responsiblity System, which operated from the early 1980s to the early 1990s, and the Group Company Experiments, which began in the 1990s. It discusses the relations between workers, managers, and the state in post-Dengist China, the implications of the reform programme for human resources management in state enterprises, the nature of labour representation, and organization under tate capitalism and the problems of surplus labour and reemployment.

Organizational analysis has moved in a number of directions since its origins in mainstream theories of positivism and functionalism. This challenging book sets out an alternative agenda for the field, discussing existing critical discourses, whilst exploring a selection of emerging ideas and arguments.

Addressing a series of key epistemological, conceptual and methodological issues, Disorganization Theory is designed to encourage reflexive thinking on the part of the reader. Influenced by critical philosophies of deconstruction and discourse, the book not only offers insight into established debates surrounding, for example, postmodernism and actor-network theory, but also brings forth new insights in the field: mimesis, consumption, retrospection, decoration, governmentality, and fluidity theories are all discussed.

Written by an international team of leading organizational theorists, this book is an important and contentious addition to the literature. It is an ideal companion for students and researchers working in the fields of advanced organization and management theory, and critical management studies.

Based on extensive original research, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the current status of state enterprise reform in China.

Chinese State Enterprise Reform considers the relationship between public ownership and public enterprises, and the historical evolution of China's economic reform programme since 1978, including assessments of the Contrast Responsiblity System, which operated from the early 1980s to the early 1990s, and the Group Company Experiments, which began in the 1990s. It discusses the relations between workers, managers, and the state in post-Dengist China, the implications of the reform programme for human resources management in state enterprises, the nature of labour representation, and organization under tate capitalism and the problems of surplus labour and reemployment.

In this book, first published in 1989, the authors have sought to highlight some of the major themes in the study of time and work within separate but related fields of study. A number of common starting points and issues are examined, alongside the various conclusions which different researchers have drawn together. Working together, the four authors have enriched their individual understanding of worktime through exposure to approaches taken by others working within different discipline boundaries. This title will be of interest to students of business studies.

First published in 1994, the essays collected in this book explore the impact and current status of the ideas put forth in David Silverman's The Theory of Organizations, and how they relate to future directions in organization theory. After opening with a chapter by Silverman himself, the subsequent chapters investigate key issues in the study of organizations, including structure and agency, the politics of organization theory, and the meanings of post-positivist organizational analysis. Contemporaneous debates on postmodernism, the emotions, gender and structuration are discussed in the context of the development of organizational theory in the preceding twenty-five years - providing insights into the continuities within organizational theory and provoking thought about future directions.

Full Contributors:
Contributors include: David Bell Staffordshire University, UK Gargi Bhattacharyya, University of Birmingham, UK Richard Collier University of Newcastle, UK Mark Featherstone, University of Keele, UK Ruth Holliday, Staffordshire University, UK Robyn Longhurst University of Waikato, New Zealand, Leslie J. Moran Birkbeck College, London, UK Sally R. Munt University of Brighton, UK John O'Neill York University, Ontario, Canada

In this book, first published in 1989, the authors have sought to highlight some of the major themes in the study of time and work within separate but related fields of study. A number of common starting points and issues are examined, alongside the various conclusions which different researchers have drawn together. Working together, the four authors have enriched their individual understanding of worktime through exposure to approaches taken by others working within different discipline boundaries. This title will be of interest to students of business studies.

Critical approaches to leadership studies have sought to challenge the normative position of leadership as residing solely within the formal leader and have gone as far as to undermine the traditionally held assumption of leadership as a "real" phenomenon. The book offers a critical account of the nature of leadership and management in modern organizations. Specifically it examines the forces that affect the influence relationships between leaders and followers in public sector organizational settings and thus, how these relationships inform social influence processes. Although the book focuses on the case of a public sector organization in the UK, the findings are placed in the context of both leadership theory and research across the globe and the dissemination of 'new public management' worldwide. By acknowledging the criticisms concerning the weaknesses of conventional or mainstream leadership study and through the adoption of a critical perspective, Critical Leadership provides a deep and rich interpretation of the empirical material on leadership, thus making an outstanding contribution to the current literature.

This volume explores how research and development decisions affect all of us. They are linked inextricably to the performance of firms and of economics as a whole. Their importance means that they are of concern to a large number of practitioners, policy-makers and researchers. This book demonstrates the range of issues and perspectives which R&D can encompass and at the same time brings out the elements which unite them. The papers in this book are organized into three main sections: strategy and organization explores the importance of R&D of the structures and strategies of individual organizations. The emerging "core competence paradigm" is especially noted. "Policy and Performance" looks at what thinking on R&D more generally implies for government policy and the performance of industries, regions and economies. "Disclosure and the Market" examines issues raised by changing regulations on the disclosure of R&D expenditure.

First published in 1994, the essays collected in this book explore the impact and current status of the ideas put forth in David Silverman's The Theory of Organizations, and how they relate to future directions in organization theory. After opening with a chapter by Silverman himself, the subsequent chapters investigate key issues in the study of organizations, including structure and agency, the politics of organization theory, and the meanings of post-positivist organizational analysis. Contemporaneous debates on postmodernism, the emotions, gender and structuration are discussed in the context of the development of organizational theory in the preceding twenty-five years - providing insights into the continuities within organizational theory and provoking thought about future directions.

The Theory and Philosophy of Organizations makes a major contribution to the debate on the status of organizational theory as a discipline. The volume is divided into three sections exploring issues under the headings `theory', `anasis' and `philosophy'. In each, the limitations of `traditional' or `scientific' organizational paradigms are illuminated and new forms of interpretation offered.

Critical approaches to leadership studies have sought to challenge the normative position of leadership as residing solely within the formal leader and have gone as far as to undermine the traditionally held assumption of leadership as a "real" phenomenon. The book offers a critical account of the nature of leadership and management in modern organizations. Specifically it examines the forces that affect the influence relationships between leaders and followers in public sector organizational settings and thus, how these relationships inform social influence processes. Although the book focuses on the case of a public sector organization in the UK, the findings are placed in the context of both leadership theory and research across the globe and the dissemination of 'new public management' worldwide. By acknowledging the criticisms concerning the weaknesses of conventional or mainstream leadership study and through the adoption of a critical perspective, Critical Leadership provides a deep and rich interpretation of the empirical material on leadership, thus making an outstanding contribution to the current literature.

Existing narratives about how we should organize are built upon, and reinforce, a concept of 'good management' derived from what is assumed to be a fundamental need to increase efficiency. But this assumption is based on a presentist, monocultural, and generally limited view of management's past. A New History of Management disputes these foundations. By reassessing conventional perspectives on past management theories and providing a new critical outline of present-day management, it highlights alternative conceptions of 'good management' focused on ethical aims, sustainability, and alternative views of good practice. From this new historical perspective, existing assumptions can be countered and simplistic views disputed, offering a platform from which graduate students, researchers, and reflective practitioners can develop alternative approaches for managing and organizing in the twenty-first century.

Who are NHS middle managers? What do they do, and why and how do they do it'? This book explores the daily realities of working life for middle managers in the UK's National Health Service during a time of radical change and disruption to the entire edifice of publicly-funded healthcare. It is an empirical critique of the movement towards a healthcare model based around HMO-type providers such as Kaiser Permanente and United Health. Although this model is well-known internationally, many believe it to be financially and ethically questionable, and often far from 'best practice' when it comes to patient care. Drawing on immersive ethnographic research based on four case studies - an Acute Hospital Trust, an Ambulance Trust, a Mental Health Trust, and a Primary Care Trust - this book provides an in-depth critical appraisal of the everyday experiences of a range of managers working in the NHS. It describes exactly what NHS managers do and explains how their roles are changing and the types of challenges they face. The analysis explains how many NHS junior and middle managers are themselves clinicians to some extent, with hybrid roles as simultaneously nurse and manager, midwife and manager, or paramedic and manager. While commonly working in 'back office' functions, NHS middle managers are also just as likely to be working very close to or actually on the front lines of patient care. Despite the problems they regularly face from organizational restructuring, cost control and demands for accountability, the authors demonstrate that NHS managers - in their various guises - play critical, yet undervalued, institutional roles. Depicting the darker sides of organizational change, this text is a sociological exploration of the daily struggle for work dignity of a complex, widely denigrated, and largely misunderstood group of public servants trying to do their best under extremely trying circumstances. It is essential reading for academics, students, and practitioners interested in health management and policy, organisational change, public sector management, and the NHS more broadly.

Who are NHS middle managers? What do they do, and why and how do they do it'? This book explores the daily realities of working life for middle managers in the UK's National Health Service during a time of radical change and disruption to the entire edifice of publicly-funded healthcare. It is an empirical critique of the movement towards a healthcare model based around HMO-type providers such as Kaiser Permanente and United Health. Although this model is well-known internationally, many believe it to be financially and ethically questionable, and often far from 'best practice' when it comes to patient care. Drawing on immersive ethnographic research based on four case studies - an Acute Hospital Trust, an Ambulance Trust, a Mental Health Trust, and a Primary Care Trust - this book provides an in-depth critical appraisal of the everyday experiences of a range of managers working in the NHS. It describes exactly what NHS managers do and explains how their roles are changing and the types of challenges they face. The analysis explains how many NHS junior and middle managers are themselves clinicians to some extent, with hybrid roles as simultaneously nurse and manager, midwife and manager, or paramedic and manager. While commonly working in 'back office' functions, NHS middle managers are also just as likely to be working very close to or actually on the front lines of patient care. Despite the problems they regularly face from organizational restructuring, cost control and demands for accountability, the authors demonstrate that NHS managers - in their various guises - play critical, yet undervalued, institutional roles. Depicting the darker sides of organizational change, this text is a sociological exploration of the daily struggle for work dignity of a complex, widely denigrated, and largely misunderstood group of public servants trying to do their best under extremely trying circumstances. It is essential reading for academics, students, and practitioners interested in health management and policy, organisational change, public sector management, and the NHS more broadly.

Existing narratives about how we should organize are built upon, and reinforce, a concept of 'good management' derived from what is assumed to be a fundamental need to increase efficiency. But this assumption is based on a presentist, monocultural, and generally limited view of management's past. A New History of Management disputes these foundations. By reassessing conventional perspectives on past management theories and providing a new critical outline of present-day management, it highlights alternative conceptions of 'good management' focused on ethical aims, sustainability, and alternative views of good practice. From this new historical perspective, existing assumptions can be countered and simplistic views disputed, offering a platform from which graduate students, researchers, and reflective practitioners can develop alternative approaches for managing and organizing in the twenty-first century.

In recent years, widespread organisational change in large corporations has almost invariably led to work intensification and increased stress for managers. Managing in the Modern Corporation, first published in 2009, explains how and why large companies have changed their organisational structures and philosophies, focusing in particular on how these changes affect the careers of middle managers. Based on in-depth interviews with over two hundred middle and senior managers working in large corporations in the USA, UK and Japan, it shows how the working lives of managers have been subjected to major disruption, involving work intensification and reduced opportunities for career progression. Furthermore, it argues that such widespread overwork and poor treatment of highly skilled and highly motivated staff has created a major international problem that must be addressed. The book presents a range of solutions to this important problem, suggesting that there are possibilities for saner, less brutal organisational environments.