This book presents a new view of organizations which has important implications for the theory, methods and practice of management. For several years the boundaries of political science, sociology and other fields in the social sciences have been significantly rethought with the help of autopoiesis theory. The authors examine how this theory can be applied in the organization and management field, by an increased focus on knowledge and the processes of knowledge development and guidance. Intended as a standard reference for all those involved in the study of advanced organizations, Organizational Epistemology will be welcomed by graduate students, researchers and reflective practitioners alike.

This book highlights the challenges for firms operating in industries where traditional boundaries are vanishing and a totally new business landscape unfolds. This puts significant demand on the top management teams and their ability to perceive and interpret phenomena and patterns emerging that may influence strategy. Based upon observation of and involvement in the strategy processes of three media firms a framework for strategy processes is proposed and a practical outline of how new strategy processes should be developed is presented.

Successful companies rely on traditional factors of production for their survival. Yet the most important and sustainable sources of competitive advantage-knowledge, customer relations, supply-on-demand, micromanagement, and other forms of "intellectual capital"-often don't even appear on many companies' reporting systems. The results of this lack of attention to intellectual capital can be disastrous for companies and their stockholders.

Providing an organizational system that helps managers maximize the flow of intellectual capital in their companies, Intellectual Capital presents the insights gained by leading experts from the practice, research, and consulting side of business management. Starting with a definition of intellectual capital and it main components, the book offers a step-by-step "process model" to rooting out corporate inefficiency at all levels. Illustrated with vivid case studies, the book also covers the latest thinking and practices of the "second generation" of intellectual capital practices, from consolidating intellectual capital measures into a single "IC Index" to linking them with shareholder value creation systems.

This book highlights the challenges for firms operating in industries where traditional boundaries are vanishing and a totally new business landscape unfolds. This puts significant demand on the top management teams and their ability to perceive and interpret phenomena and patterns emerging that may influence strategy. Based upon observation of and involvement in the strategy processes of three media firms a framework for strategy processes is proposed and a practical outline of how new strategy processes should be developed is presented.

This book presents a new view of organizations which has important implications for the theory, methods and practice of management. For several years the boundaries of political science, sociology and other fields in the social sciences have been significantly rethought with the help of autopoiesis theory. The authors examine how this theory can be applied in the organization and management field, by an increased focus on knowledge and the processes of knowledge development and guidance. Intended as a standard reference for all those involved in the study of advanced organizations, Organizational Epistemology will be welcomed by graduate students, researchers and reflective practitioners alike.

Despite decades of efforts to promote gender equality, most leadership positions in business, politics, education, and even NGOs are occupied by men, and most people still work in occupations dominated by one sex. This book argues that gender imbalances in leadership and occupations are not simply a moral issue or an economic issue, but a governance issue. Gender imbalances persist in large part because the very people with the authority and influence to do something about them know very little about gender and how it works in their organizations and in society at large. Gender imbalanced governance is an expression of entrenched ideas about masculinity and femininity that lead to poor decision making. Improving the quality of governance requires action to counteract the main justifications for the status quo. Based on interviews and conversations with leaders and managers in Europe and the United States, the book presents seven of the most common explanations for persistent gender imbalances and shows how they are based on common stereotypes and myths about men's and women's abilities and preferences. This book provides a guided tour of current research about gender from a multi-disciplinary perspective. It challenges commonly held assumptions and offers alternative explanations and corresponding principles to guide individual decisions, action, and behaviour toward achieving gender balance.

Intellectual Capital refers to one of the most important sources of business advantage - the knowledge within the organisation of how to create value for customers. This is reflected in the transformation of society into knowledge work and the increasing difference between the book value and the market value of companies. This book addresses the issue of how to develop a system for visualising and measuring intellectual capital.

Despite decades of efforts to promote gender equality, most leadership positions in business, politics, education, and even NGOs are occupied by men, and most people still work in occupations dominated by one sex. This book argues that gender imbalances in leadership and occupations are not simply a moral issue or an economic issue, but a governance issue. Gender imbalances persist in large part because the very people with the authority and influence to do something about them know very little about gender and how it works in their organizations and in society at large. Gender imbalanced governance is an expression of entrenched ideas about masculinity and femininity that lead to poor decision making. Improving the quality of governance requires action to counteract the main justifications for the status quo. Based on interviews and conversations with leaders and managers in Europe and the United States, the book presents seven of the most common explanations for persistent gender imbalances and shows how they are based on common stereotypes and myths about men's and women's abilities and preferences. This book provides a guided tour of current research about gender from a multi-disciplinary perspective. It challenges commonly held assumptions and offers alternative explanations and corresponding principles to guide individual decisions, action, and behaviour toward achieving gender balance.

This book seeks to present the main tenets of the Christian faith in non-theological and non-philosophical language, so that any lay person who has a desire to learn more about basic Christian faith and doctrine will be able to make use of it, and (hopefully) find it clearly, yet simply, written. As a scientist, the author has no quarrel with the theory of Evolution, and he has shown that there need be no conflict between scientific discovery, including the theory of Evolution, and the teaching of the Bible on creation. It is a both-and, not an either-or, situation. In the author's view, Evolution is the process or mechanism that God used to bring about the great variety and beauty of creatures that inhabit the Earth, including ourselves who are made in the image of God.

Written by some of the leading international scholars in the field, this book presents the current state-of-the-art in knowledge management.

The book offers a strong response to the need for a body of scientific knowledge on the understanding, managing and measuring of knowledge in organizations and brings an international perspective to bear on the issues bridging theory and practice through case study illustrations from Europe, Japan and American companies.

Using both established as well as more recent modes of inquiry, this book sheds new light on an increasingly important dimension of organizational cooperation and competition - that of knowledge and knowledge transfer. Based on research and practice, the book addresses a wide range of issues concerning the management of knowledge, from knowledge transfer between organizations to knowledge management within organizations. Divided into two parts, Managing Knowledge reflects a fundamental conceptual distinction between two world-views. The first part is characterized by representationism, or traditional approaches to viewing knowledge, knowledge transfer and cooperative strategies. The contributors provide a clear overview of the current research on knowledge management, and bring together studies on the sociology of knowledge, strategic management and learning theory. The second part focuses on anti-representationism, or new perspectives on knowledge and knowledge transfer in organizational cooperation. These perspectives, based on autopoiesis theory, go far beyond conventional ways of perceiving and managing knowledge and their implications for management theory and practice are fully examined.