Mats Alvesson

Todd Bridgman

Hugh Willmott

Critical Management Studies (CMS) has emerged as a movement that questions the authority and relevance of mainstream thinking and practice. Critical of established social practices and institutional arrangements, it challenges prevailing systems of domination and promotes the development of alternatives to them. CMS draws upon diverse critical traditions. Of particular importance for its initial articulation was the thinking of members of the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory. From these foundations, CMS has grown into a pluralistic and inclusive movement incorporating a diverse range of perspectives - ranging from labour process theory to radical feminism. In recent times, a set of ideas broadly labelled 'poststructuralist' have been developed to complement and challenge the insights of Critical Theory, giving new impetus for scholars seeking to challenge the status quo and articulate a more inclusive and humane future for management practice. The Oxford Handbook of Critical Management Studies provides an overview of theoretical approaches, key topics, issues, and subject specialisms in management studies, as well as a set of reflections on the progress and prospects of CMS. Contributors are all specialists in the respective fields and share a concern to interrogate and challenge received wisdom about management theory and practice. Given the rapid growth of the CMS movement, its ever increasing theoretical and geographical diversity and its outreach into the public sphere, The Oxford Handbook of Critical Management Studies is a timely publication. In addition to UK contributors, where CMS has developed most rapidly, there is strong representation from North American contributors as well as from areas where CMS has taken hold more recently, such as Australasia.

The Oxford Handbook of Critical Management Studies

John Hassard

Stephen Cummings

Michael Rowlinson

This book argues that if we are to think differently about management, we must first rewrite management history.

A New History of Management

We might think sustainable management is a new idea, created in the 1960s by enlightened modern scientists. We might think that it puts us on a new path, beyond what management was originally about. But this is not true. Sustainable management is as old as civilization and was a foundation stone of management science as it was formed in the first decade of the 20th century. Recovering this forgotten past provides deeper roots and greater traction to advance sustainable management in our own times. This book charts a history of sustainable management from premodern times, through the birth of management science as an offshoot of the conservation movement, to the present day. The authors argue that modern tools like Triple Bottom Line reporting and multiple Sustainable Development Goals may be less useful than a return to a more fundamental and holistic view of management.

From the Conservation Movement to Climate Change

The Past, Present and Future of Sustainable Management

Conceived by Chris Grey, the Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap series offers an antidote to conventional textbooks. Each book takes a core area of the curriculum and turns it on its head by providing a critical and sophisticated overview of the key issues and debates in an informal, conversational and often humorous way. In Management Theory, Todd Bridgman and Stephen Cummings uncover enduring myths about famous theorists, from Adam Smith and Max Weber to Frederick Taylor, Mary Parker Follett, Abraham Maslow and Kurt Lewin. By exploring how these myths became cast as the foundations of management, this accessible and engaging book generates new ways of thinking about what management could be today and in the future.

Todd Bridgman

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