Carol Stephenson - Böcker

In today's world of business where organizational boundaries are blurry, intense competition dictates rapid change, and complex issues and relationships cut across departments, business units, and even companies, the old hierarchical command-and-control management approach is no longer sufficient. Distributed leadership approaches are necessary and no one individual can do it all. In fact, an enterprise is more than just the traditional organization. Value today is often created not just within a company, but also across a network of companies. Being able to connect the various components and to work collaboratively within the network is essential to maintaining competitive advantage. Leaders today must be capable of identifying potential partners, initiating and maintaining relationships, resolving conflicts, and reconfiguring their relationships. Cross-Enterprise Leadership is a new model for success in today's world of complexity and ambiguity. Leaders who adopt this approach will be more comfortable dealing with ambiguity, uncertainty, complexity and time pressures, and with creating value through networks of relationships.Small, domestic, entrepreneurial companies are, by their very nature, cross-enterprise focused. Entrepreneurs will tell you that they live in a world of uncertainty and ambiguity and that they constantly need to adjust on the fly. Equally, large multi-national companies like Wal-Mart, Nestle, or Coca-Cola are inherently complex and issues and relationships cut across functions, levels, geographies, and companies.Cross-Enterprise Leadership goes beyond a functional perspective to understanding the complexity of business issues from all angles and how they can be integrated, how leaders can rely almost entirely on influence when they may be operating without power or authority, and how they can develop the capacity to make decisions and implement them in an environment filled with uncertainty and complexity.Most managers operate like the traditional orchestra-waiting to do their written part. But there is no tidy score for business today. CEL enables today's leaders to be more like a jazz band, improvising and building off of one another, creating music in real time and in relationship to one another.

During the last two decades there have been profound changes in the organization of work. Myths at Work explores these changes, critically examining and challenging some of the central frameworks that have been used to explain them. Global economic restructuring has brought about changes in the jobs we do, our labour market opportunities, and the shape of our individual career paths. These changes have been explained through a number of potent 'myths' (in the sense of widely-held bodies of ideas) including globalization, post-fordist production methods, and a new consumer-based form of capitalism. The authors examine these myths, explain how they have come about, and question their accuracy. While doing so they provide a more accurate picture of employment and the modern workplace. They also look at the 'myths' of the feminisation of the labour force, the skills revolution, lean production, non-standard employment, the death of class, the end of trade unionism, and the 'economic worker'.The result is an illuminating and accessible teaching and research text that will appeal to students and academics in the sociology of work, organizational behaviour, business studies, and related areas.

What's the point of studying business from a social perspective?How can sociology aid my understanding of the big issues facing businesses today?Can thinking sociologically really equip me better for a career in business?This book provides an indispensable introduction to business and organizations from a social perspective. Using classic and contemporary ideas and evidence, the book explores the connections between people, work, organizations and society. Carefully illustrated with a range of up-to-date case studies, the book shows how sociology can shed light on current developments in the business world.Drawing on their considerable experience of teaching sociology to a range of audiences, the authors provide a straightforward but still stimulating step-by-step guide to issues such as: discrimination and diversity in the workplace; trade unionism and industrial disputes; the need for ethics and legislation; and the changing roles of managers and employees.The book provides: Clearly-defined learning aims;Questions for discussion and reflection;Annotated suggestions for further reading;In-depth case studies linking sociological ideas to business realities.Written with the needs of students taking degrees outside the traditional social sciences in mind, such as business studies, human resources and management, the book is suitable for those approaching sociology for the very first time. Accessible and inspirational, it will help students to grasp new and exciting possibilities for thinking about business in the contemporary world.

What's the point of studying business from a social perspective?How can sociology aid my understanding of the big issues facing businesses today?Can thinking sociologically really equip me better for a career in business?This book provides an indispensable introduction to business and organizations from a social perspective. Using classic and contemporary ideas and evidence, the book explores the connections between people, work, organizations and society. Carefully illustrated with a range of up-to-date case studies, the book shows how sociology can shed light on current developments in the business world.Drawing on their considerable experience of teaching sociology to a range of audiences, the authors provide a straightforward but still stimulating step-by-step guide to issues such as: discrimination and diversity in the workplace; trade unionism and industrial disputes; the need for ethics and legislation; and the changing roles of managers and employees.The book provides: Clearly-defined learning aims;Questions for discussion and reflection;Annotated suggestions for further reading;In-depth case studies linking sociological ideas to business realities.Written with the needs of students taking degrees outside the traditional social sciences in mind, such as business studies, human resources and management, the book is suitable for those approaching sociology for the very first time. Accessible and inspirational, it will help students to grasp new and exciting possibilities for thinking about business in the contemporary world.