Gill Palmer – författare

The notion that management knowledge is universal, culture-neutral, readily transferable to any country or situation, has come under mounting challenge. The Politics of Management Knowledge goes beyond such `broad-brush' assertions to explore in detail the relations between management knowledge, power and practice in a world where globalization highlights, rather than obscures, the locally specific character of many management recipes.

The book recognizes the political nature of management knowledge as a discourse produced from, and reproducing, power processes within and between organizations. This theme underpins discussion of the ways in which management ideas and practices `produce' managers of a particular kind - person of enterprise, bureaucrat, heroic leader and so on. Critical examinations of certain current management theories - lean production, excellence, entrepreneurship - illuminate the myriad modes in which relations of power intermingle with relations of knowledge.

Eminent authors from a variety of countries address the social and political processes involved in cross-cultural transference of management ideas across the world. They also look to the future, stressing the need for a substantial new understanding that is less attuned to the corporate worlds of today and more appropriate for the increasingly diverse organizations likely to emerge in the twenty-first century.

The notion that management knowledge is universal, culture-neutral, readily transferable to any country or situation, has come under mounting challenge. The Politics of Management Knowledge goes beyond such `broad-brush' assertions to explore in detail the relations between management knowledge, power and practice in a world where globalization highlights, rather than obscures, the locally specific character of many management recipes.

The book recognizes the political nature of management knowledge as a discourse produced from, and reproducing, power processes within and between organizations. This theme underpins discussion of the ways in which management ideas and practices `produce' managers of a particular kind - person of enterprise, bureaucrat, heroic leader and so on. Critical examinations of certain current management theories - lean production, excellence, entrepreneurship - illuminate the myriad modes in which relations of power intermingle with relations of knowledge.

Eminent authors from a variety of countries address the social and political processes involved in cross-cultural transference of management ideas across the world. They also look to the future, stressing the need for a substantial new understanding that is less attuned to the corporate worlds of today and more appropriate for the increasingly diverse organizations likely to emerge in the twenty-first century.

British Industrial Relations (1983) provides a comprehensive and balanced approach to British industrial relations, an often controversial subject with a variety of academic interpretations which achieved a large significance in national politics. The author draws on political and social theory to explain both the state of British industrial relations in the 1980s and the conflicting prescriptions for change. Trade unions and collective bargaining are placed in the context of the inevitable development of group negotiation within complex organisations. The often neglected importance of management strategy in the design of work and in the development of the British system is emphasised and different interpretations on the state’s role in industrial relations are fully explored. This book has a broad ranging approach, using the latest developments in political, labour process, trade union and organisation theories relevant to the understanding of industrial relations. British institutions are the main focus of study but illustrations from Japan, the USA and Germany are also used and the importance of an historical perspective is underlined.

British Industrial Relations (1983) provides a comprehensive and balanced approach to British industrial relations, an often controversial subject with a variety of academic interpretations which achieved a large significance in national politics. The author draws on political and social theory to explain both the state of British industrial relations in the 1980s and the conflicting prescriptions for change. Trade unions and collective bargaining are placed in the context of the inevitable development of group negotiation within complex organisations. The often neglected importance of management strategy in the design of work and in the development of the British system is emphasised and different interpretations on the state’s role in industrial relations are fully explored. This book has a broad ranging approach, using the latest developments in political, labour process, trade union and organisation theories relevant to the understanding of industrial relations. British institutions are the main focus of study but illustrations from Japan, the USA and Germany are also used and the importance of an historical perspective is underlined.