Bookshelf 12 - Organisations
Understanding Organisations
Charles Handy
Pub: Penguin 4th edition 1993 £10.99 ISBN 0140156038
This is a classic management text, written for managers who are busy 'doing' but who also want to think. Charles Handy acts as a guide to the key concepts needed to understand how organisations operate, and he does not assume that that this only applies to large, commercial firms. His approach is accessible, inclusive and ethical. There are chapters on motivation, roles and interactions, leadership, power and influence, the working of groups, the cultures of organisations, change management and politics. If you are only going to read one management book ever, then this is in my top 3 choices.
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Imaginization: New Mindsets For Seeing, Organizing, And Managing
By Gareth Morgan
Pub Sage Publications 1997 £25.00 ISBN076191269X
Imaginization (a word covered by the author by combining imagine and organisation) is “an invitation to develop new ways of thinking about organisations and management … and invitation to reinvent ourselves and what we do!” The author emphasises five key points – Imaginization is about (1) improving our abilities to see and understand situations in new ways (2) finding new images for new ways of organising (3) the creation of shared understandings (4) personal development (5) developing capacities for continuous self-organization. There’s a very useful summary in the introduction, and the book itself provided powerful messages reinforced by pictures and stories. It shows you how to develop new insights as a manager, how to create more flexible and innovative forms of organisation and how to develop your own creative toolkit for meeting the challenges of change.
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Organizational Culture and Leadership
by Edgar H Schein
Pub: Jossey-Bass 2nd edition 1997 £14.95 ISBN 0 7879 0362 0
A serious but rewarding read. Two big topics - culture and leadership and their relationships to each other are tackled by one of the best writers in this field. There's plenty here on change and learning, and the role of the Founder in an organisation, as well as diagnosing young, midlife, mature and declining organisations. Academically sound yet very accessible.
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Low Flying Heroes: Micro-Social Enterprise Below the Radar Screen
By Alex McGillivray, Pat Conaty & Chris Wadhams
(New Economics Foundation, 2001, ISBN 1 899407 367 £7.95
A book about people who make things happen in local communities. This fascinating study covers a wide range of examples of small, energetic, informal outfits. Review
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How to Manage Organisational Change
by D E Hussey
Pub: Kogan Page 2000 £7.99 ISBN 0749432519
This short, practical book identifies types of change, and covers causes of resistance to change, as well as developing the author's own practical approach to managing change. This is EASIER, which denotes envisioning, activating, supporting, implementing, ensuring and recognising. In my view, this book has all the ingredients needed to be useful - a solid grounding in theory and experience, accessible language, a clear focus on practical management, and it is a manageable length.
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Understanding Voluntary Organisations
by Charles Handy
Pub: Penguin 1988 £12.99 ISBN 0140143386
A great little book full of stimulating ideas. Charles Handy is without equal - an extremely influential management writer who understands the way voluntary (and arts) organisations work. Handy takes the best and most transferable bits of management theory and with a commentary shows their relevance to voluntary organisations. His introductory chapter is 'It is Good to be Different', and he then tackles people in organisations including motivation, roles, groups, power and influence; and organising the organisation covering cultures, structures, systems and chances of change.
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Concise Guide to the Learning Organisation
By Mike Pedler & Aspinwall
Pub: Lemos & Crane 1998 £12.99 ISBN 1898001423
Having defined the learning organisation as one 'that facilitates the learning of all its members and consciously transforms itself and its context' , the book sets out to show how to release unrealised potential in people and organisations. It offers practical help, tools and encouragement. Grounded in organisational and learning theory, it tackles the question 'How can organisations learn?' very successfully and offers re-assuring case studies and plenty of practical activities. This is management theory at its best - well-written, accessible and easily translated into action.
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Who Moved My Cheese?: An amazing way to deal with change in your work and in your life
By Dr Spencer Johnson
Pub Random House 1999 ISBN 0091816971
One of those slim easy-read “buy at the airport” books which uses a simple story to get across a powerful message about our reactions to change.
What A Way To Run A Railroad
By Landry et al
Pub Comedia 1985 ISBN 090689080
Written in 1985, looking back at radical organisations that emerged in the 70s only to fail after a short period of success, this book explores key concepts of the 70s – collectively, internal democracy, participation. It presents an argument that these radical projects needed to take on board questions of efficiency, finance control and marketing if they were to survive. It is wonderfully out-spoken about “a history of blind spots”, “the revolt against structure” and “how to share the skills you can’t admit to having”. One particularly poignant issue is its description of the radical organisations’ view on management. “The Left avoids the idea of management by calling people co-ordinators – as if the skill of management was merely that of stopping people bumping into each other” and there is a diatribe against Adair’s Action Centred Leadership in the chapter “Looking at Management with a Jaundiced Eye”. The book was one of a series that aimed to define effective ways of working that were congruent with democratic aspirations and principles. Is this so dated, or still relevant today?
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Making Partnerships Work
By Andrew Wilson & Kate Charlton
Pub Joseph Rowntree 1997
ISBN 1899987398 £9.95 plus p&p
Based on research on a range of current partnership projects, and illustrated by examples from this, the book provides a practical 5 stage approach to making partnerships work. This involves (1) Forming the initiative and identifying stakeholders (2) Establishing common ground and shared vision (3) Developing the structure (4) Delivering an action plan and measuring progress and (5) An exit strategy and 'life after death'. Many of the tricky bits are addressed - who should govern, dealing with conflict, and developing the long-term view. A very useful guide. Review
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The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for Building a LearningOrganisation
By Peter M Senge
Pub Nicholas Brealey 1994 £19.99 ISBN 1857880609
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Bookshelf 12 |
