Introduction to Business

Introduction to Business
Author: Lawrence J. Gitman
Publisher:
Total Pages: 1455
Release: 2024-09-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Introduction to Business covers the scope and sequence of most introductory business courses. The book provides detailed explanations in the context of core themes such as customer satisfaction, ethics, entrepreneurship, global business, and managing change. Introduction to Business includes hundreds of current business examples from a range of industries and geographic locations, which feature a variety of individuals. The outcome is a balanced approach to the theory and application of business concepts, with attention to the knowledge and skills necessary for student success in this course and beyond. This is an adaptation of Introduction to Business by OpenStax. You can access the textbook as pdf for free at openstax.org. Minor editorial changes were made to ensure a better ebook reading experience. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

When Organization Fails

When Organization Fails
Author: James R. Taylor
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 243
Release: 2014-06-05
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 131780676X

When Organization Fails: Why Authority Matters develops the study of authority as an area of investigation in organizational communication and management. As a research topic, authority has rarely been addressed in depth in the management and organizational communication literature. It is critical, however, to maintaining unity of purpose and action of the organization, and it is frequently cited by organizational members themselves. Utilizing two case studies, examined in depth and based on the accounts of the individuals involved, authors James R. Taylor and Elizabeth J. van Every explore the pathology of authority when it fails. They develop a theoretical foundation that aims to illuminate authority by positioning it in communication theory. This volume sets the stage for a new generation of scholars who can make their reputations as experts on authority, and is intended for scholars and graduate students in organizational communication, leadership, and discourse analysis. It also offers practical insights to consultants and management experts worldwide.

Models of Management

Models of Management
Author: Mauro F. Guillén
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 439
Release: 1994-10-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0226310361

This work explores differing historical patterns in the adoption of the three major models of organizational management: scientific management; human relations; and structural analysis. The author takes a fresh look at how managers have used these models in four countries during the 20th century.

Influence Without Authority

Influence Without Authority
Author: Allan R. Cohen
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2011-01-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1118045734

In organizations today, getting work done requires political and collaborative skills. That’s why the first edition of this book has been widely adopted as a guide for consultants, project leaders, staff experts, and anyone else who does not have direct authority but who is nevertheless accountable for results. In this revised edition, leadership gurus Allan Cohen and David Bradford explain how to get cooperation from those over whom you have no official authority by offering them help in the form of the “currencies” they value. This classic work, now revised and updated, gives you powerful techniques for cutting through interpersonal and interdepartmental barriers, and motivating people to lend you their support, time, and resources.

Knowledge Solutions

Knowledge Solutions
Author: Olivier Serrat
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 1098
Release: 2017-05-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 981100983X

This book is open access under a CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO license. This book comprehensively covers topics in knowledge management and competence in strategy development, management techniques, collaboration mechanisms, knowledge sharing and learning, as well as knowledge capture and storage. Presented in accessible “chunks,” it includes more than 120 topics that are essential to high-performance organizations. The extensive use of quotes by respected experts juxtaposed with relevant research to counterpoint or lend weight to key concepts; “cheat sheets” that simplify access and reference to individual articles; as well as the grouping of many of these topics under recurrent themes make this book unique. In addition, it provides scalable tried-and-tested tools, method and approaches for improved organizational effectiveness. The research included is particularly useful to knowledge workers engaged in executive leadership; research, analysis and advice; and corporate management and administration. It is a valuable resource for those working in the public, private and third sectors, both in industrialized and developing countries.

The Distribution of Authority in Formal Organizations

The Distribution of Authority in Formal Organizations
Author: Gene W. Dalton
Publisher: MIT Press (MA)
Total Pages: 229
Release: 1973
Genre: Authority
ISBN: 9780262540216

This study relates two issues of increasing importance to management: authority and change. It also combines two types of research design and methodology: a field experiment and a "natural" experiment with an emphasis on the control and measurement of variables. The field experiment is a case study of the impact and developing effects of a series of changes in organizational structure at the research and development center of a large U.S. corporation over a two-year period. It assesses the attendant changes in the productivity and satisfaction of some 150 scientists, engineers, and managers engaged in technical development work at the Center under a newly promoted director—a scientist-executive—who has reorganized its lines of authority in an attempt to improve its effectiveness. His steps to "move decision-making downward" are examined in some detail. In the controlled experiment, before any of the organizational changes were announced to staff of the Center, the investigators were allowed to measure attitudes as revealed through questionnaires and interviews covering not only groups that were to be reorganized but also a "control" group not involved. A year after the reorganization was put into effect, a second set of questionnaires and interviews was used to measure the effect of change. The study was originally published in 1968 by the Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University, where the authors have served as faculty colleagues and project collaborators while retaining their independence of mind. In the two concluding chapters of this book—one by Professor Zaleznik, the other by Professors Barnes and Dalton—they summarize their findings and present differing and sometimes opposing conclusions.

Reworking Authority

Reworking Authority
Author: Larry Hirschhorn
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 148
Release: 1998-09-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780262581738

One critical change in how people work, argues Larry Hirschhorn, is that they are expected to bring more of themselves psychologically to the job. To facilitate this change, it is necessary to create a new culture of authority—one in which superiors acknowledge their dependence on subordinates, subordinates can challenge superiors, and both are able to show their vulnerability. For many companies, the past decade has been marked by a sense of turbulence and redefinition. The growing role of information technologies and service businesses has prompted companies to reconsider how they are structured and even what business they are in. These changes have also affected how people work, what skills they need, and what kind of careers they expect. One critical change in how people work, argues Larry Hirschhorn, is that they are expected to bring more of themselves psychologically to the job. To facilitate this change, it is necessary to create a new culture of authority—one in which superiors acknowledge their dependence on subordinates, subordinates can challenge superiors, and both are able to show their vulnerability. In the old culture of authority, people suppressed disruptive feelings such as envy, resentment, and fear of dependency. But by depersonalizing themselves, they became "alienated"; in the process, the work of the organization suffered. In building a new culture of authority, we are challenged to express these feelings without disrupting our work. We learn how to bring our feelings to our tasks. The first chapters of the book examine the covert processes by which people caught between the old and new culture of authority neither suppress nor express their feelings. Feelings are activated but not directed toward useful work. The case studies of this process are instructive and moving. The book then explores how organizations can create a culture of openness in which people become more psychologically present. In part, the process entails an understanding of the changes taking place in how we experience our own identity at work and that of "others" in society at large. To do this, the book suggests, we need a social policy of forgiveness and second chances.

Power and Influence in Organizations

Power and Influence in Organizations
Author: Roderick Moreland Kramer
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 412
Release: 1998-08-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780761908616

This volume is a readily accessible compilation of current, original scholarly research in the area of power and influence in organizations. It offers a rich exploration of emerging trends and new perspectives.

Communicating Authority in Interorganizational Collaboration

Communicating Authority in Interorganizational Collaboration
Author: Rebecca M. Rice
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2021-11-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1000468941

The book offers an in-depth analysis of the challenges of establishing authority within collaborative efforts. It introduces the concept of cumulative authority, arguing that communicating authority effectively is key to the creation and success of collaborations. Rice uses a communication-as-constitutive of organizations perspective to reconsider organizational authority, typically thought of in terms of leadership, as instead negotiated in communication among collaboration members as they attempt to influence the collaboration’s direction. Drawing from an extensive two-year case study of emergency management collaborations, the book traces potential influences on collaborative authority, including members’ knowledge and expertise, organizational structures and hierarchies, and the material world, including documents, technologies, and the natural environment. This book is a valuable empirical resource for organizational communication and management students and scholars. It will also appeal to community collaborators and organizers, and contains advice and reflection questions for practitioners.