The Work of Managers Towards a Practice Theory of Management

Author: Stefan Tengblad
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199677399
Published In: September 2013
Format: Paperback , 384 pages
Jurisdiction: International ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Contents
Author

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Comprehensive overview of research in the field
Includes contributions from leading researchers on managers
Combines theory, evidence, and reflection
Detailed literature review of 21 of the most important previous studies

Managers are significant actors in contemporary organizations and yet there is very little deep-level analysis of what managers do, and how they understand their managerial selves and social situations. Instead of evaluating management techniques according to their internal logic and systematic qualities, this book advances the 'practice perspective', using behaviour and activities of successful, experienced, and skilled managers as the primary data for theorizing good management.

In this book, academics review classic literature on managerial work, discuss methodological and theoretical approaches, and present empirical studies on various kinds of managers at different levels of organizations, in different roles, and different sectors, from construction site managers and CEOs of large companies to university vice chancellors and front-line health care managers. It makes the case for studies of managerial work that look beyond the rational and ordered world to the challenges presented by, inter alia, work and information overload, complexity, performance pressures, unintended consequences, and irreconcilable expectations.

Readership: Academics, researchers, and graduate students in Management and Organization Studies

Part One: Framework
1: Stefan Tengblad: Overcoming the Rationalist Fallacy in Management Research
2: Stefan Tengblad and Ola Edvin Vie: Management in Practice: Overview of Classic Studies on Managerial Work
Part Two: A Practice Perspective on Leadership and Managerial Work
3: Ingalill Holmberg and Mats Tyrstrup: Well Then - What Now? An Everyday Approach to Managerial Leadership?
4: Stefan Sveningsson, Johan Alvehus and Mats Alvesson: Managerial Leadership: Identities, Processes, and Interactions
5: Gary Kokk, Sten Jönsson and Airi Rovio-Johansson: Multi-framing as a Tool in Top Management Teams
Part Three: Operational Managerial Work
6: Rebecka Arman, Ewa Wikström, Ellinor Tengelin and Lotta Dellve: Work Activities and Stress Among Managers in Health Care
7: Alexander Styhre: Leadership as Muddling Through: Site Managers in the Construction Industry
8: Ola Edvin Vie: R&D Managers Leading Knowledge Workers with Care
Part Four: Administrative Managerial Work
9: Anna Cregård and Rolf Solli: Managers at the Municipal Top
10: Leif Jonsson: The Swedish Municipality Director: A Managerial Function between Politics and Administration
11: Lars Engwall and Carin Eriksson Lindvall: Leaders of Modern Universities: Primi Inter Pares or Chief Executive Officers?
12: Stefan Tengblad: Managerial Work at the Top: Tracing Changes in Work Practices and Efforts Towards Theory Development
Part Five: Managerial Work in Small Businesses
13: Henrik Florén and Joakim Tell: Managerial Behaviour in Small Firms: Does it Matter What Managers Do?
14: Anders Nilsson, Mats Westerberg and Einar Häckner: The Duality of Strategic Managerial Work in SMEs: A Structuration Perspective
15: Ethel Brundin and Leif Melin: Managerial Practices in Family Owned Firms: Strategizing Actors, their Arenas and their Emotions
Part Six: The Way Forward
16: Rebecka Arman, Ola Edvin Vie and Håvard Åsvoll: Refining Shadowing Methods for Studying Managerial Work
17: Rob B. Briner. Lars Engwall, Tina L. Juillerat, Henry Mintzberg, Frederick P. Morgeson, Michael G. Pratt and Stefan Tengblad: Bridging the Management Theory and Practice Gap
18: Stefan Tengblad: Conclusion and the Way Forward: Towards a Practice Theory of Management

Stefan Tengblad is Professor in Business Administration at University of Skövde, Sweden. He has written several articles on leadership and managerial work, which have been published in the Journal of Management Studies, Organization Studies, Journal of Business Ethics, Scandinavian Journal of Management and Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management.

Contributors:
Airi Rovio-Johansson, University of Gothenburg
Alexander Styhre, University of Gothenburg
Anders Nilsson, Luleå University of Technology
Anna Cregård, University of Gothenburg
Carin Eriksson, Lindvall Uppsala University
Einar Häckner, Mid Sweden University
Ellinor Tengelin, University of Gothenburg
Ethel Brundin, Jönköping International Business School
Ewa Wikström, University of Gothenburg
Frederick P. Morgeson, Michigan State University
Gary Kokk, University of Gothenburg
Håvard Åsvoll, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Henrik Florén, Halmstad University
Henry Mintzberg, McGill University
Ingalill Holmberg, Stockholm School of Economics
Joakim Tell, Halmstad University
Johan Alvehus, Lund University
Lars Engwall, Uppsala University
Leif Jonsson, Linköping University
Leif Melin, Jönköping International Business School
Lotta Dellve, University of Gothenburg
Mats Alvesson, Lund University
Mats Tyrstrup, Stockholm School of Economics
Mats Westerberg, Luleå University of Technology
Michael G. Pratt, Boston College
Ola Edvin Vie, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Rebecka Arman, University of Gothenburg
Rob B. Briner, University of London
Rolf Solli, University of Gothenburg
Stefan Sveningsson, Lund University
Stefan Tengblad, University of Skövde
Sten Jönsson, University of Gothenburg
Tina L. Juillerat, University of North Carolina