The effective manager - Jon Billsberry

`The book will appeal to and be most appropriate for students new to the study of management, who wish to be introduced to what it is that the management theorist can offer the practitioner. In this respect this book works very well and I have no hesitation in recommending it for inclusion on the reading list of first-, or second-level management development programmes' - International Journal of Training and Development

An ideal introduction to management and organizational behaviour, this Reader brings together a range of contributions on the art and science of management.

The focus of the book is on the ideas and theories which a manager can use to become more effective. Six sections explore important aspects of the manager's job: management, leadership and conflict; motivation and stress at work; organizational culture; decision-making and teams; staff development; and diversity in organizations. In each section, the reader will find articles which reflect major ideas or debates within the area, including those that challenge traditional views and ways of doing things. Does money motivate? Are teams useful? Does organizational culture exist? What role does sexuality play in the workplace? These are some of the questions asked. Throughout, the book underlines the need for managers to take into account the different contexts of time and culture in which they act.

The book is a course Reader for The Open University course The Effective Manager (B654) .

`There are many...excellent papers, and really too many to list or describe here. Interestingly, the papers are all short; ranging from two to about a dozen pages in length and yet one is not left with the impression that either quality nor the messge has been either diluted or lost through brevity....It is likely that the book will appeal to and be most appropriate for students new to the study of management, who wish to be introduced to what it is that the management theorist can offer the practitioner. In this respect this book works very well and I have no hesitation in recommending it for inclusion on the reading list of first or second level management development programmes' - International Journal of Training and Development

`This text does an efficient job of introducing theory into a practical setting at the outset of the book.... Overall the book gives worthwhile synopses of many of the important issues in management. It is probably not for the in-depth study of management but gives an overall picture of the issues facing management today. This would be useful as an introductory text for management or as a refresher text to review more current management issues. The scenarios and exercises in various sections also add an experiential component to the text to enhance the reader's knowledge. The variety of approaches to management issues that are explained give a good picture of the multitude of complications facing today's managers' - Management Learning

`In the first chapter, the author sets out clearly and simply to explain how theory can help managers and gives several helpful, relevant examples which should tap any manager or management student's interest.... This book will provide a very good introduction to what management theory is about as well as an overview of key issues relating to managing people and would be most useful as an introductory text for students of management' - Journal of Managerial Psychology