The Management Myth: Debunking Modern Business Philosophy

From Publishers Weekly Stewart (The Courtier and the Heretic) reflects on his unconventional path to becoming a successful management consultant—despite a complete lack of business knowledge or experience, let alone an MBA. (Aug.). He offers an insider's perspective on the industry, revealing the astonishingly high routine consultant fees and the absurdity of leading firms depending on consultants fresh out of school to tell them how to run their business. Gleefully revealing the magician's tricks, Stewart takes readers on a whirlwind tour of how this industry came to be a powerhouse. Filled with fascinating insider anecdotes and featuring a who's who in the consulting world, including Peter Drucker, Michael Porter and Bruce Henderson, this wry, absorbing book will enlighten executives about the value consultants actually bring to their clients. Following in the footsteps of shamans, consultants envelop their work with an aur

"A devastating bombardment of managerial thinking and the profession of management consulting…A serious and valuable polemic." Wall Street JournalFresh from Oxford with a degree in philosophy and no particular interest in business, Matthew Stewart might not have seemed a likely candidate to become a consultant. The Management Myth offers an insightful romp through the entire history of thinking about management, a withering critique of pseudoscience in management theory, and a clear explanation of why the MBA usually amounts to so much BSleading us through the wilderness of American business thought.. But soon he was telling veteran managers how to run their companies.In narrating his own ill-fated (and often hilarious) odyssey at a top-tier firm, Stewart turns the consultant’s merciless, penetrating eye on the management industry itself

Just Great Krasi P. K. This is one of the best (if not the best) books on management. It is written by a philosopher, not by a management professor or a management guru. The main question is: Is management a science? The answer, according to Matthew Stewart, is no. All it takes for a manager to be a good manager is to be a good person. I used the book as a resources in my doctoral dissertation. It is a solid, well-written text.. A Must Read R. Lundberg Iconoclastic and insightful, this book alternates between a damning exposure of the so-called science of management and a biography of the author'e improbable career as a management consultant working for a consulting firm that betrayed the very principles it espoused and suffered the fitting denouement it deserved. He basically says there are only two valuable things a consultant can do for your company and these things are grossly overpriced. A type 1 consultant can show you where the Pareto 80/20 rule applie. Essential Reading Kim C. Korn Stewart makes sense of management with his panoramic overview that delves into the critical ideas, players, schools of thought, and fads from the origins of modern management in the 1800s to the current day.I do not disagree with the points made in the most popular critical negative reviews -- but I do disagree that what they see as negatives negates the value of the information Stewart provides.If you care to truly understand management, read this book. It will not begin to tell you everything you will need to