Recommending Books for Purchase (Bulletin 21 - May 2018): Organisational Behaviour

Publisher : Harvard Business Review Press

Have you ever wondered why most newspapers are so large? Or why management consultants work such long hours? Or why hotels still insist on having check-in desks? Ask anyone in these industries, and their answer will be the same: "That's the way we've always done it." "Best practices" may be widespread, but that doesn't mean they're effective. In many instances the opposite is true: best practices can be outdated, harmful, and a hindrance to innovation. These bad practices are all too common in organizations, and managers and executives can be blind to their pernicious effects. Since they've worked in the past, or have been adopted with success by other firms, their purpose or effectiveness is rarely questioned. As a consequence, these practices spread and persist. In Breaking Bad Habits, Freek Vermeulen, a strategist with a keen eye for the absurd, offers the tools to identify these practices and rid them from your organization. And, most of all, he presents a compelling case for how eliminating popular but outworn ideas, processes, and strategies can create new opportunities for innovation and growth. Brimming with examples of norm-defying organizations in an eclectic range of industries--including IVF clinics, hotels, newspapers, and a famous London theater--Breaking Bad Habits will make you rethink your long-held beliefs about industry norms while encouraging you to reinvigorate your business by breaking out of the status quo.

Publisher : Ebury Press

Publisher : Economist Books

Publisher : Harvard Business Review Press

The one primer you need to develop your managerial and leadership skills. Whether you're a new manager or looking to have more influence in your current management role, the challenges you face come in all shapes and sizes--a direct report's anxious questions, your boss's last-minute assignment of an important presentation, or a blank business case staring you in the face. To reach your full potential in these situations, you need to master a new set of business and personal skills. Packed with step-by-step advice and wisdom from Harvard Business Review's management archive, the HBR Manager's Handbook provides best practices on topics from understanding key financial statements and the fundamentals of strategy to emotional intelligence and building your employees' trust. The book's brief sections allow you to home in quickly on the solutions you need right away--or take a deeper dive if you need more context. Keep this comprehensive guide with you throughout your career and be a more impactful leader in your organization. In the HBR Manager's Handbook you'll find: - Step-by-step guidance through common managerial tasks - Short sections and chapters that you can turn to quickly as a need arises - Self-assessments throughout - Exercises and templates to help you practice and apply the concepts in the book - Concise explanations of the latest research and thinking on important management skills from Harvard Business Review experts such as Dan Goleman, Clayton Christensen, John Kotter, and Michael Porter - Real-life stories from working managers - Recaps and action items at the end of each chapter that allow you to reinforce or review the ideas quickly The skills covered in the book include: - Transitioning into a leadership role - Building trust and credibility - Developing emotional intelligence - Becoming a person of influence - Developing yourself as a leader - Giving effective feedback - Leading teams - Fostering creativity - Mastering the basics of strategy - Learning to use financial tools - Developing a business case

Publisher : Harvard Business Review Press

Develop the mindset and presence to successfully manage others for the first time. If you read nothing else on becoming a new manager, read these 10 articles. We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help you transition from being an outstanding individual contributor to becoming a great manager of others. This book will inspire you to: Develop your emotional intelligence Influence your colleagues through the science of persuasion Assess your team and enhance its performance Network effectively to achieve business goals and for personal advancement Navigate relationships with employees, bosses, and peers Get support from above View the big picture in your decision making Balance your team's work and personal life in a high-intensity workplace This collection of articles includes "Becoming the Boss," by Linda A. Hill; "Leading the Team You Inherit," by Michael D. Watkins; "Saving Your Rookie Managers from Themselves," by Carol A. Walker; "Managing the High-Intensity Workplace," by Erin Reid and Lakshmi Ramarajan; "Harnessing the Science of Persuasion," Robert B. Cialdini; "What Makes a Leader?" by Daniel Goleman; "The Authenticity Paradox," by Herminia Ibarra; "Managing Your Boss," by John J. Gabarro and John P. Kotter; "How Leaders Create and Use Networks," by Herminia Ibarra and Mark Lee Hunter; "Management Time: Who's Got the Monkey?" by William Oncken, Jr., and Donald L. Wass; and BONUS ARTICLE: "How Managers Become Leaders," by Michael D. Watkins.

Publisher : Harvard Business Review Press

Every day begins with the same challenge: too many tasks on your to-do list and not enough time to accomplish them. Perhaps you tell yourself to just buckle down and get it all done--skip lunch, work a longer day. Maybe you throw your hands up, recognize you can't do it all, and just begin fighting the biggest fire or greasing the squeakiest wheel. And yet you know how good it feels on those days when you're working at peak productivity, taking care of difficult and meaty projects while also knocking off the smaller tasks that have been hanging over your head forever. Those are the times when your day didn't run you--you ran your day. To have more of those days more often, you need to discover what works for you given your strengths, your preferences, and the things you must accomplish. Whether you're an assistant or the CEO, whether you've been in the workforce for 40 years or are just starting out, this guide will help you be more productive. You'll discover different ways to: Motivate yourself to work when you really don't want to Take on less, but get more done Preserve time for your most important work Improve your focus Make the most of small pockets of time between meetings Set boundaries with colleagues--without alienating them Take time off without tearing your hair out Arm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, with the most trusted brand in business. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

Publisher : Harvard Business Review Press

Are your employees meeting their goals? Is their work improving over time? Understanding where your employees are succeeding--and falling short--is a pivotal part of ensuring you have the right talent to meet organizational objectives. In order to work with your people and effectively monitor their progress, you need a system in place. The HBR Guide to Performance Management provides a new multi-step, cyclical process to help you keep track of your employees' work, identify where they need to improve, and ensure they're growing with the organization. You'll learn to: Set clear employee goals that align with company objectives Monitor progress and check in regularly Close performance gaps Understand when to use performance analytics Create opportunities for growth, tailored to the individual Overcome and avoid burnout on your team Arm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, with the most trusted brand in business. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

Publisher : Harvard Business Review Press

Life's too short to be unhappy at work "I'm working harder than I ever have, and I don't know if it's worth it anymore." If you're a manager or leader, these words have probably run through your mind. So many of us are feeling fed up, burned out, and unhappy at work: the constant pressure and stress, the unending changes, the politics--people feel as though they can't give much more, and performance is suffering. But it's work, after all, right? Should we even expect to be fulfilled and happy at work? Yes, we should, says Annie McKee, coauthor of the bestselling Primal Leadership. In her new transformative book, she makes the most compelling case yet that happiness―and the full engagement that comes with it―is more important than ever in today's workplace, and she sheds new light on the powerful relationship of happiness to individual, team, and organizational success. Based on extensive research and decades of experience with leaders, this book reveals that people must have three essential elements in order to be happy at work: A sense of purpose and the chance to contribute to something bigger than themselves A vision that is powerful and personal, creating a real sense of hope Resonant, friendly relationships With vivid and moving real-life stories, the book shows how leaders can use these powerful pillars to create and sustain happiness even when they're under pressure. By emphasizing purpose, hope, and friendships they can also ensure a healthy, positive climate for their teams and throughout the organization. How to Be Happy at Work deepens our understanding of what it means to be truly fulfilled and effective at work and provides clear, practical advice and instruction for how to get there--no matter what job you have.

Publisher : Routledge

Of the many books written about leadership, few move beyond conventional accounts of theory, or truly scrutinise the leadership agenda. However, this exciting book sets a new agenda for the interpretation of leadership and development. Including contributions from some of the most distinctive leaders in the field, itconsiders the newest themes to come out of the leadership debate. Topics covered include: * leadership and integrity * learning leadership * career individualization * leadership development in the public sector. One of the first books to systematically link leadership and management, this distinctive and challenging text examines leadership in the context of career development. It critically assesses the more conventional training and development available to managers, and in doing so equips readers with the analytical perspectives and tools needed to understand the significance of leadership in contemporary organizations.

Publisher : John Wiley & Sons

Understand the context of negotiations to achieve better results Negotiation has always been at the heart of solving problems at work. Yet today, when people in organizations are asked to do more with less, be responsive 24/7, and manage in rapidly changing environments, negotiation is more essential than ever. What has been missed in much of the literature of the past 30 years is that negotiations in organizations always take place within a context'of organizational culture, of prior negotiations, of power relationships'that dictates which issues are negotiable and by whom. When we negotiate for new opportunities or increased flexibility, we never do it in a vacuum. We challenge the status quo and we build out the path for others to negotiate those issues after us. In this way, negotiating for ourselves at work can create small wins that can grow into something bigger, for ourselves and our organizations. Seen in this way, negotiation becomes a tool for addressing ineffective practices and outdated assumptions, and for creating change. Negotiating at Work offers practical advice for managing your own workplace negotiations: how to get opportunities, promotions, flexibility, buy-in, support, and credit for your work. It does so within the context of organizational dynamics, recognizing that to negotiate with someone who has more power adds a level of complexity. The is true when we negotiate with our superiors, and also true for individuals currently under represented in senior leadership roles, whose managers may not recognize certain issues as barriers or obstacles.   Negotiating at Work is rooted in real-life cases of professionals from a wide range of industries and organizations, both national and international. Strategies to get the other person to the table and engage in creative problem solving, even when they are reluctant to do so Tips on how to recognize opportunities to negotiate, bolster your confidence prior to the negotiation, turn 'asks' into a negotiation, and advance negotiations that get "stuck" A rich examination of research on negotiation, conflict management, and gender By using these strategies, you can negotiate successfully for your job and your career; in a larger field, you can also alter organizational practices and policies that impact others.

Publisher : Routledge

This book concentrates on the last twenty years of research in the area of goal setting and performance at work. The editors and contributors believe goals affect action, and this volume has a lineup of international contributors who look at the recent theories and implications in this area for IO psychologists and human resource management academics and graduate students.

Publisher : SAGE Publications

The SAGE Handbook of Process Organization Studies provides a comprehensive and timely overview of the field. This volume offers a compendium of perspectives on process thinking, process organizational theory, process research methodology and empirical applications. The emphasis is on a combination of pedagogical contributions and in-depth reviews of current thinking and research in each of the selected areas, combined with the development of agendas for future research. The Handbook is divided into five sections: Part One: Process Philosophy Part Two: Process Theory Part Three: Process Methodology Part Four: Process Applications Part Five: Process Perspectives

Publisher : Productivity Press

You have likely heard stories from friends, family members, and colleagues who quit a job because of a toxic person--an individual who belittles, shames, humiliates, shames, or bullies. You may not have realized that these individuals not only take their tolls on our emotional psyches, but the financial outcomes of their organizations as well. Through this book's many case examples, as well as evidence-based practices and templates, each chapter singles out one main issue and how to resolve it with respect and clarity. Dr. Kusy presents concrete practices that will restore civility and respect into your organization as well as with increased financial performance. Some of these practices include: Calculating the real financial cost of toxic people in your organization. Providing direct and respectful feedback to a toxic peer, direct report, and even your boss. Replacing traditional exit interviews -- that often don't work very well -- with a method for dealing with toxic chameleons who "knock down and kiss up." Hiring, engaging talent, and even firing people based on a new approach to values-based performance management. You will emerge with a newfound understanding that restores personal well-being and increased financial performance.

Publisher : SAGE Publications

Work Motivation: History, Theory, Research, and Practice provides unique behavioural science frameworks for motivating employees in organizational settings. Drawing upon his experiences as a staff psychologist and consultant to organizations, author Gary Latham has written this book in a "mentor voice" that is highly personal and rich in examples, including enduring influences of mentors on researchers in the field. Key Features - includes anecdotes about and from the major thought leaders in the field of motivation: Personal insights from and about leading personalities in the field of motivation such as Bandura, Frese, Hough, Judge, Kanfer, Lawler, Locke, Pinder, Rousseau, and Vroom make the material come alive. Behind-the-scenes accounts of research and the researchers who conducted studies in North America, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Europe are addressed. - offers a chronological review of the research on and theories of motivation in the workplace: Written in a meaningful and memorable style, a comprehensive treatment of work motivation is given from the end of the 19th century to the present. - provides a taxonomy for the study and practice of motivation: The book explains how and why to take into account a person′s needs, values, work setting, goals, moods, and emotions. Controversies of theoretical and practical significance such as the importance of money, the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance, and the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are captured and resolved.