In Great Minds in Management Ken G. Smith and Michael A. Hitt have brought together some of the most influential and original thinkers in management. They not only outline their landmark contributions to management theory, but also reflect on the process of theory development, giving their personal accounts of the gestation of these theories.
In Great Minds In Management Ken G. Smith and Michael A. Hitt have brought together some of the most influential and original thinkers in management. Their contributions to this volume not only outline their landmark contributions to management theory, but also reflect on the process of theory development, presenting their own personal accounts of the gestation of these theories.
The result is not only an ambitious and original panorama of the key ideas in management theory presented by their originators, but also a unique collection of reflections on the process of theory development, an area which to date little has been written about by those who have actually had experience of building theory.
In their concluding chapter, Ken G. Smith and Michael A. Hitt draw together some common themes about the development of management theory over the last half a century, and suggest some of the conclusions to be drawn about how theory comes into being.
Contributors:
Chris Argyris, Albert Bandura, Jay B. Barney, Lee R. Beach, Kim Cameron, Michael R. Darby, Robert Folger, R. Edward Freeman, Michael Frese, J. Richard Hackman, Donald C. Hambrick, Michael A. Hitt, Anne S. Huff, Gary P. Latham, Edwin A. Locke, Henry Mintzberg, Terrence R. Mitchell, Richard T. Mowday, Ikujiro Nonaka, Greg R. Oldham, Jeffrey Pfeffer, Lyman W. Porter, Denise M. Rousseau, W. Richard Scott, Ken G. Smith, Barry M. Staw, Richard M. Steers, Victor H. Vroom, Karl E. Weick, Oliver E. Williamson, Sidney G. Winter, and Lynn Zucker,
...what the book delivers is two-fold. First it provides the reader with a vista of the current management landscape featuring some of the prominent theories that have evolved in the field. Secondly it provides insights into the process of theory development through original accounts by theory developers. On both scores the book is valuable...I would recommend the book to anyone who is interested in theory building, especially to those who are keen to probe how it is accomplished in an interdisciplinary, applied field such as management.
