This book provides a brief overview of the fundamental presumptions underlying the idea of management. It is argued that managers and others must endorse these presumptions - the teachings of management - even though they are well aware that their applicability to managerial practice is limited. The author analyzes how the teachings of management are similar to political or religious beliefs and why, unlike such doctrines, they cannot be easily dismissed as outdated or irrelevant. Instead, these assumptions help to construct the idea of the organization, and thus constitute a vital factor in a contemporary society of organizations.

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Karin Brunsson is associate professor at Uppsala University, Sweden. She teaches management and has written a number of books on management, organization and decision making; in English The Notion of General Management (2007). Articles and book chapters include critical assessments of popular ideas of sustainability, leadership and business ethics.

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