Understanding Organisations: Part I

Organisations can be bewildering. So can management. This accessible online book tries to sort out some of the simple aspects of both while preserving some of the best academic thinking. It might help- and it might make readers chuckle occasionally.

1. Characteristics of work organisations
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Formal and informal organisations
1.3 Private and public sectors
1.4 Primary activities
1.5 Task organisations

2. The Nature of Managerial Work
2.1 Introduction
2.2 What managers do
2.3 Machiavelli
2.4 Taylor
2.5 Fayol
2.6 Luther Gullick
2.7 Peters and Waterman
2.8 Pedler, Burgoyne and Boydell

3. Organisational Structure
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Structures

4. Organisational culture
4.1 Introduction
4.2 What is corporate culture?
4.3 Determinants of corporate culture
4.4 Schools of Thought
4.5 Deal and Kennedy
4.6 Work hard/play hard
4.7 Bettering
4.8 Process
4.9 Handy

5. Managing Behaviour
5.1 Introduction
5.2 How do we receive information and learn?
5.3 Learning styles – General descriptions
5.4 Motivational Theorists
5.5 Motivational theories
5.6 Problems
5.7 Summary

6. Effective Leadership
6.1 Introduction
6.2 What is leadership?
6.3 Shackleton
6.4 The Leadership
6.5 Leadership in times of Crises
6.6 Edwardes
6.7 Contemporary Practice

7. Managing Groups and teams
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Formal and informal groups
7.3 Practicality
7.4 Tuckman
7.5 Janis
7.6 Belbin
BELBIN TEAM ROLES
TEAM ROLE SPECIFICATIONS
TEAM ROLE SPECIFICATIONS

Bibliography

Tony Greener has worked in management, PR, communications and marketing since 1972 having been a board director of Land Rover, BL Cars Europe, Dunlop Slazenger International, the Saudi Arabian National Guard Medical Service and Saatchi & Saatchi where he was Deputy Managing Director of the UK PR agency.

He and his wife formed their own management training, marketing and communications business, Positive Images, in 1988 and they have since worked for a wide variety of clients in the UK and overseas.

Clients include BT, the Corporation of London, Corus, Nestle, Abbey, Tower Bridge, Taylor Woodrow, Royal Bank of Scotland, Hewlett Packard, Porsche Cars GB, Ricoh, the English Tourist Council, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Institutes of Management in both Singapore and Malaysia. He is a Senior Lecturer at Brighton University Business School and a professor at New York University – London..

Tony is the author of "The Secrets of Successful PR", published by Butterworth Heinemann in 1990 and "Internal Communications" published by Blackhall in 2000 as well as “Understanding Organisations” published online by Ventus in 2010. He is currently reading for his doctorate (PhD) in aspects of change communication.