This book is written for managers in organizations that practice western style of management. The central theme of the book is the importance of generating core values, vision and mission within an organization, extending core values of work into practical and concrete ways of infusing them into day-to-day activities at work.
Many of the central ideas and theories of western style of management are questioned, and readers are introduced to theories of contemporary writers in the field.
Based on a critical interpretation of theory, this practical book is distilled from the authors' experience in developing core values within a variety of organizations over the last decade.
Sample Chapter(s)
Chapter 1: The Genealogy of Change (169 KB)
Chapter 2: Philosophy and Business Management (266 KB)
Distinguishing features of the book (16 KB)
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Contents:
- The Genealogy of Change:
- Introduction
- Philosophy and Business Management
- Modernism, Status Quo Thinking and Postmodernism
- Spirit and Soul
- Complexity Theory and Managing Change
- The Theory and Practice of Change:
- What Is Change? A New Model of Change
- The Core Values Model
- The Core Values Method
- Implementing Third Wave Change:
- Changing Mindsets
- Culture-Building and Culture-Binding
- The Core Values Method in Practice:
- The ALSCO Case Study — The Core Values Method in Practice
Readership: Lecturers in human resource management, students with management backgrounds, and human resource managers.
“In this book, Whiteley and Whiteley produce a refreshing link between the philosophical foundations of human organizations, from Aristotle to post-modernism to notions about the relationship between organizational actors and change. Most important the book situates the core values model of change to enhance its usefulness to both academics and professional change agents alike. It is an academic work that has practical value.”
Dr Joseph E Garcia
Western Washington University, USA
“Behind the academic title I found a courageous, stimulating, and exceptionally timely book. At a time when practitioners of management are bombarded with simplistic, ‘sound-bite’ metaphors and dry, descriptive analysis, this book delves into such fundamental questions as ‘How did things turn out to be the way they are in the modern organization?’ and ‘how can managers infuse meaning into an organization to overcome alienation?’ Crucially, the authors deliver on both counts — by providing the much-needed context that is lacking in much of today's management literature; and by showing admirable breadth in visiting other disciplines for cutting-edge yet highly relevant ideas. The result is a must-read for HR, strategy and change management professionals who seek to lay the foundation for successful and sustainable change in their organizations. In addition, for those who are exploring or being thrust into cross-cultural management and communications, the book offers a compact yet deeply inspired tool for taking stock of the paradigms and assumptions that inform our own, Western thinking on managing organizations.”
Martin Kralik
Research Director
InnovAsia — Asian Business Research, INSEAD
Professor Alma Whiteley was appointed as the Chair of International Human Resource Management at Curtin University of Technology in 1996. She began her career as a shop floor worker at an early age and subsequently worked in the government Labour Exchange matching people to jobs. In 1987, she completed her Ph.D. from the University of Newcastle in England. She began her academic career in Hong Kong which fired her interest in cross-cultural management. She taught Human Resource Management for several years mostly at graduate level and during these years consulted extensively with industry and the public sector in both Hong Kong and Australia. She was the inaugurating director of the Doctor of Business Administration program (Graduate School of Business, Curtin University of Technology) in 1997 which was offered in Australia. Hong Kong and Thailand. To date she has supervised and graduated 25 doctoral students.
Alma has written six books but considers Managing Change: A Core Values Approach, (1995), which has been widely adopted in Australia, her most seminal text. Since its publication Alma has used her core values methodology, in collaboration with senior management to carry through radical change programs in many organizations. Core Values and Organizational Change: Theory and Practice is more than a sequel. In addition to demonstrating that the core values methodology works in practice, the book encompasses philosophy and contemporary theory on spirit & soul and complexity theory.
Dr. Jervis Whiteley has been Senior Teaching Fellow at Curtin University of Technology since 1997. His career started with 10 years in marketing in London, followed by 14 years as a Principal Lecturer at Teesside Polytechnic in England involved mainly in establishing undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in business and management. In 1987, he became Foundation Head of the Department of Management at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interests are in organizational discourse and he is currently supervising three doctoral candidates.
