Management Speak: Why We Listen to what Management Gurus Tell Us

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"Management gurus continue to exert tremendous influence over management thinking and strategy, not only through their published works, but more significantly via the international management lecture circuit. Research suggests that public performances are critical to their popularity and success, and that the "best" gurus are all highly skilled in persuasive communication techniques. This book examines techniques, both verbal and non-verbal, used by gurus to communicate their messages and identifies several additional techniques which enhance the gurus' reputations as highly effective orators. It focuses on video recordings of public lectures given by Tom Peters, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Kenneth Blanchard, Daniel Goleman, Gary Hamil, Charles Handy and Peter Senge who are all renowned for their public performances and the impact they have had on organizational life. Challenging and original, this text provides a unique insight into the management guru industry and the persuasive skills of some its leading proponents." -- Jacket.

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About the author (2005)

Timothy Clark is Professor of Organisational Behaviour at Durham Business School, University of Durham. Prior to this he was Reader in Management at King's College London. His research interests are in management consultancy work, knowledge creation and diffusion, the nature of management fashion and gurus. He is the author of over 60 articles and chapters and has authored or co-edited of seven books. His work has been published in a variety of international journals including Journal of Management Studies, Human Relations, Management Communication Quarterly, Organization, Organization Studies. He is currently a General Editor of human Relations and sits on the editorial boards of four other journals.

Professor David Greatbatch is Managing director of Greatbatch Associates Ltd an independent consultancy specialising in research and evaluation in the fields of education and training, skills and learning, and communication. He is also a Special Professor in the School of Education at the University of Nottingham, where he is a member of the Centre for Developing and Evaluating Lifelong Learning (CDELL) and an associate of the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (IRLTHE). He has previously held positions at the Universities of Oxford, London, Surrey and Warwick, and the Xerox Research Laboratory in Cambridge. He has published in journals such as American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Language in Society, Law and Society Review and Human Relations.

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