How People Work: Psychological Approaches to Management Problems

(Hardback)

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Psychologist, professor, consultant, Gellerman shows the remarkable range of managerial problems that can be looked atand often solvedusing the psychologist's unique viewpoint and special training. He reports 10 cases in his personal files, mostly from Fortune 500 and large international companies, and lets readers watch as he questions managers and other employees to develop insights into dynamics that drive their working relationships. Each case is presented to the reader as it was presented to Gellermanas a management problemby executives who suspected, correctly, that it had psychological implications. The result is a candid, up-close examination of what really goes on in organizations and how solving tough organizational problems may require counter-intuitive strategies that only a trained, experienced psychologist can muster. An engaging first-person book with wise and helpful things to say to anyone in management, or who aspire to management, and for others in the academic community who want to learn more about managers and what they actually do. Gellerman presents examples of psychological approaches to organization design, labor relations, shop-floor supervision, sales tactics, and other problems in organizational management that are not ordinarily thought of as psychological at all. Several of these cases required the author to uncover unrealistic assumptions about human nature that were the basis of corporate policies and proposed legislation. In other cases, he deduced the unwritten rules for effective decision-making used at both ends of the management hierarchy: in one case, the decision rules used by a company's top executives; and in another case, a quite different set of decision rules used by another company's shop-floor supervisors. He also traced the origins of a disastrous strike back to its ultimate cause, and helped management change its tactics so a repetition could be avoided. In the only one of these cases which resembles conventional psychological work, he helped a vice presidential bad boss achieve lasting changes in his supervisory style. The cases demonstrate the remarkable range of different managerial problems to which the special training of the psychologist can be usefully applied.

Reviews

"Dr. Gellerman has offered a fine, wide-ranging set of personal histories which deal with the day-to-day challenges of management at all levels in an organization. In addition, his strong assessments...of the timeless targets for working with people have been rifled into the ten cases. I particularly liked his insights on performance appraisal, one of management's most discussed and least satisfactory preoccupations."-Jay F. Hundley Senior Vice President Director of Personnel J. C. Penney Company, Inc.
"Dr. Gellerman has written another superb and highly readable book. His in-depth case studies clearly show that evidence-based psychology, effectively applied to business problems, can really make a difference.... The book's real-life examples, alone, are worth many times the price of the book."-Thomas F. Lysaught Vice President, Marketing GTE Service Corporation
"Dr. Gellerman's book is make-sense reading for any business leader. He takes theories out of the Boardroom and onto the shop floor, factory, or building site, ...where supervisors and foremen can make a huge difference in the attitude and productivity of your workforce. This is important reading for managers who want to get the most out of their most important asset: their people."-Michael Fergus President and CEO Allied Van Lines
"Right on target.... I couldn't keep from smiling throughout the entire first chapter because someone had finally addressed the frustrating problem with such clear logic. The 'spook psychology' in Chapter 11 is often a potent threat in the business place. Books like this replace it with real insight."-Charles Kight Executive Vice President Dataplex Corporation
"This fascinating book reports real-life management cases, authored by one of the country's leading consultants in industrial psychology. I found the cases, and especially the author's comments on them, to be extremely interesting, illuminating, and above all, insightful. Managers, and even other psychologists, can learn a lot from this book."-Lyman Porter Professor of Management University of California, Irvine Past President, Academy of Management
Discusses, in depth, a range of managerial problems. Fascinating material for anyone concerned with, or researching, these issues.-Long Range Planning
Saul Gellerman's thoughtful highly readable book, based on actual consultancy experience, is not a How to do it' book but a How to think about it' book. As such it is valuable not only to the tyro but also to the experienced practitioner.-Business Executive of London
"Discusses, in depth, a range of managerial problems. Fascinating material for anyone concerned with, or researching, these issues."-Long Range Planning
"Saul Gellerman's thoughtful highly readable book, based on actual consultancy experience, is not a How to do it' book but a How to think about it' book. As such it is valuable not only to the tyro but also to the experienced practitioner."-Business Executive of London

Author Bio

SAUL GELLERMAN is a Management Consultant and Professor of Management at the University of Dallas. His long, distinguished career as a consulting industrial psychologist has taken him into corporations and management associations in 35 cosuntries and provided him with material for nine previous books and numerous articles. He holds a doctorate in a clinical and industrial psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and a Diplomate in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology. An earlier book, Motivation and Productivity (1963), was awarded the McKinsey Foundation Prize by the Academy of Management. He is also the producer of 29 management training fils.