Workplace Superstars in Resistant Organizations

(Hardback)

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Focusing on the psychological aspects of people and the workplace, Allcorn divides his study into three sections. The first offers an introduction to the search for excellence and discusses the identification of workplace "superstars". Also examined are the organizational trends that inhibit individual achievement, the interaction between the superstars and others, and the psychology of office behaviour. Section two details the different types of superstars found in organizations and their approaches to achieving excellence. Finally, section three explores some possibilities for adapting current organizational structures to allow and encourage greater pursuit of personal excellence. With its basis in the author's practical experience in middle management, this volume should be a valuable resource for students and professionals in human resource management as well as the management and business fields.

Reviews

"The delightfully intriguing question addressed in this interesting book is why excellent performance can so often be sabotaged within the organisation....[a] very down to earth book which seeks through its case examples to bring back into focus some of the every-day dilemmas evoked in working with others in organisations."-The Occupational Psychologist
Allcorn offers unique and interesting insights into the common organizational problem of peer social rejection of high-achieving individuals. This issue is especially timely given the current popularity of increasing organizational excellence. In Part 1 the author examines the role of high achievers in organizational excellence, including how to identify them and typical reactions of others which gradually undermine the effectiveness of these achievers. Part 2 describes "types" of high achievers and how they seek success. The third part offers suggestions for organizational change that may help overcome some of the barriers to an individual's pursuit of achievement. Emphasis is on psychosocial aspects of the workplace and individual interactions that inhibit the success of those most likely to achieve it. Managers wishing to implement suggestions offered here must be able to diagnose their own situations and generate a complex of specific actions from these general prescriptions. Recommended for practitioners and upper-division undergraduate and graduate management students.-Choice
Examines the overemphasis on corporate excellence that has led to ignoring the value of superior individual performance. Focuses on the psychological issues around discouraging superiour employees, who feel rejected by peers, and ways to foster individual excellence.-Training
The delightfully intriguing question addressed in this interesting book is why excellent performance can so often be sabotaged within the organisation....[a] very down to earth book which seeks through its case examples to bring back into focus some of the every-day dilemmas evoked in working with others in organisations.-The Occupational Psychologist
"Examines the overemphasis on corporate excellence that has led to ignoring the value of superior individual performance. Focuses on the psychological issues around discouraging superiour employees, who feel rejected by peers, and ways to foster individual excellence."-Training
"Allcorn offers unique and interesting insights into the common organizational problem of peer social rejection of high-achieving individuals. This issue is especially timely given the current popularity of increasing organizational excellence. In Part 1 the author examines the role of high achievers in organizational excellence, including how to identify them and typical reactions of others which gradually undermine the effectiveness of these achievers. Part 2 describes "types" of high achievers and how they seek success. The third part offers suggestions for organizational change that may help overcome some of the barriers to an individual's pursuit of achievement. Emphasis is on psychosocial aspects of the workplace and individual interactions that inhibit the success of those most likely to achieve it. Managers wishing to implement suggestions offered here must be able to diagnose their own situations and generate a complex of specific actions from these general prescriptions. Recommended for practitioners and upper-division undergraduate and graduate management students."-Choice

Author Bio

SETH ALLCORN, Ph.D., is Associate Dean for Fiscal Affairs at the Stritch School of Medicine of Loyola University in Chicago. He has served as the Administrator of the Department of Medicine of the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Rochester and was Administrator of the Department of Medicine at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He has published more than 45 articles, a book, and several chapters on hospital management, medical group and medical school management, and the psychodynamics of organizations, among other topics.