Increasingly, I hear complaints that management books are either full of complicated and useless theory, or superficial and lacking in authority. On one side there are sociological descriptions from which it is almost impossible to draw conclusions; on the other are practical models with little or no rigour. Somewhere in the middle are the guru and biographical texts which recommend methods that are only valid in specific contexts. Hargie et al. appear to have bridged the gap between theory and practice. Relevant theories are used to back up the authors’ assertions but they do not fall into the trap of simply re‐hashing outdated studies. Not only that, it addresses what I consider to be the most important of management activities: communication.
It is well‐structured with useful summaries, boxed key points and carefully considered exercises that work. The authors seem to have succinctly addressed every communication activity I can think of. It is a book I wish I had written, full of advice that I wish managers would take – many people’s working lives would be easier if they did.
Read it – it is genuinely a good read which I could not put down. I loved the metaphors, the popular cultural references and the wry humour. Here is a sample “Iron managers, from the Theory X school, who rule by suppression are likely to suffer from metal fatigue in the face of the corrosive power of continual negative staff reactions.”
