Managers Managing: The Workings of an Administrative System

by Jane Hannaway

Overview

Managers face a complex and seemingly overwhelming set of decisions in their work lives. Investigating exactly what managers do on the job, this study presents a wealth of new evidence to analyze why managers act in the ways they do, what influences their focus of attention, and which issues and other actors in an organization they tend to find attractive and which they tend to avoid. In short, it describes how managers in the real world make decisions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195052077
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/23/1989
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.69(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Stanford University

Table of Contents

1. Introduction2. The Nature of Administrative Systems3. On Studying Managerial Work4. Pivotal Behavioral Characteristics5. Supply Creates Demand6. Blinders and Biases7. The Importance of Being Important8. What If...?9. Putting It TogetherAppendixReferencesIndex

Editorial Reviews

"While there are numerous popular books about managers and managing, few of them are thoughtful, analytic treatments of the managerial role in organizations. Hannaway's book provides an insightful and complex examination of one of the most diverse roles in formal organizations. Her discussion of this literature highlights the importance of social, contextual, and hierarchical factors influencing decision premises. This study should spawn further examinations of managers in other organizational settings,"—American Journal of Sociology

"The unique features of Hannaway's study are the inclusion in her research of almost all managerial personnel in a system, and her collection and analysis of subjective comments of managers. The author sheds light on such issues as why managers typically engage in reactive rather than proactive behaviors; individual risk minimization is considered a key determinant of behavior. Other useful issues examined are interactive behavior, information collection, routine and nonroutine work, and how changes in job growth and specialization alter how managers spend their time."—Choice

From the Publisher