Turning Lead into Gold: The Demystification of Outsourcing
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Organizing and Organizations: An Introduction Y Gabriel, S Fineman and D Sims Sage Publications, 2000. xiiþ388 pp. £55.00 (Hbk), £18.99 (Sbk). ISBN: 0 7619 6279 4 (Hbk), 0 7619 6280 8 (Sbk) Journal of the Operational Research Society (2002) 53, 1401. doi:10.1057=palgrave.jors.2601460 The first edition of this book, published in 1992, was notable for its focus on the lived experiences of organisation members and its invitation to teachers and students to use students’ own experience as part of the learning process, as well as for its treatment of topics such as morality, emotions, sexuality and humour. These features of the first edition are kept intact in the second, although the material has been extensively updated, and in some cases reworked. The structure of the book is a relatively unusual one. Rather than a sequence from the beginning to the end of the book, the authors describe the structure of their book as a wheel, consisting of hub, spokes and rim. The introductory and concluding chapters represent the hub. The spokes are 18 chapters organised by the topics=themes that the authors identify as representing live issues and activities of organisational life, such as entering and leaving, machines and mechanising, leading and following, judging others. Finally, the rim of the book is provided by the thesaurus which presents explanations and references for some of the key theoretical concepts used in the book. The idea they present is that after reading the introduction, the chapters can be tackled as the reader’s fancy takes her=him. In the hub of the book the authors argue for the importance of making a shift from a focus on organisation to organising—the activities and processes of doing things in organisations. Organising, as they present it in the book, is intimately concerned with the ways in which people create meaning for themselves, with others, in their working lives; organising is a social (and dynamic) process. As the examples quoted earlier illustrate, the chapter titles emphasise this focus on processes and activities. Links to the more traditional list of topics found in organisation studies, such as organisational structure, organisational culture, communication, motivation, leadership etc. are provided in a table that identifies the chapters in which each traditional topic is found. Of particular interest, and importance, are the three new chapters that appear in the second edition: on organising and the environment; managing difference and diversity; and the relations between the activities of organisations and consumption. Another welcome new feature in the second edition is a ‘reading on’ section at the end of each chapter. In these ‘reading on’ sections and in the thesaurus, cross-reference to the literature and research studies can be found. Those that like a conventional academic style of referencing in the body of the text will not find it in this book! Cross-reference to the literature is also aided by the
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list of relevant thesaurus entries that appears at the end of each chapte
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