Amazon.com Review
Perhaps nothing has shaped the American century more than the emergence of management as a discipline in the corporate workplace. In
The Capitalist Philosophers,
Andrea Gabor explores this phenomenon by profiling the personalities and ideas of the most influential management thinkers of the 20th century. Among those that Gabor writes about are Robert S. McNamara, the former Secretary of Defense and pioneering bean counter at Ford Motor; Peter F. Drucker, the "big idea man" and guru to giants such as General Electric; W. Edwards Deming, the late star of the "quality movement"; and Mary Parker Follett, an early advocate of collaborative management.
One of the many threads that hold together Gabor's profiles is the issue of "two seemingly irreconcilable visions of management--the scientific and humanistic." She writes that humanists see the corporation "as a pivotal institution of democracy with complex responsibilities to a host of constituencies, including its employees, its customers, and the community. The other, much more utilitarian, view recognizes one corporate constituent--the shareholder--and a single purpose--profit making." The Capitalist Philosophers is for anyone seeking a sweeping, well-written history of American business. It's also a rich look at the philosophical underpinnings of newer management approaches that are rolling through the workplace today, such as re-engineering and Six Sigma. --Dan Ring
From Publishers Weekly
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this sweeping account of management theory in the 20th century is how various business leaders and thinkers--the people Gabor (The Man Who Discovered Quality) calls "capitalist philosophers"--wrestle with the two components of economic success: creating efficient systems, and finding and motivating the people to operate those systems. While Frederick Winslow Taylor, Robert S. McNamara and W. Edwards Deming are revered for their belief in processes, people such as Abraham Maslow, and Fritz Roethlisberger and Elton Mayo, the two men Gabor credits for creating much of the Harvard Business School's reputation, balance their influence. Gabor, who has worked at U.S. News & World Report and Business Week, does a solid job of giving both sides their due and traces many of today's business ideas to these management pioneers. Equally important, she devotes substantial space to people such as Chester Barnard, the president of the old New Jersey Bell Telephone, and Mary Parker Follett, a civic activist, who are frequently forgotten when it comes to compiling lists of people who shaped the way we think about--and do--business today. (Jan.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
