About

This blog started when ‘The Rise and Fall of Management’ was published and was originally sited at www.management-riseandfall.info. Postings focused on issues raised in that book: how the practice of enterprise management has developed, shaped initially by the realities of industrialisation and subsequently as a professional practice founded on observation of, and learning about, human behaviour in organisations. Neoclassical economic theory has influenced some management practices over the past hundred years or so, but over the last three decades its impact has been decisive in those economies dominated by the free market fundamentalist ideology, notably Britain and the United States. The result has been disastrous for the management of firms in the real economy, as discussed in the forthcoming ‘The Road to Co-operation’.

The blog moved to its current address as its focus moved more onto the impacts of theory on practice – which have mainly been detrimental. The subtitle ‘perspectives on management and governance’ is intended to assure visitors that the site maintains its practical orientation, rather than moving into the realms of high theory, and will continue to identify more positive ways forward.