This text describes the manager's job using findings of empirical studies conducted internationally throughout many levels of management. The text summarizes eight current schools of thought on the manager's job and analyzes the consistencies and variations in managers' roles and working characteristics.

Whether you subscribe to the philosophy that management is an art and not a science or that it’s a science composed of best practices and systemic steps, one thing is for sure: there is no one easy way to describe what managers do. In this inspiring book, Henry Mintzberg, one of today’s most respected and controversial thinkers on management, joins forces with other leading business figures to provide a provocative mix of writing on management that inspires laughter as much as it brings forth tears (for poor old management itself!). Management? It’s Not What You Think! gets readers thinking as they never have before on topics including management terminology and buzzwords, myths and maxims, MBAs, management fads, leadership, strategy, and much more. With wit, intrigue, and plenty of food for thought, Mintzberg presents articles, book and journal excerpts, letters, web selections, and musings that will spark debate in managers of all types and experiences and renew their interest in doing what they do best--managing.

Montreal management guru Henry Mintzberg says,"management, as contemporarily practiced... poses grave dangers to us all." Mintzberg watches manager work. He knows what bosses do. But he opposes MBA programs that grind out leaders ill-prepared to lead. The "cult of heroic leaderhsip," says Mintzberg denies the reality of organizational life. Mintzberg remains popular in coporate circles while questioning the very notion of business efficiency. Mintzberg laments the trend in government bureaucracies and departments to develop policies and provide services like a business. Instead, he insists the public sector should manage itself with structures and values that reflect public service needs.