The Potential Role of Popular Business Books in Management Development Programmes

Abstract

Numerous business books have become popular (in terms of sales in the US) in the 1980s. Assuming that there is value in them for organisational managers, one issue to be addressed is how management development programmes can best incorporate these materials. The pros and cons of reading popular business books are summarised, a series of alternative pedagogical designs and the underlying assumptions they must adapt to are presented, a set of contingency factors for differentiating among the designs is proposed, and a set of operational suggestions to guide the use of these books is offered. A rough typology for classifying business books is suggested and guidelines are provided for discussion of the books.

Citation

Newstrom, J.W. and Pierce, J.L. (1989), "The Potential Role of Popular Business Books in Management Development Programmes", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 13-24. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000001338