The 13 f-LAWS featured in this little red book are an introduction to Ackoff's thinking about management. Russell Ackoff, who died in 2009, was one of the world's leading business thinkers and one of the founding fathers of Systems Thinking. His Management f-Laws (a term coined by Ackoff) expose the conventions and laws of management the hierarchies and power struggles, the ineptitudes and time-wasting, the prejudices and careless thinking as flaws of management: all of which hinder successful strategies for organizational change and development.

Over the last three decades the average life expectancy of a corporation in North America has dipped well below 20 years. In fact, by 1983 a full third of the 1970 Fortune 500 companies had been acquired, merged, or broken apart. In this landmark book, one of the business world's foremost pioneers, Russell L. Ackoff, delivers this indispensable guide for those hoping to beat these odds--and to better navigate the corporate challenges of the next millennium. While most business and management schools continue to teach the functions of a corporation separately--production, marketing, finance, personnel--the reality is that for a corporation to endure each division must work with the others to create an effective system. Re-Creating the Corporation is Ackoff's masterful blueprint for understanding and creating these model corporate systems. In four comprehensive sections--Background, Process, Designs, and Change--Ackoff lays out in clear concise prose the five organizational goals of successful corporate systems: plan effectively, learn and adapt rapidly, democratize, introduce internal market economies, and employ a flexible structure that will minimize the need for future restructuring. And through a deft mix of practical and theoretical examples drawn from a wide range of applications in a wide range of firms, this book ultimately guides executives to the system best suited to meet their organizational goals. Re-Creating the Corporation, which is the culmination of a lifetime of innovative and insightful business thought from one of the business world's premier thinkers, is essential reading for those attempting to navigate the rapidly changing economic environment of the next millennium.

"A witty, literate and, most of all, convincing reflection.[Ackoff] shines an often bright light into corners where problems hide, showing the manager how to understand the consequences of his own behavior; identify real, rather than supposed, elements of problems; perceive another's aims; determine what is controllable; and deal with other nettlesome factors." --Inc. The Art of Problem Solving Russ Ackoff--author, consultant, and teacher extraordinaire. During his long career, he has shown thousands of managers, architects, engineers, attorneys, advertising people, software developers, and scientists the way to more creative, artful problem solving. This new paper edition of The Art of Problem Solving is perhaps the best example of Ackoff in action. Step by step, this practical guide shows you how to develop an understanding of the art of creative thinking and the design of creative solutions. Using "Ackoff's Fables"--humorous yet eminently practical parables, based on real problems by real managers--you'll see why solving a problem seldom solves the problem, but why approaching it from a new, unorthodox angle often does. The result is vintage Ackoff--controversial, funny, and always on target. If you like to dig beyond simple solutions--to imaginative solutions that work--this book is for you.

A widely respected business thinker and pioneer in the fields of operations research and systems thinking offers a radical new approach to revitalize the American corporation. Ackoff explodes a number of fashionable business notions and introduces new organizational structures that can give a competitive edge. He cites examples from prominent companies such as General Motors, IBM, Kodak, Alcoa, Dupont, and others.

The complete collection of Russ Ackoff's F/laws

This book provides an innovative foundation for looking at human and social behavior as a system of purposeful (teleological) events. It uses a systems theoretical approach for the study of these phenomena, and illustrates and extends general systems theory. Part One develops the concepts of traditional mechanism from which, successively, the concepts of "function," "choice," "goal-seeking," and "purposefulness" are derived, leading to a quantitative formulation of "personality". Part Two provides an analysis of aspects of purposeful behavior and personality, and Part Three explores the interaction of purposeful systems. Part Four is concerned with the study of social groups and ideal-seeking behavior. Finally, structural concepts underpinning the theoretical system are redefined in technological terms, thus demonstrating the non-vicious circularity and interdependence of all scientific concepts. "What makes this book magical' is that Ackoff provides operational definitions' for many ill-defined words and concepts--from defining knowledge' and understanding' to providing definitions of feelings/emotions.... In terms of Kuhn's idea of paradigm shifts'--this book represents a shift that has yet to be appreciated, thirty years later." --W. Curtiss Priest, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Russell L. Ackoff is chairman of the board of the Institute for Interactive Management. Since 1986 he has been the Anheuser-Busch Professor Emeritus of Management Science, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He is also the Anheuser-Busch Visiting Professor of Marketing, Olin School of Business, Washington University, St. Louis. He was former chairman of the Social Systems Science Department and the Busch Center, which specializes in systems planning, research, and design. Dr. Ackoff is the author and co-author of nineteen books. Fred E. Emery was Senior Research Fellow at the Australian National University, Canberra. Previously he was chairman of the Human Resources Centre at the Tavistock Institute, and a fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences, Palo Alto. Brent D. Ruben is professor of communication and executive director, Center for Organizational Development and Leadership at Rutgers University.

Management f-LAWS: How Organizations Really Work brings together a collection of Professor Russell Ackoff's subversive insights into the world of business. Russell Ackoff is one of the world's leading business thinkers and one of the founding fathers of Systems Thinking. His Management f-Laws (a term coined by Ackoff) expose the conventions and laws of management - the hierarchies and power struggles, the ineptitudes and time-wasting, the prejudices and careless thinking - as flaws of management: all of which hinder successful strategies for organizational change and development.

Introduces the world of Systems Thinking and its 'Dean', Russell Ackoff, to curious and enquiring managers, teachers, business people, and those who work in an organisation. This book presents 40 more of Russ Ackoff's famously witty and incisive f-Laws (or flaws) of business - following on from his 2007 collection "Management f-Laws".