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According to Jim Hoopes, the fundamental principles on which business is based-authority, power, control-are increasingly at odds with principles of life in a democratic society-freedom, equality, individualism. False Prophets critically examines the pioneering theories of the early management thinkers, such as Taylor, Follett, Mayo, and Deming, which intended to democratize corporate life yet have proved antithetical to the successful practice of business. Hoopes challenges popular management movements that followed in the wake of these thinkers and accuses today's business theorists of perpetuating bad management in the name of democratic values. He urges executives and managers to recognize the realities of corporate life and learn to apply the principles of power. He also unveils a new management agenda that will be of paramount significance to modern organizations. A rich and lively read, False Prophets provides a refreshingly new and original overview of the history of management in the larger context of the American culture, brilliantly illustrating its evolution-from the ivory tower to the shop floor.

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Library Journal Review

Hoopes (distinguished professor of history, Babson Coll.; Community Denied) here profiles nine business management leaders whom he labels gurus. He begins with a brief biography of each, then describes and analyzes the management philosophy he or she embraces. Hoopes's thesis is that the philosophies of Frederick W. Taylor, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, H.L. Gantt, Mary Parker Follett, Elton Mayo, Chester Bernard, W. Edwards Deming, and Peter Drucker have been detrimental to business today. He argues that instead of subscribing to philosophies that promise to give more freedom to employees, business managers should look for new management models that recognize some of the antidemocratic conditions necessary in a successful corporation. Unfortunately, Hoopes doesn't really present a convincing argument that the philosophies of these business "gurus" are hurting business today. This thesis is broached in the final chapter but is not effectively tied to the preceding chapters, which are basically well-written biographies of the various individuals. Overuse of the term guru further confuses the issue; these are pundits who are not alone in shaping business as it is today. Recommended for large business collections and academic libraries.-Joyce M. Cox, Nevada State Lib. & Archives, Carson City (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Babson College history professor Hoopes traces American business theory's antidemocratic strain by starting with "management manuals" for slave owners and overseers, seeing plantations as among the nation's earliest forerunners of the modern corporation. The inference that modern workers are just as commodified as slaves isn't accidental; one of Hoopes's theses is that management gurus, by nature idealistic and utopian, are uncomfortable addressing the fundamental discrepancy in American culture between corporate power and political ideals. In order to avoid confronting that contradiction, they posit "bottom-up" organizational models-in one extreme case, suggesting corporate authority doesn't exist, but is conferred upon managers by employees who reject the responsibility of decision making. By examining the lives and writings of eight 20th-century business writers, Hoopes aims to demonstrate how their management theories have steered American industry wrongly. By pretending corporate power doesn't operate from a "top-down" model, management theory fails to address the moral questions that come with authority, he says. And it's that blind spot, he claims, that leads to the self-deception and self-righteousness that fuel corporate scandals. The book's biographical elements are strong, offering brief but well-rounded portraits depicting not only the successes but also the shortcomings and failures of figures like Frederick W. Taylor, whose ruthless quest for efficiency put him in conflict with the laborers he sought to regiment. He also highlights theories that still have some practical value, such as Peter Drucker's proposal to promote specific objectives rather than abstract missions. Knowing the weaknesses of popular theories is useful in its own right, but managers looking for quick fixes to ethical dilemmas won't find them here. Agent, Barbara Rifkind. (June 3) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

The central premise of this book is iconoclastic and, at first sight, seems dismissible. Hoopes (historian, Babson College) debunks the myth of modern management ideas by stating that they are based on a wrong moral foundation. The author's thesis is that while Americans value and cherish democracy, corporate life is at best undemocratic and is at worst tyrannical. Management gurus attempt to soften this inconsistency by propounding ideas that seem to give employees power over their corporate destiny. The book's arguments are not dismissible because the author painstakingly makes his case by subjecting the ideas of well-known management experts such as Taylor, Follett, Mayo, and Deming to intense scrutiny. The book is divided into three sections that closely relate to the historical evolution of management thought. The first section deals with the early attempts to improve the efficiency of organized production. The second section looks at human relations, particularly the work of Elton Mayo and the Hawthorne experiments. The last section examines the ideas of two modern management scholars--Deming and Drucker. Writing in an engaging style, the author uses rare historical evidence to challenge readers to look at management ideas skeptically. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through research and practitioner collections. R. Subramanian Grand Valley State University

Booklist Review

Hoopes, an academic, offers a contrarian view of today's management theory that heralds freedom and bottom-up management. He states that managerial power, while undemocratic, is a necessary evil in an imperfect world, and we check our freedoms at the workplace door in exchange for increasing productivity and wealth. Managers, like all-powerful people throughout history, can be corrupted by their power, and he recommends the need for spiritual humility, which they can get by acknowledging that they must be trusted with power but are not worthy of it. With stories about famous management gurus, including Frederick W. Taylor, W. Edwards Deming, and Peter Drucker, the book uses history to help today's managers gain a more realistic perspective on a morally ambiguous world where there has always been power and injustice. Contending that there is no resolution of conflict between management and democracy and between power and justice, Hoopes' thought-provoking views will attract both followers and critics. --Mary Whaley

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

James Hoopes is Distinguished Professor of History at Babson College. An expert on American culture and intellectual history, he is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, an NEH Fellowship, and a senior Fulbright lectureship in England. He also received a grant from Alfred A. Sloan Foundation to support the writing of this book. The author of several books, he lives in Wellesley, Massachusetts.