MANAGEMENT BOOK REVIEW COMMUNICATION QUARTERLY FEBRUARY.pdf

Management Communication Quarterly DOI: 10.1177/0893318902238902 2003; 16; 459 Management Communication Quarterly David Collins London: Routledge, 2001, 224 pp., ￡55 (hardcover), ￡18.99 (paperback). Book Review: Management Gurus And Management Fashions: A Dramatistic Inquiry, Brad Jackson, The online version of this article can be found at: Published by: can be found at:Management Communication Quarterly Additional services and information for /cgi/alerts Email Alerts: /subscriptions Subscriptions: /journalsReprints.navReprints: /journalsPermissions.navPermissions: ? 2003 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on February 12, 2008 Downloaded from 10.1177/0893318902238902REVIEWMANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION QUARTERLY / FEBRUARY 2003BOOK R VIEW Book Review MANAGEMENT GURUS AND MANAGEMENT FASHIONS: A DRAMATISTIC INQUIRY, Brad Jackson, London: Routledge, 2001, 224 pp., ￡55 (hardcover), ￡18.99 (paperback). This novel and interesting book is, in Jackson’s own words, a product of the cottage industry that has grown up around manage- ment’s gurus over the past few decades. Yet if this is a cottage industry, it must be a house with many rooms because as the author acknowledges, management’s gurus have been subjected to a diverse range of commentaries and critiques. Indeed, it is worth noting that Jackson’s “cottage industry” has produced commentar- ies on management’s gurus that range from the hagiologic through the apologetic to the downright apoplectic (Collins, 2000). Reflecting on these contributions, Jackson’s analysis of manage- ment’s gurus begins by noting that (much to the chagrin of acade- mia) the gurus of management have retained an avid following despite the attacks that have been launched on “guru theory” (Huczynski, 1993). In addition, he argues that our scholarly appre- ciation of the management advice industry has been restricted by academic and critical commentarie