Publisher's Synopsis
Various authors have attempted to study the issue of management fashions using a theoretical approach. This book offers an important complement to these studies by providing a large scale empirical analysis of management fashions. It is the first study to undertake such an analysis. The empirical aspect of this study is based initially upon the citations received by the work of leading management authors from later works. Patterns of citations offer a surrogate through which the influence of particular ideas over time may be measured. Analysis of these patterns facilitates identification of the ideas whose influence has been fashionable - namely those which are highly influential over a short period of time. Detailed case studies are undertaken into those ideas defined as management fashions. Particular attention is paid to the characteristics of these management ideas. An empirically validated theory of management fashions is posited on the basis of these case studies combined with the results of the quantitative citation analysis.
