Skip to content
Register Sign in Wishlist

Leading Contemporary Organizations
Psychodynamic Perspectives on Crisis and Change

textbook
  • Date Published: July 2020
  • availability: Available
  • format: Paperback
  • isbn: 9781316614754

Paperback

Add to wishlist

Other available formats:
Hardback, eBook


Request inspection copy

Lecturers may request a copy of this title for inspection

Description
Product filter button
Description
Contents
Resources
Courses
About the Authors
  • Why do organizations fail? What hinders otherwise responsible leaders from recognizing looming disasters? What prevents well-intentioned people from responding properly to an emerging crisis? Using systems psychodynamics to analyze an array of international crises, Amy L. Fraher explores ethical challenges at Silicon Valley tech companies, the Wall Street implosions that led to the 2008 financial industry crash, and a wide range of social crises, policy failures, and natural disasters, offering a crisis management philosophy applicable in diverse settings. Rather than viewing crises as anomalies that cannot be anticipated, Fraher persuasively argues that crises can, and should, be embraced as naturally occurring by-products of any organization's change management processes. If leaders do not proactively manage organizational change, they will inevitably manage crisis instead. This accessible textbook will appeal to business students and researchers studying leadership, change and crisis, as well as progressive-minded business leaders keen to improve their own organizations.

    • Provides a unique understanding of leadership by integrating theories from psychoanalysis, communication and organization studies, as well as change, crisis and disaster management
    • Includes approximately forty vivid case studies and practical examples from across the world
    • Inspired in part by the author's early career as an officer in the US military
    Read more

    Reviews & endorsements

    'This is a 'must read' book for anyone interested in how crises arise, how they need to be understood, and how they can be managed. Taking a multidisciplinary approach and a psychodynamic perspective, Fraher combines scholarly rigour with practical relevance to provide critical insights into processes of organizing, organizational change, and leadership relevant to scholars, practitioner and students alike.' Andrew Brown, University of Bath

    'Fraher's book challenges us all to think differently about crisis as a manifestation of change and therefore an everyday concern for both business scholars and practitioner leaders alike.' Layla Branicki, Macquarie Business School

    'A wide ranging and up to date critique of traditional approaches to crisis, and a constructive alternative to the latter. It should be on the reading list of all interested in, or faced with, leading in crises.' Keith Grint, University of Warwick

    'Using her personal experience of major crises including a memorable account of piloting a commercial plane on 9/11, the author demonstrates that crisis is an inevitable feature of contemporary life and something that all organizations are called to face from time to time. Crisis results from our inability to cope with conditions of extreme change and unpredictability that trigger explosive feelings of anxiety. Her analysis of denial and scapegoating as the psychological default responses to anxiety makes this book essential reading for scholars and students of organizations but also for organizational leaders, consultants and followers willing to look beyond the blame game.' Yiannis Gabriel, Emeritus Professor, University of Bath

    'This is a much needed contribution offering an in- depth understanding how leadership works and why it fails. The volume by Fraher is theoretically sophisticated and highly readable – an indispensable guide for scholars and practitioners alike.' Marianna Fotaki, University of Warwick

    'All CEOs and Risk and Crisis leaders within organizations should read this thought provoking book. Amy dissects a wide range of contemporary crises in a critical manner and helps explain why most of these could have been avoided.' Brian McGarrie, Director, Part Time BSc Business Management Programme (Singapore), University of Birmingham

    See more reviews

    Customer reviews

    Review was not posted due to profanity

    ×

    , create a review

    (If you're not , sign out)

    Please enter the right captcha value
    Please enter a star rating.
    Your review must be a minimum of 12 words.

    How do you rate this item?

    ×

    Product details

    • Date Published: July 2020
    • format: Paperback
    • isbn: 9781316614754
    • length: 308 pages
    • dimensions: 227 x 152 x 16 mm
    • weight: 0.44kg
    • availability: Available
  • Table of Contents

    Preface
    Crisis case studies
    1. Irrationality and crisis
    2. Leadership and crisis
    3. Change and crisis
    4. Hubris and crisis
    5. Sensemaking and crisis
    6. Ethics and crisis
    7. Identity and crisis
    8. Policy and crisis
    9. Power and crisis
    10. Paradox and crisis
    Endnotes
    References
    Index.

  • Author

    Amy L. Fraher, University of Birmingham
    Professor Amy L. Fraher is a retired US Navy Commander and Naval Aviator, and former United Airlines pilot, currently serving as head of department in the Southampton Business School. She has authored several books, including Thinking Through Crisis: Improving Teamwork and Leadership in High-Risk Fields (Cambridge, 2011).

Related Books

Sorry, this resource is locked

Please register or sign in to request access. If you are having problems accessing these resources please email lecturers@cambridge.org

Register Sign in
Please note that this file is password protected. You will be asked to input your password on the next screen.

» Proceed

You are now leaving the Cambridge University Press website. Your eBook purchase and download will be completed by our partner www.ebooks.com. Please see the permission section of the www.ebooks.com catalogue page for details of the print & copy limits on our eBooks.

Continue ×

Continue ×

Continue ×
warning icon

Turn stock notifications on?

You must be signed in to your Cambridge account to turn product stock notifications on or off.

Sign in Create a Cambridge account arrow icon
×

Find content that relates to you

Join us online

This site uses cookies to improve your experience. Read more Close

Are you sure you want to delete your account?

This cannot be undone.

Cancel

Thank you for your feedback which will help us improve our service.

If you requested a response, we will make sure to get back to you shortly.

×
Please fill in the required fields in your feedback submission.
×