Knowledge that Transforms

The article presents a list of publications received by the “Academy of Management Review” as of January 2000 including “The Change Handbook: Group Methods for Shaping the Future,” “Advances in Strategic Management. Volume 16: Population-Level Learning and Industry Change,” and “All the Right Moves: A Guide to Crafting Breakthrough Strategy.”

“The Leader's Shadow: Exploring and Developing the Executive Character,” by William Q. Judge, is an engaging book in which Judge explores an area often ignored by management scholars: the inner lives of executives at the helm of business corporations. A core reason for the book, according to the author, is to add balance to the leadership literature, which predominantly focuses on the external aspects of leadership—what leaders do, rather than who they are. Citing the growth of popular books on the topic of leadership, Judge presents a persuasive argument for additional research in the academic realm, for greater conceptual clarity, for well-developed frameworks, and for precision in the articulation of ideas.

Patricia Werhane, in the book “Moral Imagination and Management Decision Making,” proposes that business ethics education has overlooked the importance of moral imagination. Werhane's book is a thin volume—less than 150 pages in length. Its central message is that managers need to deliberately and proactively expand their consciousness and, from this enlarged awareness, imagine and enact novel ethical responses.

Workplace flexibility is the topic of Richard Sennett's new book, “The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism,” his latest analysis of class, work, and social relations. Sennett seeks to remind us that stability—currently so maligned by business writers and consultants--has distinct benefits for individuals and society. More important, he raises a warning flag about the costs of flexibility and the toll it can take on our energy, our relationships, and our very characters.