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Textbook (Paperback - Revised Edition)
Textbook Information
Now in its eighth edition, The Ropes has been used by business professionals for over thirty years. Throughout this updated book, brief descriptions of theory are followed by groups of illustrative stories. The material deals with issues central to life in an organization – issues of how the culture of an organization functions. Incorporated throughout are numerous examples of behaviors and decisions with real consequences that can enhance or impede careers. Business professionals will also discover the unwritten rules of organizations, such as the impact of stereotypes.
College faculty members Ritti (Penn State) and Funkhouser (Rutgers) have combined to produce a decidedly unacademic look at the world of business, featuring lively writing and irreverence. Their thesis is that organizations can be viewed in either of two ways: from a technical/rational viewpoint or a cultural/interpretive one. They concentrate on the latter, based on the notion that any business is a closed culture, a society unto itself. They introduce a cast of individuals who play archetypal roles in a firm they call ``The Company'': Stanley, a Candide-like figure who wises up as he climbs the corporate ladder; a CEO; a male executive who knows what he's doing, and another who doesn't; a woman executive; a black on the way up; a consultant, etc. This is a business milieu that MBA programs don't teach. (January 6)
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