Jones/George, "Essentials of Contemporary Management" is the concise edition of the market bestselling textbook by the same author team. Jones and George are dedicated to the challenge of 'Making It Real' for students. The authors present management in a way that makes its relevance obvious even to students who might lack exposure to a 'real-life' management context. This is accomplished thru a diverse set of examples, and the unique, and most popular feature of the text, the 'Manager as a Person' Chapter 2. This chapter discusses managers as real people with their own personalities, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and problems and this theme is carried thru the remaining chapters. This text also discusses the importance of management competencies - the specific set of skills, abilities, and experiences that gives one manager the ability to perform at a higher level than another in a specific context. The themes of diversity, ethics, globalization, and information technology are integrated throughout.

Table of Contents

PART 1 MANAGEMENT AND MANAGERS Chapter 1 The Management Process Today Appendix A History of Management Thought Chapter 2 Values, Attitudes, Emotions, and Culture: The Manager as a Person PART 2 THE ENVIRONMENT OF MANAGEMENT Chapter 3 Managing Ethics and Diversity Chapter 4 Managing in the Global Environment PART 3 PLANNING, DECISION MAKING, AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE Chapter 5 Decision Making, Learning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship Chapter 6 Planning, Strategy, and Competitive Advantage PART 4 ORGANIZING AND CHANGE Chapter 7 Designing Organizational Structure Chapter 8 Control, Change, and Entrepreneurship PART 5 LEADING INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS Chapter 9 Motivation Chapter 10 Leaders and Leadership Chapter 11 Effective Team Management Chapter 12 Building and Managing Human Resources PART 6 CONTROLLING ESSENTIAL ACTIVITIES AND PROCESSES Chapter 13 Communication and Information Technology Management Chapter 14 Operations Management: Managing Vital Operations and Processes Appendix B Career Development

Author Biography

Gareth Jones, Texas A & M University Gareth Jones is a professor in the management department of the College of Business Administration and the Graduate School of Business and Texas A&M University. He is co-author on three other major textbooks, including one on organizational behavior (accolades he shares with CONTEMPORARY MANAGEMENT co-author and wife, Jennifer George), one on organizational theory, and a one on strategic management. Jones received his BA & PhD from University of Lancaster, UK. He has taught at University Warwick, Michigan State University, and University of Illinois/ Urbana-Champaign Jennifer George is a well-published professor as is now the Mary Gibbs Jones Professor of Management in the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University. She is co-author of the aforementioned organizational behavior book. She received her BA from Wesleyan University and her MBA & PhD from New York University.