Preface and User's Guide

PREFACE

The Encyclopedia of Management, 5th Edition is an alphabetical reference book covering a comprehensive slate of management concepts. Last published in 2000, this fully revised work represents the latest management theories and practices. Each essay has been revised and new essays have been added to reflect the current state of management. The Encyclopedia's essays represent an authoritative treatment of the entire field of management, encompassing all the current theories and functional areas of this vast and growing discipline. For the management student, manager, business practitioner, reference librarian, or anyone interested in a better understanding of a business management term or concept, the Encyclopedia should be a first-stop for general information as well as a link to other management concepts, related terms, references, and electronic databases and information sources. It is designed to be a desk reference for everyday business management needs.

Still another use of the Encyclopedia is in a deeper understanding of one or more key functional areas of management. By using the book as a systematic or a programmed reading of entries in selected categories or cluster areas, the reader can obtain a more thorough, in-depth understanding of key functional areas of management. By reading all the essays for the terms under each heading in the "Guide to Functional-Area Readings", individuals with a limited business background, a specialty in another management functional area, or a liberal arts education background can gain a broad, general familiarity with the entire scope of the management discipline today in one easy-to-use reference source.

The field of management is an extremely broad discipline that draws upon concepts and ideas from the physical and social sciences, particularly mathematics, philosophy, sociology, and psychology. Within business, the field of management includes terms and ideas also common to marketing, economics, finance, insurance, transportation, accounting, computer technologies, information systems, engineering, and business law.

Management has applications in a wide variety of settings and is not limited to business domains. Management tools, as well as the art and science of management, find applications wherever any effort must be planned, organized, or controlled on a significant scale. This includes applications in government, the cultural arts, sports, the military, medicine, education, scientific research, religion, not-for-profit agencies, and in the wide variety of for-profit pursuits of service and manufacturing. Management takes appropriate advantage of technical developments in all the fields it serves.

The growth of the discipline of management has also led to specialization or compartmentalization of the field. These specialties of management make learning and study easier, but at the same time make broad understanding of management more difficult. It is particularly challenging to the entrepreneur and the small business owner to master the subject areas, yet this group is compelled to excel at all management functions to further their businesses' success. Management specialties have grown to such an extent it is difficult for any single manager to fully know what management is all about. So rapid have been the strides in recent years in such subjects as decision making, technology, the behavioral sciences, management information systems, and the like, to say nothing of proliferating legislative and governmental regulations affecting business, that constant study and education is required of all managers just to keep current on the latest trends and techniques. Thus, managers and executives need a comprehensive management desktop reference source to keep up-to-date. Having the management essays in one comprehensive encyclopedia saves valuable research time in locating the information.

In the growing age of specialists, there is a growing lack of generalists. Typically, a business manager spends a large percentage of their career developing a great familiarity and proficiency in a specialized field, such as sales, production, procurement, or accounting. The manager develops a very specialized knowledge in this area but may develop only a peripheral knowledge of advances in other areas of management. Yet as these individuals are promoted from a specialist-type position up the organizational chart to a more administrative or generalist supervisory or leadership position, the person with newly enlarged responsibilities suddenly finds that their horizon must extend beyond the given specialty. It must now include more than just a once-superficial understanding of all aspects of managing, including purchasing, manufacturing, advertising and selling, international management, quantitative techniques, human resources management, public relations, research and development, strategic planning, and management information systems. The need for broader management understanding and comprehension continues to increase as individuals are promoted.

The Encyclopedia of Management has had, as its goal, to bridge this gap in understanding and to offer every executive, executive-aspirant, management consultant, and educator and student of management, both comprehensive and authoritative information on all the theories, concepts, and techniques that directly impact the job of management. Building on the solid reputation established in prior editions, this thoroughly updated reference source strives to make specialists aware of the other functional areas of the management discipline and to give the top manager or administrator who occupies the general manager position new insights into the work of the specialists whom he or she must manage or draw upon in the successful management of others. In addition, the Encyclopedia proposes to make all practitioners aware of the advances in management science and in the behavioral sciences. These disciplines touch upon all areas of specialization because they concern the pervasive problems of decision-making and interpersonal relations.

USER'S GUIDE AND COMPILATION

REFERENCE, PLUS A PLANNED READING PROGRAM.

The information in the Encyclopedia is accessible in two forms. First, through the traditional A-to-Z compilation, the reader readily has the quick answer to an immediate question or concise background information on any aspect of the field of management. As a handy desktop reference, the information is readily accessible. Second, and of more lasting importance, as a planned reading program for in-depth pursuit of any of the functional areas of management—the reader's own M.B.A., if you will. This program is set forth in the "Guide to Functional-Area Readings" located at the end of the frontmatter.

CROSS-REFERENCING AND SPECIAL FEATURES.

The arrangement of the essays on a strictly alphabetical basis, rather than by subject categories, makes for extremely rapid and convenient information retrieval. At the same time, the extensive cross-referencing makes it easy to pursue a major area of interest in any depth of study desired. "See-title" cross-references serve to guide the reader directly toward the location of essays that may be recognized by more than one commonly used term. (For example, upon turning to "E-commerce" the see-title cross-reference would direct the reader to turn to "Electronic Commerce".)

Special features found within the essays include the following:

  • "See Also" references, included at the end of many essays, refer the reader to further topics of closely related interest.
  • Charts, graphs, tables, and formulae are included as illustrative examples whenever appropriate.
  • Further Reading sections are included at the end of most entries. The bibliographic and URL citations point the reader toward a variety of suggested sources for further study and research.

INDEX.

Supporting the easy-to-use, extensive system of cross-references, is a comprehensive index at the back of the Encyclopedia. The Index contains alphabetical references to the following as mentioned in the essays: important or unusual terms; names of companies, institutions, organizations, and associations; key governmental agencies; specific legislation; relevant court cases; names of prominent or historical individuals; titles of groundbreaking literature; and significant studies.

COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE AND COMPILATION METHOD.

Every effort has been made to achieve comprehensiveness in choice and coverage of subject matter. The 303 essays frequently go far beyond mere definitions and referrals to other sources. They are in-depth treatments, discussing background, subject areas, current applications, and schools of thought. In addition, information may be provided about the kinds of specialists who use the term in a given organization, the degree of current acceptance, and the possibilities for the future as the subject undergoes further development and refinement. Longer essays frequently provide charts, graphs, or examples to aid in understanding the topic.

All essays were written by recognized scholars, practitioners, and authorities in the field, including business management professors, other business professors, M.B.A. and doctoral research students, researchers, practitioners, reference librarians, and professional business writers. Additionally, all essays were vetted by the editor for accuracy, originality, and currency. The authors of all essays followed the editorial process specified for providing the reader an initial overview of the topic followed by information on the variety of management problems the information can be used to solve. Thus, if the reader has little knowledge of a term, after referring to the Encyclopedia of Management, 5th Ed., he or she will be in possession of the basics of the subject—objective, scope, implementation, current usage in practice, and expected future usage. With this information, the reader will then be in a position to ask the right kind of questions of specialists and technicians to make sure that the firm (or department, or unit, or agency, etc.) is taking full advantage of the opportunity the term presents.

Marilyn M. Helms
D.B.A., CFPIM, CIRM