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Pragmatism and Management Inquiry Insights from the Thought of Charles S. Peirce
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Book Code: Q515
ISBN: 1-56720-515-1
ISBN-13: 978-1-56720-515-2
232 pages, n/a
Quorum Books
Publication: 2/28/2002
List Price: $98.95 (UK Sterling Price: £57.95)
Availability: Out of stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects: Reviews:
  • Those willing to discover the nature of management at a very theoretical level should be forewarned: this book is 80 percent about Peirce's pragmatic philosophy of human action, intelligent problem solving, and the principles of scientific inquiry. But having mastered that pragmatic perspective, what a world is opened to view! The rest of this book is a provocative exploration of central issues in management science. Most important, it locates moral decision making at the heart of organizational theory. Recommended for libraries maintaining business and management collections; upper-division undergraduates through practitioners.
    —Choice
    February 2003
Description: Good managers do not simply get things done--they do the right things. They are ethical. Through an examination of the work of Charles S. Peirce, the American philosopher who coined the term pragmatism in 1872, Fontrodona emerges with important clarifications, as well as an innovative view of human action and the practice of management. Pragmatism, often misunderstood as a triumph of pure effectiveness, is actually a process by which people, through action, reveal and develop themselves using virtue and value. In Part I, Fontrodona considers human action not only from the viewpoint of its effectiveness, but also from its purposefulness. In Part II, the study turns to Peirce's thought about the nature of science, which shows us that while management is eminently practical, it is also based on a scientific approach. Part III presents three principles for human action drawn from the three normative sciences: creativity based on logic; community based on ethics; and character based on aesthetics. Finally, Fontrodona questions the presence of these principles in the commonly accepted, current models of management.
Table of Contents:
  • Foreword
  • Prologue of the Spanish Edition
  • Introduction
  • Human Action in the Thought of Charles S. Peirce
  • Charles S. Peirce: A Life Devoted to Science
  • The Triadic Conception of Human Action
  • The World in Which Man Acts
  • The Task of Knowing and Interpreting the World
  • The Scientific Character of Management
  • The Decision-Making Process
  • Decision Criteria in Management
  • The Synthetical Character of Management
  • The Scientific Attitude in Management
  • Three Principles for Management
  • Creativity, the Logical Priciple of Action
  • Community, the Ethical Priciple of Action
  • Character, the Esthetic Priciple of Action
  • Epilogue for Entrepreneurs: A Challenge for the 21st Century
  • References
  • Index
LC Card Number: 2001048118
LCC Class: B945
Dewey Class: 128
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