This publication is devoted to management in modern economies and the place and role of managers in contemporary societies. The contributors show the complex problems of managing organisations from the perspective of two countries: Japan and Poland. The comparison brings fascinating conclusions about the essence of management and economic, social and cultural capitals present in these seemingly distant two worlds. However, a more detailed analysis also shows similarities in the functioning of managers, modern leadership, the social role of a manager and the capitalist economy and post-capitalist society of Japan and Poland. The editors of this book have been cooperating for several years; they are trying to combine economic and sociological perspectives in research on contemporary capitalist economies and modern postcapitalist societies.

Standard works on the employment systems of Japanese companies deal almost exclusively with men. Women, however, constitute the vast majority of the low wage, highly flexible "non-core" employees. This book breaks new ground in examining the role of Japanese women in industry. It assesses the extent to which growing pressure for equal opportunities between the sexes has caused Japanese companies to adapt their employment and personnel management practices in recent years. The author puts the argument in an historical perspective, covering the employment of Japanese women from the start of Japan's industrialisation up to the turning point of the 1986 Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Law. She examines the background and execution of the legislation and she looks at the response of the business community. In her case study of the Seibu department store, which takes up the final part of the book, Lam concludes that the EEO Law has not had the desired effect.

Psychology, focusing on processes that occur inside the individual and Sociology, focusing on social collectives and social institutions, come together in Social Psychology to explore the interface between the two fields. The core concerns of social psychology include the impact of one individual on another; the impact of a group on its individual members; the impact of individuals on the groups in which they participate; the impact of one group on another. This book is a successor to Social Psychology: Social Perspectives and Sociological Perspectives in Social Psychology. The current text expands on previous handbooks in social psychology by including recent developments in theory and research and comprehensive coverage of significant theoretical perspectives.

Feedback is a rare commodity in day-to-day organizational life, but it is a key to ongoing effectiveness. One popular vehicle for getting feedback from one’s boss, peers, subordinates, and customers is the multiple-perspective or 360-degree-feedback instrument. Whether part of a management-development course or used alone, this kind of instrument can enhance self-awareness by highlighting a leader’s strengths and areas in need of further development. Selecting the right multirater instrument from among the dozens that are available can be difficult. This new edition of Feedback to Managers, the fourth, updates and expands the popular 1998 edition. It guides the selection process with an in-depth analysis of 32 publicly available instruments. Each of the instrument reports includes descriptive information, a look at the research behind the instrument, and descriptions of support materials.