Managerial Dilemmas

In an age of crisis and uncertainty, dilemmas and paradoxes are especially evident and prevalent. The fascination and the promise of paradox is that there is also a sense that there is a hidden truth entwined within the opposites. This we contend is a challenge for leaders. The ultimate responsibility of leadership is to make sense of these and to handle them in a competent manner. This demands a new mode of leadership. The management of dilemma and paradox it is contended, the essence of leadership today. Paradoxical forces provide a dynamism which, although often experienced as potentially threatening, discomforting and negative can also be exciting, promising and positive.

'The assumption that organizations are rational entities is challenged every day in the work environment by a rich reality of asymmetries between conflicting forces, complexity, hidden intentions and paradoxes. Anyone wanting to understand the real forces that govern organizations should read this book. A must read for modern leaders who have the intellectual honesty to lead organisations with open eyes and not with the over simplifications and clichés of the past'--Giovanni Ghisetti, Director Business Transformation, Coca Cola Enterprises Europe

'Storey and Salaman’s description of the paradoxes which characterise leadership today is hauntingly accurate. Their intelligent optimism that those dilemmas can be met is as encouraging as it is challenging for those of us who have to do just that. Having read the insights in this book I now understand how their business advice was always so pertinent'.--Andy Street, Managing Director of John Lewis

John Storey is Professor of Management at The Open University Business School. He regularly consults for public and private sector organisations and has served on several governmental advisory panels. He is Chairman of the Involvement & Participation Association (IPA). He has served as journal editor and sits on several journal editorial boards. He has authored and edited around 20 books and published widely in leading international journals. He has led many large-scale research projects; current work focuses health service organisation, governance and management.

Graeme Salaman is Professor of Organisation Studies, Open University Business School. He has written many books and articles. He has worked as a consultant at senior levels in eight countries for clients such as Sun Microsystems, Willis, BAT, Allianz, Ernst & Young, the government of Ethiopia, Rolls Royce and Morgan Stanley. Recent projects include work in Ethiopia where he has worked on change issues in the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Information. .