Name: The new Boss
Price: 19.48 EUR
Availability: InStock
Author: Niklas Luhmann
ISBN: 9781509517886

Type

Physical Book

Author

Niklas Luhmann

Publisher

Polity

Year

2018

Language

English

Pages

Format

Paperback

ISBN13

9781509517886

Edition No.

Synopsis "The new Boss "

Any organization, no matter how stolid, may be unsettled by the news that a new boss is about to take over. Talk in the hallways increases, staff worry about their jobs, uncertainty grows. Even when the change has happened, problems emerge when the boss who was hired to manage “from above” has to learn about the organization “from below.” In this book, Niklas Luhmann scrutinizes the relationship and shows how it is stretched to its limit by communication difficulties, demands for self-presentation, and disagreements concerning fundamental values. Many of the tensions crystallize around the question “who has the power?” It isn’t necessarily the boss, provided the employees are well versed in the art of directing their superiors. “Subtervision” is Luhmann’s term for this state of affairs, and tact is the most important means to this end. Yet caution is advised: whoever achieves mastery in subtervision may well become the new boss. This slim and thought-provoking book from one of the most influential sociologists of the twentieth century will be of great interest to anyone seeking to understand the dynamics and machinations of the workplace.

Niklas Luhmann

(Author)

View Author's Page

Niklas Luhmann (1927-1998), studied law at the University of Freiburg and earned a doctoral degree. He is considered one of the most prominent pioneers of Sociological Systems Theory, whose innovative approach contrasted with that of Talcott Parsons, the most renowned theorist in the field during the 1960s, under whom he studied at Harvard University. He held various positions at the Universities of Münster, Frankfurt, and finally at the University of Bielefeld, where he remained until his retirement in 1993. His prolific work as a writer on diverse topics such as law, economics, politics, art, ecology, or mass media continued even after this date, culminating with his most important work: The Society of Society, published in 1997.

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