Administrative Philosophy: Values and Motivations in Administrative Life

ISBN: 0080419240

Author: Hodgkinson, Christopher

Condition: New

This book is a bridge between the technical literature of administrative theory and philosophical discourse. It is needed because an adequate axiology (value theory) of administration is ignored by the former and lacking in the latter. That value theory is necessary to leadership and administration follows directly from decision making and policy formulation, and indirectly from post-modern conditions and context. Moreover, leadership requires self knowledge and motivational insight. The knowledge of good and evil as a critical component of administrative thought ought not to be denied by any technocratic asepsis. Central themes include organization and administrative theory, decisions and policy making, hierarchy, leadership, power, values, and interests. Particular attention is paid to pathologies, ideologies, and the problems of praxis. A robust value theory is presented together with its implications both for the common interest and for personal value auditing. A unique feature of the book is its concurrent presentation in aphoristic form of a general propositional logic of administration. The work is the consolidation of a quarter century of research, teaching, and publication in the subject field. Drawing upon this body of knowledge, the author reconstructs a definitive text along with the extensive new material, notably in the areas of polemic management, ideology, value auditing, and leadership critique.