Leadership in Organizations

by Gary A. Yukl

Book Overview

Description leadership in organizations provides a balance of theory and practice as it surveys the major theories and research on leadership and managerial effectiveness in formal organizations. ?... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0132424312
• ISBN13: 9780132424318
• Release Date: December 2008
• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Length: 628 Pages
• Weight: 2.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

exavtly what he said and more

The book was exactly what he described in the ad. I wasn't expecting it to be in such a good condition as it was, but I am very happy that it was. There was NO scratchs, tears, dent, folds,anything of that nature that would suggesst prior heavy usage. I am happy with the purchase and would buy from this seller all the time if I could. In fact, Ill be looking for him with the next text book I have to buy.

excellent resource

This book is a great resource for any leadership student, scholar, or researcher. It provides thorough coverage of the major leadership theories and concepts. I use it as a main text in an undergraduate leadership course, and the material is challenging but understandable for students.

Comprehensive, informative & enjoyable

As the title implies, this book focuses on managerial leadership exclusively; a topic at the center of management research for several decades now and therefore, the information and research available is simply huge. However, despite the extensive research, writing, and theories that seem to litter the field, Gary Yukl manages to cover all relevant aspects in a clear and straight-forward manner. As he mentions in the Preface, "the topic of leadership effectiveness is of special interest..." and therefore, there is a wealth of ideas, guidelines and processes designed to transfer the theoretical research available to practice. Each chapter (with the exception of the introductory and closing chapters) includes review questions and at least one (1) case study. Additionally, most chapters include one or more "Applications" sections that provide practical guidelines for managers based on the theory/research discussed. Yukl's book does not make for easy reading nor is it a 'basic' book (for that, you're better off with Northouse's Leadership: Theory and Practice) and you would probably enjoy the book (and gain more) if you progress to it from a fundamental-level book. The introductory chapter (The Nature of Leadership) is an excellent primer on the concept of managerial leadership; the 'types' of theories that deal with leadership; and the difference between management and leadership. I also found the chapters on Strategic Leadership by Executives (Chapter 12) and Developing Leadership Skills (Chapter 13) extremely useful as I do a lot of leadership development programs and I find myself returning to Yukl's text again and again to develop effective programs for my clients. (Since it is not possible to see the Table of Contents, I'm including hee a brief synopsis) The book is organized in 15 Chapters: 1) Introduction: The Nature of Leadership - as I mentioned above, this is an excellent primer. 2) The Nature of Managerial Work - Yukl highlights the latest development in management research including managerial roles (Mintzberg) and situational theories. 3) Perspectives on Effective Leadership Behavior - focusing on behavior-based theories. 4) Participative Leadership, Delegation, and Empowerment - includes Vroom & Yetton's models as well as an excellent section on delegation that has become my 'bible' on the topic. 5) Dyadic Role Making, Attributions, and Fellowship - Leader-member Exchange theory, Attributions and Implicit theories. 6) Power & Influence - clear and focused presentation of all aspects of power and influence as they relate to managerial leadership. 7) Managerial Traits & Skills - unlike other textbooks you find on Leadership, Yukl's treatment of the trait-based theories is innovative and useful. He includes the requisite historical development of trait-based theories, but makes the topic more relevant to practitioners by also highlighting trait-based theories used today in selection (the Big Five, for example) and also section

Marc! Au Contrare!

Not worth curling up to a fire with? ...For me, after a year or more I still read some portion or another of this book nearly every week for the rich survey of ideas and theories it provides, often finding something that fits what I'm concerned about, and then springboarding into buying another book or digging out original research articles and papers to dig deeper.If you want to be widely informed about the full continuum of theory and research in leadership and organizations, this book will become a familiar resource, and a top choice for curling up to a fire one evening when alone and just paging through and finding something new or old you just have to read and think about some more.Okay, perhaps Marc is more of a fun guy than me, but everything about leadership, and this book is full and pressed down overflowing with the material, interests me deeply.

Leadership Defined

Gary Yukl hits dead center of the leadership target. His work begins with the issue of defining leadership and tackling the difference between management and leadership. Laced throughout with extensive reference and research material the book clearly moves from definition of leadership through different levels of leadership to top strategic leadership practices. His lessons and practices are both valuable and usable.Readers will be treated to detailed, relevant discussions of the each leadership issue discussed within the book. Within each issue, Mr. Yukl, glides through the basis of the theories and then details realities of how to achieve the results suggested by those theories. Within several topics, he provides cases studies and questions about those case studies for the reader's consideration. The result is a practical, working manual about leadership. Between the discussions of the leadership issues and the practices there is something here for all readers. More importantly, there is plenty or information within the covers of this book that truly matters. Anyone with a leadership role of any type should read this book.