Developing Management Skills (Paperback)

~ David A. Whetten (Author), Kim S. Cameron (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

For undergraduate/graduate Principles of Management and Management Skills courses.

 

Whetten/Cameron teaches students the ten essential skills all managers should possess in order to be successful.

 

Developing ManagementSkills, 7/e,  begin each chapter, starting with the PAMS assessment in the introduction, allowing students to see which skills they need to focus on more.  It shows students with little work experience that most managers struggle with one or more skills presented in the book. 

From the Back Cover

With Whetten and Cameron's unique five-step model, learn the skills that turn good ideas into accepted practice—and good management!

Skills-based, interactive, and cross-cultural, David Whetten and Kim Cameron's newest edition of Developing Management Skills will help you bridge the gap between learning management skills and applying those skills to the managing job at hand. Filled with experiential exercises, examples, and the latest in technology, this book clearly focuses on the skills aspect of management.

The authors present a five-step process in each chapter for assessing, learning, analyzing, practicing, and applying your own abilities to build the foundation for effective management practice. Building on your personal, interpersonal, and group skills, Developing Management Skills is an interactive tool based on the authors' extensive and updated research on effective managers in private and public companies.

Here are a few of the highlights of this fifth edition:

• Material on nine fundamental management skills, organized into three categories, to help you master the skills you'll use in managing people:
• Personal (Developing Self-Awareness; Managing Stress; Solving Problems Creatively)
• Interpersonal (Coaching, Counseling, and Supportive Communication; Gaining Power and Influence; Motivating Others; Managing Conflict)
• Group Skills (Empowering and Delegating; Building Effective Teams and Teamwork)
• New material on cross-cultural perspectives, including a useful framework for comparing cultural values and providing examples of how people with different cultural values use different communication styles, influence strategies, or conflict management approaches.
• Three updated supplemental sections on applied communications skills—"Making Oral and Written Presentations," "Conducting Interviews," and "Conducting Meetings"—to help prepare you for the various types of communication required of managers.
• NEW! Part-Ending Skills Video segments featuring key management skills topics that focus on a fictional Internet company. Each segment offers a scenario with two options from which students select and evaluate their choices. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 625 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 7th edition (November 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131747428
• ISBN-13: 978-0131747425
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #38,575 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Useful and Practical Guide to Effective Management, June 23, 2004

By	Craig Matteson (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Developing Management Skills (Paperback)

The new 7th edition is even more useful. There are some new assessments, some clearer explanations, and improved diagrams. There are also some new in class skills development exercies, and the online tool for taking the dozens of assessments in the book is now easier to use.

This book has been widely adopted and is now in its sixth edition because it has proven to be a valuable and effective text for people who want to think about what skills go into being an effective manager, how to develop them, and what are the practical means of application.

The book is divided into four parts:

Part 1 - Personal Skills
Part 2 - Interpersonal Skills
Part 3 - Group Skills
Part 4 - Specific Communication Skills

Part 1 starts with developing self-awareness, then discusses managing personal stress, and concludes with approaches to solving problems analytically and creatively. Part 2 starts with coaching, counseling, and supportive communication, then discusses gaining power and influence, motivating others, and concludes with managing conflict. Part 3 starts with empowering and delegating, then building effective teams and teamwork, and concludes with leading positive change. Part 4 is a series of helpful supplements and appendices on making oral and written presentations, conducting interviews, and an extremely useful section on conducting meetings by John Tropman from the University of Michigan. I had Prof. Tropman for my required class on Organizational Behavior and it was a highlight in my program.

He covered some of this material in that class and it makes wonderful sense. He often says that you can use this material to cover as little as you do now, but in half the time.What I particularly like is that each chapter opens with one or more assessments to help the student / reader think in a personal way about his or her thoughts, beliefs, and skills focusing on the key issues that will be discussed in the chapter. The approach of the book is always practical and the language uplifting and positive. I think this book shows the way to being a positive manager who can be successful in any situation without having to resort to negative human interactions to get things done. It really is a healthy approach to management.

Also, with this new edition, Prentice-Hall and the authors are offering an ONLINE version of the 30 plus assessments so that students (and general readers) can instantly receive automated feedback without having to use pencil and paper and then figure out how to score each assessment. It is all done for you. And for professors, they will be able to drill down on their class data by student or the overall class. It really is a step forward.There are also name, subject, and combined indexes.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very useful and easy to read book, September 7, 2001

By	Anna (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Developing Management Skills (4th Edition) (Paperback)

I taught a class based on this book for two years while I was myself a graduate student at a business school. I found it to be very informative and helpful to my students, as well as to myself and my classmates. It talks about a lot of things that we face in our everyday lives, like stress management, problem solving, supportive communication, power management, conflict resolution, team building, etc. It is very easly wtitten. You don't have to have any background in any of the subjects to benefit from this book.

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic, with much to apply for anyone who wants to grow, June 18, 2002

By	M. Fisher - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Developing Management Skills (5th Edition) (Paperback)

This is a spectacular book. I was first introduced to it in a managerial skills class in graduate school. It is a very well-written text, and is full of practical knowledge that anyone can apply. You don't have to be a manager to appreciate what this book can help you do. Anyone can benefit from the book's teachings.

Each chapter (most of them, at least) begins with one or more self-quizzes to determine your abilities or knowledge of each subject. The chapter then helps you to improve your deficiencies. If you repeat the quizzes after you've studied and applied the material, you'll see improvements, as well as additional areas in which to work.

To use this book to the greatest benefit, you should develop solid plans to:

1. Assess your needs (through quizzes)
2. Learn the material (reading the chapters, or the sections in which are lacking)
3. Apply the material (in your life, at work, etc.)
4. Reflect on what happened, what worked, what didn't, etc.
5. Re-assess your abilities (with the quizzes)

As for the topics this covers, it includes nearly every situation you could run into at work. However, a lot of the material is applicable to life in general.

This book is a must read if you want to grow. Before you rush out and buy cheaper, less complete books, add this one to your library. That way you'll have a much better framework from which to purchase other books (if you even need them!).