UNDERSTANDING MANAGEMENT, Sixth Edition provides an engaging survey of modern management practice that seamlessly integrates classic and contemporary principles. Rather than concentrating on large global enterprises, the text focuses on dynamic small to mid-sized "local" businesses and entrepreneurial issues, giving students valuable real-world insights and practical skills they can readily apply when beginning or continuing their careers. To help students deepen their understanding and hone their skills, numerous skill-building and application exercises appear in every chapter. UNDERSTANDING MANAGEMENT also features a streamlined format and impressive ancillary package that make it affordable, flexible, well-suited to any course, and effective for students of diverse backgrounds and interests.

Richard L. Daft, PhD, is Associate Dean for Academic Programs and the Brownlee O. Currey, Jr. Professor in Management in the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University. Professor Daft specializes in the study of organization theory and leadership, and enjoys applying these ideas in his roles as Associate Dean. Dr. Daft is a Fellow of the Academy of Management and has served on the editorial boards of Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly and Journal of Management Education. He was the Associate Editor-in-Chief of Organization Science and served for three years as associate editor of Administrative Science Quarterly. Professor Daft has authored or co-authored 13 books and has also authored dozens of scholarly articles, papers and chapters. His work has been published in Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Management, Accounting Organizations and Society, Management Science, MIS Quarterly, California Management Review and Organizational Behavior Teaching Review. Professor Daft has been awarded several government research grants to pursue studies of organization design, organizational innovation and change, strategy implementation and organizational information processing. Dr Daft also is an active teacher and consultant. He has taught management, leadership, organizational change, organizational behaviour and organizational theory. He has been involved in management development and consulting for many companies and government organizations.Professor Dorothy Marcic, Ed. D. and M.P.H., is on faculty at Vanderbilt University in the department of Leadership and Organizations, Peabody College. She also serves as Director of Graduate Programs in Human Resource Development at Vanderbilt. A recent Fulbright scholar at the University of Economics-Prague, where she taught MBA students and practicing managers, her consulting practice has grown to include multinationals and governmental agencies in the Czech Republic. In addition to Understanding Management, she is the author of several other books, including Organizational Behaviour and Management International, Women and Men in Organizations, and Managing with the Wisdom of Love: Uncovering Virtue in People in People and Organizations. She began her extensive and varied academic career at Arizona State University with additional academic postings at St. Bonaventure University, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and La Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, Mexico.

Part I: INTRODUCTION. 1. Innovation for Turbulent Times. Part II: THE ENVIRONMENT. 2. The Environment and Corporate Culture. 3. The Global Environment. 4. Ethics and Social Responsibility. Part III: PLANNING. 5. Planning and Goal Setting. 6. Decision Making. Part IV: ORGANIZING. 7. Designing Adaptive Organizations. 8. Change and Innovation. 9. Human Resources and Diversity. Part V: LEADING. 10. Dynamics of Behavior in Organizations. 11. Leadership. 12. Motivation. 13. Communication. 14. Teamwork. Part VI: CONTROLLING. 15. Productivity through Quality Control Systems. Appendix A: Continuing Cases. Appendix B: Small Business Start Ups. Appendix C: Solutions to Chapter Three's Manager's Workbook.