Reflections on Groups and Organisations

In the books in this series Manfred Kets de Vries failed engineer, entrepreneur manqu, reluctant economist, international management guru, psychoanalyst, wit, and outdoorsman offers an overview of his work spanning four decades, a period in which he has established himself as the leading figure in the clinical study of organizational leadership. At a key point in his career, working as he puts it, in the twilight zone of economics, management, and psychoanalysis, he decided to strike out on a little-trodden path and bring the person back into the organization. Now Kets de Vries occupies a unique position in the academic business world, putting leaders and companies of the couch and working at the often intimate interface where the inner theater of the individual meets the outer world of the organization. The third book in this series, Reflections on Groups and Organizations, broadens Kets de Varies canvas and examines concepts of organizational health, performance and change. Material ranges from studies of high performance teams based on time the author spent with the pygmies of centrasl Africa to the use of coaching techniques to improve personal and organizational functioning. Reflections on Groups and Organizations looks at the interpersonal and group processes that determine how organizations work within specific contexts, including family firms. It includes studies on dysfunctional leader-follower relationships, downsizing, and organizational transformation. Kets de Vries introduces his concept of the authentizotic organization a pleasant, healthy, well-functioning workplace.