Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction - Governance, markets and managerialism; and a framework for alternative approaches - The individual manager and leader through a rational-objectivist lens - The reflective individual in management and leadership - Rational planning and control : rational-objectivist approaches to organizations - New metaphors for management : reflective-pluralist approaches to organizations - Challenges for social work management and leadership - Towards ethical management and leadership in social work

This volume intends to encourage critical and informed reflection on current management and leadership practices and modes of thought with the social work industry. The authors feel that while there is a relatively broad understanding of management concepts and their application in social care, their foundations often go unchallenged both by students and managers. Furthermore, they maintain that leadership is open to a wide range of interpretations and is often ill-defined with the expectation that we share a common understanding of the term. This text promotes an appreciation of the development of management and leadership thinking and the different themes which inform current ideas. It considers these topics from a range of theoretical standpoints in order to stimulate readers to consider their own experience and expectations of management and leadership. It then demonstrates how these standpoints might promote innovative approaches to management and leadership within social care organizations and ways in which such organizations might then develop