Management is everywhere. Schools teach it and professional organisations counsel about it. Books and articles are written for managers and about them. Management is usually understood in terms of styles of management, management policies and successful management but few tend to think about management in an abstract sense. This book addresses this gap and provokes us to think seriously about this assumed entity. It does so in various ways, by treating management as an institution, as an object of study, as engaged with culture in different ways and as laden with conflicts.