MANAGEMENT & MACHIAVELLI : A Prescription for Success in Your Business

Rating:
Summary: Insightful, Pragmatic, and Empowering.
Review: As a middle manager in a small company, I found this to be one of the most helpful works on corporate behavior. Jay pulls analogies from history to illuminate the dynamics present in most all policital systems. I quickly recognized the "yogi's, commissars, and barons" in my present and past companies.

Do not be put off by the reference to Machiavelli in the title. This is not an exegesis of The Prince. Rather, it is an examination of business, leadership, and power dynamics. I highly recommend it to those seeking a more thorough understanding of the politics of business.

Rating:
Summary: Timeless subject, but not really "Revised and Updated".
Review: As a practicing engineering manager, I would highly recommend this text to my more experienced peers. Even more than "The Peter Principle", this text provides fodder for literally hours of reflection dealing in real business and military organizations. It is difficult to overstate how some paragraphs can speak volumes on how the political view clarifies understanding of personal experience over other approaches (economic, psychological, technical).

However, having had access to an original 1967 edition of this text, I was a little surprized by the new edition cover page highlight "Revised and Updated". Consequently, the parallels to "current" business practice were still very dated. The author also has some tendency to write with high Gunning Fog index(i.e., difficult readability). However, the raw value of the information cannot be overcome by these points, and even leads the reader to wonder whether a condensed organizational dynamics primer could be produced including really updated insights.

Rating:
Summary: Read this to understand your organization
Review: This is one of those books that need to be read together with other management text. Anthony Jay provides a complete human perspective in statecraft. Good introduction text to all new management trainees aiming at the top of the food chain. At least, they get to know where they fail.