The past several decades have witnessed a profusion of management books published in the popular press, many becoming best sellers. This trend began during economic hard times when managers were searching for some easy-to-understand cures for their organizations' financial woes. While the economy greatly improved during the 1990s, managers continue to look for new insights that might help them improve their own or their organizations' fortunes. When the economy slowed in the early part of the twenty-first century, managers again began searching for the golden elixir that would save their jobs.

Despite their enormous sales, popular management books must weather a rather severe image problem. They are quite often perceived as hastily assembled tracts attempting to capitalize on a hot (and usually short-lived) management fad, borne of managers' frazzled attempts to overcome obstacles and challenges that do not generalize well for a...