ABSTRACT
As outlined in the introductory chapter, this book is designed to offer a contribution to the ongoing debate regarding so-called ‘management fashions’. In order to implement a study of management fashions, it is first necessary to define the concept of ‘fashion’. Sperber (1990, 13) defines fashion as
..the preoccupation with keeping in step with the times … following the example of prestigious opinion leaders who crystallise and reinforce the vaguely expressed collective tastes of the public; admiring proposals when they are in ‘good taste’ and new, and discarding them when they are in ‘bad taste’ and old.
