Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book begins with a brief reflections on the nature of management. Recognising the central role which 'persuasion' and indeed emotion perform in the managerial process, it considers attempts which have been made to locate managerial work within an account of storytelling. The book suggests that the appreciation of the organizational processes which shape and construct managerial work remains rooted in sensegiving models of storytelling. It focuses upon the different ways in which stories might be defined and acted upon. The book analyses the tools which storytellers may call upon as they attempt to shape the author's appreciation of the world and its problems. It offers a brief summary of author's analysis and concluding comments designed to cement our appreciation of the role(s) which stories perform in successful managerial endeavours.