Fifty Key Figures in Management is a collection of biographies of fifty people who have helped to make management what it is today - through their ideas, writings and teachings, through practical example and leadership, or both.

Featuring business leaders such as Henry Ford, Jack Welch and Bill Gates, all of whom were pioneers in business pratice, the book also includes thinkers and consultants who have helped to redefine the way we think about management, such as Ohmae Kenichi, Fukuzawa Yukichi, Tom Peters and Charles Handy. Moreover, new and emerging aspects of management are covered through the inclusion of such cutting-edge thinkers as Arie de Geus, Max Boisot and Nonaka Ikujiro.

Taken together, the fifty biographies presented here described how management emerged as a modern discipline and grew into its present form. Organization, strategy, marketing, production management, human resource management and knowledge management all come together to show how management is a multi-faceted discipline.