A relatively large team of authors wrote an original book offering its readers, not only university-level students specializing in economy but also all those who are interested in management problems, the knowledge of ways of human capital enhancement. It is currently understood as a key problem of management theory and practice at a national level, not only from economic {homo oeconomicus} but also from psychological and sociological aspects in their integrity because the behavior of an individual in a corporation is linked up with its social structure. And this structure and its dynamics are a result of the specific activities of acting and interacting individuals.

Presentation of this approach to management is a very positive feature of the reviewed book aimed at some common structured subjects of management psychology and sociology. The book, conceived as a university-level textbook, consists of nine chapters, list of references and subject index. Every chapter ends with questions and topics to be discussed. The publication of this book was financially supported by Creditanstalt, a.s., and ŠKO-DA AUTO, a.s., Volkswagen Import.

Chapter 1 called Object and Development of Management Psychology and Sociology contains an explanation of the level of integration of different psychological and sociological approaches to management of a (business) organization as an autonomous and unique social unit with its history, behavioral standards and symbols, with its relations to other institutions and to the public in research and practical activities. A worker's action is closely interlinked with the social structure of an organization in which they work.

Chapter 2 People in the Organization tries to describe the importance of relatively stable psychological dissimilarity between one individual and the others, i.e. of human personality, its structure and dynamics for practical management (what a worker is demanded to do, man's qualifications to do a job, aspirations, work motivation, work group, nonformal structures, dynamics of development of a working team). Discussion is aimed at the importance of human resources for the operation of an organization, the importance of individuals as well as of groups.

Chapter 3 called A Manager deals with an important component of the human resources of an organization, i.e. with power elite (managers) and influence elite (leaders), their psychological and sociological characteristics, subjective and objective conditions of their activity, their career, mental hygiene and the organization of people management. The manager is a person responsible for running an organization, making rules and substantially influencing the effectiveness of processes taking place in an organization.

The subject of Chapter 4 called Interactions and Communication in an Organization is social contacts of workers, their interactions and mutual influencing (perception, communication, negotiation). A well-functioning communication system is a condition of the operations of an organization. An emphasis is laid on the fact that no undistorted information transmission exists. Rational behavior is suppressed by emotional reactions in conflict situations. If emotions are at a low level, the parties in a conflict mostly manage to solve the problem themselves.

In the context of the preceding chapter, Chapter 5 called Influencing in a Working Process gives an analysis of different aspects of motivation as the internal driving force of man's behavior, its stimulation, its particular models, its relation to performance, and finally a motivational program of a corporation. The source of motivation is a habit as a result of not only everyone's upbringing but also their self-forming activities. The failure of motivated behavior is reflected in frustration and deprivation. Performance may be decreased by too high motivation. A condition of effective stimulation of workers is to know their personalities and motivation structures.

Chapter 6 Concept and System of Personnel Management in a Corporation contains a discussion about the sociological and psychological context of the activity of personnel management who select workers, evaluate their skills, abilities, adaptation, readiness, learning, career. Other subjects treated in detail include the activities and structure of personnel department, importance of social information, and sociological and psychological expertise for personnel management. Personnel management gradually becomes a dominant sphere of corporate management, significantly influencing the creation, improvement and changes in corporate culture and identity. So called soft factors, such as interests of workers, their opinions, value hierarchy, motivations management style are a critical point of business success.

Chapter 7 Psychology and Sociology in Business Activities complements tie present knowledge of personality characteristics of business partners, workers and customers marketing, tactics and strategy of buying and selling and its terms. Psychological analysis of tactics during business negotiations, and analysis of the behavior of selling agent, customer and consumer may be interesting for economists. Price formation should respect the way how a product price is perceived by a consumer.

Chapter 8 Corporate Culture and Identity is devoted to factors of psychological and sociological nature in the process of decision-making by managers of a corporation at both national and international level, i.e. to the creation of such a common value hierarchy, rituals, myths, symbols, preferences,, models, norms and rules of behavior that are crucial for development of organizational units and their successful activities within cultural systems of a definite type and their ethical aspects. The cycle of their changes and their effect on management processes are mentioned. These points underlie corporation identity derived from an intentional strategic concept of internal structure, activities and external image of a corporation in the market environment that determines its image.

The textbook ends with Chapter 9 called An Organizational Change, dealing with an active change in the organizational structure of a corporation in relation to the external environment, its causes and qualifications of workers for its implementation. The concept learning organization and methods of making a change in corporate culture are explained. Corporation organization and its changes under lie, are a means and even the goal of all activities of a corporation. Changes in organizations are either planned or they result from the need of adaptation. Their implementation is feasible after an adequate social and motivational climate has been created.

The reviewed book aspires to make a textbook synthesis of several scientific disciplines, but it is not possible to speak about a synthetic concept of the book as an entity of ideas involving a definite leading idea, its description, exposition and demonstration. In an economist's point of view, it would be desirable to make a more profound exposition of the subject related to sociological and psychological aspects of corporate governance, and of normative and institutional economics, or microeconomics.

Ostrava

Publ. In PRAGUE ECONOMIC PAPERS, 4, 1999, s.376-378.