Handbook of Managerial Behavior and Occupational Health

Citation

Yergler, J.D. (2010), "Handbook of Managerial Behavior and Occupational Health", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 191-192. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437731011024457

Over the last 20 years, an increasing amount of research has been directed toward understanding the components of healthy organizations and those who work within them. The workplace has been and continues to change rapidly; what employees need to thrive is changing, the requirements of management and leadership has increased significantly, the global business network is becoming more intricate, intimate, and dynamically cross‐cultural, and the nature of work itself is demanding more from employees, employers and organizational systems than ever before. As organizations, the needs of employees, and those who supervise and manage them grow increasingly complex and challenging, it is imperative to be able to access resources that might shed light on how best to respond to this complexity. The Handbook of Managerial Behavior and Occupational Health is a text that addresses many of the multifaceted issues involved in creating and sustaining organizational health.

The editors, all researchers and practitioners within the academy, have drawn together a collection of scholarly research articles which have been divided into six sections. These sections include organizational stress and health, organizational psychology, occupational stress, professional burnout, immigration and acculturation, workplace emotions, and social support within the organizational context. Based on the way this book is arranged, it might be most appropriately considered a resource for those who want to gain deeper scholarly understanding on specific areas of workplace health. Clearly, with a resource of this depth of scholarship and research, some articles will be more valuable than others. For example, my own research interests drew me to articles dealing with coping and appraisal in the workplace (Dewe), unhealthy relationships at work (Antoniou), affect regulation and well‐being in the workplace (Niven, Totterdell and Holmon), coping and burnout (Pines), immigration, unemployment and career counseling (Antoniou and Dalla), emotional intelligence and occupational stress (Zeidner), and social support in the work stress context (Cieslak).

The reader will find the articles themselves very well‐written and well‐researched. Each of the articles mentioned above, were written by academics and researchers. Because of the research‐focus of this book, it may appeal more to the research scholar seeking to gain additional expertise and deeper understanding in a narrowly‐defined area of organizational performance, occupational health, and management supervision. In terms of practicality, this book would best be utilized as a reference tool for a researcher or as a reader for a masters‐ or doctoral‐level course in organizational studies, industrial or organizational psychology.

Unfortunately the book comes with a hefty price tag. The price may not be a fair trade‐off for those who might only be interested in but a few of the articles contained therein. But for those who focus more broadly on the topic workplace dynamics, management, and the importance of building psychological health within and around organizational communities, this text would be extremely valuable.