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Management cover

Business

Business

Management

Richard L. Daft

A comprehensive principles of management textbook organized around the classic functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling. It combines established management theory with contemporary issues such as digital technology, ethics, diversity and global competition, and uses cases and self-assessment exercises to connect concepts with managerial practice.

Prerequisites: No prior business coursework is required; the book is written for students taking their first full management course.

Difficulty Level
Intermediate
Academic Level
Undergraduate
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01 / Reading Guide

Reading Guide

Citation

Daft, R. L. (2026). Management (15th ed.). Cengage.

Chapter Summary

The book has nineteen chapters in six parts, an appendix and a glossary and indexes, and runs to 784 pages. The parts follow the four classic functions of management, planning, organizing, leading and controlling, after two parts on the field and its environment. Cengage describes recent research as organized around those four functions, with more than 550 examples drawn from business, government and non-profit organizations.

Part I, Introduction to Management: Chapter 1, Leading Edge Management; Chapter 2, The Evolution of Management Thinking

Part I introduces what managers do in the current setting and then traces how management thinking developed. According to the publisher's "What's New" list, generative AI is discussed in both chapters, and managing virtually is also treated in them.

Part II, The Environment of Management: Chapter 3, The Environment and Corporate Culture; Chapter 4, Managing in a Global Environment; Chapter 5, Managing Ethics and Social Responsibility; Chapter 6, Managing Start-Ups and New Ventures

Four chapters set management in its context: the external environment and the culture inside the firm, global business, ethics and social responsibility, and the particular problems of start-ups and new ventures.

Part III, Planning: Chapter 7, Planning and Goal Setting; Chapter 8, Strategy Formulation and Execution; Chapter 9, Managerial Decision Making

The planning function is covered in three chapters, from goals and planning to strategy and then decision making. Cengage's list of new material places generative AI in Chapter 8, and an example of a strategy mistake at Old Navy also appears there.

Part IV, Organizing: Chapter 10, Designing Organization Structure; Chapter 11, Managing Innovation and Change; Chapter 12, Managing Human Talent; Chapter 13, Managing Diversity and Inclusion

Organizing covers structure, then innovation and change, then the management of people and diversity and inclusion. Generative AI is flagged for Chapters 11 and 12.

Part V, Leading: Chapter 14, Understanding Individual Behavior; Chapter 15, Leadership; Chapter 16, Motivating Employees; Chapter 17, Managing Communication; Chapter 18, Leading Teams

The leading part runs from individual behaviour to leadership, motivation, communication and teams. The publisher notes new models of virtual leadership in Chapters 15 and 18.

Part VI, Controlling: Chapter 19, Managing Quality and Performance

Control is treated in a single chapter, with an appendix, Managing the Value Chain, following it.

Key Concepts

Parts I–II: The Field and Its Environment

  • Evolution of management thinking: the second chapter.
  • Environment and corporate culture: the context of management in Chapter 3.
  • Ethics and social responsibility: Chapter 5.
  • Start-ups and new ventures: the closing chapter of Part II.

Parts III–VI: The Four Functions

  • Planning, strategy and decision making: Part III.
  • Organization structure, innovation and change, human talent, diversity and inclusion: Part IV.
  • Individual behaviour, leadership, motivation, communication and teams: Part V.
  • Quality and performance, and the value chain: Part VI and the appendix.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

  • A familiar organizing frame. The four-function structure is easy to map onto a course outline, and the part titles state it plainly.
  • Currency of examples. Cengage reports more than 550 new business, government and non-profit examples and names recent topics, including generative AI, remote work, ESG backlash and DEI pushback.
  • Personal engagement features. The publisher describes "Know Yourself" personal insight inventories at the start of each chapter, together with real-world management challenges and snapshot examples in each chapter.
  • Dedicated chapters on start-ups and diversity. The contents give start-ups and new ventures, and diversity and inclusion, chapters of their own.

Limitations

  • Control is thin. The controlling function receives one chapter, plus an appendix on the value chain, compared with three to five for each of the other functions.
  • Breadth over depth. Nineteen chapters over 784 pages cover the whole field of management, so each topic receives an overview; readers who want depth on organisational behaviour, strategy or operations need a specialist text.
  • Examples date. The newest examples are tied to recent debates such as generative AI and remote work, and will age faster than the frameworks they illustrate.
  • Exercises are not documented. The publisher's materials describe the inventories and cases but not the end-of-chapter questions, so their quality is not something the contents list shows.

Where It Fits in the Course

Daft's Management is a principles-of-management text built around planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Robbins, Coulter and Long's Management is built on the same four-function framework and combines concise explanation with short cases and skill-building exercises, so the choice between them is largely a matter of style and course preference. The OpenStax Principles of Management by Bright and colleagues is also organised around the four functions and is free, which makes it a lower-cost alternative or a second reference.

Wren and Bedeian's The Evolution of Management Thought is a scholarly history of management ideas and expands on Daft's second chapter. Hatch's Organization Theory presents modernist, symbolic-interpretive and postmodern perspectives on organizations and is an upper-level text for those who want to question the assumptions of a principles course.

How to Use This Book

The book is written for a first full management course, in the first or second year of a business or management programme, and for students in other faculties who need an overview of how organizations are run. No prior business coursework is required.

A practical plan:

  • Core: Read the parts in order, from Part I through Part VI, as the course presents the four functions.
  • If time is short: Chapters 1, 7, 8, 14–16 and 19 give the spine of planning, leading and control; add Chapters 10 and 12 for organizing.
  • Self-assessments: Complete the opening inventory in each chapter before reading it, and compare your answers afterwards.
  • Alongside: Pair the chapters on strategy and decision making with a case from an organization you know, and use Wren and Bedeian for the history behind Chapter 2.