The Halo Effect in Management

Abstract

The purpose of this master’s research is to review and analyse three of the most well-known business books, namely In Search of Excellence, Built to Last, and Good to Great. There were three main objectives of the research. First, to study what the books have in common, identify their leading messages and understand how these messages are communicated to executives and organisations. Second, to review the books and identify if they were written under influence of the halo effect and other business delusions. Third, to compare their messages, ideologies and approaches with another business book that does not share the same values and criteria. For this purpose, a fourth book, The Halo Effect, was also reviewed and analysed. The focus was mainly to compare the above-mentioned books; therefore, the desk research technique was chosen as the most appropriate methodology, due to the fact that the information and data used for this research already exists. The conclusion of this research is that there is no single recipe for success available in the business arena, unlike many management and business experts claim. On the contrary, it is important to inculcate managers and companies to make use of critical thinking in their daily decision-making.The author of this master’s dissertation would like to mention that the information included in this research is suitable and useful to professionals and managers at any level within organisations in different fields in the business world, as well as college and university students.