Overview

While the careers of secret agents have inspired many genres of popular culture, relatively little research has been carried out until now on spying as a profession. Through the lens of personnel management, the authors offer a unique and compelling analysis of secret service employee biographies and autobiographies, giving the reader an improved understanding of people management in all organisations. Personnel Management in Secret Service Organizations pinpoints key events in an agent’s career, focusing on how they enter their profession, how they perform espionage work; how they are trained and managed and what the circumstances of promotion and demotion might be, up to the point of exit from the profession (through retirement, capture, or death). Within this framework, it illustrates the ways that secret service organizations play a crucial role in contemporary societies. Drawing comparisons with personnel management in standard organizations, Personnel Management in Secret Service Organizations will be a valuable resource for researchers and students of management and organization. The use of narratology-inspired methods will appeal to younger scholars with an interest in organizational studies too.

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9781035301249

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Reviews

'This book provides a fascinating glimpse behind the curtain into the secret world of spies, viewed through the lens of personnel management. Based mainly on the biographies or autobiographies of former intelligence workers in a wide variety of agencies, it provides a valuable addition to the intelligence studies literature whilst opening up new vistas in management and organization studies. A highly readable, innovative and informative study which will appeal to a wide audience of academics and non-academics alike.' -- Christopher Grey, Emeritus Professor of Organization Studies, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

‘It’s no secret organizational scholars have not paid enough attention to the more hidden organizations in our world, but Personnel Management in Secret Service Organizations blows the cover (in a good way) of the people at the heart of these clandestine agencies. The authors not-so-covertly apply their tradecraft about personnel management to undercover workers like spies, intelligence officers/analysts, and secret agents. The result is a fascinating and insightful intelligence report about these unique occupations and their historical/contemporary relevance.’ -- Craig R. Scott, The University of Texas at Austin, US ‘This book provides a fascinating glimpse behind the curtain into the secret world of spies, viewed through the lens of personnel management. Based mainly on the biographies or autobiographies of former intelligence workers in a wide variety of agencies, it provides a valuable addition to the intelligence studies literature whilst opening up new vistas in management and organization studies. A highly readable, innovative and informative study which will appeal to a wide audience of academics and non-academics alike.’ -- Christopher Grey, Emeritus Professor of Organization Studies, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

'It's no secret organizational scholars have not paid enough attention to the more hidden organizations in our world, but Personnel Management in Secret Service Organizations blows the cover (in a good way) of the people at the heart of these clandestine agencies. The authors not-so-covertly apply their tradecraft about personnel management to undercover workers like spies, intelligence officers/analysts, and secret agents. The result is a fascinating and insightful intelligence report about these unique occupations and their historical/contemporary relevance.' -- Craig R. Scott, The University of Texas at Austin, US 'This book provides a fascinating glimpse behind the curtain into the secret world of spies, viewed through the lens of personnel management. Based mainly on the biographies or autobiographies of former intelligence workers in a wide variety of agencies, it provides a valuable addition to the intelligence studies literature whilst opening up new vistas in management and organization studies. A highly readable, innovative and informative study which will appeal to a wide audience of academics and non-academics alike.' -- Christopher Grey, Emeritus Professor of Organization Studies, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

Author Information

The late Barbara Czarniawska, formerly Professor Emerita of Management Studies, GRI, School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, Sabina Siebert, Professor of Management, Adam Smith Business School and John Mackay, Literature Tutor, University of Glasgow, UK

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