This book is part of the Human Centered Book Trilogy, the 2021 volumes of the Routledge Human Centered Management HCM Series. HCM books are pioneering transformation from the traditional humans-as-a-resource approach of the industrial past, to the humans at the center management and organizational paradigm of the 21st century. HCM is built on talent and wellbeing of people in the workplace driving work engagement, quality standards, high performance and productivity for long-term organizational sustainability in the global VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) environment. This book was carefully crafted by recognized international human centered scholars from four continents. Although all organizations seek to have an optimal culture, unstoppable disruptions in the VUCA environment easily derail even the best efforts. Conventional assumptions of culture as a unifying organizational force are hardly defendable today. HCM maintains that culture is not only about cohesiveness and consensus but effective management of conflict and disagreements continuously testing the capacity of people to work together. This book is about organizational transformation positioning people at the center. Complementary chapters integrate as antidotes to overcome disruptions in the VUCA environment and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic affecting people and organizations worldwide. This and its two complementary titles Soft Skills for Human Centered Management and Global Sustainability and Sensible Leadership: Human Centered, Insightful and Prudent are timely readings for leaders, managers, researchers, academics, practitioners, students and the general public responsible for organizations across industries and sectors worldwide pursuing quality standards and organizational transformation to attain sustainability.
