In this book, Mats Alvesson aims to demystify some popular and upbeat claims about a range of phenomena, including the knowledge society, consumption, branding, higher education, organizational change, professionalization, and leadership. He contends that a culture of grandiosity is leading tonumerous inflated claims. We no longer talk about plans but strategies. Supervisors have been replaced by managers, managers are referred to as executives. Management is about leadership. Giving advice is coaching. Companies become knowledge-intensive firms. The book views the contemporaryeconomy as an economy of persuasion, where firms and other institutions increasingly assign talent, energy, and resources to rhetoric, image, branding, reputation, and visibility. Using a wide range of empirical examples to illuminate the realms of consumption, higher education, organization, and leadership, this provocative and engaging book challenges established assumptions and contributes to a critical understanding of society as a whole. | The Triumph of Emptiness by Mats Alvesson, Hardcover | Indigo Chapters