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ProfessorBainbridge.com: Management fads: A behavioral explanation:
Back in the mid- to late-1990s, when I was writing a lot about participatory management and employee involvement, the business section of every bookstore overflowed with books on how to manage corporate employees. Management consultants proliferated, as they still do. Scarcely a day went by without the appearance of some new management theory that was going to restore US competitiveness, while solving any number of social ills on the side.

Participatory management in one form or another was among the most common themes in this burgeoning industry. Some books and consultants recommended TQM, while others pushed quality circles. Some urged managers to go “lean,” while others urged them to go “team.” Some even urged managers to go back to traditional command and control models.

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