Abstract

Management fashions have a strong effect on both managers and their decision-making. The phenomenon has
been observed since the late 1980s, with managers ostensibly continuing to be attracted by “fashionable” models
and concepts. The present article has a twofold objective. On one hand, it analyses academic efforts in this field
by undertaking a state of the art; on the other, it explores management fashions’ potential danger for
organizations by reviewing their characteristics, life cycles and processes of creation and dissemination. The
analysis also reveals that management fashions constitute in and of themselves a minor risk and can even help to
drive a company forward through incremental as opposed to major changes.

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