Textbooks by Thomas J. Norman, Ph.D.

Books for the classroom, written for how managers actually work.

Two textbooks for faculty preparing the next generation of managers.

Field-tested with undergraduate and graduate students in California and beyond. Current through 2026, with the live cases, regulations, and AI-transition context students walk into on their first day of work.

The Textbooks

Two courses, two textbooks, one commitment: put a book in front of the student that they will actually open, read, and use.

Book One · Compensation

Compensation

Rewarding and Retaining Talent · California Edition

A working reference for the compensation course that meets students where the field actually operates. California's pay-scale disclosure, wage-and-hour rules, and 2026 exempt salary floor are integrated throughout, not tucked into an appendix.

What makes it usable

Ten chapters mapping to a standard undergraduate or graduate compensation course
Current through 2026: SB 1162, exempt-salary thresholds, live pay-transparency cases
"From the Field" practitioner narratives in every chapter
End-of-chapter cases with a failure-and-tension design, not illustrative examples
California-at-a-glance flip-back reference table

Best fit: HRM / Compensation · Undergrad or MBA

Request Review Copy On Amazon

Book Two · Management

Management

Directing, Deploying, Attracting, Assessing, Rewarding, Retaining, Teaching, Transforming

A principles-of-management text organized around what managers actually do, not the textbook conventions inherited from the 1970s. The through-line is the DART model, which names the four paired activities every manager performs on the people around them.

What makes it usable

Structured around DART: Direct and Deploy, Attract and Assess, Reward and Retain, Teach and Transform
Chapters on AI integration and the manager's shifting role, current through 2026
Cases from technology, healthcare, retail, and public sector
End-of-chapter reflection prompts that transfer to the workplace, not just the exam
Instructor's guide with case-teaching notes and discussion frames

Best fit: Principles of Management · Undergrad

Request Review Copy On Amazon

About the Author

Thomas J. Norman, Ph.D. is a Professor of Management at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He teaches compensation, management theory, and industrial-organizational psychology, and has spent the last two decades studying and practicing the craft of designing organizations that work.

His research and teaching focus on the intersection of compensation strategy, industrial-organizational psychology, and the practical work of managing well. His textbooks are the ones he wanted to hand his own students on the first day: current, honest, and grounded in what the field actually looks like now.

Beyond the classroom, he consults with organizations on compensation strategy and AI integration, hosts an interview series on California civic life, and writes the trade book series More Capable on the manager's role in the AI transition.