Thomas J. Norman, Ph.D. · Professor of Management

Books, research, and advice for how managers actually work.

Professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills. Author of the Compensation and Management textbooks and the More Capable series on management in the AI transition.

Field-tested textbooks for faculty, research on pay and management, and practical work with leaders adopting AI.

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AI implementation and adoption for organizations: Superior AI Consulting →
Trade books and the Saturday newsletter: More Capable →

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
Cover of Compensation: Rewarding and Retaining Talent, California Edition — maroon cover with a photograph of pines above a mountain lake

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
Cover of Management: Optimizing Talent for Organizational Effectiveness — navy cover with a photograph of Split Rock Lighthouse on Lake Superior

Management

Optimizing Talent for Organizational Effectiveness · The DART Model

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 B&W Edition · $29.99
Beyond the classroom, Dr. Norman writes More Capable, a three-book trade series on the manager's real job in the AI transition — beginning with Judgment Call and Lead What Lasts.

For Instructors

Review copies and adoption materials go out the same week you ask. Tell me the course, the term, and roughly how many seats, and I will send what you need to evaluate the book for your syllabus.

Download Review Copy

  • Instant digital review copies (PDF, password-protected)
  • Chapter-by-chapter learning objectives
  • Sample syllabus and pacing guide
  • Case-teaching notes for classroom discussion
  • Consultation call to talk through fit

About the Author

Thomas J. Norman, Ph.D. is a tenured full professor of management at California State University, Dominguez Hills, where he teaches management, human resources, compensation, and labor relations. He has served as department chair and acting associate dean, and before joining the academy he held management roles at Procter & Gamble, US Bancorp, Cargill, Sun Microsystems, and Wells Fargo.

His textbooks, built around his DART model, 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 helps organizations adopt AI through Superior AI Consulting, coaches leaders and teams, hosts the interview series Off the Talking Points, and writes the trade book series More Capable on the manager's role in the AI transition, beginning with Judgment Call and Lead What Lasts.

Full biography and speaker bios →

Get in Touch

For review copies, adoption inquiries, speaking invitations, or a conversation about how these books might fit your program:

Email Professor Norman

Also by the Author

The More Capable Series

Judgment Call

How great managers decide what AI cannot.

Thomas J. Norman, Ph.D.
Forthcoming · Trade

A book about the manager’s remaining edge in the AI transition: judgment — the ability to decide well when the data runs out and the model cannot tell you what to do. From the More Capable series.

Preview Judgment Call