Cass Business School has teamed up with the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) for the launch of the 2011 Management Book of the Year competition.Launched in the wake of research which suggested people are turning to books for advice because they are reluctant to bother their boss (48%) or afraid of looking incompetent (30%). The competition is run in association with the British Library and aims to seek out the books with the biggest potential to help managers become more effective and efficient at work.

Publishers and authors are now be able to enter the competition, attempting to win one of the following five categories: Best Practical book, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, ebook, The commuter’s read and Management Textbook.

Nick Badman, Chairman of Cass’s Peter Cullum Centre for Entrepreneurship, said “Without innovation, managers and businesses cannot hope to progress. However, the truth is that people need inspiration in order to innovate and I hope that the UK’s management community will be inspired by the books they see entering this competition. I look forward to exploring the ideas and advice on offer.”

CMI’s Head of Knowledge Management, Piers Cain, comments: “To revitalise managers and management thinking, individuals need to have easy access to texts that will retain their attention and inspire them.”