Showing papers in "Journal of Management Studies in 1971"
••
83 citations
••
37 citations
••
TL;DR: In this article, the authors continue an intellectual theme initiated earlier by the authors (Lowe and McInnes, 1971) and trace the reciprocal interactions of the environment on a business enterprise through the complex, and in many aspects conflicting, organisational processes of strategic leadership, budgetary control, performance evaluation, accountability and their effects on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of members of the organisation.
Abstract: The paper continues an intellectual theme initiated earlier by the authors (Lowe and McInnes, 1971). It traces the reciprocal interactions of the environment on a business enterprise through the complex, and in many aspects conflicting, organisational processes of strategic leadership, budgetary control, performance evaluation, accountability and their effects on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of members of the organisation. Central to the theme is the essential process of organisational learning, enabling an organisation continually to adapt to its dynamic and uncertain substantial environment. Organisational learning, in turn, is founded on individual learning, fostered through processes of mentorship and accountability. Tensions between learning's requirement of a free flow of information, and the potential diminishment of communication that may arise when judgment of personal performance is entailed, are addressed. The paper is impersonal; it does not address the idiosyncratic and inspirational characteristics of leadership within and throughout organisations.
27 citations
••
20 citations
••
18 citations
••
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an allocation problem in which a single objective function is to be optimised, subject to meeting certain prespecified constraints, and if the problem is amenable to solution through the use of an appropriate algorithm, the manager is expected to follow the rules of the algorithm in order to obtain the solution to his problem.
Abstract: In the previous chapter an allocation problem is cited in which a single objective function is to be optimised, subject to meeting certain prespecified constraints. In examples of this type the specification of the goal appears to be clear: the manager is required to maximise the utility expressed in the objective function, and if the problem is amenable to solution through the use of an appropriate algorithm, the manager is expected to follow the rules of the algorithm in order to obtain the solution to his problem. If the problem is well defined, if the objective function and the constraints are specified, and if an algorithm for a solution is given, the decision process becomes highly prescriptive and impersonal, and the outcome is then expected to be the same, whoever is put in charge of the managerial function.
16 citations
••
13 citations
••
••
••
••
TL;DR: In this paper, the causal relationships in a two variable system are examined, using a simultaneous linear differential equation model, and emphasis is placed on the necessity for considering mutual interaction instead of looking for unidirectional causality.
Abstract: The causal relationships in a two variable system are examined, using a simultaneous linear differential equation model. Emphasis is placed on the necessity for considering mutual interaction instead of looking for unidirectional causality. To demonstrate the usefulness of this approach an example is taken from the management science literature concerning the relationship between labour turnover and overtime. It is shown that, on certain assumptions, the data disconfirm a hypothesis previously thought to be confirmed. Certain informal observations made in the original paper were shown to receive confirmation from the data.
••
TL;DR: In this article, the authors extend Woodward's findings from the industrial to the non-manufacturing sphere and show that structure does relate to task within the nonmanufacturing group, but that taken as a whole the structures of the non manufacturing group differ from all those Woodward found in manufacture.
Abstract: Organization structure is determined by the interaction of several variables. Woodward's work suggested that technology is one of the most important and this study attempts to extend her findings from the industrial to the non-manufacturing sphere. The results show that structure does relate to task within the non-manufacturing group — but that taken as a whole the structures of the non-manufacturing group differ from all those Woodward found in manufacture. Some of these differences are seen to derive from the relative simplicity of the non-manufacturing technology. Others can be traced to the operation of intervening variables.