Showing papers in "The Journal of General Management in 1986"
TL;DR: This article argued that such terms are of such generality and imprecision as to be of little value in the training of managers and argued that we managers, academics and consultants lack an appropriate language for talking about the qualities, attributes and skills of effective performers.
Abstract: This remarkably frank statement was one of a number offered by senior managers as a response to a question concerning the desirable skills and attributes of managers in a survey recently conducted at the instigation of the Economic and Social Research Council and the Department of Trade and Industry [1]. Others presumably tongue in cheek offered comments such as 'needs to be a member of the family', 'twenty years of unquestioning loyalty' and 'a strong sense of humour'. Most, however, where they attempted an answer at all, stuck to the very terms that the manager quoted above found so difficult to understand: communication, leadership, motivation, ability to delegate. I will put forward an argument later in this paper which supports the claim that such terms are indeed of such generality and imprecision as to be of little value in the training of managers. I will argue that we managers, academics and consultants lack an appropriate language for talking about the qualities, attributes and skills of effective performers. I will begin, however, by setting the scene and sketching in some of the other findings of the survey which, although only a pilot, appears to be by far the most comprehensive and representative of any completed to date in the UK. Management, we are not infrequently told, is about the 'achievement of objectives through people'. It follows, though it is less frequently stated, that the more competent and effective the managers, the more likely is the
39 citations
13 citations
TL;DR: This paper developed an exploratory perspective, to isolate relevant variables and to illustrate with examples from countries with varying politico-economic systems and levels of development, to assess the management of industrial relations from one country to another.
Abstract: There is considerable diversity in the industrial relations experiences of nations. This is most obvious in the pronounced differences in patterns and modes of legal regulation of employment relationships and in the density, structure and autonomy oflabour unions. It applies with no less force to the disparate approaches of management to industrial relations and, above all, to the 'styles' adopted in dealing with employees and their representatives. So far, however, there have been remarkably few attempts to generate systematic analytical frameworks for assessing the management of industrial relations from one country to the next. The objective of this paper, then, is to develop an exploratory perspective, to isolate relevant variables and to illustrate with examples from countries with varying politico-economic systems and levels of development.
13 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address the interface between strategic and marketing plans, as a major issue that needs to be tackled by executives, and the results of previous surveys into the planning of British companies that have been completed by the writer.
Abstract: This paper addresses the interface between strategic and marketing plans, as a major issue that needs to be tackled by executives. The initiative for this paper came from the results of previous surveys into the planning of British Companies that have been completed by the writer. A compilation of these results has been reported by Greenley [1]. The major outcome of this report is a distinct difference between theory and practice. The theoretical body of knowledge within the literature prescribes a certain approach to planning, whereas the research results are indicative of British firms taking a different approach. The literature advocates that a certain type of relationship between strategic and marketing plans should be established by firms, whereas the evidence suggests that this is not being pursued. While differences between theory and practice may not be surprising to readers of this journal, the underlying principles of this difference can be seen to be a major concern. Despite the many arguments about the differences between theory and practice per se, and indeed 'it may be inevitable that there will always be some differences, the strength of the theoretical body is that it provides a logical and systematically derived relationship as the interface between strategic and marketing plans. If it is accepted that the major aim of any planning is to consider, logically and systematically issues of the business, appertaining to future periods of time, in order to take decisions likely to be of lower risk than without such considerations, then the relationship provided by the literature has a rational and common sense application in the planning of companies. Consequently the literature follows the basic principles upon which planning is based, whereas the firms participating in the above mentioned research appear not to be following these basic principles.
11 citations
10 citations
TL;DR: In the process of setting direction for a firm involves three main tasks: defining the firm's purpose or in other words to frame its strategic intentions, identifying the objectives that must be met in order to pursue this purpose, and identifying the deadlines by which they will be met.
Abstract: The process of setting direction for a firm involves three main tasks [1]. The first is to define the firm's purpose or in other words to frame its strategic intentions. The framing of intentions has much to do with choosing the firm's business and its competitive position within it. The essence of this task is captured by the question, 'what business should we be in?' an exacting question, whose importance has been stressed time and again [2] and which continues to demand considerable thought. It is however useful to distinguish between strategic intentions, which relate to what the firm intends to become, and its ambitions, which are about what it would like to become. Ambitions may be in terms of grand desires about market dominance or pious hopes about leadership. Ambitions become intentions only when they are framed purposefully often after carefully appraising the firm's capabilities and its external environment and then actively pursued. The second is to identify the objectives that must be met in order to pursue this purpose. It is not enough simply to pinpoint the firm's intentions without specifying how progress towards them will be measured. The firm can specify its objectives in a number of different ways: for example, in terms of financial targets to be achieved, market share to be captured, or the manner in which society will be served. Various combinations of different objectives are, of course, quite possible. A clearly defined set of objectives is essential, however, for without such milestones it can be difficult to gauge whether progress has been made or even to be sure that the firm is moving in the right direction. Further, managers tend to pay greater attention to something that will be measured. Setting appropriate objectives and the deadlines by which they will be met can be helpful, therefore, in ensuring that the firm's strategic intentions, once determined, are in fact pursued.
9 citations
8 citations
7 citations
6 citations
6 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a review of some of the earlier models of the leadership process and their limitations is given to models which incorporate situational elements which can affect the strategy of an enterprise, and to transforming leadership which by changing attitudes, norms and institutions, can have a major impact upon strategy.
Abstract: It looks at last as if the study of leadership is moving forward into a more productive phase which will benefit those operating at all levels of management and direction. This seems to have happened because ideas have been brought together from a variety of disciplines political science, psychology, social anthropology and management, for example and reconciled to give a richer but more complex picture of the leadership process which can be applied at the strategic levels of an enterprise. This development has been paralleled by a growing interest in the personality and motivation of executives which has produced new and better means of identifying those with potential for leadership at the strategic level. Accordingly, this paper reviews some of the ideas and approaches which have contributed to this deeper understanding. Following a brief examination of some of the earlier models of the leadership process and their limitations, attention is then given to models which incorporate situational elements which can affect the strategy of an enterprise, and to transforming leadership, which by changing attitudes, norms and institutions, can have a major impact upon strategy. As a basis for a comprehensive model of leadership at the strategic level, we have taken YukI's model of leadership effectiveness and adapted it to accommodate transformational leadership behaviour. This revised model is then linked to conceptual frameworks and methods for identifying and selecting strategic-level leaders, and for matching leaders to strategic requirements. The paper concludes with a practical example of strategic leadership in action as a test for the applicability of the model and as a source of further ideas about values, enterprise culture, and leadership development.
TL;DR: The authors examined the British manufacturing subsidiaries of German and Japanese firms, asking how their productivity compares with that in their parent's factories, and what factors seem to explain any differences in productivity which may exist between subsidiaries and parents.
Abstract: If German and Japanese companies can achieve the same performance in their British factories as they do in their German and Japanese factories, the attitudes of British workers cannot be blamed for the large differences which exist between the productivity in British, German and Japanese industries. This study has therefore examined the British manufacturing subsidiaries of German and Japanese firms, asking how their productivity compares with that in their parent's factories, and what factors seem to explain any differences in productivity which may exist between subsidiaries and parents, and between subsidiaries and British-owned firms.
TL;DR: In certain occupations there are national skill shortages as discussed by the authors, and if these could be predicted in advance it would be possible to offset the shortage by boosting and encouraging people to train in those careers but this is not the case, therefore the country therefore has to wait for a greater number of students to be trained with a corresponding time lag of possibly three or more years.
Abstract: In certain occupations there are national skill shortages. If these could be predicted in advance it would be possible to offset the shortage by boosting and encouraging people to train in those careers but this is not the case. The country therefore has to wait for a greater number of students to be trained with a corresponding time lag of possibly three or more years. University shortfalls may be the initial stage in a skill shortage. Then in the professions, if too few people are in the pipeline there may ultimately be a skill shortage, depending on the actual demand. Examples are legion computer personnel, mathematics teachers and electronic engineers in particular.
TL;DR: In this paper, a more realistic and illuminating model of the social and political environment of business has many difficult hurdles to overcome, and it should allow for the fact that with some of the external interests firms may have specific links whereas with others, particularly those less organized, the influences are indirect.
Abstract: Behind every discussion of business policies towards public issues there lurks some (usually implicit) concept of the social and political environment; an intellectual perspective, a conceptual picture, in other words, a model. This is certainly true of one conventional view which sees the firm's external relationships as essentially summed up by the two words 'markets' and 'competition', with all else subsumed or dwarfed by them. It applies equally to the not unrelated assumption that a business's social and political relationships are adequately captured by such driver-traffic signal analogies as 'obey the law' or 'play by the (ethical) rules'. These simplified (and simplistic) models are what is suggested, in essence, by influential economic and political theories whose hold on much managerial and wider thinking is far from dead. Their grave inadequacy to the complex, interdependent world we live in has been a repeated contention in the present series of articles. Admittedly, a more realistic and illuminating model of the social and political environment of business has many difficult hurdles to overcome. Management writers like Andrews, Ansoff and Mintzberg, and in the UK MacMillan, Thomas and others, have indicated many of the institutional and other complexities which need to be covered [1]. A model should allow for the fact that with some of the external interests firms may have specific links whereas with others, particularly those less organised, the influences are indirect. It should recognise, too, that the impacts between
TL;DR: The UK Government, through the auspices of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), embarked on a nationwide pilot scheme to promote the use of office automation as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Talking to managers about 'office automation' (OA) brings a wide range of reactions. When the hype of the early nineteen-eighties was not easily translated into the 'paperless office', many developed a cynicism which they still retain. On the other hand, numerous managers have seen such a widespread acceptance of technology that they can no longer envisage working without it. A recent report [1] serves to remind us of the early excitement, and of how quickly things can change. The report provides an evaluation of an ambitious initiative. In 1982 the UK Government, through the auspices of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), embarked on a nation-wide pilot scheme to promote the use of office automation. Its main purpose was to: (i) broaden the base of user experiences with OA, and (ii) disseminate the experiences throughout the UK. Funding (up to £250,000 per pilot) was made available for organizations to experiment with OA through selected pilot sites. OA vendors, consultants and interested public sector organizations were married together in the hope that these pilots would provide rich experience for both OA suppliers and potential users. The report four years later makes for some sobering reading. Few of the 20 pilots could be considered unqualified successes; in fact, a good number turned out to be classic examples of how not to go about introducing office automation. From an educational point of view, the DTI initiative has proved beneficial. It is unusual to have such an extensively measured experience base in the public domain. However, while the schemes were pioneering at