A new approach to understanding managerial careers is described in which the organisation is seen as a kind of climbing frame or “jungle gym” over which managers scramble to make their careers. Different kinds of organisations have differently shaped frames depending on their structures and...

Chief executive officers of organisations are the major managers of corporate culture. CEOs must be able to influence culture through such explicit means as policy statements and slogans as well as through more subtle, implicit means such as rites, ceremonies, and symbols. A cultural network...

Argues that covert activity determines the durability of the manager. Applying systems theory, dissects both organizations and managers to determine what makes them effective over time. Paralleling knowledge of organizational success with managerial success, uncovers similarities which have...

Outlines three metaphors which can be used to help understand the strategy process. These are “the jigsaw puzzle”, “the ice skater” and “the jazz band”. The suggestion is that the first two suffer from a number of limitations which the third attempts to address. The “jazz band”...

Reviews and discusses some major issues and controversies of the early 1990s. Focuses on issues pertaining to organizational restructuring and design in the face of emerging contemporary forces and examines corporate responses to those forces. Examines, in particular, the problem of choice of...

Analyses the Saudi Arabian culture in terms of Hofstede′s four dimensions: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, and masculinity. Bases the analysis on a survey of Saudi Arabian MBA students and their co‐workers. Saudi Arabia is a “typical” Moslem country, except for the...

Ideal organizational structures are subjectively based on specific sets of organizational and external factors. Begins with a review of structural alternatives and identifies the need for a contingency‐based approach. Changes in corporate structure may be needed as a result of internal...

Leadership literature in the past decade has drawn a sharp distinction between three types of leadership: transactional, charismatic and transformational. The leadership literature has dealt extensively with the sources and aspects of these leadership patterns, particularly in the context of...

In management texts, management and control of operations is handled through the establishment of models and budgets of various kinds. Takes a broader view of operations. Follows this by consideration of modes of control for networks. Then considers financial control and clan control issues in...

Reviews the ideas of Robert Fritz and discusses their implication for the practice of organizational change. The importance of “structure” is emphasized, which can give rise to two types of behaviour within the organization; “oscillation” and “resolving”. Oscillation is brought about...