British management and British history: Assessing the responsibility of individuals for economic difficulties
Titel:
British management and British history: Assessing the responsibility of individuals for economic difficulties
Auteur:
Glover, Ian
Verschenen in:
Contemporary British history
Paginering:
Jaargang 13 (1999) nr. 3 pagina's 121-147
Jaar:
1999
Inhoud:
This article is concerned with the character of managers and management in the UK in the last half century. It describes and offers an explanation for the weaknesses especially apparent in the 1970s, when public concern with manufacturing and general economic performance was at its height. The explanation draws on economics, history, sociology and international comparisons of management. It goes on to discuss historical arguments and evidence in some detail, and in making all of the relevant comparisons, it draws on, and to an extent adopts, the highly critical and policy-oriented stance used in the 1970s by me and my colleagues. A more experienced and detached standpoint is adopted in the last two main sections. In the first of them a 'consolidated view' of UK history is offered, one in which long-term success and shorter run difficulties are compared and contrasted, partly with the help of some recent research which I and a colleague conducted. In the latter the nature and the effects of the sea change in higher education of the last 35 years, and in the educational, professional and occupational character of UK management, are considered and portrayed, with reservations, as favourable. In the conclusion, the need to distinguish between the roles of management in general and those of managers in particular in economic performance is emphasised. So, also, is the immanent, unpredictable and at times kaleidoscopic character of the influences on performance.
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