Past masters

摘要

Ann Francke is absolutely right. Many managements are in need of an overhaul (Autumn, page 5). The starting point should be to remind ourselves of the studies that took place in the 1950s and 1960s, and how the importance of motivation came to the fore. I recall, in the days of the British Institute of Management, that our meetings revolved around the work of Maslow, Likert, Agryris, McGregor and Herzberg. Glacier, with Wilfred Brown and Elliott Jaques, should not be overlooked. The compulsory readings should include Parkinson's Law, Up the Organisation by Robert Townsend and The Peter Principle by Laurence Peter and Raymond Hull. The finale should be Whatever Happened at Fairfields? by Sydney Paulden and Bill Hawkins, which is an account of how a failing shipyard was turned round by abolishing snobby status and introducing consultation and participation in the workforce.