The difficulty of getting busy executives to focus their attention during management and executive development programmes is discussed. The experience of programmes conducted at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) from 1986 to 1988 is built on. A set of behaviours and attitudes is identified...

It is demonstrated how businesses can use executive development to gain competitors′ advantage. Specific choices and practices used by executives to help make this happen are identified.

Research suggests that learning at work involves needless psychological distress among managers. It is proposed that management educators make it a priority to equip managers to adopt better learning practices. A picture of learning practices at work that promise to be “emotionally better”...

Thinking and acting strategically have been identified as essential skills for managing organisations in the twenty‐first century. The rapid rate of technological change, the increasingly complex nature of organisations, and the greater number of environmental uncertainties are some of the...

Africa′s economic decline over the period since most countries became independent is discussed, and suggestions are offered to make the African management institutions more client‐oriented, such as offering more accessible courses to potential trainees. Existing institutions and their...

The advantages of using assessment centre methods for employee appraisal at various organisational levels are described, with a detailed explanation of the background to the method. Centres still need further development, and some pointers are given to help in this direction.

Despite the growing concerns about the impact of graduate management education, few studies have documented their effect on a student′s managerial abilities. An outcome assessment study was conducted on entering and graduating students in an MBA programme. A value‐added, crosssectional...

The position of women in the 1970s, when a Royal Commission investigated women′s status, is compared with that of women in the 1980s. The two major factors considered when explanations were offered for the small number of women in management positions, i.e. people and structures, are examined....

The interaction of work and household responsibilities in dual‐career families is described. If married, the woman manager almost always faces the traditional demands placed on women by husband and family. The notion of “role overload” is developed but it is stressed that this need not...

Although getting along with people is just as important to being a good manager as being able to get the job done, according to the current stereotype the ideal manager is task‐oriented rather than person‐oriented. Here the importance of feminine qualities and interpersonal skills for...