Staff specialists are increasingly concerned about their credibility with executive groups. Events and trends of the past few years have meant more pressures on the staff man. This is partly a consequence of better technical training for line managers. While there has always been plenty of...

In an earlier paper in this Journal the present writer outlined some of the interpersonal factors likely to affect staff specialists' credibility with their clients. These included the specialist's diagnostic ability, his skill in forming multiplex relationships with his clients, the ease with...

This paper discusses the neglected theme of the political context of the interventionist's work in terms of the client-consultant relationship and the consultant-consultant relationship. It is suggested that the internal consultant's ability to influence clients will be a function of his...

Reports on an empirical study of the decision to purchase computers in a single firm. States it is a competitive bidding situation with several suppliers attempting to win a contract that eventually reached £3.5 million pounds. Illustrates how the politics of the firm can influence significant...

The article presents a discussion on strategic business planning as a political process. The formation of strategy in organizations is a continuous process. Specific dilemmas within the firm, or in the firm's environment, may raise the organization members' consciousness of strategy and allow...

The article presents an overview of the longitudinal-processual theory of organizational formation. The ideological underpinnings of the method are described, highlighting its central focus on the factors and elements of an organization's creation and formation rather than its existent...

Educational administrators facing change are offered some observations of business management, including an analysis of characteristic responses to change from rich to poor environments, a catalog of managerial styles likely to be discouraged or rewarded in present economic conditions, and...

The anatomy of strategic change in companies in Europe has been little investigated. Recently the British Economic and Social Research Council sponsored an audit of management based on interviews with over 1000 middle and senior executives and directors in 190 companies. The survey examined the...

In the United States in the last few years there has developed a notion of “strategic human resource management” (HRM). As with other high-sounding phrases in the management of people, first reactions are likely to divide between “let's have some of it” to “it won't work here”, with...