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Managing Large Systems examines a wide range of human, organizational, and managerial challenges associated with large systems. Special attention is given to the behavioral relationships among scientists and engineers, business and technical managers, sponsor organizations and their contractors, business and government offi cials, and line and functional managers.
The goal: To be a leader who has an agenda, knows the system inside out, is comfortable with fluidity, and recognizes that the parts do not always fit into an integrated whole. Schooled to oversee fixed, almost unvarying routines, managers today are unprepared to manage the conflicts in modern work flow relationships. Sayles shows with vivid case studies how middle managers with an in-depth understanding of the organization can resolve the inherent contradictions and ambiguities among design, sales, and manufacturing.
Abstract: A behavioral view of leadership is presented. Managers are usually viewed as either commonsense, practical individuals or as guardians of human satisfaction at work. Individuals take for granted the action and dynamism needed to perform first-rate managerial work. Understanding of behavioral skills assists practicing managers to comprehend organizational pressures, allocate energies among competing demands, and relate organizational work flow requirements to both management controls and personality differences. Specific topics included are based on formal and informal studies and cover: 1) The expectation and reality of the managerial world; 2) an overview of managerial work; 3) authority; 4) commitment and motivation; 5) lateral relations; 6) organizational power gains, struggles and status ; 7) work within the hierarchy; 8) types, use and design of controls; 9) facilitating organizational change; 10) project management skills; 11) managerial personalities.
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The authors bring their unique insights to a close-range observation of Andersen's culture that has continued for more than 15 years. They first review Andersen's unique history and role; its traditionally careful attention to "enculturing" new employees via mentoring, social networking, rewards and punishments; and its social structure characterized by personal, "familial" relationships. Next, they narrate two decades of change at Andersen, showing how the firm's tightly integrated cultural system gradually began to devolve, rapidly coming apart in the wake of the 1990s new economy revolution. The book concludes with an insightful discussion of the systemic cultural and business factors that placed Andersen and many other organizations at risk, along with a realistic assessment of the proposed reforms.
Social and political conflict in postwar Japan is the subject of this volume, which draws together a series of field-based studies by North American and Japanese sociologists, anthropologists, and political scientists. It focuses attention on the sources of conflict and the ways in which conflict is expressed and managed. This book challenges the widely held theories stressing the harmony and vertical structure of social relations in Japan, which imply that conflict is only of minimal importance. Not only does the research presented here force recognition of the existence and complexity of conflict patterns in Japan, its approach to conflict provides a dynamic, empirical, and interdisciplina...