Search results

In the continuing endeavour to work towards ever better management, the engineering manager has a crucial role to play. The history of the engineer is reviewed and his/her possible present role in management is considered. Management objectives are outlined and defined and the specific role of the engineer emphasised. The best managers are leaders, in particular effective leaders of teams, and this is a management task well within the grasp of the engineer. The engineer′s specific training and initial experience give him/her special qualifications in this area. Indeed, there seems to be no reason why the engineer should not climb the management ladder right to the top, especially these days when technology is continually growing in importance. The demands made on the effective chief executive are outlined. It would seem that engineering management has come of age and that with the appropriate management training the engineer should be well capable of filling a senior management role.

This chapter addresses the stage at which entrepreneurs figure out that they have reached their level of incompetence (Peter & Hull, 1969) and how they might overcome it. Recommendations are made to aid entrepreneurs realize when this key moment has arrived, as well as to lay out an action plan to help them either become a professional Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or move aside and let a professional CEO run their company. Based on a state of the art review, this chapter identifies the most valued personality traits and skills, as well as leadership styles, for both entrepreneurs and professional CEOs. Those attributes are summarized as ideal job descriptions to help CEOs detect gaps between their current personality profile and the one that best meets company needs at each stage of the business’ lifecycle.

An individual's advancement in a meritocratic hierarchy may depend on his or her willingness to ingratiate themselves with others.

In the history of business management thought, six idea families have predominated during the last eighty or so years — bureaucracy (Max Weber), scientific management (Frederick Winslow Taylor), classical management (Henri Fayol), human relations (Elton Mayo), neo‐human relations (Abraham Maslow). To these one can add the more recent contributions of different writers under the heading of guru theory. The first five idea families are well known, but the sixth requires explanation. Gury theory achieved prominence during the 1980s. While not yet featuring extensively in management textbooks it has received widespread attention in the financial and business press (Lorenz, 1986; Dixon, 1986; Clutterbuck and Crainer, 1988; Pierce and Newstrom, 1988; Heller, 1990). Guru theory consists of the diverse and unrelated writings of well‐known company chief executives such as Lee lacocca (Chrysler), Harold Geneen (ITT), John Harvey‐Jones (ICI) and John Sculley (Apple Computer); of management consultants like Tom Peters and Philip Crosby; and of business school academics like Michael Porter, Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Henry Mintzberg. Since their contributions are so heterogeneous, and as the writings draw so much of their authority from the individual authors themselves, the adopted label is felt to be appropriate.

Problems of competence grow out of institutional culture and from the way these institutions shape the profession and its members. Toward that end, this chapter is organized around three general considerations. First, we discuss some general issues about leader quality. Second, the present shape of the leadership corps in higher education will be discussed. Finally, we introduce several 21st century leadership core competencies (Brooks & Normore, 2009) for consideration to hiring personnel so they do not repeatedly select and promote unqualified leaders who stifle creativity and encourage conformity.

The colors of change is an overview of change paradigms, created about two decades ago, that has been intensively used, tested, refined, shared, and elaborated by practitioners and academics alike. Here, the “color theory” is presented as it is now, and is situated within the literature. Its four main applications are described as well as rules of thumb that have been derived from reflective practice. This chapter illustrates that the color theory is clearly not one thing to all people, as it is understood in very different ways, both in terms of its theoretical foundations as well as the complexity of its applications. This probably adds to the versatility of the theory. Bringing together key insights about the color theory for academics and practitioners, this chapter strives both to give a concise overview and to explore its richness.

Reports that for companies to succeed in today’s marketplace, they must provide an increasingly sophisticated customer base with increasing levels of quality and service. Suggests that in order to do this, companies must install better equipment as well as creatively using people management and motivations skills. Considers changes which have occurred in the marketplace and highlights these changes by describing the failure of the US motor industry after the post‐Second World War boom, when the sale of luxury cars fell in 1970 under the pressure of the oil crisis. Observes forces at work contributing to the demise of large organizations. Concludes that successful companies need to break old‐established rules to success and build new development strategies.

How society, its institutions and organizations relate to place and space is largely defined by advances in information, and communications and transportation technology. Advances in information technology transform society’s relationships to and involvement in economic and social activity, and therefore the real estate processes, systems, procedures and relationships that characterize the real estate that support society’s space‐using economic and social activity. Information technology advances simultaneously introduce complexity and simplicity to the real estate sector. Now, we are seeing a convergence of functions, as a particular space assumes multiple purposes, similar to the earliest phases of economic history. The resources and purposes of activities that occur in traditional work environments will increasingly reflect those that have been thought of as occurring in residential environments, and homes will have all the resources and electronic capabilities of places of business and merchandising. Ultimately, the implications of information technology for the real estate discipline challenge all involved to craft strategies reflecting an understanding of the direction and pace of society’s transforming relationship to place and space.

The training experience for many “trainees” is a very novel and sometimes frightening experience. Many trainees arrive on courses with feelings of anxiety related to past frustrations and resentment over being sent on the course. The article lists requirements for effective training in this context, and describes appropriate trainer behaviour. Examples of questions and responses, and the uses of ice‐breaker exercises are also illustrated.

The purpose of this paper is explore the role that the implicit leadership theories held by followers and supervisors play in the performance appraisals of specific leaders, as well as in the promotion recommendations to higher levels of management that these leaders receive. In particular, the focus of this paper is on the degree of match between the general images held by supervisors and followers of how leaders are/should be (i.e. implicit leadership theories), and the concrete perceptions that these supervisors and followers have of the actual leaders in question.

Several propositions are established taking into account the moderating role of implicit leadership theories in the relationship between performance, on the one hand, and performance evaluation and promotion recommendations, on the other hand. These propositions are based on evidence of discrimination against women and ethnic minority groups when it comes to evaluations and promotion recommendations. Recommendations for organisational practice are derived from the issues discussed.

When there is a poor match between a supervisor's implicit leadership theories and his or her perception of a subordinate leader, this leader's performance appraisal and promotion chances are believed to decrease. In a similar manner, the implicit leadership theories of followers may influence their appraisal of a leader's performance.

This is the first time that implicit leadership theories are connected to leaders’ careers. This connection is made both in the context of equal opportunities for leaders and in the context of optimising decisions in organisations. The implicit leadership theories of both followers and supervisors need to be taken into account when evaluating and promoting leaders.