search query: @indexterm FUTURE / total: 937
reference: 88 / 937
Author: | Sales, M. |
Title: | Futures Thinking by Middle Managers: A Neglected Necessity |
Journal: | Systems Research and Behavioral Science
2002 : JUL-AUG, VOL. 19:4, p. 367-376 |
Index terms: | LEADERSHIP MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ANALYSIS FUTURE |
Language: | eng |
Abstract: | Systemic forces result in chronic underutilization of the knowledge and insight of middle management. This hypothesis is explored through a case study, which recounts both the efforts of a group of technical managers to affect R&D policy and staffing in their company and the negative reaction of their superiors to this initiative. The management group used various 'futures thinking' technologies as a backdrop to their proposals and these are described. The case data are then interpreted through the lens of Barry Oshry's organizational theory, with a particular focus on the difficulties of acting in a concerted fashion from the 'middle' of an organization. Some of Oshry's antidotes to the organizational pathologies impacting middle managers are discussed. |
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