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Presents an interview with J. Richard Hackman, Cahners‐Rabb Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology, Harvard University. Covers areas of the selection of leaders in companies and the way that personal attitudes and behaviour patterns of team members complicate the chances of a team's success. Also discusses the definintion of a self‐managed performing unit, and whether the design and support of a successful self‐managed team typically take into account the individual skills and characters of team members. Concludes with a discussion of how productivity gains from self‐managed teams can be assessed.

Increased worker autonomy and participation are being proclaimed as the foundation for economic competitiveness in the 1990s (Reich, 1991). Management has been generally favorable towards such strategies and surveys of workers also indicate widespread support (Hackman, 1990). However, trade unionists fear that these new organizations of work are, at least in part, being sponsored by management in an attempt to undermine unions and manipulate workers (Grenier, 1988; Parker, 1985). More cautious forms of this argument propose that participation schemes are initiated to extract from workers the important “working knowledge” (Kusterer, 1978) and “tricks of the trade” (Thomas, 1991; Hodson, 1991) that are often workers' resource in bargaining with management over wages and conditions. Participation schemes may also lead to the unraveling of “informal agreements” between workers and front line supervisors concerning work effort and work procedures that both labor and management would prefer to keep hidden (Thomas, 1991:8).

The author has observed that a common social background assists members of military organizations to develop as a cohesive unit. Similarities in previous social experiences such as social class, regional origin and age appears to contribute toward solidification of the primary group. This paper briefly examines the factors which contribute to the development of socialization and cohesion in an organization. One vehicle to assist the reader in understanding the cohesion concept is the discussion of the German Wehrmacht model and its impact on the issue.

Few studies have definitively established a clear connection between teaming and higher performance, and even fewer have quantitatively assessed the impact of teaming on corporate performance. If using work teams is not a guarantee of greater effectiveness, then the challenge becomes one of creating an environment that increases the likelihood that teams will be successful. This article presents a work team planning guide that identifies the critical issues and topics that organizations should consider when planning to use work teams effectively. Primary research, training and development experience, and an integration of team‐based literature all contribute to the ideas presented here.

Organizational buying decisions are characterized by conflict which can be studied through the use of coalition theory. It appears, however, that conceptual and methodological problems with coalition theory based on game theory and social psychology have limited its usefulness in helping us understand how such conflict can be managed. This paper proposes the group influence approach to conflict management in organizational buying. The main contribution of this approach is that by treating individuals as representatives of coalitions, sellers and buyers can focus on coalition leaders rather than focus on individuals who, in any case, have to conform to group expectations. Theoretically, the group influence approach recognizes that power and politics are basic forces that affect most spheres of organizational activity. Within such a framework purchase decisions are shown to be politically negotiated settlements between those coalitions involved in making the buying decision.

This is a case study of an industrial relations situation which had been characterized by strife and where the conflict was substantially reduced through a process which was initiated by the management. As such it provides a case example of the processes involved in the reduction of conflict in industry. The paper first outlines a model of the conflict resolution process and then presents and analyses the concrete events in these terms.

This paper examines the potential relationship between the history of American generations and the development of American management thought. The paper reviews the recently developed generational theory of American history, along with the generational concept itself. Then, the leading thinkers in the history of the management discipline are classified according to their generational membership. The potential theoretical and research implications of the interplay of managerial and historical generations are then discussed.

This issue's Stack attacks the question of how leaders can move from what they want to achieve to actually achieving it through themselves, teams, peers, and their organizations. The most successful are Execution, First Among Equals, and The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell. All three can manage to satisfy strategy's old hands and newcomers alike.