The Work of Management

Ian Macdonald is Founder and Director of Macdonald Associates, an international organisational consultancy. He is a Director of BIOSS International Ltd. He is also an honorary fellow at Brunel University and teaches at Surrey Business School and works with NHS Wales and the Welsh government. Catherine Burke was Associate Professor of Public Administration, University of Southern California. Her research focuses on organisation and systems design, management theory and leadership. She has been a consultant to Southern California Edison, the cities of Los Angeles and Pasadena, the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, businesses and non-profit organisations. Her publications include Innovation and Public Policy and articles in various academic journals. She was a Director at Commonwealth Aluminum. Karl Stewart trained as a mining engineer but spent most of his working life in leadership positions. He spent four years as an internal managerial consultant developing the theory and good practices to strengthen the leadership of people in organisations and the systems which underpin them. He demonstrated the effectiveness of these ideas implementing them as Managing Director of Comalco Smelting.

Part I: The Basics – Purpose and Work 1. The Importance of Purpose 2. Work and the Domains of Work 3. The Importance of Task Clarity 4. Human Capability Part II: Organisation Structures and Roles 5. Levels of Work Complexity 6. Organisation Structure 7. Authority, Power and Vertical Relationships 8. Improving Role Relationships Part III: The Work of Leadership 9. The Work of Leadership: Values, Mythologies and Culture 10. The Work of Leadership: Creating a Culture 11. Systems: Descriptions and Design 12. Safety: Systems, Behaviour and Symbols 13. Social Process at a Distance Part IV: Essential People Systems 14. Role Descriptions and Selection 15. Performance Management: Output Measures vs. Work Performance of Individuals 16. Performance Management: Overcoming the ‘Muddle’ 17. Task Assignment, Feedback and Review 18. Performance Planning and Review 19. Performance Evaluation 20. Salary Administration 21. Careers and Staff Development 22. Discipline and Fair Treatment Conclusion: The Benefit of Foresight