Management and Leadership

Tamkin P | Opinion Paper OP9 | Institute for Employment Studies | Nov 2007

UK managers have been accused of being under-skilled and underperforming, paralysing organisations through their incompetence.

This gloomy picture is, however, most likely a gross simplification of the challenge facing managers, and their less than sparkling performance may lie with their organisation or the wider environment.

This opinion paper argues that if there is a problem with managers, it might be sensible for organisations to look long and hard at themselves first.

To paraphrase John F Kennedy, it really is about time we stopped asking what managers can do for their organisations and ask instead what their organisations can do for them.