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Redundancy, delayering, downsizing and various other forms of organisational change, often accompanied by the managerial fad of the moment, have become increasingly prevalent over the last ten years. This paper is based on the results of a four‐year University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST)‐Chartered Management Institute (CMI) research programme (the Quality of Working Life Project) that was designed to explore the changing nature of managerial work in the UK and also to assess the impact of different forms of organisational change on managers’ perceptions of the organisations they work within. The analysis reported here indicates clearly that some forms of change (notably redundancy and delayering) have had particularly damaging effects on managers’ experiences in the workplace and ultimately on their behaviours within and beyond their organisations. The objectives of this paper are, first, to paint a picture of recent organisational change in the UK based on the responses of members of the CMI, second, to explore how change has affected managers’ perceptions of their organisations and their working lives and, third, to explore if different forms of change (particularly redundancy and delayering) have had a differential impact on managers’ perceptions of their organisations “as a place to work”.

Redundancy, delayering and other forms of organizational change have become increasingly prevalent over the last ten years. This paper is based on a five year UMIST‐Institute of Management research programme which has been used to explore the impact of redundancy on UK managers’ sense of loyalty, motivation, morale and loyalty to the organization. The paper reveals that redundancy is a particularly damaging form of organizational change even on the survivors of redundancy. The research reveals that where redundancy has been used as a means of change surviving managers’ perceptions of their organizations are significantly more adversely affected than where change is enacted without the use of delayering or redundancy. The research raises significant questions about how change is managed in organizations.

The paper is based on a five year, UMIST‐Institute of Management study into the changing nature of the quality of working life and seeks to uncover differences in the incidence and impact of organizational change on the perceptions and experiences of managers in the public sector, the private sector and the (former public) utilities. The research indicates that there are significant differences in the impact of organizational change on managers in the three sectors with public sector managers and managers from the utilities having been more adversely affected. An analysis of managers’ perceptions of their “organization as a place to work”, prevailing managerial styles in their organization and managers’ perceptions of the “changing nature of their job” also reveals wide differences between managers in the three different sectors.

Explains the process of strategic management based on the existing literature and fits these concepts within the domain of local government. Develops a tentative model of the development of a strategic process for local government and reviews aspects of current practice. The desire to be more strategic increases as resources get tighter and politicians insist that priorities are met.

Reports on the UMIST‐Institute of Management five‐year study into the changing experiences of UK managers and the impact of organizational change. Examines the patterns of actual working hours generally and by managerial level before going on to explore the reasons managers give to explain their work patterns (over contract hours, evening and weekend working). Contains an assessment of how managers trade‐off work and non‐work activity and the impact of long working hours on managers’ health, morale, productivity, social life and relationships with their partners and children. The analysis reveals a strong relationship between actual hours worked and an increasingly negative impact on all the factors tested.

The purpose of this paper is to explore control and resistance in the UK further education (FE) sector by examining senior college managers’ attempts to engineer culture change and analysing lecturers’ resistance to such measures.

Data were derived from interviews with managers and lecturers in two English FE colleges and the analysis of college documents. Interview data were analysed thematically using NVIVO software.

It was found that college managers sought to build consent to change among lecturers based on values derived from “business‐like” views. Culture change initiatives were framed within the language of empowerment but lecturers’ experiences of change led them to feel disempowered and cynical as managers imposed their view of what lecturers should be doing and how they should behave. This attempt to gain control of the lecturers’ labour process invoked the “Stepford” lecturer metaphor used in the paper. Paradoxically, as managers sought to create lecturers who were less resistant to change, individualised resistance intensified as managers’ attempts to win hearts and minds conspicuously failed.

The paper draws on data from two case study colleges and this limits the generalisability of its findings.

The paper provides a critical perspective on the received wisdom of investing in stylised change programmes that promise to win staff over to change but which may alienate those they purport to empower and ultimately lead to degenerative workplace relations.

The paper offers new insights into culture change from the juxtaposed, polarised views of senior managers and lecturers, while highlighting the negative consequences of imposing change initiatives from above.

In recent years managerial work has changed considerably, largely because the organisational, economic and technological context in which it is conducted has changed beyond recognition. Organisations have been delayered; new work organisation concepts have been developed; organisations have been subjected to a host of managerial fads; the scale of IT‐enabled home‐based working has increased; the variety of communication channels that managers have had to cope with has increased; and globalisation has created a more competitive environment where businesses have had to become leaner, more flexible and adaptable. The consequences of this are that the skills and “capabilities” that managers need to be effective have change radically. The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of these changes and to assess the implications of management development and education programmes.

Focuses on exploring the extent and patterns of innovation in the West Midlands region, based primarily on data generated by the Price Waterhouse West Midlands Business Survey, a bi‐annual survey of around 1,000 businesses. Explores regional development and innovation within a framework developed by Camagni, which focuses on agglomeration economies and the creation of an innovative milieu within a regional economy. Suggests two methods to encourage innovation within the UK’s West Midlands region through support to associated expenditures (training and exporting). In the context of a rising currency the research suggests that innovating firms have a strategy to overcome adverse currency movements.

The purpose of the paper is to discuss how the so‐called “modernisation” agenda has triggered changes in the structure and management of the UK public sector. The concern of the paper is with how such changes have impacted on the labour process of lecturers in the English further education sector.

A Bravermanian approach is adopted to examine aspects of change in the FE lecturer labour process. Empirical evidence is derived from three FE colleges and draws on data from semi‐structured interviews, a survey of lecturers and documentary evidence.

Power relations have been radically reinvented in these colleges, with senior managers now able to redefine the parameters of lecturers' contractual obligations. These colleges were characterised by standardisation, routinisation and rules driven by senior managers who saw themselves as “change agents” and “modernisers”. Lecturers, on the other hand, felt that they had less power, job autonomy and task discretion. The labour process provides a valid explanatory framework for linking these observed changes in workplace relations to broader matters of political economy.

The research provides detailed insights into changes in FE lecturers' working experiences. However, the reliance on three colleges may place some limitations on the generalisability of these findings.

FE lecturers are central to delivering on ministerial priorities around skills for work. The paper reveals that lecturers feel under‐valued, over‐worked and over‐managed. This raises questions as to the sustainability of current approaches to the management of FE lecturer labour.

The FE sector continues to be under‐researched and the paper therefore provides a valuable contribution.