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Introduction All managers and supervisors are dependent on the performance of their team members. Unless these subordinates perform effectively, then the manager or supervisor will be seen in most cases to have failed. As Brown has noted, “the supervisor generally is more dependent on the work group than on the individual employee, because the work group's performance provides a measure of his or her supervisory capabilities”. We have recently been looking at the work of managers and supervisors in relation to the groups that they lead, to try to identify those factors which contribute to the success of a team. We have been able to identify a number of factors which define what we call High Performing Teams (HPTs). One of these factors is the linking factor — that is, all teams need a manager or supervisor who acts as a critical “link person” in getting things done.

The successful management of work teams is a key factor in the effectiveness of any organisation. We have found that managers have different approaches to making their team successful. However, they agree that the end purpose must be to achieve a winning combination in which the individuals work together to achieve the task objectives. The role of the manager in this process is central. Often we can find many highly talented individuals, but they need a skilled manager to bring them together as a team.

Why do some teams work effectively and others not? The authors, in examining the attributes of High Performing Teams, show that there are three major areas which team leaders need to concentrate upon. These are example, experience and expertise. There are certain work functions that are critical to success and there is a need for every work team to have a member who can co‐ordinate and integrate these functions. This person performs the “linking” role.

The Team Management Index, a 60‐item self‐completion questionnaire, generates a 3,000‐word profile (after the answers have been fed into a computer program) which outlines the individual's work preferences in the areas of decision making, team building, leadership, information management, organisation and personal relationships. The Team Management Profiles have been used successfully in a variety of management development exercises, one‐to‐one counselling, team development workshops, and self‐evaluation.

Outlines the eight main types of work on offer in any organization and presents a “teamwork wheel” which incorporates these eight categories and the skill of “liking” which is common to all types of work. Gives the results of a questionnaire which aimed to indicate the work preferences of males and females largely based in the UK, USA and Australia. Finds that there is little difference in the work preferences of men and women but concludes that it is essential for each individual to understand his/her own work preferences and to understand ways to work effectively with others.

The librarian and researcher have to be able to uncover specific articles in their areas of interest. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume IV, like Volume III, contains features to help the reader to retrieve relevant literature from MCB University Press' considerable output. Each entry within has been indexed according to author(s) and the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus. The latter thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid retrieval. Each article or book is assigned its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. This Volume indexes 29 journals indicating the depth, coverage and expansion of MCB's portfolio.

Through a survey of 200 employees working in five of the thirty establishments analysed in previous research about the microeconomic effects of reducing the working time (Cahier 25), the consequences on employees of such a reduction can be assessed; and relevant attitudes and aspirations better known.

Managers as Actors Those of us who manage are playing on an organisational stage every day. We enter early every morning to take up our roles, whether it is as chief executive, marketing manager, personnel adviser, production executive or any of the numerous other roles that have to be performed if work is to be done effectively.

Management development is seen in many organisations as an added luxury. In this article, management development is discussed as a long‐term process which requires a tough business‐like approach. Drawing on observations made over a number of years of working with various organisations, “ten commandments” for effective management development are suggested.