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Cross-level analysis is a problem for mainstream approaches to organizational behavior, but not for psychoanalytic theory. The reason is that psychoanalytic theory is not so much about behavior as about the meaning of behavior, which is relatively invariant across levels. The Jayson Blair scandal at the New York Times is analyzed at the individual, the group, the intrapsychic, the interpersonal, and the organizational levels. Blair’s behavior and the behavior of the Times toward him are explained in terms of a clash between two ways in which meaning is made: the Oedipal and the anti-oedipal.

The discussion of professional productivity has foundered on the problem of measurement. But we believe that professional productivity is only one dimension of a wider problem and process — how and through what mechanisms professionals will become more accountable to the organizations in which they work. As a result of this pilot research project with legal services programs, we identified three key processes which are integrating professionals more closely into the work and priorities of organizations: the amplification and rationalization of decision‐making, vertical and horizontal integration of jobs, and investments in the organizational boundaries. These three processes create five developmental parameters which, in varying combinations, produce different scenarios of professional work. We outlined three scenarios: the scenario of degradation, the scenario of the Research and Developmental settings, and the mixed scenario in which professionals lose some autonomy but gain in effectiveness and become more responsive. Such a framework can help assess the ongoing impacts of the new technologies and enable us to make more informed decisions about their use.

The first‐ever conference on “computer‐supported cooperative work” (CSCW) defined a new perspective and perhaps even a new speciality in the field of computer science. The fundamental insight is that, with very few exceptions, our work does not take place in isolation but, rather, is embedded in a multiplicity of social contexts. And this, obviously, has enormous implications for how information technology is conceived and designed.

This paper introduces this special issue and initially provides some contextual background to the field of psychodynamics, its significance to organisational studies and the understanding of behaviour in organizations. The internationally-based papers in this special issue are then introduced and summarised.

This report discusses technological, market and strategic factors encouraging change in the dynamics of skill formation in large U.S. accounting firms. Changes in recruiting, organizing, training, retaining and promoting are of crucial importance for the future of the accounting industry. When cost cutting and efficiency are insufficient and where new services are the key to competitiveness, the future of the firm rests on the ability to develop a broad base of higher skills. These changes are perhaps also important for understanding skill formation dynamics in other activities with a high “knowledge intensity”.

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.

How the boundaries of what management once considered acceptable work redesign have been expanded by new competitive pressures is demonstrated. Research evidence based on the experience of American multinational corporations shows how the approaches now being developed give employees considerably greater discretion and opportunities for skills development and improved performance than conventional “job enrichment” techniques. The sample of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) at its Ayr site in Scotland is used and the effects of high performance work systems examined.

The ideal of greater equality has been an important part of America's self‐image. From the time of the U.S. revolution, when equality was a component in our battle cry for freedom, various political movements have held the ideal of greater equality as central to their programs. More than mere political rhetoric, reducing inequality has been the goal of a broad array of public measures. Yet despite all efforts, wealth and income distribution have changed relatively little in U.S. history.

The notion of the unconscious is introduced and contextualised as part of the larger psychodynamics relevant to the process of managing change. The other papers in this special issue are introduced.

Proposes that to optimize enterprise performance and longevity, organizations must develop and sustain appropriate traits of personal responsibility and leadership in all employees. Contends that this is feasible and describes how it can be accomplished. Part 1 of this paper deal with shaping and harmonizing the high performance drivers. Part 2, which will appear in Management Decision Vol. 40 No. 9, will deal with optimally shaping and harmonizing focus, will and capability.