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Based on research carried out in three European countries, Sweden, The Netherlands and the UK, the following text highlights the experiences and perceptions of European managers in organisational and managerial contexts. The findings reveal a number of convergent trends manifested through the experiences and consciousness of middle managers. What is specifically highlighted is the transformation of the role of manager in Europe against the background of a multitude of contingent influences; not only in the practices of middle management function but also in the cacophony of the accompanying discourses. It is posited that structured HRM support can considerably aid the middle manager to cope with the contradictory role demanded by this new world of work; and, paradoxically, it is a plea for self managed learning conducted by middle managers themselves within an HRM supportive environment.

Effective human resource policies are now seen as central to business decision making. In particular, European and global diversification, whether by merger, acquisition, alliance or joint partnership, is likely to have a direct impact on the sources of labour which organisations choose to tap, and on the way in which they recruit pay, train and develop their staff.

Under the leadership of Gorbachev and his instigation of the concepts of perestroika and glasnost, the USSR has had to admit to its economic problems and difficulties which are reflected in the extremely poor standard of living of the majority of its people. The problems have been exacerbated in the past by rigid ideology and theory which ignored the reality and led to the development of a vigorous illegal market. However, since the “revolutions” of 1989 many political changes have occurred, which in turn have precipitated greater communication between the states of Eastern Europe and those of the West. Some specific areas where there have been moves towards co‐operation between East and West are highlighted and examples given of organisations, which are achieving varying measures of success in expanding trade into Eastern Europe. The future prospects are analysed, particularly with reference to the debt problem, but overall the prevalent view is one of optimism and shared opportunities.

Organizations across Europe see training and development as a major personnel function objective. They use it as a recruitment mechanism. Employers are increasing their spending on training, although at present spending above 4 per cent of the wage bill on training is rare. Evaluation of training needs is widespread but the mechanisms for it are rather blunt. The compulsory requirement to spend proportions of the wage bill on training, which operates in France, seems to be successful.

This paper is based on the research of middle managers in three countries (The Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK) in public and private sector organisations. The findings indicate that increasing pressures on managers to perform within a surge of management initiatives and policy moves to make organisations more profitable (in the private sector) and more “efficient” and accountable (in the public sector) invariably lead to contradictions in their performance and perceived roles. In the context of the oxymoron that “they are to do more with less”, this will lead to increased stresses and strains on those performing this pivotal operational role. Terminologically, middle managers are becoming increasingly “depowered”.

Forms of employee empowerment often associated with HRM initiatives have increased considerably in recent years. This research examines communicational forms of empowerment in a British and Swedish bank. The findings are contextualised against a rapidly changing environment which characterised the banking sector in the 1990s. Research of this nature is often conducted in a mono‐cultural context despite the fact there is increasing evidence that managerial practices, including empowerment, are highly influenced by societal factors. The research confirms previous assumptions that Swedish workers have greater participation than the British in the workplace, but the strength of participation is mediated by external factors such as labour law, social values, technological change and economic conditions. Such factors can negatively impact on alternative forms of communication via trade unions. In such periods effective employee involvement is restricted to micro levels, despite expectations by employees of more involvement in organisational issues at macro levels.

The central role of line managers in implementing human resource management, is widely acknowledged. There has, however, been scant research into how far that group affect, or are affected by, such practices. Through a case study in two Trust hospitals, this article demonstrates that middle line managers, positioned between the service’s decision‐making bodies and its employees, are bearing many of the consequences of the change process. The effects of growing workloads, combined with altered expectations of their increasingly visible roles, have enhanced the tensions and role conflict inherent to their position. This creates “role dissonance” for managers who must balance the various aspects of their work from a weak power base, and act as a buffer between their staff and their seniors. Their perception is that they are under‐resourced and lack the time needed to manage their staff effectively.

Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American preemptive invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent prisoner abuse, such an existence seems to be farther and farther away from reality. The purpose of this work is to stop this dangerous trend by promoting justice, love, and peace through a change of the paradigm that is inconsistent with justice, love, and peace. The strong paradigm that created the strong nation like the U.S. and the strong man like George W. Bush have been the culprit, rather than the contributor, of the above three universal ideals. Thus, rather than justice, love, and peace, the strong paradigm resulted in in justice, hatred, and violence. In order to remove these three and related evils, what the world needs in the beginning of the third millenium is the weak paradigm. Through the acceptance of the latter paradigm, the golden mean or middle paradigm can be formulated, which is a synergy of the weak and the strong paradigm. In order to understand properly the meaning of these paradigms, however, some digression appears necessary.

Cray Valley Products Ltd., are arranging an organised tour in February 1983 to the S.P.I. Conference in Washington. In addition to the Conference itself visits will be arranged not only to fabricators of SMC and DMC but also to paint finishers. Emphasis throughout these visits will be on the automotive industry.