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Attempting to get the best of both worlds is always an elusive goal. Perhaps this is why there has been so much irritable recrimination in the management education world during the past two years.

Introduction This paper presents some empirical evidence about the way in which post‐graduate Business School students perceive their future job and career opportunities. In particular, it describes some of the job features which are valued by the student and, by implication, those which are unappealing.

The proposition is that a self-governing society needs more effective interactions between the three Spheres of Commerce, Public Administration and Politics. This is notably the case for organisations dealing with complex protocols and jurisdictions, each containing its own norms and practices. Effective leaders need to grapple knowingly and positively with matters far outside the realm of their traditions.

Frictions arise between the Spheres because each has differing motives and driving forces. The resulting collisions, cooperations and contests between the Spheres are never-ending, but the needs for cooperation drive them on. They will never fully merge because their missions are dissimilar, and so the forces that propel their actions are also distinctively, sometimes jarringly, different. Business people tend to think that only they operate in a competitive market. Yet Public Administrations also have deep-seated market features. Intermingling with these Spheres is the Social Sector; a demi-monde of Non-government Organisations, international regulators and authorities, advisory boards, industry bodies, think tanks, consultancies and other hybrid interface organisations.

Enhancement of the increasingly mutual interests of the Spheres will, if progressed well, raise the effectiveness and achievements of them all. This has implications for many forms of leadership development. A greater focus on sociotechnical systems should help the inhabitants of each of the three Spheres to fully recognise the validities and driving forces of the other two Spheres. There is a heightened need for collective problem-solving. There is a huge opportunity for a more integrated approach to cross-pollinating leadership development.

Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

The history of private enterprise is full of individuals who would drive themselves (and others) into the ground in their ruthless pursuit of business schemes and dreams. It is in the nature of entrepreneurialism that those qualities will be found in the truly visionary leaders of any era. There's no doubt that some of the Victorian and twentieth century's most successful – and feared – leaders would have found a kindred spirit in the late Apple boss Steve Jobs.

Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.

Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that can have a broader social impact.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.

HARDLY had the dispute at BL ended and the men had gone back to work amidst universal rejoicing (apart from the more militant of the shop stewards) than several hundred of them had to be sent back home, rightly on full pay, because of a plague of fleas that had invaded the factory. Talk about scratching for a living…!

Reflects on the development of the concept of a learning organisation as a tool for business success. Argues that, unlike many management ideas, organisational learning is not a “fad” but is increasingly accepted as a vital strategy for organisational survival and development in a continually changing environment. The learning organisation is seen as an aspiration for a continuous process with the potential to energise people for very long periods of time, rather than providing a quick‐fix solution. Whilst creating sustainable knowledge which can be valued as an asset on the balance sheet it also makes organisations more productive, profitable and more humane places to work.

The foregoing sections have demonstrated and analysed the range and complexity of vulnerability in the labour market. Its source can be economic or legal, or can derive from characteristics of work or workers. Vulnerability is not a stagnant or even declining phenomenon. Indeed, we have argued that not only are considerably more workers disadvantaged than, say, two decades ago, but that such a situation is compounded by government policy, concepts of core and peripheral workers, and by forces which have created or highlighted unconsidered or new areas of vulnerability. It is arguable that even the much publicised “networkers” who may have relatively attractive terms of work can become isolated and demoralised by working solely at home, and thus suffer yet another form of vulnerability.

The Chelsea project ‐ A grant of £45,580 has been made jointly by the Engineering Industry Training Board and the Leverhulme Trust to sponsor a four‐year research project (1971–1975) to investigate the relevance of school learning experience to performance and attitudes of young trainees who enter employment directly from school. The project offers a relatively rare opportunity for practical co‐operation between education and industry in this country. The investigation will be directed by Dr Erica Glynn and will be based at the Centre for Science Education, Chelsea College, University of London, which is closely associated with curriculum development and other innovations in schools and universities.