ABSTRACT

A s groups have existed since Eve it is remarkable how little we know about their structural characteristics, and the interpersonal relationships within them. Looking back over my own working life I recall much discussion with fellow managers about the theory and practice of group organization, and many managers are interested in this subject. But what contributions have been made to a better understanding of group organization? I find disturbingly few which have become widely accepted by industrial managers as theories or principles, and we must go back forty years to the Hawthorn experiments to find a really significant contribution to the subject; this gap compares very unfavourably with almost any other ‘scientific gap’ known to managers.