ABSTRACT
Only the best organized managers seem able to combine longer term strategic considerations with short-term managerial activities, and at the same time to involve other senior figures, by task delegation or other means, in differentiated patterns of team working. One might expect, therefore, that the actual activities of managerial figures in large schools and colleges would bear some relationship to their needs as complex organizations, and also to the various management theories which have been advanced. Among the range of managerial needs and functions which have been postulated or identified, some have been specific to schools and colleges – staff development within an educational context, development and innovation in curriculum and assessment, development of pastoral or caring organization. Others which have been identified seem to share features in common with all – the maintenance of sound working relationships, incentives and communication, of effectiveness in planning and operational organization, and of cost effectiveness combined with flexibility and adaptability.
