ABSTRACT
The manager of a road transport business is told by his engineer that one of his lorries is so old that it will not pass the statutory safety tests which are to held in eight weeks’ time. He knows that to have one lorry out of action costs his company £50 a week in lost profits. During the 1960s managers were beginning to use many of the management techniques that had been making their appearance over the past few decades. Most of these techniques were tools of analysis to be used to examine management problems. During the 1970s managers will begin to master many of these techniques. However, problem analysis is essentially a rather negative mode of management; it rather implies that managers are always on the defensive, fighting a rearguard action against problems and obstacles which keep preventing them from carrying out their tasks.
