ABSTRACT
The data on which this paper is based has been collected by observation and recording of the work activities of a sample of manufacturing managers in U.K. companies. Additionally, interactive process analysis (Bales 1951), a critical incident technique (Flanagan 1954) and statistical significance testing, have been employed. The work has been continuous for nineteen years and is still proceeding. About thirty managers comprise the sample. It has become apparent
through observations and statistical analysis that control of a systems model after implementation within a company, is extremely elusive. In complementary fashion, research suggests that a company culture in which a model is embedded, is of primary importance to a model’s success. Several theoretical aspects of the research base for this paper were addressed in Trought (1993b) and therefore the present paper can be considered as a continuation of Trought (1993b).
