ABSTRACT
All organizations experience clear patterns of growth and transition. Most start small and are characterized by a climate of innovation, high risk-taking, informality, closeness to the market, loose structure, etc. This is the pioneering stage of the organization s growth. There are two problems to overcome in the identification of management potential. One is the problem of basing predictions about future performance on past behaviour in a different job or range of jobs. This is intrinsically difficult and made worse by the fact that appraisal is often the only consistent record of performance in many organizations. The second problem is more serious and revolves around identifying performance criteria. The organization has 25,000 employees. It had been managed with little regard for either financial accountability or quality of service to customers. Largely a passenger railway, it had a base of commuters who felt themselves trapped into using the system but who felt resentful none the less.
