Managing Large Systems examines a range of human, organizational, and managerial challenges associated with large systems. Special attention is given to the behavioral relationships among scientists and engineers, business and technical managers, sponsor organizations and their contractors, business and government officials, and line and functional managers. The descriptions of problems of technical organization and performance motivation are based primarily on an extended field study of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Managing Large Systems includes a description of the unique management system developed by NASA under the leadership of James Webb that many believe was responsible for their extraordinary technological achievements that culminated in the first moon landing. Parallels are drawn to other large-scale technology programs in aerospace and atomic energy. The authors find traditional managerial principles regarding controls, incentive systems, and planning to be inadequate in the context of large systems. They look to organizational clusters to manage future projects in advanced technological areas and in public sectors such as urban development, massive medical programs, and ecological improvements.

Schooled to oversee fixed, almost unvarying routines, managers today are unprepared to manage the conflicts in modern work flow relationships. The demand for more and quicker responsiveness to customers, market, product, and process changes means there are few "routine" technologies left to manage. The modern line manager, according to Sayles, must be a "working leader," managing work flow relationships on the boundaries between jobs, functions, departments; making things "work" through trade-offs with superiors and peers. The working leader has an agenda, knows the system inside out, is comfortable with fluidity, and recognizes that the parts do not always fit into an integrated whole.

The recent emphasis on "core competencies" and "operating capabilities" as keys to competitive advantage represents a radical shift away from the presumption that business leadership is primarily about strategic decisions. Corporate success, Sayles insists, now depends upon execution, implementation, and expertise. In the past managers presumed that work systems were programmed to be efficient; now astute managers recognize that extraordinary efforts are required to attain and maintain effective operations.

Sayles shows with vivid case studies how middle managers with an in-depth understanding of the organization can resolve the inherent contradictions and ambiguities among design, sales, and manufacturing. He also shows that while many companies are instilling "customer consciousness" and "quality consciousness" as compartmentalized activities, "effective" management of work systems automatically leads to high performance in quality, efficiency, and service. By facilitating high performance, hands on working leaders can increase the sense of responsibility and motivation of subordinates. Finding solutions to inconsistencies and dilemmas in work systems forces managers to become real leaders. Checking the interfaces and making modifications where necessary -- managing on the boundaries -- are core competencies for the working leader.

Managing in a multicultural setting can be very challenging. Culture strongly influences how people behave and how they understand the behavior of others, and cultures vary in the behaviors they find proper and acceptable. This report--which integrates work done by experts in the fields of anthropology, cross-cultural psychology, and international business management with CCL's perspective on how executives learn from experience--describes the cultural values, often unconsciously held, that underlie work in the U.S. and provides managers in the U.S. with a structured way of learning about the value preferences of people from other cultures. Examples drawn from workplaces around the world aid in applying the framework.

Organizations today operate in an increasingly complex and changing world. What are the new skills that must emerge if leaders are to successfully meet the challenges created by this turbulence? The author, drawing on his years of experience in studying organizations and on the insights generated at a conference that brought together a select group of senior executives and organizational researchers to consider this question, offers his own unique perspective.