Human relations in modern industry [antikvár]

PREFACE The first edition of this book consisted of a number oL talks given at the Training Institute, Roffey Park Rehabilitation Centre, in 1947 and 1948; they had all been designed to provoke discussion among small groups—the members of the courses on human relations. They were in no sense intended as authoritative statements. Since then, courses in management training have spread very widely; and many include some training in human relations. It has been my good fortune to take part in several, run by different firms, companies, colleges or institutes; and more and more people outside industry—the civil service, the armed forces, doctors, nurses and hospital administrators—are settling down to discuss human relations, their own as well as other people's. Meanwhile the original book has gone out of print in England—though copies are still available in Swedish or Finnish for the eager reader—and it has either to be reprinted or rewritten. I have in fact rewritten practically all of it (except for part of chapter XIV, itself a reprint); but I have kept to the original form of putting out ideas to provoke discussion, in chapters IV-XIII and chapter XVI, which again are not to be taken as dogmatic. I have also added three earlier chapters to describe the trends in industry which I believe have led to the extension of these courses, and I think will go on doing so. Two later chapters (XIV and XV) have also been added to illustrate the way they have developed. I have drawn from experience to make additional points. I do not apologize for the fact that wartime experience still forms a useful talking-point; for I cannot help feeling that the Army has something still to teach industry (it has been going a long time). Of course, elsewhere, I am only too ready to say that the reverse is true too. 5