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In the late 1980s, a series of reports-notably, "The Making of Managers" by Charles Handy-outlined a development path for management in the U.K. This was to be based on the development of an education and training base and the model set by leading corporations. A decade later, this paper reviews current trends in managerial work and employment against the expectations of the late 1980s. In doing so, it distinguishes between the objective condition of British management and its institutionalized meaning within wider British society. It argues that recent accounts of changes in managerial work and employment have focused solely on incremental changes in the empirical domain and have neglected important discursive shifts in the way management is understood and enacted within organizations. These shifts have been catalyzed by the emergence of a series of organizational initiatives-first, Total Quality Management (TQM) and, latterly, lean production and Business Process Reengineering (BPR)-which aim to systematically deconstruct management by emphasizing worker empowerment, delayering, downsizing, and the redistribution of managerial functions. In short, initiatives such as these are contributing to the "unmaking of management." Managerial groups are subject to intensification and polarization, while managerial practices are diffused throughout the work process.

The benefits of social capital for the sharing of knowledge are frequently emphasized in the literature. However, a few authors have also begun to draw our attention towards the drawbacks of social capital for the working of organizations. In particular, instrumental social capital - as opposed to consummatory social capital - is seen as linked to power relations, which can inhibit the sharing of knowledge. To contribute to this debate on the role of social capital, we carried out a qualitative study in two Belgian companies. Our findings reveal that social capital generally tends to enhance the sharing of knowledge but that in its instrumental form it reflects opportunistic and political objectives, and promotes a highly selective form of knowledge sharing.

Existing studies suggest that, because knowledge is becoming more widely distributed, innovation increasingly needs to occur 'at the interstices' of collaborating groups and organizations. Networked innovation processes are therefore emphasized, over more hierarchical or market-based forms, as having distinct advantages for the creation and integration of knowledge. Whilst the structural properties of networks have been heavily scrutinized, there is relatively less understanding of processes, in particular the political dynamics that shape networked innovation. This article aims to develop understanding of networked innovation processes, by identifying and relating the characteristics of networked innovation to the productive, or constraining, effects of different dimensions of power (power of resource, meaning and process). It does this through comparative analysis of three case studies of networked innovation, each involving the development of new technology. This analysis suggests that understanding the politics of networked innovation depends on understanding the generative (and sometimes degenerative) relationship between power, knowledge integration, network formation, and the role of technology. Moreover, the co-ordination of networks, rather than simply their formation, is found to play a particularly crucial role.

Contrasts theories of the "Japanization" of British industry with empirical evidence from established car producers in that industry. Suggests that while the UK car industry has been heavily influenced by Japanese methods, established producers follow policies marked by indigenous influences rather than by any unmediated Japanese effect. Proceeds to explore relationships between processual change in plant‐level work organization and the overarching context of institutions and ideas. Investigates the relevance of the two major theoretical models of workplace change in the motor industry ‐ the "diffusion" and the "bolt‐on" models of change ‐ and their conflicting interpretations of the impact of the Japanese "lean production" approach. Compares models with case‐studies of changing work practices at Rover and Peugeot and suggests that neither model provides a satisfactory account of the patterns of change found. Develops instead a model of change which emphasizes the creative adaptation of production practices within the British context.

Technical change and industrial relations are becoming inextricably linked together. There is a need for a clearsighted understanding of all the effects of technical change at the workplace. This would entail a conceptual framework in which the interaction between social and technical factors could be properly identified. At establishment level the innovation process typically involves a balancing of the social, economic and technological vectors of change. Three short case studies into the innovation process at one of the key manufacturing plants of a major British vehicle producer are presented, examining a Machine Monitoring System, Team Working and Maintenance Function. It is clear that the linked issues of work practices and labour productivity which are to the forefront of workplace industrial relations exert a significant impact on the economic consequences of technical change. Where technological innovation involves significant change in work practices, such change will be facilitated when the forms of co‐operation it demands and the costs and benefits it creates are congruent with the respective power and policies of management and unions.

Studies suggest that the experience of liminality – of being in an ambiguous, 'betwixt and between' position – has creative potential for organizations. We contribute to theory on the link between liminality and creative agency through a study of the coordinators of 'knowledge-sharing communities'; one of the latest examples of a 'neo-bureaucratic' practice that seeks to elicit innovative responses from employees while intensifying control by the organization. Through a role-centred perspective, our study found that both the structural and interpretive aspects of coordinators' role enactments promoted a degree of creative agency. 'Front-stage' and 'back-stage' activities were developed to meet the divergent expectations posed by senior management and community members, and the ambiguity of their roles prompted an array of different role interpretations. Our findings contribute to theory by showing how the link between liminality and creative agency is not confined to roles and spaces (consultancy work, professional expertise) that are positioned across organizational boundaries, or free from norms and expectations, but may also apply to roles that are ambiguously situated within organizational contexts and that are subject to divergent expectations. This shows how neo-bureaucratic forms may be both reproduced and renewed through the creative responses of individual managers.