BOOKS FOR MANAGERS

churning of ideas as they rise and fall in popularity. Although new in paperback, this book is four years old. Inevitably, the ideas which were current when it was written have been replaced by other ideas which have in turn been replaced. This is inevitable as the number of management fads increases and their cycles become shorter. It is therefore a shame that the author did not update the material in the book to take account of changes which have occurred since it was originally published, such as the phenomenon of business process re-engineering (BPR).

A second problem relates to the underlying conception of the guru- client relationship. Gurus are defined as the dominant, initiating partners, exploiting the naivet6 and vulnerability of their clients; confusing them through their rhetoric, dazzling them with their performances. Managers, on the other hand, are conceived of largely as passive, docile consumers of gurus' ideas and recommendations, inherently vulnerable to gums' blandishments, anxiously searching for predictability and looking desperately for authority figures. There is something unsatisfactory about analyses which rest on such foundations. It is more likely that the guru-client relationship is characterized by a greater balance between the two parties, since each feeds off the other. It is therefore more accurately portrayed as one where both parties derive benefit from the exchange and where both parties influence the content and nature of the relationship.

Despite these problems, the book is well organized, clearly written, entertaining to read, and offers many fascinating insights into the factors which underlie the popularity of particular management ideas. It is essential reading for all those managers who buy popular management books, attend guru presentations, or are presently engaged in some programme of organizational change and need something to avert their eyes from the bewitching gaze of the guru, whilst for academics it presents a series of suggestions as to how their ideas can be presented more effectively to a managerial audience.

Perhaps by taking note of these points, academics may begin to convince the management community that it is they, and not management gums, who are at the forefront of managerial innovation.

Timothy Clark

Technology, Globalization and Economic Performance Edited by D. ARCHIBUGI AND J. MICHIE, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 1997, xvii, 303 pp

Technology, Globalization and Economic Performance is a collection of ten papers concerned with the interaction between the innovation activities of multi-national firms and national innovation systems. The papers differ in form and focus, with some papers concerned with general theories of innovation (e.g. Malerba and Orsenigo on Schumpeterian patterns of innovation), some with general theories on the role of technological innovations in generating growth (Bell and Pavitt), some with the R&D activities of firms (Patel, Cantwell) and some with national innovation systems (e.g. Fransman on Japan).

There is a general overall message: national systems of innovation have a major impact on economic performance, and claims for the triumph of globalization are premature. For example, the detailed discussion of Japan shows that the influence of MITI has declined, the government contribution to R&D is small relative to other major industrial countries and Japan encourages international participation in national technological programmes. However, the guiding role of MITI remains and the mode of foreign participation in national programmes ensures that it does not reduce the ability of Japanese firms to reap the major benefits of the programme. It is therefore not surprising that only a small proportion of R&D expenditure by Japanese firms is made abroad (2 per cent).

National technology policies continue to be of major importance. However, such policies should not be pre-occupied with protecting local firms but with providing appropriate infrastructures (including education policies), ensuring effective domestic competition and maintaining an export orientation (rather than import substitution). National innovation systems should operate within an open international trading system, not as part of a protectionist strategy.

National innovation systems remain important because the development of technological capabilities depends upon localized learning. Such technological capabilities require knowledge, skills and experience, and institutional structures and linkages within and between firms (Bell and Pavitt, p 89). Importantly, such capabilities are not acquired automatically through the import of production facilities (even sophisticated, export oriented production facilities) because production facilities in themselves may not provide learning opportunities.

As Archibugi and Michie themselves show, there has been a globalization of the exploitation of technological innovation but not of the production of technological innovation. According to Patel, R&D expenditures remain heavily concentrated upon the multinational's country of origin: analysis of the US patenting activity of 569 firms shows that an 'overwhelming majority' of them locate technological activities close to the home base (p 211). UK firms are the most internationalized (with R&D investment mainly in the US), Japanese firms are the least (p 212). Where multinationals organize R&D internationally it is primarily for local design modification to meet national specifications and regulations or essentially a means of monitoring local science and technology. Pharmaceuticals and electronics are only partial exceptions (Freeman, p. 40).

For European managers, two conclusions emerge. First, that national technology policy, especially when related to the firm level, remains important - it is not

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BOOKS FOR MANAGERS

supplanted by supranational regional policies. Local linkages and local infrastructures remain central to the learning process. Second, it would be a mistake for European countries, including Central and Eastern European nations to rely upon the import of 'hard' technologies to enable the 'catch-up' in technological capabilities: the level of technological sophistication is now such that even 'learning by doing' with production facilities is no longer enough. Specific attention needs to be devoted to learning activities, as Bell and Pavitt emphasize.

Technology, Globalization and Economic Performance is clearly written (in the main), but it is not an easy read as the arguments presented and evidence analyzed are complex. But it is an important contribution to understanding international differences in economic performance: globalization remains only an emergent tendency, but its emergence is reinforcing rather than undermining national differences.

Roderick Martin

Human Resource Management: An Introduction By TREVOR BOLTON, Blackwell, 1997, 300pp [ISBN 0-631-19626-9]

'Britain is booming.' Not everyone would agree with this assessment of the British economy, although it

seems a not unreasonable description of the HRM textbook industry in Britain. This particular book consists of an introduction, a conclusion, an appendix ('The Influence of the European Union') and 16 substantive chapters. The substantive chapters seek 'in part to follow the natural cycle of HRM activity - from planning human resources, to recruitment and selection, training and development, appraisal and reward, welfare and, finally, redundancy' [p xi]. The chapters are relatively short (typically 15-20 pages), contain a short case study or illustrative example of a page or so, with a series of set questions for class discussion purposes.

As the sub-title suggests, it is very much an introductory textbook designed essentially for undergraduate-level courses, rather than for experienced managers on MBA-type courses. For the former type of students it has the advantages of being well structured and organized, easily readable in nature, with knowledge (rather than skills) based material presented in a straightforward factual manner. Arguably its greatest strength is its attempt to look beyond the UK to developments in Europe. For example, there is a chapter entitled 'The Influence of Europe: Implications for UK Human Resource Managers', Chapter 16 looks at HR practices in Germany and Spain, and Chapter 17 examines training and development in a number of European countries.

In the preface to the book the author observes [p x]:

By nature the book is wide ranging in its coverage, and although this means that some areas are not covered in great detail each chapter is supported by an extensive reading list which is designed to direct the student to a variety of texts. These texts fall into three categories: classic works where the development of the subject material is to be found; more general texts which cover the subject in a more accessible way; and a selection of the more topical works which bring the subject up to date in a user-friendly manner.

This is where I encounter my major reservations about the book. First, too many important and difficult subject areas are presented very briefly in a straightforward, non- problematic manner. Secondly, the contents and recommended readings are overwhelmingly books or articles in practitioner-orientated journals. As a consequence, the reader is unlikely to gain any real 'feel' for many of the important on-going debates, controversies and criticisms that surround both the concept and practice of HRM; it is these issues which are largely covered in academic journal articles which rarely figure in this book. As a consequence, a student reader is likely to assume that things are much more clear cut and straightforward than is in fact the case. In addition, the information conveyed is likely to be rather less interesting and challenging to the reader than is the case in other volumes.

P B Beaumont

7 10 European Management Journal Vo115 No 6 December 1997