First published in 1998, readers of this volume will get a good overview of research into managerial work. They will learn about: what the researchers have studied; what methods have been used and the criticisms of the limitations of individual methods; the different concepts that have been developed; what has been learnt about managerial work and behaviour from these studies over the years; how this field of study has developed; the main criticisms made of the research; suggestions for future research and future developments.

Studies of managerial work have a long history: the first major work was by Sune Carlson in Sweden in 1951 and studies have continued to the present day, mainly in the USA and the UK. The early studies sought to find out what managers actually did, as distinct from the generalized theories of the nature of managerial work. They were part of the new interest of social scientists in finding out what actually happened in organizations in opposition to the general theories that prevailed then.

Articles cannot give a complete picture of the field studies that have been such a notable feature of this branch of research, because Carlson’s study, like many of the later ones, was published only as a book. However, they provide all the information that students and researchers need to understand the aim, methods and approaches used by researchers so far and a good guide to the varied possibilities for developing this area of study.