Robert Tressell - Boys from the Blackstuff TV - Tinkzorg online - Noam Chomsky - Kirsty Young TV - Closed Circuit 2012 - Carmen Basilio - John Betjeman - Adam Curtis TV - The Great Train Robbery II TV - Flawless 2007 - The Observer 1944 - Janet Street Porter TV - Peter Drucker - Paul Hawken - Tina Fey - Sun Tzu - The Office UK TV - The Office Values - The Office US TV - Thomas Hardy - Brian Clough - Peaky Blinders TV - Managing England: The Impossible Job TV - The Harder They Fall 1956 - Bobby Robson: More than a Manager 2018 - Graham Taylor: The Impossible Job TV - Clough: The Brian Clough Story 2009 -
Over the men stood Misery, ever threatening them with dismissal and their wives and children with hunger. Behind Misery was Rushton, ever bullying and goading him on to greater excesses and efforts for the furtherance of the good cause – which was to enable the head of the firm to accumulate money. Robert Tressell, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist
Everyone was afraid. They knew that it was almost impossible to get a job from any other firm. They knew that this man had the power to deprive them of the means for earning a living; that he possessed the power to deprive their children of bread. ibid.
That’s what your superiors are for – to keep you completely in the dark. Alan Bleasdale, Boys from the Black Stuff: Jobs for the Boys ***** Donald the Social Security Officer, BBC 1982
It is not just that the elite class is incompetent – even kings could be incompetent without undermining belief in monarchy as a system – it is that they are so grossly, spectacularly incompetent that they walk around among us as living rebuttals of meritocracy itself. It is that their application of managerial logic to whatever field they get their grubby mitts on – from homelessness in California to industrial policy to running a war – makes that thing ten times more expensive and a hundred times more dysfunctional. To make the situation worse, the current elites seem almost serene in their wilful destruction of the very fields they rely on for legitimacy. Tinkzorg online article, cited Keiser Report 26 August 2021
Chief executives are now permitted under the new rules to select the boards that determine their salaries. Noam Chomsky, lecture University of Tennessee 25th January 2011
Meet the British boss class: it was widely accepted that British management in the late sixties and early seventies was not the natural home of fresh dynamic thinking. Kirsty Young, The British at Work: Them and Us 1964–1980, BBC 2011
You didn’t have to read the books to be touched by their inspirational message. Our conference rooms and open-plan offices were now echoing to the sound of management-speak. Kirsty Young, The British at Work: The Age of Uncertainty 1995–Now
1995 ... When Cedric Brown, the Chief Executive of British Gas, was paid £475,000, an increase of 75%, there were howls of outrage. ibid.
For some reason we’re being managed. Closed Circuit 2013 starring Eric Bana & Ciaran Hinds & Rebecca Hall & Isaac Hempstead-Wright & Denis Moschitto & Jemma Powell & Riz Ahmed & Anne-Marie Duff & Kenneth Cranham & Julia Stiles & Jim Broadbent et al, director John Crowley
I blame my managers for that. They were so busy betting on horses and the races and all that they didn’t have time to book me for fights. Carmen Basilio
I am a young executive. No cuffs than mine are cleaner
I have a Slimline brief-case and I use the firm’s Cortina.
In every roadside hostelry from here to Burgess Hill
The maitres d’hotel all know me well, and let me sign the bill … John Betjeman, Executive
It is a very strange kind of freedom. The attempt to liberate people from the dead hand of bureaucracy has led to the rise of a new and increasingly controlling system of management driven by targets and numbers. While government committed to creating freedom of choice in all areas have actually presided over a rise in inequalities and a dramatic collapse of social mobility. The consequence has been a return of the power of class and privilege. And abroad the attempt to create democracy has led not just to bloody mayhem but a rejection of the American-led campaign to bring freedom. Adam Curtis, The Trap I: Fuck You, Buddy, BBC 2007
Remember this: no matter who you are, or how high you go, there’s always a wanker boss. The Great Train Robbery II: A Copper’s Tale ***** head rozzer, BBC 2013
Women who led ... You were hired by the London Diamond Corporation. It’s Number One in the world. It’s the Fifties. It’s a fiercely male dominated environment. You take on the men. You battle your way up and become a manager ... You were the only female manager in the history of that company, and I want to know your story. Flawless 2007 starring Michael Caine & Demi Moore & Lambert Wilson & Joss Ackland & Constantine Gregory & Ahmed Ayman & Natalie Dormer, director Michael Radford, reporter opening scene
In [Albert Speer] him is the very epitome of the managerial revolution. The Observer 1944
Management that wants to change an institution must first show it loves that institution. John Tusa, Observer 27th February 1994
Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done. Peter Drucker
Good management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them. Paul Hawken, Natural Capitalism
In most cases being a good boss means hiring talented people and then getting out of their way. Tina Fey, Bossypants
Management of many is the same as management of few. It is a matter of organization. Sun Tzu
Gareth is not general manager as such like I was when I was here. I was sort of omnipotent and er he’s doing a much more watered down version. The Office UK Christmas Special I, David, BBC 2003
I’m not going to sell you the usual – excuse the French – management bullshit. You’ve heard enough of that in the last ten minutes. The Office Values – Microsoft UK Training with David Brent, 2004
I need something classy like the opening of a car dealership. The Office US s5e20: New Boss, Michael, NBC 2008
I thrive under lack of accountability. ibid. Michael to David Wallace
I don’t need to be managed, Charles. ibid. Michael
Everybody must be managed. Queens must be managed. Kings must be managed, for men want managing almost as much as women, and that’s saying a good deal. Thomas Hardy, Under the Greenwood Tree
I wouldn’t say I was the best manager in the business; but I was in the top one. Brian Clough
I’m sure the England selectors thought if they took me on and gave me the job, I’d want to run the show. They were shrewd, because that’s exactly what I would have done. Brian Clough
This place is under new management. By order of the Peaky Blinders. Peaky Blinders s2e4, Arthur, BBC 2014
‘This is the pinnacle, the climax, this is what we work for.’ Managing England: The Impossible Job, Bobby Robson, BBC 2018
13 managers have since been appointed as England manager. The role has become known as The Impossible Job. ibid. caption
In the years that followed England’s World Cup win, [Alf] Ramsey was criticised due to his perceived negative style of play. ibid.
England failed to reach the 1976 European Championship. [Don] Revie resigned the following year. The period between 1974 and 1982 remains one of the worst in England’s history. ibid.
England failed to reach Euro ’84. Pressure was mounting on Robson. ibid.
After two games at the 1986 World Cup, England were bottom of their group and had not scored a goal. ibid.
England lost all three matches at Euro ’88. ibid.
England failed to win a single game at Euro ’92. ibid.
Criticism intensified during a disastrous World Cup qualifying campaign. ibid.
England’s ‘golden generation’ reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2004. Confidence was building ahead of the 2006 World Cup. ibid.
After several poor results in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, the pressure was mounting on [Steve] McClaren. ibid.
‘A dark place for England again in 2014.’ ibid. commentator
[Roy] Hodgson resigned immediately after the defeat to Iceland. ibid.