Unstable at the Top

The authors, both management consultantsde Vries in France, Miller in Canadahere seek to combine ""action and reflection'' in helping companies overcome leadership problems. In this ``case system'' study they survey corporate management in somewhat frightening images, e.g. a bank executive who wears Mickey Mouse ears at work. Henry Ford, Tex Thornton of Litton Industries, Addressograph's Roy Ash, Harold Geneen of ITT, John DeLorean, Bernie Cornfeld, the Hunt brothers, Eddie Rickenbacker and J. Edgar Hoover get their knuckles rapped, along with many others, as the authors trace executive behavioral patternsenthusiasm, success, acclaim, arrogance, impatience, detachment and indifference, often followed by staff friction, production snags and lost profits. Similarly, this business textbook identifies company management problems as ``critical, dramatic, suspicious, detached and depressive,'' each requiring a fine-tuned remedial psychological approach. (January 28)