The Collapse of the American Management Mystique. (book reviews)

The crucial backdrop to this analysis is the slow realisation during the 1980s that American industry was under intense pressure from more competitive industries, especially in West Germany and Japan and reminiscent of the debates about Britain's loss of industrial supremacy after 1870 it focuses on managerial deficiencies. Locke is careful to emphasise that what he calls the 'collapse of the American management mystique' was by no means absolute, noting how only in relation to German and Japanese management was there a perceived performance gap. Nevertheless, American business was