Knowledge that Transforms

Two traditional assumptions about management are challenged: that private managers are exclusively guided by profit calculations and that a sharp difference exists between the motivations of private and public managers. Instead, professional management has brought managers who are less concerned with short-run profit because they seldom hold any substantial ownership interest in the enterprise. Interview data are presented which suggest the diversity of motives among managers, and the need for further research is emphasized. Mr. Lauterbach is professor of social science in Sarah Lawrence College.