Retrospect: Citrine, Self and the Management of Change

Leslie Hannah
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Leslie Hannah: London School of Economics

Chapter 11 in Engineers, Managers and Politicians, 1982, pp 139-148 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Lord Citrine, as chairman of the British Electricity Authority for more than ten years, was, quite simply, the biggest British businessman. No other industrialist at any time in history has had control of so large a share of national investment for so long a period. The organisation which he headed was massive by any standards, and his dream of losing authority within it (see quotation above) was not unique to him. None of his successors have been able to ignore the enormity of the challenge that faces them, nor failed to experience doubts about their capacity to monitor and direct such a large organisation. The burden on Citrine was, moreover, immeasurably greater since he lacked experience as a businessman or engineer and was faced with the more difficult initial task of welding together many disparate pieces into one national organisation. Any achievements and failures of the first ten years of nationalisation must, then, be seen in the context of the almost superhuman task which its organisers faced.

Keywords: Generation Side; Firm Merger; Retail Price Index; Budgetary Control; Trade Union Movement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1982
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-349-03446-8_11

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DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-03446-8_11

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