Beguiled by the idea of "management," Americans have confused efficiency with legitimacy and mixed technocratic and political criteria. The issues are more complex than distinctions between business and government and private vs. public interests. Professor Bower of the Harvard Business School, in this enlightening and often original analysis, castigates the media, economists and others who have obfuscated matters. He rejects the emphasis others have put on the need for a national consensus, tripartite cooperation in industry, assorted foreign models, extreme decentralization and reliance on the market. He wants more intermediate organizations with special purposes, but above all he wants a clear understanding of what is involved in getting better management of both kinds.
