2095 Henley The Management College 1984

From September 3rd to the 29th 1984 I attended a Senior Management Course at Henley the former Administrative Staff College, on the banks of the river Thames, Oxfordshire. Now over 25 years later I examine the papers and write these notes as part of my contemporary art project 101, Public and Private Art, a retrospective on one life and family.

Unfortunately the immediately available records are not complete for missing are three crucial documents:- My individual psychometric assessments which confirmed my management characteristics as Creative and Shaper with Completer Finishing, the latter was unusual and proved career and personal life saving. Also missing is the document which I prepared and circulated to colleagues on Management Teams and their composition, together with the paper on the implications of the course for Local Government which I circulated to Sir Michael Heseltine and which he advised he was arranging to be distributed within Whitehall. Originally filed in volume one of the four Henley provided folders, three of which I subsequently acquired I moved the key documents to a separate folder which I cannot immediate locate and without which the life changing impact of the course on cannot be appreciated. I have checked my list of completed Creative and Event files and the only possibility is in relation to Key events and Key people whose location is also unknown and confirms the need to create a comprehensive inventory.

Having reviewed the rest of the papers and reorganised them back into the four Henley provided Senior course folders plus one for documents which should be treated as confidential containing personal information on all the Senior course colleagues. I have created 40 sets from this review 37 open and 3 confidential.


I continue to place the experience alongside the other significant life changing experiences todate: the loss of catholic faith; decision to leave school at 16 years and take an appointment in Local Government followed by the decision to leave local government and join British Olivetti as well as to resign; the awareness and subsequent understanding of sexuality; the decision to go to prison for six months in 1960 refusing to enter into a recognisance to stop direct action activities against the possession and potential use of weapons of mass destruction; followed by the decision to accept a place at Ruskin College Oxford in 1961 rather than become organiser for the London region Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and then to switch from a Politics and Economics Diploma to the post graduate Diploma in Public and Social Administration with tuition provided within the university in 1962; the decisions taken in relation to the occupational moves to Ealing, Yorkshire West Riding, Cheshire and South Tyneside; accepting the invitation to participate in a judicial panel of inquiry in the role of authorities and others following the death of child under supervision 1981; the decisions taken in relation to the activities of the Militant Tendency in South Tyneside in relation to residential care services for children in the 1980’s(when), the decisions taken in relation to the discovery of criminal behaviour by staff in relation to children in public care 1991-2003; the discovery in 1999 shortly before my 60th birthday that my father had become the Catholic Vicar General of Gibraltar and the subsequent family history research, the decision to investigate the death of my care mother by the negligence of health and social service staff 2003; the decision to commence the artwork project 101 in 2002/2003, together with the most significant confidential.

Prior to undertaking this review of my immediately available records I regarded as having furthered self understanding and led to my five most constructive and creative years as a senior manager for South Tyneside Council, and involvement in national committees of social importance.

Participation could also be said to have led to the creation of 101, notwithstanding the importance of the visit to the Saatchi 101 and Tate Modern in 2003 and the events leading up to those visits. I have completed an up date analysis after the confidential recollections at the end of this summary of the presently available documentation

Participation on the course was arranged by the Chief Personnel and Management Services officer in consultation with the Council Leadership after several developments which I need to separately check before putting to pen and print. I have decided not to undertake these checks at present because of time pressure and the failure to locate the key documents on management personality, Management Teams and the document sent to Michael Heseltine. I hope I will live to undertake a further review when the missing documents are located.

Now to the College then and now and the programme. In 1984 Henley was then an independent self funding Management College. It has become “Henley Business School at the University of Reading, an English triple accredited business school. It was formed by merging the previously independent Henley Management College, formerly the Administrative Staff College, with the existing business school of the University of Reading. As a result of the merger with the University of Reading, it now occupies two sites: Greenlands Campus, near the town of Henley on Thames in south Oxfordshire, the original site of the Henley Management College, and Whiteknights Campus in Reading”

“Renowned for graduating some of the most elite MBA's in the world, Henley Business School is one of the oldest and largest European business schools, and the first business school to be established in the United Kingdom. Thousands of senior managers from industry, commerce, financial institutions and the public service and from all over the world have attended Henley, which has been the seed-bed for many developments in management education in the United Kingdom and world-wide.”

“1945-1981: During World War II, the idea that of leadership as a natural gift was questioned thanks to the experiences of a number of businessmen. Thus, the Administrative Staff College was set up in 1945 at Henley-on-Thames as the civilian equivalent of the Military Staff Colleges. At that time this was an appropriate title because administration was defined as the highest form of management. Over the years, it has become known as Henley. As the first business school in the UK, it offered short courses in problems of advanced management. The College was offered the use of Greenlands by the 3rd Viscount Hambledon in 1946, and was bought outright from the family in 1952. Greenlands is just 30 minutes from Heathrow and 1 hour from the centre of London, and is the seat of Henley's flagship MBA to this date. In its formative years, the College was influenced by the management consultant and writer Lyndall Urwick, the academic Hector Hetherington, and the businessman Geoffrey Heyworth (later Baron Heyworth); its curriculum was designed by its first Principal, Noel Hall. From the beginning, its intention was to bring together executives from the civil service, private business and nationalised industries to help develop their skills for promotion to senior management. The success of the College led to the establishment of several administrative staff colleges around the world. By the early 1960s, a network of staff colleges modelled on Henley had been transplanted to Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua and New Guinea, and later to Bangladesh, Ghana and the Philippines.”

1981-2008: In 1981, the College changed its name from its original title to Henley - The Management College. This was changed again to the Henley Management College when it was awarded a Royal Charter in 1991. By 2002, the College was also one of the very few in the world to achieve triple accredited status (AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS). The historic campus of the College has been located since its inception on the banks of the river Thames at Greenlands, on the outskirts of Henley-on-Thames. A former home of the WH Smith family, the Greenlands campus is part of an idyllic country estate with world-class facilities, and continues to serve as the home to the Henley MBA and corporate learning activities after the College's merger with the University of Reading.”

“2008-date: In 2008, the Henley Management College merged with the University of Reading to form the Henley Business School as one of the world’s largest full-service business schools. It consists of the School of Economics, the School of Management, the School of Real Estate & Planning, the ICMA Centre, the Informatics Research Center and Executive Education Programmes. While the Henley MBA and corporate learning activities are offered from the Greenlands campus, all undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD courses of the Henley Business School are offered from the Whiteknights campus of the University of Reading. A former country estate of the Marquis of Blandford, the 130 hectare Whiteknights campus is made of conservation meadows, rare tree collection and a large lake. Since 2009, the School functions out of a new purpose-built building in Whiteknights, with state-of-the-art facilities for lectures, conferences and visitors.” (sources Wikipedia and present day Internet Site)

I believe the equivalent to the kind of Senior Management syndicate based, self and college assessment course I experienced is now described as the Advanced Management Programme (accelerated development for senior managers) which has been reduced to three weeks with the possibility of taking each module separately during the three courses held over the year and with a current cost is around £19000.

The main subjects which I covered were Challenges to Management and Administration, current and future; Problem solving with People, Self Management, Managing Managers and Managing organisations; Information and Management; The Changing Environment embracing Economic Background, Employee relations, Marketing, Financial project and the Enterprise and society; Elective studies, Strategy and Planning including Competitive strategy, Energy strategy and exercise and the Future followed by Evaluation of learning and application. However underpinning the course was Management Team membership and profiling, self assessment and psychometric testing and analysis which although voluntary in part were fundamental to the approach of teaching and assessment. The work was then described in a history of the college which I purchased and studied at the end of my first week and is also a lost volume although it may have been Education and Leadership 1948-1984 Cornwall Jones which is still available via Amazon new and second hand.

The present programme contains the same features but reading between the lines has greater emphasis on global economy. Information technology is not highlighted whereas in 1984 there was limited knowledge and the subject was of major interest with many signing up for the subjective under elective studies. Another major issue then was Employer Employee relationships which were dominated in the UK by attempts to establish and maintain closed shops with Miners Strike underway and the rise of the Militant Tendency as part of the Labour party and Trade union network, whereas today national enterprises will transfer production between countries as necessary and most services and enterprises can be provided and managed internationally if employee problems become a major concern.

Following the course I studied my notes and course material over a six month period circulating notes to colleagues within my local authority as follows

Henley the Management College 4 pages 17th October 1984;
Management Teams and their composition (Missing);
Organisation Culture and conclusions 27 pages 26.11.1985
Management Information Systems 6 pages 10 October 1984;
The Office Electronic Office 1985 3 pages 16th October 1985;
Employer and Employee Relations 5 pages 22 10 1985;
Employer and Employee Relations 3 pages 19.10.1985;
Civil service and Local Government Incorporated 2 pages 23rd October 1985;
Management Information for Ministers 4 pages 23 10 1985;
Marketing 4 pages 24 October 1984;

As mentioned I also produced a special paper on the implications for local government which I sent to Michael Heseltine the Member of Parliament for Henley who was interested in Management issues. He received the paper shortly before he resigned as a Minister over the Westland’s affair but he wrote saying he was impressed and had circulated within Whitehall. At present I cannot locate the paper and the correspondence.

Prior to the course there was an introductory weekend which I was unable to attend. It was consequently necessary for me to visit over one day with my partner and our youngest daughter accompanied. From career and employer briefing the course and formed a preliminary view about my management personality and the preliminary visit was designed to assess the reality in the context of partners and children. At the time, confirmed subsequently, one was being assessed for membership of a special networking club which included head hunting recommendations and assessments. My knowledge of psychology and behaviour in groups was an asset from the outset.

The course itself commenced at 5.30 Monday September 3rd where the Tutor and Syndicate A members introduced themselves thus signalling the importance of the Syndicate group approach and the separateness from other course members which consequently arose as the course progressed. The group appeared constructed to contain a mix of management personalities about which I comment in the confidential section.

The Principal’s reception, dinner and introductory talk set the standard for the course. Two of the syndicates were invited to sit at the top table with other major guests.

The next two days were structured to provide a course overview and quickly make use of available resources such as the computer and the library.

An important feature was the evening sessions which included after dinner external speakers. I comment on some of the contributions later in this paper. The first week closed at lunch on the Saturday. I went out to football on the afternoon but returned for the rest of the weekend in college digesting the experience and preparing for the weekend ahead.
I enjoyed the Thames side location of the college and its grounds. The course was photographed on the third morning which I have retained together with framed certificate of completion.

We reassembled for a syndicate meeting following by Visitor Talk 5.15 to 21.30. I think it was during this second week that I discovered a creative colleague had fixed the phone box to arrange for free calls anywhere in the world regardless of their length! The second week ended at Friday lunchtime

The Third weekend commenced at 11 am on the Monday. A feature of the course was the formal diners where two of the syndicates joined the Principal and guests at the top table. The Tuesday evening saw what was described as the Governor’s dinner preceded by a reception at which attended the Chairman of Reed International, the Vice Chancellor of Brunel University, the former Permanent Secretary at the Department of Industry, the Chairman of the British Library Board, the Permanent Secretary the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Chairman of Lloyds Bank, the Permanent Secretary the Department of Employment, the President of Wilkinson Sword, the Chairman of the Trustees Savings Bank and an Executive Director of Lazard Brothers, together with wives in some instances. This indicates one level of the networking.

I have a note which suggests that I visited Oxford City on the Saturday afternoon. The Final dinner at which our syndicate sat on the top table was held on Thursday 27th September. We dispersed the following morning. On the evening of the 25th the syndicate held a dinner feast in a private room at an Indian Restaurant in Henley on Thames. We included a member of the college staff who was there to observe our interactions and behaviour as a group out in the world. I have included her letter of thanks to me. She was instrumental in making real one of my most imaginative and creative moments which became legendary. See below for pubic and confidential versions.

I have discovered a paper which reveals that for Elective studies I chose Computer appreciation with 5 sessions. The second was Time Management with four sessions and the third Budgeting and financial control. There was also private study which included sessions on one Sunday.

I listed my Personal Objectives as the opportunity to review management abilities and develop skills with particular attention to time and stress management. My Departmental interest was to review organisation and management issues in the light of industrial relations and the economic and financial situation. I saw the experience as also providing knowledge which would be of assistance to the local authority in terms of information technology, Industrial relations and organisation and cultural styles. I was able to conclude that all the objectives were met by the course. In terms of my appraisal sheet I was happy with the level of teaching and syndicate work but felt I would have benefited from more input by college staff.

I am including a three page photograph sheet in the open files which reminds that Syndicate A included someone employed by British Olivetti which given my participation as Training Course leader but work failure in 1959 some 25 years previously was disconcerting and amusing at the same time. Others members from the UK were senior management members of Norweb and Pedigree Petfoods and a chief executive with the rest holding overseas posts or from overseas including South African Gold Mining, Indian Oil, Bahamas Telecommunications, Pakistan BASF and Lloyds Banking Far East which included China

The college had facilities on campus for Tennis, Badminton, Squash, Putting and Croquet, an outdoor pool in summer and use of boats on the river which I remember partaking at least once.

Of Interest to me among other course colleagues was a senior member of Oxfam; a member of the Liverpool Daily Post and of regional TV, a manager for Norgas with whom I had subsequent contact but limited, and an Army Colonel more of whom later and a Health Authority Manager. The only female was a lawyer from British Steel. Banks and Utilities provided a fifth of members.

Another indication of the level of the course is on the open Day 13 September some 200 Managing and other senior Directors attended an Open Day from a comprehensive spread of top companies and organisations including Allied Breweries, The Atomic Energy research Establishment, BP Oil, the Bank of England, British Aerospace, British Airports Authority, British Gas, British Steel, British Telecom, Central Electricity Bard, Esso Europe Arthur Guiness and Sons, Harrods and the House of Frazer, ICI, the IBA, Kleinwort Benson, Kodak, J Lyons, Mercantile Credit, Samuel Montagu, the National Coal Board, The Stock Exchange, Trafalgar House PLC, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Commission, Welcome Biotechnology, George Wimpey.

The College staff included 6 Professors plus one Visiting Professor and four professors as visiting Fellows, some eighty teaching and research staff plus 50 administrative secretarial and support staff, We were provided with 55 pages of background notes on staff members.

During the course all students attended a number of key note speakers brought in by the college.

For me the greatest interest with the contribution from Dr James Husman Research manager of 3M Europe officially on the subject of Managing technological innovation. However the speaker provided unique insight into the creation and growth of the world wide company then and now and its philosophy which was to employ massive research and development division divided between a small group of creative who collective produced more for standing, then $50 million product enterprises than the rest of the research members which ran into thousands. This backed up all the information received and read about the role of true creatives in organisations. And their problems and risks. To day 3M has over 80000 employees producing more than 55000 products in 65 countries with 35 laboratories selling through retailers and distributors in 200 countries it has assets of $30156 billion in 2010 with a net income of £4085 billion US dollars in 2010.

The second contribution which influenced me at the time bear consideration 25 years later is that given by a member of the college who provided an overview of the political economic and business opportunities of the Middle East. These are notes made at time and do not necessarily reflected the intended impression given by the speaker.

Re Egypt the prediction was of a Stable country over the next decade

Re Egypt Gadafy as mad but sincere, supporting any revolutionary group anywhere in the world and provides training for revolutionaries.

Re Israel Country with significant internal problems including political extremism and between those of Eastern European and Oriental ancestry.

Re Lebanon A tragic country with settlement of problems for the long term future.

Re Iraq Tremendous Mineral potential with ambitious leader attempting to establish an Arab common front. Used both West and East technologists.

Afghanistan had a LSE trained revolutionary leader.

Re Iran had three power groups of Army, Communist party and Islamic religion. The army had been eliminated from power with Islam dominant. Civil war predicted in the future.

Re Syria prolonged Internal conflicts. Not oil producer.

Re Jordan was described as an under rated and underdeveloped country because of the lack of oil and gas fields as that time.

Re Kuwait had strong family rule reaching comprise with good infrastructure but with prediction of problems in future.

Re Saudi Arabia the potential largest producer of oil second to Russian in Western World. Extraordinary Kingdom with up to 4000 Prince and Princesses(?) and dissentions with the extended family as to future direction.

Re the seven Kingdoms which made up the United Arab Emirates was described as desperate with some interesting insights.

Re Oman and its ruler some colourful family history provided.

Re Sudan Concern expressed because of Christian Muslim conflict, succession of coups with two military and major question marks about future and use of aid money.

Re Yemen full of Russian and Cubans troops with feudal and tribal power structure.

Re Ethiopia and Somalia involvement of USA and Soviets in weapons testing.

The third special contribution was by Sir Adrian Cadbury provided a history of the firm and its and his approach which included reservation about conglomerates and diversification and emphasised he need to break down organisations into manageable enterprises and importance of worker participation, quality control and customer satisfaction.

The most important contribution was that given by the then college Principal, Professor Kempner who argued that the problem for advanced developed countries was an excess of Labour with an increasing working force within static populations compared with those in Asia the Middle East. He was however optimistic about economic situation over the rest of the century with countries having sufficient energy and food to provide for continuing economic growth but with inflation remaining a constant challenge. He predicted that growth areas with be information and digital technology, microelectronics, biochemical and energy production.

Other keynote speakers were Dr Heinz Lissok, the Principal Administrator at the office of the Direct General for Internal Market and Industrial Affairs of the Commission of European Communities and his paper was important alongside the work we undertook in relation to the Car Industry and British Energy Policy, These revealed that given the then size of the ECC and it positioning in relation to the Soviet Bloc, The USA, the Commonwealth and the emerging Asian markets there was overproduction in relation to Steel world wide, and internally overproduction of coal to demand and cost and synergy alliances in the car industry. There was need for great political cohesion in relation to key areas as well as overall economic and financial structures and policies. His talk was sober at times grimes. There was no idea that the Soviet bloc would collapse or that China would emerge as the great capitalist nation. Given the strong attendance on the course from India there was something in the wind.

This talk needs to view alongside that of Professor Bunting from the University of Reading who provide and overview of the ability of the world population as it expanded to feed itself via agricultural development and good management by 2000 and on to 2080.

An interesting contribution was made by Michael Kaser who covered the political and economic position of the Soviet Union via Comicom, Mr Kaser was Reader in Economics at Oxford University and a Fellow of St Anthony’s college.