Abstract
Social scientists are rare birds in the field of strategy, management, organization, and change. They are what Fred Emery called “thin red threads,” and he spent his life searching for and following them to add his own contribution on the path to becoming Australia’s greatest social scientist. His work is essential reading for open systems participative democratic strategic planning in the context of enterprise work organization redesign and for assuring the future of sustainable communities.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ackoff, R. L., & Emery, F. E. (1972). On purposeful systems. Aldine Atherton.
Alvarez, C. L., Diemer, J. A., & Stanford, M. L. (1999). Participative strategic planning for sustainable community forestry in Chihuahua, Mexico. Culture & Agriculture, 21(2), 19–28. https://doi.org/10.1525/cag.1999.21.2.19.
Angyal, A. (1941). Foundations for a science of personality. Harvard University Press.
Angyal, A. (1965). Neurosis and treatment. Wiley.
Babüroğlu, O. N. (1992). Tracking the development of the Emery-Trist systems paradigm (ETSP). Systems Practice, 5(3), 263–290. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01059844.
Emery, F. E. (1967). The next thirty years: Concepts, methods and anticipations. Human Relations, 20(3), 199–237. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872676702000301.
Emery, F. E. (1977). Futures we are in. Martinus Nijhoff.
Emery, F. E. (1993/1980). Educational paradigms: An epistemological revolution. In M. Emery (Ed.), Participative design for participative democracy (pp. 40–80). Australian National University: Centre for Continuing Education.
Emery, F. E. (1982). Socio-technical foundations for a new social order? Revised version of article that originally appeared in Human Relations, 35(12), 1095–1122. http://moderntimesworkplace.com/archives/ericsess/sessvol2/Soc_Order.pdf
Emery, F. E. (1993/1985). Matching effectivities to affordances in the design of jobs. In M. Emery (Ed.), Participative design for participative democracy (pp. 167–171). Centre for Continuing Education, Australian National University.
Emery, F. E. (1993/1990). Management by objectives. In M. Emery (Ed.), Particip`ative design for participative democracy (pp. 162–166). Centre for Continuing Education, Australian National University.
Emery, F. E. (1993a). An appreciation: Eric Landsdown Trist (1909–1993). Human Relations, 45(10), 1171–1176. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872679304601001.
Emery, M. (1993b). Participative design for participative democracy. Centre for Continuing Education, Australian National University.
Emery, F. E. (1997/1977). Active adaptation: The emergence of ideal-seeking systems. In E. Trist, F. Emery, & H. Murray (Eds.), The social engagement of social science: The socio-ecological perspective (Vol. 3, pp. 147–169). University of Pennsylvania Press.
Emery, F. E., & Thorsrud, E. (1976). Democracy at work: The report of the Norwegian industrial democracy program. Martinus Nijhoff Social Sciences Division.
Emery, F. E., & Trist, E. L. (1960/1969). Socio-technical systems. In F. E. Emery (Ed.), Systems Thinking (pp. 281–296). Penguin.
Emery, F. E., & Trist, E. L. (1965). The causal texture of organizational environments. Human Relations, 18, 21–32. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872676501800103.
Emery, F. E., & Trist, E. L. (1973). Towards a social ecology. Plenum.
James, D. (1992). Fred Emery: The man who reformed the workplace. Financial Review. https://www.afr.com/companies/fred-emery-the-man-who-reformed-the-workplace-19920904-kao8l
Merton, R. K. (1968/1949). Social theory and social structure. Free Press.
Savall, H. (1981). Work & people: An economic evaluation of job-enrichment. Clarendon Press.
Thorsrud, E., & Emery, F. E. (1970). Industrial democracy in Norway. Industrial Relations, 9(2), 187–196. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-232X.1970.tb00505.x.
Trist, E. (1981). The evolution of socio-technical systems: A conceptual framework and an action research program. Ontario Quality of Working Life Centre.
Trist, E., & Bamforth, K. (1993/1951). The stress of isolated dependence: The filling shift in the semi-mechanized longwall three-shift mining cycle. In E. Trist & H. Murray (Eds.), The social engagement of social science: The socio-technical perspective (Vol. 2, pp. 64–83). University of Pennsylvania Press.
Trist, E., Higgin, G., Murray, H., & Pollock, A. (1987/1963). Alternative work organizations: An exact comparison. In E. Trist & H. Murray (Eds.), The social engagement of social science: The socio-technical perspective (Vol. 2, pp. 84–105). University of Pennsylvania Press.
Trist, E., & Murray, H. (1993). Historical overview: The foundation and development of the Tavistock institute. In E. Trist & H. Murray (Eds.), The social engagement of social science: The socio-technical perspective (Vol. 2, pp. 1–34). University of Pennsylvania Press.
Further Reading
Emery, F. E. (1969). Systems thinking. Penguin.
Emery, F. E., & Thorsrud, E. (1976). Democracy at work: The report of the Norwegian industrial democracy program. Martinus Nijhoff Social Sciences Division.
Emery, M. (1993). Participative design for participative democracy. Centre for Continuing Education, Australian National University.
National Library of Australia (Trove): Papers of Fred and Merrelyn Emery, 1943–1997. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-246978398/findingaid
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Hillon, M.E. (2021). Emery, Fred: The Ideal Seeker. In: Szabla, D.B. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Organizational Change Thinkers. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38324-4_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38324-4_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-38323-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-38324-4
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences