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Elliott Jaques
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Elliott Jaques (January 18, 1917 – March 8, 2003) was a Canadian psychoanalyst, social scientist and management consultant known as the originator of concepts such as corporate culture, midlife crisis, fair pay, maturation curves, time span of discretion (level of work)[1] and requisite organization, as a total system of managerial organization.[2]

Key Information

Biography

[edit]

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Jaques was educated at the University of Toronto and studied medicine at Johns Hopkins University, then received his Ph.D. in social relations from Harvard University, and qualification as psychoanalyst at the British Psychoanalytical Society. He was a founding fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Britain and was a visiting professor at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and honorary professor of the University of Buenos Aires.

During the Second World War, Jaques served as a major in the Canadian Army where,, in collaboration with Henry Murray of Harvard University, he established the Canadian War Office Selection Boards. He was assigned as liaison to the British Army War Office Psychiatry Division that developed their own War Office Selection Boards.

In 1949, he married the English actress Kay Walsh. They adopted a girl, Gemma. They divorced in 1956.

After the war Jaques remained in England and qualified under Austrian-British psychoanalyst Melanie Klein. She appreciated his help in preparation for the publication of her book Narrative of a Child Analysis (1961). Jaques also helped Klein to edit the manuscript of Envy and Gratitude (1957), evidence suggests that it was Jaques who suggested that the word "gratitude" should be included in the title of the book. He was a founding member of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in 1946. In 1964, he founded the School of Social Sciences at Brunel University London and served as its Professor and Head of School.[1]

Jaques moved from London to Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1991. He became a research professor at George Washington University. In 1999 Jaques established Requisite Organization International Institute, that operates as an educational and research group.

As a result of his work with different corporations, governments and U.S. Army, Jaques developed a scientific process that allows for the evaluation of the potential capability of individuals in the context of time-span of discretion, an instrument which measures work complexity in each role within the organisation. This approach has been used by US armed services and large public and private organisations around the world.

In 1965 Jaques published an essay on working patterns of creative geniuses in which he coined the phrase midlife crisis.

His development approach to organizational development makes him one of the early contributors to positive adult development.

He died in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 2003.

Work

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Glacier Project, 1952–1977

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The origins of Jaques's theories can be traced back to 1952, when Britain's Glacier Metal Company asked him to help to develop a worker participation plan. At one point, Jaques was asked if there was any importance to the fact that the salary of low-level workers was estimated on hourly, daily or weekly basis, while salary of executives was described as annual amount. The question 'was the finest gift I've ever been given', Jaques said. 'It was absolutely, bloody brilliant. That's when I started examining the significance of time.'[3] His work with Glacier Metal Company in London continued through 1977 and largely influenced the management theory. Peter Drucker called this work "the most extensive study of actual worker behavior in large-scale industry".[4]

Stratified Systems Theory of Requisite Organization, 1977–1999

[edit]

Jaques incorporated his findings during "Glacier investigations" into what was first known as Stratified Systems Theory of requisite organization. This major discovery served as a link between social theory and theory of organizations.

Human Capability and Its Maturation

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Jaques continued his development of theory of underlying Nature of Human Capability, that he first approached during his work with the US Army and this resulted in the discovery (with Kathryn Cason) of a method for evaluation of potential individual capability within the evaluation of Complexity of Information Processing.[5]

As a result of the research carried out for the US Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences and American and Australian companies on the study of mental complexity, it was found that individuals process information at work in four ways: declarative, cumulative, serial and parallel. This study demonstrated the interdependence of layers of the managerial hierarchy and each separate step in mental processing complexity.

From this work it was concluded that organizational life of intermittent steps in the nature of human capability reflects the essence of managerial hierarchical structure (Jaques, 1994).

Time-Span of Discretion

[edit]

As an outcome of the discovery and use of Time-span, work on Theory of the Nature of Time took place. This led to another major contribution of Dr.Jaques, the development of the Time-span of Discretion instrument, the ratio-scale measure for a construct in the social sciences, which measures the complexity of work in each role within the organization. The measure of how much responsibility an employee has is the concept Jaques is widely known for.[6]

Requisite Organization International Institute, 1999–present

[edit]

In 1999, The Requisite Organization International Institute was established by Co-founders Elliott Jaques and Kathryn Cason. Institute operates as research and educational centre providing support and consulting in implementation of principles of Requisite Organization worldwide.[7]

Jaques' ideas are still very influential in a practical study of organizations and the optimization of structures and systems that support productive work for the achievement of the organization's purpose. Jaques argued that the higher a person was positioned in a hierarchy, assuming the individual possessed a corresponding level of cognitive complexity, acquired skills and knowledge (gained through experience) and presuming that individual valued the work he or she was tasked, the longer he could work to complete a task without supervision. The time span of a CEO of a major institution might be 15–20 years. This concept enabled him to describe a "requisite organization" as one in which each level in the hierarchy had its own distinctive time span. If an organization had too many levels, then their time spans overlapped. If a manager at a higher level was ill-equipped in respect of his or her inherent mental processing capability, or lacked the required skills and knowledge the risk is they would interfere in the work of managers at a lower level generally propelled by their own anxiety and insecurity. The process of delegation would be undermined leading to organizational dysfunction.

With an understanding of mental processing capability and a hierarchy that supports the proficiency of work in the organization Jaques provided some insight into effective managerial practices that are aimed at freeing up the human potential in the organization. For example, Jaques advocates the importance of effectively assigning tasks to individuals in the organization delivered by contextualizing the significance of the task(s) to the organization's purpose in terms of output including clear deliverables in respect of quantity and quality and the time for delivery. Moreover, a manager has an obligation to provide coaching to his or her subordinates, and the manager is in fact accountable for his or her subordinates' outputs.

Selected awards

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  • Awarded the Joint Staff Certificate of Appreciation by General Colin Powell on behalf of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. Armed Forces "for outstanding contributions in the field of military leadership theory and instruction to all of the service departments of the United States".[8]
  • Department of the Army, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel "for outstanding achievement while serving as a member of the Total Army Personnel Task Force in...developing new and innovative approaches to achieve personnel economies and realign...along policy and operational lines."
  • Harry Levinson Award, American Psychological Foundation, Certificate of Commendation, for a lifetime of scientific contributions.

Publications

[edit]
  • The Changing Culture of a Factory: A Study of Authority and Participation in an Industrial Setting (London: Tavistock, 1951)
  • Measurement of Responsibility: A study of work, payment, and individual capacity (Tavistock, 1956) [Reprinted as ISBN 0-415-26443-X]
  • Equitable Payment: A General Theory of Work, Differential Payment, and Individual Progress (London: Heinemann, 1961)
  • Equitable Payment (London: Heinemann, 1963)
  • Time-Span Handbook: the Use of Time-Span of Discretion to Measure the Level of Work in Employment Roles and to Arrange an Equitable Payment Structure (London, Heinemann, 1964)
  • Product Analysis Pricing: A method for setting policies for the delegation of pricing decisions and the control of expense and profitability (Carbondale, Southern Illinois University Press, 1964) [with Wilfred Brown ]
  • Glacier Project Papers (London: Heinemann Educational, 1965) [with Wilfred Brown ] ISBN 0-435-85102-0
  • "Death and the Midlife Crisis", International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 1965.
  • Progression Handbook: How to Use Earnings Progression Data Sheets for Assessing Individual Capacity, for Progression, and for Manpower Planning and Development (London: Heinemann, 1967)
  • Work, creativity, and social justice (London: Heinemann Educational, 1970) ISBN 0-435-85479-8
  • A General Theory of Bureaucracy (London: Heinemann Educational, 1976) ISBN 0-435-82473-2
  • Health Services (London: Heinemann Educational, 1978) ISBN 0-435-82474-0
  • Levels of Abstraction in Logic and Human Action: A theory of discontinuity in the structure of mathematical logic, psychological behaviour, and social organisation. (London: Heinemann Educational, 1978) with R.O. Gibson and D.J. Isaac [Editors]
  • Executive Leadership: A Practical Guide to Managing Complexity (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 1994) ISBN 0-631-19313-8 [with Stephen D. Clement and Ronnie Lessem]
  • Human Capability: Study of Individual Potential and Its Application (London: Gower, 1994) ISBN 0-566-07652-7 [with Kathryn Cason]
  • Requisite Organization: Total System for Effective Managerial Organization and Managerial Leadership for the 21st Century (London: Gower, 1997) ISBN 0-566-07940-2
  • La Organizacion Requerida: Un Sistema Integrado Para Crear Organizaciones Eficaces y Aplicar el Liderazgo Gerencial en el Siglo XXI (Ediciones Granica, S.A., 2000) ISBN 950-641-303-7
  • Social Power and the CEO: Leadership and Trust in a Sustainable Free Enterprise System (Greenwood, 2002) ISBN 1-56720-551-8
  • The Life and Behavior of Living Organisms: A General Theory (Greenwood, 2002) ISBN 0-275-97501-0

Notes

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Elliott Jaques

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Elliott Jaques (January 18, 1917 – March 8, 2003) was a Canadian-born psychoanalyst, , and management consultant renowned for coining the term "" and developing foundational theories in organizational , including requisite organization and the time-span of discretion. Born in , Jaques graduated from the at age 18 in 1935, earned an M.D. from in 1940, and obtained a Ph.D. in social relations from in 1952. He trained in at the British Psychoanalytical Society under , with supervision from Paula Heimann and in child analysis, becoming a key figure in Kleinian . After serving in the Canadian military during and working as a , Jaques moved to in 1946, where he co-founded the of Human Relations and later established the School of Social Sciences at Brunel University in 1964. Jaques's early work focused on applying to organizations; in 1951, he published The Changing Culture of a Factory, based on his research at the Glacier Metal Company, which introduced the concept of corporate culture and explored authority and social systems in workplaces. His seminal 1965 paper, "Death and the Midlife Crisis," published in the International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, described the psychological transition in the mid-30s as individuals confront mortality and shift from innovative to symbolic creativity, marking the origin of the "" concept. In management theory, Jaques pioneered the time-span of discretion, a metric for assessing role complexity based on the longest planned task duration—from months for entry-level roles to decades for executive positions—which informed hierarchical structures and employee capability matching. This evolved into his stratified systems theory and requisite organization framework, outlined in works like Requisite Organization (1989, revised 1996) and Human Capability (1994, with Kathryn Cason), emphasizing scientifically grounded leadership, fair pay aligned with potential, and predictable human development stages. His ideas influenced global corporations, military selections, and social sciences, though they sparked controversy for advocating strict hierarchies amid egalitarian trends in human resources. Jaques authored over 20 books, consulted for over 55 years, and in 1999 founded the Requisite Organization International Institute before relocating to the United States in 1991.

Biography

Early Life and Education

Elliott Jaques was born on January 18, 1917, in , . Jaques exhibited exceptional academic talent from a young age, earning a B.A. with honors in science from the in 1935 at the age of 18. He then pursued medical training in the United States, completing his M.D. at School of Medicine in in 1940, at age 23. From 1940 to 1945, during , Jaques served in the Canadian Army Medical Corps, where he rose to the rank of major while stationed in . In this role, he contributed to the Selection Board, focusing on psychological assessments for selecting army officers, and collaborated with American psychologists such as from ; these experiences in profoundly shaped his emerging perspectives on and human development. Following the war, Jaques briefly transitioned toward psychoanalytic training in London.

Professional Career

In 1946, Elliott Jaques moved to London to begin psychoanalytic training at the British Psychoanalytical Society, where he underwent personal analysis with Melanie Klein and qualified as a psychoanalyst in 1950. This period marked his entry into professional psychoanalysis, building on his earlier medical and psychiatric background. Concurrently, he became a founding member of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in 1946 and was employed there from 1947 to 1951, where his work centered on group dynamics and the study of social systems within organizations. During this time, Jaques also completed his Ph.D. in social relations at Harvard University in 1952, with his dissertation exploring cultural changes in industrial settings. Following his time at , Jaques transitioned into academic and consulting roles that bridged and . In 1964, he founded and served as head of the School of Social Sciences at Brunel University in , a position he held until 1980, during which he advanced interdisciplinary studies in organization and social systems. In 1965, while at Brunel, he introduced the concept of the in a seminal paper on psychological development. Throughout the and 1960s, he began extensive consulting engagements, applying psychoanalytic insights to organizational challenges. Jaques' consulting career expanded internationally, including long-term work with the U.S. Army on and structure, as well as various corporations and institutions like the , emphasizing the integration of psychological principles into managerial frameworks. In the late 1980s, after leaving Brunel, he returned to the , where he established a private practice in the area focused on and management consultation, continuing this work into the 1990s despite declining health. He also took on a professorship in at in 1991, further solidifying his transatlantic influence until his death in 2003.

Personal Life and Death

Elliott Jaques was previously married to the English actress , with whom he adopted a daughter, Gemma. He later married Kathryn Cason, a management consultant, with whom he collaborated on organizational projects and co-authored the book Human Capability in 1994. He was also stepfather to Cason's children, Steven and Rebecca. Jaques and Cason raised a family that included three children and three grandchildren. In his later years, Jaques resided in . He died there on March 8, 2003, at the age of 86 from an infection that damaged his heart.

Theoretical Contributions

Glacier Project

The Glacier Project commenced in 1947 when Elliott Jaques established initial contacts with the Glacier Metal Company, a bearing manufacturer in , , and formally launched in mid-1948 with funding from the Committee on Industrial Productivity’s Human Factors Panel. Early in the project, Jaques collaborated with , drawing on Bion's expertise in group to explore unconscious dynamics in workplace groups, though their approaches diverged by 1952. The initiative, which continued until 1977 under the auspices of the of Human Relations, employed a social-analytic methodology involving in-depth employee interviews, surveys, and facilitated group discussions to examine the company's social systems. Through this fieldwork, Jaques identified critical insights into unconscious group processes, where hidden anxieties manifested in collective behaviors that disrupted productivity, such as avoidance of responsibility. He also highlighted role ambiguity as a source of conflict in factory environments, where unclear authority lines led to inefficiencies and interpersonal tensions among workers and supervisors. Furthermore, the project underscored the essential role of structured hierarchies to maintain order and accountability in industrial settings, arguing that factories required defined chains of command to mitigate chaos from unstructured interactions. The project's seminal output was Jaques' 1951 book, The Changing Culture of a Factory, which documented these observations and introduced the concept of social defense mechanisms—unconscious strategies organizations adopt to protect members from anxiety, such as rigid routines or . This publication marked a pioneering application of to , based on direct observations at . In the and , the project expanded beyond initial to encompass studies on executive , focusing on , and compensation systems, which linked fair pay to perceived equity in roles and responsibilities. These investigations built on ongoing consultations with company , including managing director Wilfred Brown, to refine managerial practices. The endeavor faced significant hurdles, including resistance from trade unions wary of psychoanalytic intrusions into and skepticism from regarding the relevance of unconscious processes to business operations. Internal tensions at the also prompted Jaques to depart in 1952, shifting the project to independent operation. Nevertheless, these obstacles spurred the creation of practical consulting tools, such as structured social analysis frameworks, for diagnosing and addressing organizational dysfunctions. This extended fieldwork at provided the empirical groundwork for Jaques' subsequent development of the Requisite framework.

Requisite Organization Framework

The Requisite Framework emerged from Elliott Jaques' beginning in the 1950s, building on insights from organizational studies at the Metal Company, and was formalized in his 1976 book A General Theory of , which outlined a systematic approach to managerial hierarchies. This work laid the groundwork for a comprehensive theory of organizational design, later expanded in Requisite : A Total System for Effective Managerial and Managerial Leadership for the (1989), with a revised second edition in 1996 that refined its practical applications. The framework represents Jaques' synthesis of empirical observations into a normative model for structuring enterprises to achieve and equity. At its core, the framework asserts that organizations achieve optimal performance by aligning roles, , and within stratified managerial layers that correspond to the inherent complexity of tasks, ensuring that processes match the demands of work at each level. This stratified systems approach emphasizes vertical hierarchies where each layer builds upon the previous one, with clear boundaries to prevent overlap and confusion in responsibilities. Key components include precise role definitions that specify outputs and inputs, robust managerial that assigns full responsibility for subordinate performance to superiors, and a compensation tied to the objective level of work complexity rather than personal traits or subjective evaluations. By focusing on these elements, the framework aims to foster -driven and reduce dysfunctions common in misaligned . During the and , Jaques and his associates applied the framework through consulting engagements with global corporations, demonstrating its utility in redesigning managerial systems for enhanced productivity and strategic alignment. Notable implementations included projects at and heavy firms like Comalco (later part of Rio Tinto), where the framework guided organizational restructuring to improve and clarity. Similar applications occurred in sectors such as defense, with ongoing U.S. Army initiatives starting in 1978 that extended into the , adapting the model to hierarchical command structures. The framework evolved through revisions in the 1990s, particularly in the 1996 edition, which integrated economic considerations—such as aligning organizational design with market dynamics and —and philosophical dimensions, including notions of in work distribution and realization. These updates broadened its scope beyond initial bureaucratic models, positioning it as a holistic for 21st-century that balances efficiency with ethical imperatives.

Core Concepts

Elliott Jaques introduced the concept of time-span of discretion as a measure of role complexity, defined as the targeted completion time of the longest task or sequence of tasks assigned to a role before feedback from a manager is expected. This metric objectively quantifies the level of discretion and uncertainty an individual must handle, with roles assigned to one of seven strata based on the longest predictable task duration: Stratum I (hours to 3 months), Stratum II (3 to 12 months), Stratum III (1 to 2 years), Stratum IV (2 to 5 years), Stratum V (5 to 10 years), Stratum VI (10 to 20 years), and Stratum VII (20 years or more). The assignment to a stratum follows from identifying the maximum time-span through analysis of role responsibilities, ensuring alignment with organizational layers. Central to Jaques' framework is human capability, which he described as an innate cognitive capacity that matures progressively over an individual's lifespan across the same seven strata, enabling increasing in problem-solving and . Maturation occurs in phases tied to age and psychological development, with transitions often peaking around midlife; early strata (I and II) involve concrete, reactive thinking focused on immediate, tangible tasks, while mid-level strata (III and IV) shift to symbolic representations of patterns and systems. Higher strata (V to VII) demand abstract, conceptual reasoning—such as envisioning long-term strategic impacts or integrating disparate variables into holistic frameworks—with full realization typically by late adulthood for those reaching Stratum VII. This progression reflects a natural evolution from handling simple, step-by-step operations to grappling with indefinite futures and complex interdependencies. Jaques coined the term "" in his 1965 paper, characterizing it as a profound psychological transition around age 35–40, where individuals confront the finitude of life and shift from boundless potential to the actualization of limited achievements. This phase often involves intense self-doubt, loss of creative zest, and reevaluation of identity, potentially leading to manic defenses like overwork or new pursuits to mask underlying depressive anxieties about mortality. Drawing from psychoanalytic observations, Jaques cited cases among creative geniuses, such as artists and composers experiencing abrupt declines in output or stylistic shifts—exemplified by a noted spike in death rates between ages 35 and 39 among 310 historical figures including Mozart and Chopin—attributing these to the crisis's unresolved tensions. These concepts integrate to form the basis of in Jaques' theory: time-span gauges the inherent complexity and discretion in a , which must be matched to an individual's current capability to avoid frustration or underutilization, thereby optimizing performance and equity across hierarchies. When aligned, this matching supports natural maturation arcs, mitigating midlife disruptions by ensuring roles foster cognitive growth rather than stagnation.

Legacy and Influence

International Institute

The Requisite Organization International Institute (ROII) was established in 1999 by Elliott Jaques and Kathryn Cason in , , as an educational and research organization dedicated to advancing the development, implementation, and expansion of Requisite Organization theory. This initiative extended Jaques' late-career efforts to systematize his stratified into practical managerial applications. Following Jaques' death in 2003, the ROII has sustained and expanded its activities through close association with Cason Hall & Co. Publishers, focusing on global dissemination of his work via research support, educational services, and resources for practitioners implementing . The institute provides training programs on principles, aimed at managers and seeking to align structure, accountability, and human capability for effective leadership. Key initiatives include maintaining an active online presence with a , bookstore, and materials on topics such as work complexity and time-span measurement, facilitating worldwide access to foundational texts and tools. These efforts have supported applications of the theory in diverse organizational settings, including collaborations with professional networks promoting science-based management practices. As of 2025, the ROII remains operational through its website, continuing to influence human resources and organizational design by providing ongoing access to Jaques' validated methodologies for contemporary managerial challenges.

Awards and Honors

Elliott Jaques received several prestigious awards recognizing his pioneering work in organizational psychology and management consulting. These honors underscored the impact of his interdisciplinary approach, bridging psychoanalysis with practical applications in workplace structures and leadership. In 2000, Jaques was awarded the Harry Levinson Award by the Society of Consulting Psychology, Division 13 of the , for his distinguished career and impressive accomplishments in advancing the field of consulting . This recognition highlighted his innovative theories on managerial and employee capability assessment, which had influenced organizational practices worldwide. Earlier, in 1992, on the occasion of his 75th birthday, Jaques received the Joint Staff Certificate of Appreciation from the U.S. , presented by General , for his outstanding contributions to military leadership and . This award validated the application of his Requisite Organization framework in enhancing command structures and processes within the U.S. Army. These accolades affirmed Jaques' successful transition from clinical to , demonstrating how his empirical studies on time-span of discretion and role complexity had earned broad professional validation across psychological and domains.

Publications

Major Books

Elliott Jaques authored over 20 books throughout his career, many of which expanded on his research into , human capability, and managerial structures. These works served as key vehicles for articulating his core concepts, such as time-span of discretion and stratified systems theory, drawing from empirical studies and theoretical developments. His major books include detailed analyses of workplace dynamics and broader syntheses of behavioral principles. The Changing Culture of a Factory, published in 1951 by Publications, provides an in-depth analysis of the Project at the Glacier Metal Company, examining social and organizational changes over three years. The book details the factory's background, including its history and 1948 , and explores shifts in departments, councils, and committees, with a focus on , executive systems, and social adaptation to change. The Measurement of Responsibility: A Study of Work, Payment, and Individual Capacity, issued in 1956 by Publications (with a U.S. edition from ), introduces the time-span of as a primary metric for evaluating responsibility and equitable payment. It presents a framework for assessing work complexity based on the longest period between task assignment and , linking individual capacity to organizational payment systems. A General Theory of Bureaucracy, released in 1976 by Heinemann in and Halsted Press in New York, formalizes Jaques' stratified systems theory as applied to . Spanning 412 pages, the book integrates nearly three decades of research to argue that properly structured enhances and , rather than stifling it, through layered and responsibility aligned with . Requisite Organization, first published in 1989 by Cason Hall & Co. Publishers and revised in 1996 by Gower Publishing (later editions by in 1997 and 2006), offers a comprehensive guide to building effective managerial structures based on human capability and stratified systems. The 334-page revised edition outlines practical steps for CEOs and HR professionals to implement a total system for , organizational , and , emphasizing adaptability and morale enhancement. The Life and Behavior of Living Organisms: A General Theory, published in 2002 by Praeger (an imprint of ABC-CLIO), synthesizes Jaques' late-career ideas on capability development across biological, psychological, and social domains. The 296-page work explores the essential nature of living organisms, contrasting them with nonliving matter, and extends his theories of time-span and potential to interdisciplinary applications in and . The Form of Time, published in 1982 by Heinemann, elaborated on the concept of time-span as a fundamental dimension of experience in work settings. He proposed a dual structure of time—the sequential axis of past-present-future and the structural axis of potentiality—arguing that organizational roles must align with individuals' capacity to handle time horizons, from short-term tasks to multi-year strategies. Drawing from longitudinal studies at and beyond, the work illustrated how mismatches in time-span lead to stress and inefficiency, providing a framework for assessing role complexity without numerical overload.

Key Articles

Elliott Jaques' seminal article "Social Systems as a Defense Against Persecutory and Depressive Anxiety," published in 1955 as a contribution to New Directions in Psycho-Analysis, drew on his observations from the Glacier Metal Company project to explore how organizational structures function as collective psychological defenses. In this work, Jaques applied Melanie Klein's psychoanalytic concepts of persecutory and depressive anxiety to industrial settings, arguing that social systems in factories and bureaucracies unconsciously mitigate employees' fears of failure, loss, and internal conflict by distributing responsibility and creating ritualized roles. This early insight into group dynamics highlighted the Glacier Project's role in revealing how work environments serve as adaptive mechanisms against underlying anxieties, influencing subsequent studies in organizational psychoanalysis. In his 1965 article "Death and the Midlife Crisis," published in the International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, Jaques introduced the term "midlife crisis" to describe a universal psychological shift occurring around ages 35 to 40, based on biographical analyses of over 300 artists, writers, and composers. He detailed how this period involves a confrontation with personal mortality and finitude, leading to changes in creative output—such as a decline in productivity followed by a pivot to more profound, symbolic works—and provided clinical examples from psychoanalytic practice to illustrate symptoms like depression and reevaluation of life's purpose. The article emphasized the crisis's roots in the realization of time's limits, linking it to broader implications for career development and emotional maturity in professional contexts. During the 1970s, Jaques published several articles that served as precursors to his comprehensive theory of , focusing on executive roles and organizational stratification. In pieces such as "Too Many Management Levels" (1965, extended in 1970s discussions) in California Management Review, he examined how excessive or misaligned hierarchical layers hinder executive decision-making and . These works critiqued traditional while advocating for "requisite" structures based on time-span of , using case studies from industrial settings to demonstrate how executive roles require progressively longer planning horizons to manage complexity effectively. Jaques argued that properly calibrated executive positions prevent confusion and enhance organizational health, laying groundwork for his stratified . In the 1990s, Jaques contributed articles to management journals emphasizing global applications of his theories, particularly in multinational contexts. His 1990 piece "In Praise of Hierarchy" in defended stratified managerial systems as essential for coordinating , using examples from international firms to show how requisite enables effective and . Later works, such as "Requisite Organization" (1989, revisited in 1990s journals like Consulting Psychology Journal), applied time-span and capability concepts to global executive challenges, advocating for universal principles adaptable to diverse economic systems. These publications highlighted practical implementations in worldwide enterprises, underscoring hierarchy's role in fostering accountability amid .

References

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  39. https://www.routledge.com/Requisite-Organization-A-Total-System-for-Effective-Managerial-Organization-and-Managerial-Leadership-for-the-21st-Century/Jaques/p/book/9780566079405
  40. https://www.amazon.com/Form-Time-Elliott-Jaques/dp/084481394X
  41. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2391394
  42. http://discourse.iapct.org/uploads/short-url/nROXgRK20Df97AZxacQy1Lk2nBP.pdf
  43. https://conversableeconomist.com/2022/12/30/jaques-in-1965-original-meaning-of-midlife-crisis/
  44. https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/05/the-invention-of-the-midlife-crisis/561203/
  45. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=qIZ3rdMAAAAJ&hl=en
  46. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-social-policy/article/elliott-jaques-a-general-theory-of-bureaucracy-heinemann-london-1976-xii-412-pp-680/8732D5D5A7EF85D5A8C7A4146D33700E
  47. https://hbr.org/1990/01/in-praise-of-hierarchy
  48. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/In-praise-of-hierarchy.-Jaques/67a9c08a96274e4b7666563c8410e72dca17710f
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