Overview

Per capita income in Singapore has gone from $500 to more than $20,000 in a little over 25 years. Edgar Schein, a social psychologist, with research interest in organizational studies, examines the cultural history of the key institutions that spawned this economic miracle. Through interviews and full access to Singapore's Economic Development Board (EDB), Schein shows how economic development was successfully promoted. He delves into the individual relationships and the overall structure that contributed to the EBD's effectiveness in propelling Singapore, one of Asia's ""little dragons"" into the modern era. In his foreword, Lester Thurow locates Shein's organizational and case-specific account within a larger economic and comparative framework. Over a period of two years Schein studies how the EDB was created, the kind of leadership it provided, the management structure it used, the human resource policies it pursued, and how it influenced other organizations within the Singapore government. Schein sat in on EDB meetings and extensively interviewed current and former members of the board, Singapore's leaders who created the board, and businesspeople who have dealt with the board. His book intertwines the perspectives of the board's members and its investor clients in an analysis that uses both organization and cross-cultural theory. Although there are studies of comparable Japanese and Korean organizations, this is a detailed analysis of the internal structure and functioning of the economic development body of Singapore, a key player in the Asian and world markets.

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Reviews

Schein's readers will find in this book a source of inspiration: the simple fact that good management works. In addition to its theoretical and practical strengths, Strategic Pragmatism is particularly relevant for cross-cultural understanding. Western business managers, corporate executives, government agencies and international organizations' officers have lacked books whch clinically analyse the anatomy, physiology and psychology of Asian, non-Japanese organizations. This book clearly fills part of the gap. --Philippe Lasserre, Professor of Strategy and Management, INSEAD Euro Asia Centre Ed Schein's truly original book recreates the cultural history of a key institution which made possible the miracle of Singapore, one of East Asia's little dragons. As far as I know, there is nothing to compare which what Schein has done in this study. Through detailed interviewing and full access to Singapore's Economic Development Board (EDB) records, Schein has vividly illuminated the workings of the organization which provided leadership in transforming Singapore into a dynamic industrial city and a financial center for the world economy. --Lucian W. Pye, Profesor of Political Scenice, MIT.

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