Book Reviews: Modern Staff Training. By F. J. TICKNER. (London: University of London Press, Ltd. 1952. Pp. 159. 12s. 6d.)

• Author: W. Brooke Graves
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295200500460
• Published date: 01 December 1952
• Date: 01 December 1952
• Subject Matter: Articles

727

The

heart

of

the

book

lies

in

the

final

four

chapters

covering

about

170

pages.

These

chapters

are

fascinating,

provocative

although

quite

restrained,

and

highly

suggestive.

The

author

discusses

interest

groups,

the

proper

and

effective

organization

of

regulatory

agencies,

and

the

prob-

lem

of

providing

safeguards

against

arbitrary,

unwise,

and

irresponsible

regulatory

action.

The

basic

problem

which

the

author

squarely

faces

is

&dquo;the

search

for

techniques

of

organization

and

procedure

which

will

maintain

the

publicly-conditioned

point

of

view

among

administrators.&dquo;

Great

faith

is

placed

in

&dquo;the

complementary

contribution

of

men

of

different

competences,

the

facilities

for

institutional

research

and

analysis,

and

the

unity

and

coherence

that

come

from

hierarchical

control.&dquo;

Group

decision

is

seen

as

the

great

bulwark

against

the

&dquo;incompetence

of

the

single

mind.&dquo;

Perhaps

so,

but

the

history

of

the

independent

commissions

at

the

state

as

well

as

at

the

federal

level

suggests

the

dangers

of

the

institutional

process,

that

is,

&dquo;institutional

sluggishness,

failure

to

delegate,

and

failure

to

plan,&dquo;

have

been

more

apparent

than

the

advantages.

These

latter

chapters

are

a

significant

contribution

to

the

study

and

analysis

of

governmental

economic

controls

and

public

administration.

Princeton

University.

MARVER

BERNSTEIN.

Modern

Staff

Training.

By

F.

J.

TICKNER.

(London:

University

of

London

Press,

Ltd.

1952.

Pp.

159.

12s.

6d.)

This

brief

survey

of

present-day

training

needs

and

methods

was

prepared

by

the

former

Director

of

Training

and

Education

in

H.

M.

Treasury,

in

response

to

an

oft

expressed

need

for

a

&dquo;book

on

training.&dquo;

Its

scope

may

be

indicated

in

a

general

way

by

reference

to

the

headings

of

its

eleven

chapters:

training

needs

of

today,

training

in

the

small

unit,

two

chapters

on

training

in

the

large

organization,

training

in

the

office,

training

the

supervisor,

training

the

manager,

the

training

officer

and

his

organization,

training

methods,

the

training

staff,

and

advanced

training.

While

much

of

the

discussion

is

of

general

application,

the

emphasis

is

chiefly

on

training

problems

in

the

Civil

Service.

The

American

student

is

naturally

disposed

to

compare

the

British

practice

as

herein

described

and

analyzed

with

that

prevailing

in

the

United

States.

Although

the

author

has

given

a

scholarly

and

well-written

treatise

on

training

problems,

the

American

reader

is

likely

to

obtain

from

a

perusal

of

the

volume

something

quite

different

from

what

he

expected.

The

request

for

a

&dquo;book

on

training&dquo;

came

from

&dquo;colleagues

in

the

Civil

Service,

friends

in

industrial

and

commercial

undertakings,

and

visitors

from

overseas.&dquo;

This

fact,

along

with

the

meagre

list

of

references

in

the

Appendix

(which

is

no

fault

of

the

author

who

could

not

list