Pressures and constraints on general management

A discussion of pressures and constraints on general management is not straightforward. Pressures and constraints can be seen both as external influences and as individually determined. This dual origin is important so that general managers can help themselves, and be helped, to be more in control of their jobs and their environment. Drawing on the findings from the Templeton tracer study of DGMs and from the Templeton DGMs' group, the paper considers a range of possible pressures and constraints on DGMs. It argues that an effective general manager will know which pressures and constraints are external and which are self-imposed and will know which can and should be changed.