Fred Emery
Encyclopedia
Frederick Edmund Emery, nick Fred, (27 August 1925 – 10 April 1997) was an Australian psychologist
. He was one of the pioneers in the field of Organizational development (OD), particularly in the development of theory around participative work design
structures such as self-managing teams. He was widely regarded as one of the finest social scientist
s of his generation. His contribution to the theory and practice of organizational life will remain important well into the 21st century, particularly amongst those who feel uncomfortable with hierarchical bureaucracy and want to replace it with something more human and democratic.
, as the son of a drover. He left school as Dux of Fremantle Boys' High in Western Australia, aged only fourteen. He gained his honours degree in science from the University of Western Australia
in 1946, and joined the teaching staff of the Department in 1947. He subsequently spent nine years on the staff of the Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne, where he obtained his PhD in 1953. During 1951-52, he held a UNESCO Fellowship in social sciences and was attached to the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in the UK.
A psychologist
by training, his academic appointment at Melbourne University was where he made significant contributions to rural sociology
, CPA, and the effects of film and television viewing.
He left Australia
in 1957 and went to London to join the staff of the Tavistock Institute, where the majority of his early work was then done. He had worked with Eric Trist
on the recently discovered concept of sociotechnical systems
in 1951-52 when he was UNESCO Research Fellow. This was where he wished to be and he returned to the Tavistock Institute
to continue to work with Trist. He subsequently published 'The Characteristics of Sociotechnical Systems' in 1959.
Constantly drawn towards testing social science theory in field settings, he and Eric Trist
, one of his closest intellectual collaborators, and other colleagues, established "open socio-technical systems theory" as an alternative paradigm for organisational design - field-tested on a national scale in Norway, in partnership with Einar Thorsrud
.
After his return to Australia, he set about designing a new method to bring in jointly optimized sociotechnical systems, one designed for diffusion of the concept rather than proof that there was an alternative to autocracy in the workplace. That method is called the Participative Design Workshop and has been used in Australia and many other countries since 1971. It totally replaces the old 9 step method used in Norway.
Sociotechnical systems is one part of a comprehensive theoretical framework called Open Systems Theory (OST). Two of Emery's and Trist's key publications were: "The Causal Texture of Organisational Environments" (1965) - which became a citation classic - and "Towards a Social Ecology" (1972). These publications are the groundwork on which Fred Emery developed OST.
He returned to Australia in 1969, and went to the Australian National University
(ANU). He was a Senior Research Fellow there to November 1979, first in the Department of Sociology, RSSS, and then from 1974, at the Centre for Continuing Education. Fred has also been Visiting Professor in Social Systems Science at Wharton's Department of Social Systems Sciences and spent 1967-68 at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioural Sciences at Stanford.
He was awarded the first Elton Mayo
award in 1988 by the Australian Psychological Society
and received a DSc from Macquarie University
in 1992.
At the ANU Emery continued his action research
in industry and the public sector, and developed new tools for the diffusion of democracy in organisations and in communities. He also attended to a backlog of writing. Within the next 10 years he authored, co-authored, or edited 10 books for publication, and published around 30 papers.
In 1979 when his CCE Fellowship expired, efforts were made by some of his colleagues to find a permanent post for him at the ANU, but to no avail. Thus, long before their numbers swelled and their own association was formed, Emery became one of Australia's outstanding Independent Scholars. By 1985 he had published at least another 15 journal articles (a flow which continued to his last year), and governments, enterprises, students, universities, and many others, from this country and elsewhere, continued to seek his expertise, and later continued as a consultant. In this later period, he and Merrelyn Emery refined the Search Conference participative planning process (designed by Fred Emery and Eric Trist in 1958). In the final two years of his life, he co-edited the third and final volume of the "Tavistock anthology" being published by the University of Pennsylvania Press - The Social Engagement of Social Science.
Emery died at his home on 10 April 1997 at the age of 71 in Canberra, Australia.
themselves and the machines and other resources with which they worked, to achieve their goals
and maintain their ideals and values, in the face of what he recognised as often "turbulent
environments". He made regular contributions to Business Review Weekly, consistently demonstrating his critical intelligence and willingness to challenge.
He knew that being ahead of one's time can be difficult: "I am inclined to agree with Max Born, the German physicist, who reckoned that the acceptance of a new quantum theory would occur only with the passing away of the old physics professors. The acceptance will await a new generation that starts off with a question mark." One story which illustrates this (and perhaps explains some of the reluctance to grant tenure at ANU) was in 1975 when Fred and Merrelyn Emery [then both at the Centre for Continuing Education, Australian National University] published a book which, among other things, discussed the neurological effects of television viewing (1). In response to a press article about the book in a university publication (2), six professors and heads of departments (zoology, physiology, pharmacology, psychology, neurobiology, behavioural biology) wrote a letter (3) which strongly criticised the book and abused the authors. The six professors outlined what they considered to be "the current limits of scientifically acceptable investigation of the nervous system" and after criticising the Emerys and their work concluded that the article about the Emerys' book "reflects upon the standards of brain research done in this University by those who are in it for the sake of finding out how a nervous system really works rather than for the support or refutation of a particular social issue". It would seem that the professors' case rested primarily on their collective prestige, since not only had they not read the Emerys' book, but their specific criticisms did not stand up to scrutiny (4).
The three books that perhaps best convey his thinking are Toward a Social Ecology from 1972 with Eric Trist
, On purposeful systems from 1972 with Russell Ackoff, and Futures We're In from 1977. He also edited for Penguin two volumes of readings called Systems Thinking (the initial volume was reprinted six times), which will long remain a staple resource on the origins and development of open systems thinking throughout the life sciences.
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Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
. He was one of the pioneers in the field of Organizational development (OD), particularly in the development of theory around participative work design
Work design
In organizational development , work design is the application of Socio-Technical Systems principles and techniques to the humanization of work....
structures such as self-managing teams. He was widely regarded as one of the finest social scientist
Social Scientist
Social Scientist is a New Delhi based journal in social sciences and humanities published since 1972....
s of his generation. His contribution to the theory and practice of organizational life will remain important well into the 21st century, particularly amongst those who feel uncomfortable with hierarchical bureaucracy and want to replace it with something more human and democratic.
Biography
Emery was born in Narrogin, Western AustraliaNarrogin, Western Australia
Narrogin is a large town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, southeast of Perth on the Great Southern Highway between Pingelly and Wagin...
, as the son of a drover. He left school as Dux of Fremantle Boys' High in Western Australia, aged only fourteen. He gained his honours degree in science from the University of Western Australia
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia was established by an Act of the Western Australian Parliament in February 1911, and began teaching students for the first time in 1913. It is the oldest university in the state of Western Australia and the only university in the state to be a member of the...
in 1946, and joined the teaching staff of the Department in 1947. He subsequently spent nine years on the staff of the Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne, where he obtained his PhD in 1953. During 1951-52, he held a UNESCO Fellowship in social sciences and was attached to the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in the UK.
A psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
by training, his academic appointment at Melbourne University was where he made significant contributions to rural sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, CPA, and the effects of film and television viewing.
He left Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1957 and went to London to join the staff of the Tavistock Institute, where the majority of his early work was then done. He had worked with Eric Trist
Eric Trist
Eric Trist was a British scientist and leading figure in the field of Organizational development . He was one of the founders of the Tavistock Institute for Social Research in London.-Biography:...
on the recently discovered concept of sociotechnical systems
Sociotechnical systems
Sociotechnical systems in organizational development is an approach to complex organizational work design that recognizes the interaction between people and technology in workplaces. The term also refers to the interaction between society's complex infrastructures and human behaviour...
in 1951-52 when he was UNESCO Research Fellow. This was where he wished to be and he returned to the Tavistock Institute
Tavistock Institute
The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations is a British charity concerned with group behaviour and organisational behaviour. It was launched in 1946, when it separated from the Tavistock Clinic.-History of the Tavistock:...
to continue to work with Trist. He subsequently published 'The Characteristics of Sociotechnical Systems' in 1959.
Constantly drawn towards testing social science theory in field settings, he and Eric Trist
Eric Trist
Eric Trist was a British scientist and leading figure in the field of Organizational development . He was one of the founders of the Tavistock Institute for Social Research in London.-Biography:...
, one of his closest intellectual collaborators, and other colleagues, established "open socio-technical systems theory" as an alternative paradigm for organisational design - field-tested on a national scale in Norway, in partnership with Einar Thorsrud
Einar Thorsrud
Einar Thorsrud was a Norwegian psychologist, researcher and professor at theNorwegian Institute of Technology in Trondheim and University of Oslo, who is known for his work in the field of organizational development , particularly in the development of theory around participative work design...
.
After his return to Australia, he set about designing a new method to bring in jointly optimized sociotechnical systems, one designed for diffusion of the concept rather than proof that there was an alternative to autocracy in the workplace. That method is called the Participative Design Workshop and has been used in Australia and many other countries since 1971. It totally replaces the old 9 step method used in Norway.
Sociotechnical systems is one part of a comprehensive theoretical framework called Open Systems Theory (OST). Two of Emery's and Trist's key publications were: "The Causal Texture of Organisational Environments" (1965) - which became a citation classic - and "Towards a Social Ecology" (1972). These publications are the groundwork on which Fred Emery developed OST.
He returned to Australia in 1969, and went to the Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
(ANU). He was a Senior Research Fellow there to November 1979, first in the Department of Sociology, RSSS, and then from 1974, at the Centre for Continuing Education. Fred has also been Visiting Professor in Social Systems Science at Wharton's Department of Social Systems Sciences and spent 1967-68 at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioural Sciences at Stanford.
He was awarded the first Elton Mayo
Elton Mayo
George Elton Mayo was an Australian psychologist, sociologist and organization theorist.He lectured at the University of Queensland from 1911 to 1923 before moving to the University of Pennsylvania, but spent most of his career at Harvard Business School , where he was professor of industrial...
award in 1988 by the Australian Psychological Society
Australian Psychological Society
The Australian Psychological Society is a professional association established to represent psychologists in Australia. The APS has more than 18,500 members, making it the largest professional body representing psychologists in Australia...
and received a DSc from Macquarie University
Macquarie University
Macquarie University is an Australian public teaching and research university located in Sydney, with its main campus situated in Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of Sydney...
in 1992.
At the ANU Emery continued his action research
Action research
Action research or participatory action research – is a reflective process of progressive problem solving led by individuals working with others in teams or as part of a "community of practice" to improve the way they address issues and solve problems. Action research is done simply by action,...
in industry and the public sector, and developed new tools for the diffusion of democracy in organisations and in communities. He also attended to a backlog of writing. Within the next 10 years he authored, co-authored, or edited 10 books for publication, and published around 30 papers.
In 1979 when his CCE Fellowship expired, efforts were made by some of his colleagues to find a permanent post for him at the ANU, but to no avail. Thus, long before their numbers swelled and their own association was formed, Emery became one of Australia's outstanding Independent Scholars. By 1985 he had published at least another 15 journal articles (a flow which continued to his last year), and governments, enterprises, students, universities, and many others, from this country and elsewhere, continued to seek his expertise, and later continued as a consultant. In this later period, he and Merrelyn Emery refined the Search Conference participative planning process (designed by Fred Emery and Eric Trist in 1958). In the final two years of his life, he co-edited the third and final volume of the "Tavistock anthology" being published by the University of Pennsylvania Press - The Social Engagement of Social Science.
Emery died at his home on 10 April 1997 at the age of 71 in Canberra, Australia.
Summary of his work
Emery had a prime interest in the nature of work and in particular in how people organisedthemselves and the machines and other resources with which they worked, to achieve their goals
and maintain their ideals and values, in the face of what he recognised as often "turbulent
environments". He made regular contributions to Business Review Weekly, consistently demonstrating his critical intelligence and willingness to challenge.
He knew that being ahead of one's time can be difficult: "I am inclined to agree with Max Born, the German physicist, who reckoned that the acceptance of a new quantum theory would occur only with the passing away of the old physics professors. The acceptance will await a new generation that starts off with a question mark." One story which illustrates this (and perhaps explains some of the reluctance to grant tenure at ANU) was in 1975 when Fred and Merrelyn Emery [then both at the Centre for Continuing Education, Australian National University] published a book which, among other things, discussed the neurological effects of television viewing (1). In response to a press article about the book in a university publication (2), six professors and heads of departments (zoology, physiology, pharmacology, psychology, neurobiology, behavioural biology) wrote a letter (3) which strongly criticised the book and abused the authors. The six professors outlined what they considered to be "the current limits of scientifically acceptable investigation of the nervous system" and after criticising the Emerys and their work concluded that the article about the Emerys' book "reflects upon the standards of brain research done in this University by those who are in it for the sake of finding out how a nervous system really works rather than for the support or refutation of a particular social issue". It would seem that the professors' case rested primarily on their collective prestige, since not only had they not read the Emerys' book, but their specific criticisms did not stand up to scrutiny (4).
The three books that perhaps best convey his thinking are Toward a Social Ecology from 1972 with Eric Trist
Eric Trist
Eric Trist was a British scientist and leading figure in the field of Organizational development . He was one of the founders of the Tavistock Institute for Social Research in London.-Biography:...
, On purposeful systems from 1972 with Russell Ackoff, and Futures We're In from 1977. He also edited for Penguin two volumes of readings called Systems Thinking (the initial volume was reprinted six times), which will long remain a staple resource on the origins and development of open systems thinking throughout the life sciences.
Publications
A list of Emery's more important publications:- Emery, F. (1992, April). The Australian experience. Paper presented to Tusiad Symposium national Participation and Consensus, Istanbul.
- Emery, F. (1989). Towards real democracy. Toronto: Ontario QWL Centre, Ministry of Labour.
- Emery, F. (1981). Open systems thinking. Volumes I & II. Penguin.
- Emery, F. (1980, Autumn). Communications for a sustainable society. Human Futures, 1-7.
- Emery, F. (1978). Emergence of a new paradigm of work. Canberra: Centre for Continuing Education, Australian National University.
- Emery, F. (1978). The fifth wave? Embarking on the next forty years. In F. E. Emery (Ed.), Limits to choice. Canberra: Centre for Continuing Education Australian National University.
- Emery, F. (1978). Youth-vanguard: Victims or the new vandals? In F. E. Emery (Ed.), Limits to choice. Canberra: Centre for Continuing Education Australian National University.
- Emery, F. (1977). Futures we are in. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff.
- Emery, F. (1975). Continuing education under a gum-tree. Aust. J. of Adult Education, 17-19.
- Emery, F. (1972). Research and higher education. In G. S. Harman and C. Selby-Smith (Eds.), Australian higher education. Melbourne: Angus & Robertson.
- Emery, F. (Ed.). (1969). Systems thinking. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
- Emery, F. & Emery, M. (1980). Domestic market segments for the telephone. Melbourne: PA Consultants.
- Emery, F. & Emery, M. (1976). Choice of futures: To enlighten or inform (Part III). Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff.
- Emery, F. & Thorsrud, E. (1976). Democracy at work. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff.
- Emery, F. & Emery, M. (1973). Hope within walls. Canberra: Centre for Continuing Education, Australian National University.
- Ackoff, R. & Emery, F. (1972). On Purposeful Systems: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Individual and Social Behavior as a System of Purposeful Events. Chicago: Aldine-Atherton.
- Emery, F. & Thorsrud, E. (1969). Form and content in industrial democracy. London: Tavistock.
- Emery, F. & Trist, E. (1965). The causal texture of organizational environments. Human Relations, 18, 21-32.
- Emery, M. & Emery, F. (1991). Attitudes towards Centres for Professional Development at the University of New England. Lismore: UNE.NR.
External links
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