Fred Emery
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Frederick Edmund Emery (August 27, 1925 – April 10, 1997) was an Australian psychologist specializing in the field of
organizational development Organization development (OD) is the study and implementation of practices, systems, and techniques that affect organizational change. The goal of which is to modify a group's/organization's performance and/or culture. The organizational chan ...
, particularly in the theory of participative
work design Work design (also referred to as job design or task design) is an area of research and practice within industrial and organizational psychology, and is concerned with the "content and organization of one's work tasks, activities, relationships, a ...
structures, such as self-managing teams.


Biography

Emery was born in Narrogin,
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
, and was the son of a drover. He was the Dux of Fremantle Boys' High in Western Australia at the age of 14. He earned his
honours degree Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a higher standard of study, ...
in science from the
University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...
in 1946 and joined the department's teaching staff in 1947. He subsequently spent nine years as staff of the Department of Psychology at the
University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...
, where he obtained his PhD in 1953. During 1951-52, he held a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
Fellowship in Social Sciences and was attached to the
Tavistock Institute The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations is a British non-profit research and consulting organisation, specialising in the study of group behavior. There are sister organisations in China and Germany. It was formally established in September ...
of Human Relations in the UK. As a staff member at the University of Melbourne, he made contributions to rural sociology, CPA, and the effects of film and television viewing. In 1957, Emery left Australia for London to join the staff of the
Tavistock Institute The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations is a British non-profit research and consulting organisation, specialising in the study of group behavior. There are sister organisations in China and Germany. It was formally established in September ...
. He had previously worked with
Eric Trist Eric Lansdown Trist (11 September 1909 – 4 June 1993) was an English scientist and leading figure in the field of organizational development (OD). He was one of the founders of the Tavistock Institute for Social Research in London. Biograp ...
on
sociotechnical systems Sociotechnical systems (STS) 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 coherent systems of human relati ...
as a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
Research Fellow from 1951 - 1952 and published "The Characteristics of Socio-technical Systems" in 1959. He, along with Trist and other colleagues, established "open socio-technical systems theory" as an alternative paradigm for organisational design. They field-tested this on a national scale in Norway, in partnership with Einar Thorsrud. After returning to Australia, Emery focused on developing a new method aimed at creating jointly optimised socio-technical systems. This approach was designed to promote the diffusion of socio-technical concepts rather than serve as an alternative to autocracy in the workplace. The method he developed, known as the Participative Design Workshop, has been in use since 1971, replacing the previous 9-step method that had been used in Norway. Socio-technical systems are part of a broader theoretical framework known as Open Systems Theory (OST). Key publications by Emery and Trist include "The Causal Texture of Organisational Environments" (1965) and "Towards a Social Ecology" (1972). These works laid the foundations for Fred Emery's development of OST. Emery returned to Australia in 1969 and enrolled at the
Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...
(ANU). He served as a senior research fellow until November 1979, initially in the Department of Sociology (RSSS) and later, from 1974, at the Centre for Continuing Education. He was also a visiting professor in Social Systems Science at Wharton's Department of Social Systems Sciences and spent the 1967–68 academic year at the Centre for Advanced Studies in the Behavioural Sciences at
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
. Emery was awarded the first
Elton Mayo George Elton Mayo (26 December 1880 – 7 September 1949) was an Australian born psychologist, industrial researcher, and organizational theorist.Cullen, David O'Donald. ''A new way of statecraft: The career of Elton Mayo and the development ...
award in 1988 by the
Australian Psychological Society The Australian Psychological Society (APS) is Australia's leading association for psychologists in Australia, with more than 25,000 members. APS works to improve the lives of Australians through psychology, working in diverse settings and sect ...
and obtained a DSc from
Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...
in 1992. At the ANU, he continued his
action research Action research is a philosophy and methodology of research generally applied in the social sciences. It seeks transformative change through the simultaneous process of taking action and doing research, which are linked together by critical refle ...
in industry and the public sector, developing new tools to enhance democratic practices within organisations and communities. In 1979, his CCE Fellowship came to an end and he subsequently worked as a consultant. In the final two years before his death, he co-edited the third and final volume of the "Tavistock anthology", published by the University of Pennsylvania Press: ''The Social Engagement of Social Science''. Emery died at his home on 10 April 1997 at 71 in
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
, Australia.


Publications

* 1969. ''Systems thinking''. (Ed.). Harmondsworth: Penguin Books * 1969. ''Form and content in industrial democracy''. With E. Thorsrud, London: Tavistock. * 1972. ''On Purposeful Systems: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Individual and Social Behavior as a System of Purposeful Events''. With Russell Ackoff. Chicago: Aldine-Atherton. * 1973. ''Hope within walls''. With M. Emery. Canberra: Centre for Continuing Education, Australian National University. * 1976. ''Choice of futures: To enlighten or inform (Part III)''. With M. Emery. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff. * 1976. ''Living at Work'' With Chris Phillips. Australian Government Printing Service. * 1976. ''Democracy at work''. With E. Thorsrud, Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff. * 1977. ''Futures we are in''. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff. * 1978. ''Emergence of a new paradigm of work''. Canberra: Centre for Continuing Education, Australian National University. * 1980. ''Domestic market segments for the telephone''. With M. Emery, PA Consultants. * 1981. ''Open systems thinking''. Volumes I & II. Penguin. * 1989. ''Towards real democracy''. Toronto: Ontario QWL Centre, Ministry of Labour. * 1991. ''Attitudes towards Centres for Professional Development at the University of New England''. With M. Emery. Lismore: UNE.NR.


References


External links


Emery, Frederick Edmund (Fred) (1925–1997)
by Alastair Crombie {{DEFAULTSORT:Emery, Fred 1925 births 1997 deaths Australian scientists Systems psychologists Systems scientists People from Narrogin, Western Australia