Biography - Lisl Klein

The purpose of this guide is to direct you to the work of Lisl Klein. Her research is likely to appeal to Ivey scholars in that she attempts to link theory to practice.Current information about Dr. Klein is found at the site of the Bayswater Institute which she founded in 1990 (see: http://www.bayswaterinst.org/). We present here for your convenience, books and articles by and about Klein.

Books by Klein (in reverse chronological order)

The Meaning Of Work: Papers On Work Organization And The Design Of Jobs HD4904.K512 2008

Working Across The Gap: The Practice Of Social Science In Organizations DBW stack HD31.K525 2005
For a review see: Goetz, B. J. "Working Across the Gap: The Practice of Social Science in Organizations." Choice 44.2 (2006): 380. "The title refers to the gap between the "world of the social sciences and the world of organization," specifically, the work of applied industrial sociologists in Britain. The author brings together a half century of experience as the "in-house" social science adviser to the Esso Corporation in the 1960s and her later work for the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations and the European Commission. There are insights into micro-organizational analysis, especially as these pertain to the dynamics of structural versus human causality; the struggle over being an objective and neutral researcher while needing to serve the will and wants of clients; and tensions (with researchers at Michigan) over whether the researcher should be directly involved in prescriptions for behavioral change. Readers also learn of the importance of industrial sociology in Britain after WW II and how it declined under Thatcherism, which helps explain how the business consultant has prevailed over the "human relations" tradition of the applied social scientist. Klein also argues that researchers themselves have forgone organizational analysis for policy analysis, and discusses some new research methodologies, for example, from a psychoanalytic standpoint. A dense book with important insights. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students/faculty". -- B. J. Goetz, Western Michigan University

Putting Social Science To Work HD31.K52 1991
For a review see the one by Richard K.Brown, in Sociology: The Journal of the British Sociological Association, Vol.26, No.4, Nov.1992, p.714. He notes that "Lisl Klein has probably done more than anyone else in this country both to try to apply social science in organisations, and to explore the problems involved".
This review is by R.W. Avery and it appeared in Choice, Vol.29, No.8, April, 1992.
" Because there is no standard way to apply social science knowledge to problems of organizational change, Klein and Eason draw on their own experiences with planned changes in business firms in the UK and also on cases studied by social scientists in Germany to begin to explain the process. The subtitle of their book is correct; their case studies are explorations, not definitive examples. Their analyses of their experiences as change agents show them to be involved with knowledge in two ways. They are concerned with research that can tell them what knowledge might be effectively used, and they also study the consequent process in an effort (usually collaborative between social scientists and representatives of an organization undergoing change) to understand what works and what does not, and why. The task is complex but the authors are not discouraged by the uncertainties they face. Rather, they describe both their difficulties and their successes in ways that should be very helpful to newcomers to this work."

New Forms Of Work Organisation T60.8.K59 1976
See Paul Goldman's review in Contemporary Sociology, Vol.6, No.2, Mar. 1977, p.199.
He notes: "Her book is rooted in the theories of the "modern human relations" approach to work organization and incorporates a strong critique of overrationalized production schemes, including those of Frederick Taylor himself. Klein, in fact, includes, in a useful 13 pages appendix, and edited version of H.R. Hoxie's 1915 criticisms of Taylor."

A Social Scientist In Industry HD9571.9.E8K56 1976b
When discussing the value of first-hand empirical research done by those who are working at the research/policy interface, Martin Bulmer says of this work:"One such account is worth 10 more abstract or programmatic statements; for instance, those who believe that the applied sociologist simply becomes the tool of those in power could read Lisl Klein's account of working as a social science adviser in industry." Stated in a review of several books by Bulmer in The British Journal of Sociology, Vol.29, No.1, March, 1978, p.134.

'Multiproducts Ltd.': A Case-Study On The Social Effects Of Rationalized Production RDL TS155.K54 1964

The Human Implications of Work Study: The Case of Pakitt Ltd., this 80 page paper was co-authored with Stuart Dalziel. A copy is not available at Western. According to a reviewer, William A. Faunce, "This monograph reports research dealing with problems which resulted from the introduction of "work study" in an English firm producing printed cartons. Work study refers here to analysis of production processes, use of time study and other measurement procedures and establishment of performance standards in the hope of increasing productivity." See: The American Sociological Review, Vol.26, No.4, Aug. 1961, p.663.

See also: Social Science Research and Government, ed. by Martin Bulmer. It contains the following Klein essay: "The Work of the Commission for Economic and Social Change in Germany," p.197.
DBWSTK H97.S637, 1987
For a review of this book see the one by Murray Aborn in The Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol.52, No.3, Autumn, 1988, p.405.

Articles by Klein

"Applied Social Science: Is it just Common Sense?" Human Relations 59.8 (2006): 1155.
This paper was given as a Joan Woodward Memorial Lecture. For additional details see our related guide to Joan Woodward.

"On the Use of Psychoanalytic Concepts in Organizational Social Science," Concepts and Transformation, Vol.6, No.1, 2001, p.59.
This issue is not available at Western. Here is an abstract:
"There is growing interest in the relevance of psychoanalytic concepts to our understanding of and work with organizations. A non-analyst here describes how some of these concepts have become part of the equipment of a social scientist — notably splitting, transference and counter-transference, the use of the self and transitional dynamics. Conversely, there is a need for psychoanalysts who work with organizations to take on board some elements of organizational social science: the role of evidence, the distinction between the individual and the collective, and the relevance of context."

"Making use of Research: Have we Forgotten how?" People Management 1.17 (1995): 17.

 Articles about Klein

Dr. Klein's work is often mentioned. See the following for examples: "Outcomes of Autonmous Workgroups: A Long-Term Field Experiment," by Toby Wall, et. al. The Academy of Management Journal, Vol.29, No.2, June, 1986, p.280; "The Utilization Process: A Conceptual Framework and Synthesis of Empirical Findings," by Janice M. Beyer and Harrison Trice, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 27, No.4, Dec. 1982, p.591

Dr. Klein was associated with the Tavistock Institute for many years. In 2007, that Institute is celebrating its 60th birthday so there are many related articles such as these: "Now We Are 60," by David Guest, People Management, Vol.13, No.17, August 23, 2007, p.40 and "60 Years of Human Relations," by Ray Loveridge, et al. Human Relations, Vol.60, No.12, Dec. 2007, p.1873. See also the obituary for Harold Bridger by Mark Stein, Human Relations, Vol.58, No.10, Oct. 2005, p.1351,