Cranfield School of Management

An airfield must seem a strange location for a school of management. The present school arose from the activities of the Cranfield College of Aeronautics which, like the school, was set up to fulfil a need for Britain's industrial development. Alongside the aeronautical work there evolved a growing interest in looking at different work functions in the context of their industries, leading to the formation within the College of a Department of Aircraft Economics & Production. The post‐war concern about productivity led to the establishment in 1953 of the Work Study School. Early courses at the School concentrated largely on method study and involved routine factory visits. It was not long before courses were introduced to teach maintenance and design engineers to adapt work study techniques to their own purposes. Work study officers were trained in statistical methods; O & M courses were introduced and proved spectacularly successful. In short, work study started to prove itself to be a many‐headed creature.