The authors explore the masculine preoccupation with control in the historical context of the emergence of modern management. They then seek to contemporise the phenomenon in terms of the problem it poses for the management of innovations within the financial services sector. It is demonstrated that the theory underlying modern management panaceas such as TQM, culture change and BPR is embedded within a masculine discourse of control which is inconsistent with its concomitant concern to promote creativity, autonomy and trust within the employment relationship. Such inconsistencies are then illustrated by recourse to some empirical case study based research within a major retail bank. It is argued that the poor performance of recent management innovations cannot be understood purely as difficulties of implementation or design rather issues of gender are of critical importance both in understanding the problems of innovation but also the forms and condition of organisations and management. The central focus is the over-arching concern with control embedded within multiple masculinities and its incompatibility with innovations which emphasise quality or teamworking.
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