The characteristics of the successful organisation have arguably been, the major research area in management in the last quarter of the twentieth century. The research has focused largely on the characteristics of individual team members (for example, Boyatzis 1982, Lindsay et al 1992). Hambrick & Mason ( 1984) suggest that organisational outcomes—both strategies and effectiveness -c a n be viewed as reflections of the values and cognitive basis of powerful actors in the organisation. Others have suggested that it is not simply the individual ‘actors’ who influence the organisation, but that there are links between the top team characteristics and the firm’s performance (N orbum 1986, Norbum & Birley 1988). Kakabadse (1991) puts it more strongly, arguing that the individual, dynamic leader is not the key to corporate success, but rather that ‘real pow er lies with the top team - it is the team which is the prime worker in sustaining corporate high performance’ (p 1). If this is true it is therefore necessary to develop, in much greater detail, the understanding of the dynamics of top team working.