Changes to the way many UK businesses are run have produced managers with lower morale, less loyalty and motivation and a reduced sense of job security.

Far-reaching research into managerial working life by the Institute of Management (IM) blamed the way changes have been made for the lack of loyalty.

The IM report said in many cases change had not been well managed and some forms, notably redundancy and down-sizing, were particularly damaging to victims, survivors and organisations alike.

Three out of five managers questioned said morale was not good in their firms and 42 per cent felt their organisations had not become better places to work during the past 12 months.

Despite this, eight out of ten managers got on well with their colleagues and seven out of ten with their bosses, demonstrating camaraderie at work was still alive and well.

Two out of three managers said long hours were "part of their organisation's culture". But there were clear signs managers were becoming increasingly resistant to working long hours to the detriment of their home lives.

In 1997, 25 per cent of managers saw home as more important than work and this had steadily increased each year, to 28 per cent in 1998, 30 per cent in 1999 and 32 per cent in 2000.

Most managers said they were deluged with data, a significant increase of 12 per cent in the four years since the research began in 1997.

New technology was viewed as a mixed blessing, with many managers suspecting that some colleagues were using email as a poor substitute for face-to-face communication.

Eighty-two per cent said their workload had not diminished as a result of email, with only 12 per cent saying it had.

There was an increasing tendency by managers to regard their career development as "down to me".

In 1999, 72 per cent of them took that view but, in 2000, the figure had jumped to 79 per cent.