In 1987 the Commonwealth Secretariat published The Challenge of Scale (editors Kazim Bacchus and Colin Brock). This was an introductory volume to a series of publications to focus on the impact of scale on national educational systems in the small states of the Commonwealth. This handbook concentrates on the demands which are placed on senior administrators who have to undertake a variety of tasks by virtue of a limited range of specialist skills and departments in small state systems. It recognises the very special demands placed on senior managers who live and work in societies distinguished by closely knit, highly personalized networks. It also highlights the vital importance of overseas linkages and their implication for the work of the educational administrator.