In all forms of workplaces administrators have been exhorted to introduce what are perceived to be the "best practices" operating in the more successful economies. The education "industry" in Australia appears to be no different in this regard from other industries. Invariably, the "best practices" proposed for the Australian situation appear to originate from Japan. Japanese management practices are promulgated as having abandoned the old methods of Scientific Management, offering new ways of managing workplaces in general, and schools in particular. This paper seeks to examine this proposition critically through an examination of two proposals which have been advanced as bringing "best practices" into the administration of schools. The two areas which have been given currency recently are the introduction of individual salary packages for teachers and the formation of work teams in schools. The paper concludes that these seemingly new innovations may, in fact, not differ markedly from the principles advocated earlier this century by proponents of Scientific Management. Nevertheless, they may still provide some means toward more democratic administrative practices. (Contains 51 references.) (Author)