Book Description
Richard Daft's best-selling text, Organization Theory and Design, integrates the most recent thinking about organizations, classic ideas and theories, and real world practice, in a way that is interesting and enjoyable for learners. This edition includes many updates including a new chapter on international issues and revisions of other chapters to include the most recent ideas and events. While organization studies and real world examples are insightful for understanding organizations and solve real-world problems, Daft also integrates numerous features that give learners the opportunity to apply concepts and develop skills and insights.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book with excellen deal.......2007-09-27
I bought this book with the apprehension that it might not be the same one I'm looking for.But Amazon made me feel so satisfied.I got the exact book and that too new and in much lower price than the market.
The learning book.......2005-07-23
"Organization Theory and Design" is a book every corporate member that has aspirations to better understand and contribute to his organization should own.
I used this book studying a basic course of organizational behavior after the professor had referred to it as "the best text on the market". I found out he was right - the book is extremely well-written and its contribution to my understanding of the subject is invaluable.
As it happened, I partly read older versions of the book to find out how every few years Mr. Daft updates his analysis, insights and examples of the ever changing and evolving world of organizations; for instance, the past example of IBM that served as the major opening example of an organization that has gone from the top of the world to the brink of disintegration in the beginning of the 90's (and since then regained leading position in its areas of expertise), is replaced in this 8th edition with Xerox. Mr. Daft continues and presents the most recent developments in organizations' design - structures and management methods that have only emerged lately in response to the turbulences in the environments and competition worldwide.
By making the changes and improvements in every edition "Organization theory and design" wins the title of this review - "the learning book" - that mirror images the main theme of this work - "the learning organization". Almost no organization can stand still in today's reality - managers and workers have to constantly think of better ways of doing things and learn from every source that bears knowledge and can give the organization a better competitive advantage. Things have never moved so fast and threats and opportunities have never been so immense. Competitors have to be efficient and different to survive and stay on the top.
The structure of the book is designed to convey its ideas in the best possible manner: Each and every chapter opens with an example illustrating its content, then an introduction to the subject. Theory and examples from today's organizational world followa and are interwoven throughout the text in the "in practice" section. A fascinating section is "leading by design" in which Mr. Daft highlights top-of-the-line companies that have managed to materialize the theory and consequently lead their industries. Yet another remarkable feature is "bookmark" in which the autohor recommends and actually reviews the content of other books that further develop the subject the chapter dealt with. For me, the magnitude of this behavior is unprecedented; I haven't read a book that is so much interested in advancing and advertising works of fellow authors. This is a code of conduct every author can learn from in pursuing the ultimate goal - to better inform and educate his/her readers.
Some of the material the book covers include the organizational environment, organizational structures, organizational decision making processes, ethics, organization-decline and organizational politics.
As is the norm in many books, Mr. Daft integrates case studies directly connected to the content of each chapter in its end. They add all the more to the reality dimension that is so strong throughout the book.
Lastly, the price of this book is somewhat expensive but well worth the money and will certainly prove to be a wise investment. Years after its reaing and studying it may serve as a reference source when the reader will stumble across situations covered in the book and learn to appreciate even more the lessons insights Mr. daft offers.
A Strong Guide in Organization Theory.......2001-05-18
This is a well-designed and comprehensive book in the area of organization theory. From introduction to the end, this book aims to teach the foundations of organization theory to readers.
There is a great awareness of new developments in the area of organization theory. The new developments such as team-based management models are integrated into the conventional wisdom wonderfully in the book. We are living in a world in which globalization and stiff competition dominates. We name this age as Information Age and corporations need new mentality and practices to adapt to challenging conditions this era brings about. This book presents some new approaches in global competition perspective to readers.
A Look Inside, Bookmark, In Practice, The New Paradigm and Case for Analysis are excellent peculiarities of the book.
Diagrams and other visual characterizations involved in the book give readers a big opportunity to digest topics recounted. Since this book is a detailed investigation of organization theory, you may miss some parts and feel confused. I can recommend another book, that is, Designing Organizations (Robey, D. and Sales, Carol A.), which is a summarized organization theory book with excellent cases.
If you want to understand organization theory with its basic foundations and details, this book is a must. You must exploit the rich knowledge of Professor Daft.
Strongly recommended.
Readable and great information.......2000-11-20
Daft out did himself in this edition of his text. He includes book reviews and company profiles throughout each chapter to illustrate the theories he's describing. I read this for an MA course and found it easy to learn from. I'm even putting the information into practice at work! Not all textbooks are that helpful. *grin*
team-based structure.......1999-06-28
Application of organization design about Team-Based Structures and The boundaryless Organization.
Book Description
Nothing is more important to business success than innovation . . . And here’s what you can do about it on Monday morning with the definitive how-to book from the world’s leading authority on innovation
When it comes to innovation, Curt Carlson and Bill Wilmot of SRI International know what they are talking about—literally. SRI has pioneered innovations that day in and day out are part of the fabric of your life, such as:
•The computer mouse and the personal computer interface you use at home and work
•The high-definition television in your living room
•The unusual numbers at the bottom of your checks that enable your bank to maintain your account balance correctly
•The speech-recognition system used by your financial services firm when you call for your account balance or to make a transaction.
Each of these innovations—and literally hundreds of others—created new value for customers. And that’s the central message of this book. Innovation is not about inventing clever gadgets or just “creativity.” It is the successful creation and delivery of a new or improved product or service that provides value for your customer and sustained profit for your organization. The first black-and-white television, for example, was just an interesting, cool invention until David Sarnoff created an innovation—a network—that delivered programming to an audience.
The genius of this book is that it provides the “how” of innovation. It makes innovation practical by getting two groups who are often disconnected—the managers who make decisions and the people on the front lines who create the innovations—onto the same page. Instead of smart people grousing about the executive suite not recognizing a good idea if they tripped over it and the folks on the top floor wondering whether the people doing the complaining have an understanding of market realities, Carlson and Wilmot’s five disciplines of innovation focus attention where it should be: on the creation of valuable new products and services that meet customer needs.
Innovation is not just for the “lone genius in the garage” but for you and everyone in your enterprise. Carlson and Wilmot provide a systematic way to make innovation practical, one intimately tied to the way things get done in your business.
Teamwork isn't enough; Creativity isn't enough; A new product idea isn't enough
True innovation is about delivering value to customers. Innovation reveals the value-creating processes used by SRI International, the organization behind the computer mouse, robotic surgery, and the domain names .com, .org, and .gov. Curt Carlson and Bill Wilmot show you how to use these practical, tested processes to create great customer value for your organization.
Customer Reviews:
Highly Motivating.......2007-08-13
If creativity can be learned, this book teachs you how. I think this is an excellent book to jumpstart the creative process. I also recommend Eightstorm: 8-Step Brainstorming for Innovative Managers, as it has a new and interesting theory on brainstomring.
Excellent Book.......2007-08-13
This book doesn't really break new ground, but it systematically guides the reader to think through innovation and creativity in a disciplined manner. The theories toward the end about using disciplined innovation to attempt social and cultural change in the US are very interesting. Definitely a page-turner....
Tremendously Useful.......2007-06-21
This important and timely book deals with one of the most important issues of our times, our ability to successfully innovate. It is one of a very small number of books that addresses the "how" of innovation and not just the "what." The author's demonstrated success at helping create many important innovations makes them uniquely qualified to address this topic. The book makes fundamental points that are simple to understand but critically important.
First, they make the point that we are in the "exponential economy" where extremely rapid improvement is the rule. They show that the exponential economy is a consequence of our being in the knowledge age and they list the four basic conditions necessay for exponential improvement. They then use this model as the basis for their innovation model. Their rational is simple: if you do not innovate exponetially in the exponential economy, you will go away fast.
Second, they make the point that in the knowledge age we require a broader definition of customer value to succeed, in addition to cost and quality. This is certainly true, but this is one of those rare books where customer value is defined in a comprehensive and useful way. It also ties this definition, for the first time, to the widely used and often confused term "value proposition," which they define as "NABC" (i.e., where N stands for the customer's need, A stands for the approach to satisfy this need, and B stands for the benefits per cost resulting from this approach when compared to the competition, C).
Third, they make the case that we are currently doing a poor job at innovation. Even a small improvement in our ability to innovate would have a huge positive impact on growth and prosperity. We are at a point with our poor innovation results that is reminiscent of manufacturing in the 1950's, when product quality was extremely poor. Deming proved that by changing the way we work, product quality could be profoundly improved while simultaneously lowering costs. The Total Quality Management (TQM) movement pioneered by Deming is now used by all manufacturing companies. Like Deming with quality and cost, they argue that large improvements in our ability to innovate are possible. But we are now in the knowledge age, not the manufacturing age, so new innovation processes are required based on a comprehensive definition of customer value, not just quality and cost. In addition, TQM tends to produce incremental results. We need new innovation best practices that result in both incremental and transformational innovations.
Fourth, they argue that to improve our innovation results the process of innovation must be thought of as a "discipline." That is, it needs to become a subject that can be taught, learned, and improved. But the focus needs to be on knowledge workers who produce both incremental and transformational innovations.
Fifth, they propose that there are "five disciplines of innovation" that must be mastered if one is to be systematically successful at innovation. Several of these disciplines have been written about extensively (e.g., innovation teams, although here they make several new important observations) but others have not been (e.g., the process of innovation).
Sixth, and most importantly, they persuasively argue that failure at any one of the five disciplines of innovation can, and almost always does, lead to failure. This observation explains why large improvements in our ability to innovate are possible. Even small improvements in the five disciplines can produce a surprisingly large impact on one's innovation success rate. This is a fundamental point that has been missing in previous management books.
Finally, they show how these ideas can be used by the individual professional, their teams, and their enterprises. Read this book and compare what it describes to what you are now doing. You likely have enormous room for improvement.
Practical and engaging .......2007-06-05
Everybody talks about "innovation" these days, but here's a practical guide to getting it right. Carlson writes in an engaging manner, with real-world examples. It all just seems to make sense when you read it. Any company or organization out there that wants long-term success would do well to follow the five disciplines described in this book.
Innovation: The Five Disciplines for Creating What Customers Want.......2007-03-01
It has been often suggested that innovation comes from an isolated Aha! Carlson and Wilmot strongly contend that successful innovations come from a disciplined approach that creates value through new products, processes, services, or even marketing campaigns. One of their messages is to work on ideas that are profitable not just interesting. They suggest quantifying value in order to identify important innovation opportunities. They teach the reader how to create well tuned value propositions, and even those 10-minute elevator pitches. The authors provide examples their Need, Approach, Benefits per costs, Competition thinking process. This is not one of those magical matrices, it is a realistic approach that requires understanding customer and market needs, identifying costs and benefits, as well as, the value to investors and management. I thought this was a great book even before Business Week (18 Dec 2007 p.156) identified it as one of the top 2006 Business Books. "Innovation: The five disciplines for creating what customers want" is an easy to read, useful volume that helps readers to focus on the value of their idea or innovation as compared to alternatives. I would like to use this book in a course to help students to examine their business ideas
Book Description
This book provides the most current, thorough, and contemporary account of the factors affecting the organizational design process, making important organization theories accessible and interesting. It addresses the many issues and problems that are involved in managing the process of organizational change and transformation, providing direct and clear managerial implications.
Topics covered in this comprehensive book are the organization and its environment; organizational design; organizational change; and finally, interesting case studies that illustrate the concepts presented.
A useful book that is appropriate for managers in any organization.
Book Description
Famous "Work-Out" change-management tool explained by the people who helped develop it.
GE's legendary Work-Out program played a key role in the company's phenomenal success over the past decade and has been implemented in many other organizations. Now three executives and consultants who developed the original Work-Out approach at GEoften working directly with CEO Jack Welchdiscuss the inner workings of Work-Out and their experiences at successfully implementing the program at GE.
Filled with effective assessment and decisionmaking tools, The GE Work-Out provides concrete and realistic guidance for anyone who wants to implement Work-Out and break down bureaucracy and hierarchy within an organization.
Download Description
GE's legendary Work-Out program played a key role in the company's phenomenal success over the past decade and has been implemented in many other organizations. Now three executives and consultants who developed the original Work-Out approach at GE often working directly with CEO Jack Welch discuss the inner workings of Work-Out and their experiences at successfully implementing the program at GE.
Customer Reviews:
Sound advice for delivering speed, simplicity, and solutions.......2005-01-07
'Work-Out' is the famous organizational process that General Electric, the greatest industrial firm in the world, used to bust bureaucracy - fast.
At its core, Work-Out is a simple, straightforward concept for cutting out bureaucracy and solving organizational problems - fast. Large groups of employees and managers - from different levels and functions of the organization - come together to address issues that they identify or that senior management has raised as concerns. In small teams, people challenge prevailing assumptions about "the way we've always done things" and come up with recommendations for dramatic improvements in organizational processes. The Work-Out teams present their recommendations to a senior manager in a "town meeting", where the manager engages the entire group in a dialogue about the recommendations and then makes yes-or-no decisions on the spot. Recommendations for changing the organization are assigned to "owners" who have volunteered to carry them out and follow through to get results. That's Work-Out in a nutshell.
Work-Out can be applied to almost any type of problem. It was first used at GE to harvest the low-hanging fruit of OVERGROWN BUREAUCRACY by getting unnecessary and unproductive work out of the organizational system - e.g. reduce meetings, reports, and approval levels. They asked what procedures didn't make sense? Where were they wasting time? What activities seemed to add little value? Some of the bureaucratic procedures were expense reimbursements, making travel arrangements, obtaining office supplies, updating personnel data, taking education courses, upgrading software, and more. But also in the core functions, bureaucracy was found: filling out forms for deals, preparing presentations for approval meetings, keeping track of customer data, obtaining approval for materials purchasing, overwhelming amounts of extra analysis to justify various investments or initiatives. Some of the results were e.g. that expense accounts did not need multiple approvals, people could purchase approved software without going through the IT department, and a pre-deal process was established to see if deals were worth pursuing before going through all the analytics.
Work-Out has been successfully adapted to any type of organization - public or private, commercial or non-profit, large or small. In all of these organizations, no matter what the issue, the process remains much the same.
1. Bring together the people from the organization who know the issues best
2. Challenge them to develop creative solutions
3. Decide on the solutions immediately in a public forum
4. Empower people to carry them out
Despite its massive impact on GE and other firms, Work-Out is not a snake oil or magic elixir. It is a simple set of concepts, tools, and experiences. When stripped to its essence, Work-Out allows people to get some obstacles out of the way so they can do their work better. In many firms, that alone would be a significant gain.
The real merit of this book is the practical approach. If you are - as I am - struggling with the challenges of continually keeping our organizations lean, then this book can help you. It contains many inspiring worksheets, action plans, tools, and hands-on case studies.
The authors of this book helped GE create Work-Out. So don't expect theoretical contributions. Only sound advice.
Co-author Dave Ulrich is one of my favourite HR experts. I can recommend many of his books, e.g. `Results-Based Leadership' and `Delivering Results'. To him, HR is about delivering business performance and organizational capabilities. Cause if you don't, you'll soon be out of business. The tricky part is balancing the soft and hard part of HR. Dave Ulrich has many good concepts to make that happen. This book is not a bad place to start, if you'd like to pick his brains...
Peter Leerskov,
M.Sc. in International Business (Marketing & Management) and Graduate Diploma in E-business
Packed Wiyh Knowledge!.......2004-05-02
There's no denying the effectiveness of the Work-Out system at General Electric (GE). This book is a straightforward and comprehensive introduction to what Work-Oout means and how it helped GE achieve such astonishing results under Jack Welch, who introduced it. This clear, well-organized book makes it possible for any executive or manager to apply at least some elements of the work-out program in any organizational context. We do caution you, however, that the Work-Out program as portrayed here demands a great deal of commitment and moral fortitude from leaders. Empowerment may be effective, but it is rarely comfortable for the powers that be. Just ask "Neutron Jack."
Good Idea - Bad Book.......2003-12-19
I completely agree with the reader who said that this book could have been written much more effectively. It is nearly 400 pages and should have been no more than 25 to 50. Most issues or thoughts in this book while being solid are explained in far far too painful of detail with a great deal of redundancy. This made reading the book extremely wasteful of my time.
Perhaps the authors should have a "Work Out" on improvement of their materials.
Great. Lots of first-hand tips to turnaround a large company.......2003-03-28
Unlike other books on Six Sigma that focus on variation reduction, statistics and other tools, this book is full of practical examples of techniques and implementation tips. The focal point of the book is on the process of generating the turnaround in a large conglomerate such as GE. In this case the aspects of organizational behavior constitute THE critical success factor (rather than statistical/other tools). Workout has undoubtedly been fundamental for generating the cultural transformation in GE. This book is addressing these organizational behavior aspects in a pragmatic manner presenting a detailed road-map from planning all the way through implementation.
Most examples deal with administration/bureaucracy and I would have expected to read more on operational aspects such as value chain improvement in a Production/Logistics environment.
This book is a must for top managers that search for a generic methodology to translate their vision into reality.
Very Bad Buy.......2002-12-05
This is one of the worst books I've ever purchased. The ideas in this book could be fully explained in no more than two or three pages. I bought it relying on the CV's of the authors but it turned out to be a true dud. It rehashes the same ideas over and over and over and over. It's for the braindead.
Book Description
Learn how to get the upper hand in corporate America! ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: SECURING COMPETATIVE ADVANTAGE shows you how, by using a little applied psychology, you can outsmart and outmaneuver the competition. Using the latest data and theory, this organizational behavior textbook is the perfect combination of academic and real-world expertise. This is the textbook you'll continue to use long after you graduate.
Book Description
The new edition of this popular text explores the realities of executing global strategies and helps students develop the knowledge, perspective, and skills they need in order to conduct global business successfully.
International Management Behavior, Fourth Edition is designed with students in mind. It has been thoroughly restructured and extended to increase coherence and incorporate the very latest management issues. The combination of text, readings and real-life case studies help students understand that international business success is gained by combining good business practice with an understanding of intercultural dynamics. The new features of this book include: Updated case studies covering a range of industries of different sizes, in countries around the world. A selection of new, up-to-date readings. Revised, user-friendly text. A new, field-tested framework for improving cross-cultural communications.
Average customer rating:
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The Organization in Crisis: Downsizing, Restructuring, and Privatization (Manchester Business and Management Series)
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishers
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Book Description
The Organization in Crisis brings together a team of leading international researchers and practitioners to study the implementation and impact of organizational changes such as downsizing, restructuring and privatization.
The text provides a unique combination of research, theory and practice, and not only examines key issues associated with organizational change, but also suggests how such changes can be better managed in the future. Specific topics considered include the new employment relationship and its implications for careers, how organizational changes are affecting manager's views of their working lives, ethical issues in downsizing, and best practices for organizational renewal and revitalization. A range of case studies provides world-wide examples of initiatives being undertaken by leading-edge firms.
Together, the contributors capture the global nature of the difficulties confronting organizational leaders and highlight the need for creative solutions.
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- The Peaceable Kingdom: Building a Company Without Factionalism, Fiefdoms, Fear and Other Staples of Modern Business
- If Your In Advertising, Stay Away
- Zzzzzzzzzz
- Try Stan Richards other book
- A Monument to Being Mediocre
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The Peaceable Kingdom: Building a Company Without Factionalism, Fiefdoms, Fear and Other Staples of Modern Business
Stan Richards , and
David Culp
Manufacturer: Wiley
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ASIN: 0471391166 |
Book Description
"Fresh, provocative, and powerful. Had I read this book before I started building a company of my own, it would have saved me a great deal of time and pain."-Sam Hill, President, Helios Consulting, Coauthor, Radical Marketing and The Infinite Asset
"In this insane world of ephemeral company loyalty and revolving doors to top positions, Stan Richards has clearly outlined exceedingly sane ways for any company to retain star performers by creating an environment that fundamentally rejects office politics."-Dick Hammill, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Advertising, The Home Depot
"For the three decades during which I was building Mullen, my hero wasn't in New York-he was in Dallas. Stan Richards built a quintessentially creative agency from the uncommon clay of courage, generosity, common sense, loyalty, and integrity. If you'd like to be famous, respected, loved, and rich, here's the manual."-Jim Mullen, Founder, Mullen Advertising
"Keeping the creative spirit alive with every member of your team as your company grows should be your highest priority. The Peaceable Kingdom clearly describes how to keep the spirit alive and how to encourage every member of the team to constantly focus on improving the company and its services every day."-H. Ross Perot
The Peaceable Kingdom is a story like no other-one that reveals how a company that admittedly refers to itself as strange and odd nevertheless became one of the most closely watched, respected, and profitable businesses in the advertising industry. This eye-opening book takes you inside the doors of The Richards Group, which managed to survive and prosper in this cutthroat business by defying many truisms not only for ad agencies but for businesses in general. Company founder Stan Richards, along with David Culp, unveils how unconventional methods and a willingness to break down barriers earned them an A client list including Nokia, Home Depot, Motel 6, Fruit of the Loom, Corona, and Chick-fil-A.
Read The Peaceable Kingdom and see how your company-no matter the industry-can follow in their footsteps and build a more harmonious, productive, and prosperous business.
Customer Reviews:
The Peaceable Kingdom: Building a Company Without Factionalism, Fiefdoms, Fear and Other Staples of Modern Business.......2007-09-09
A Master Degree level business book. So many business books are sooo '101' and dry and unimaginative. The Peaceable Kingdom is fresh and sounds a clear voice. Cleverly written but yet profound in thought. Just knowing that there are people in management and top CEOs that profess in following the principles in this book brings hope to an otherwise ego fear driven realm.
If Your In Advertising, Stay Away.......2003-12-04
Most books on advertising and creativity are pretty bad, and this one is no exception.
I wish for once we could have a creative who talks about process more than accomplishment. Instead, Stan Richards (and authors like him) spend many pages complimenting their own genius. Unfortunately they give us no insight into what supposedly makes them a genius.
Poorly conceived, and poorly written.
Zzzzzzzzzz.......2003-11-11
Whoah! It's ciesta time!
Never has advertising been so boring!
A poorly written book, by a poor creative. Instead of building a company I think Stan may have just created the world's most profitable police state!
Try Stan Richards other book.......2003-11-05
Just search Amazon for Stan Richards other book "The Land of Many Breasts". Trust me, it's much more fascinating than this one. And a more accurate depiction of his agency. I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did.
A Monument to Being Mediocre.......2003-11-04
Whoa. I didn't even know people still thought like this. Something tells me either Mr. Richards didn't really write this or... wait, he didn't write it.
I'm sure Mr. Richards is a smart man. After all, he is rich. And all rich people are smart, right?
But seriously, what Stan fails to see (even though he gives it lip service) is that creativity is the most important thing to any agency worth it's salt. Not media buying capabilities. Not budgets. Not even account service.
He speaks a lot about being a straight shooter, about being in Dallas, about having a jet, etc. But he doesn't really talk about ideas. He doesn't talk about the kind of thinking he loves.
But perhaps the worst sin is that he gives us no insight into what he loves. Why are you in this bussiness Stan? What do you like? What don't you like? Why?
Book Description
Managing Change: Text and Cases, 2nd Edition, by Todd Jick and Maury Peiperl is a thoroughly revised version of a well-received volume on the scholarship of change in organizations. It is comprised of six modules that introduce common threads in the ensuing case studies and readings on organizational change. Of the 48 items in this book, 31 are new to this edition. The module introductions have been thoroughly revised; one modular introduction (Module 6, Continuous Change) is brand new.
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For businesses to succeed in the 21st century, people can't be treated like cogs in a wheel, ready to be sacrificed for profits, say authors Roger Lewin and Birute Regine in The Soul at Work. Instead, people must "become the new bottom line," they say, drawing this conclusion with the help of complexity science and their own study of companies that profit by putting people first. "In today's business environment of rapid change, a collective effort, a recognized need for others, becomes the means of survival and success," say Lewin, a science writer, and Regine, a psychologist. Businesses that follow the principles of complexity science are distinguished by fewer levels of hierarchy and more open communication, and they value people "as a way to promote adaptability and business success."
To show the principles of this new science at work, the authors profile organizations as diverse as the VeriFone division of Hewlett-Packard, DuPont, Monsanto, Babel's Paint and Decorating Stores in Massachusetts, Greenwich Village restaurants in New York, and Muhlenberg Medical Center in New Jersey. And they identify three practices common to these organizations: a style of leadership that guides without being controlling, the creation of dynamic teams, and the development of strong relationships among workers, customers, and community. The Soul at Work is an excellent resource for businesses and individuals interested in succeeding by getting the best out of people. --Dan Ring
Book Description
It is now widely recognized that the business world is in the throes of constant, rapid, and unpredictable change. Everywhere we hear that a new kind of economy is emerging from rapid technological innovation -- particularly in the realm of computational power and communications -- and from the globalization of business and the arrival of the Internet. Faced with these profound changes, leaders and managers are discovering that many of their background assumptions and time-honored business models are inadequate to help them understand what is going on, let alone how to deal with it and survive.
The Soul at Work brings to businesspeople a new and powerful way of thinking about and working in the new economy, one that draws on the new science of complexity, which recognizes that business organizations are complex adaptive systems. The great contribution of prize-winning author Roger Lewin and developmental psychologist Birute Regine is to ground this science in organizational dynamics, in the interactions of people, and to show how leaders who embrace the principles of complexity science are developing highly innovative and adaptable organizations that are more likely to be successful in traditional financial bottom-line terms. Most important, as the old command-and-control style of management is relinquished in favor of a broader sharing of leadership, people in these organizations experience a greater sense of commitment to their work and to themselves in an atmosphere of genuine relationships and mutual respect. The authors explain how these transforming ideas are creating a more human-oriented and successful workplace, as revealed in the stories of a dozen actual companies of very different types and sizes.
Practical and wonderfully readable, The Soul at Work explores these new management practices to show what does and does not work effectively, what blocks the process and what enhances it.
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding, one of the best practical guides to complexity theory available.......2007-01-20
I work as a business researcher in the domain of change management and leadership so I need to read a lot of books. It's something I find challenging these days because so much of it is derivative, boring, unoriginal and frankly not very useful and based on mostly limited perspectives and thinking. In order to find one really good book for a client that stands out in the field in order for them to pass onto their clients or for use in a project, usually I have to go through something like 50-100 books, which is frustrating in the extreme. This book is one of the best I've come across in terms of practical applications of complexity theory. It's one of the few that I've actually bought and kept for myself, even though its now several years old.
It's both an easy and enjoyable read, jargon free (none of that making up new words so they can trade mark them), honest, clear and heart connected. So, in response to the other reviewer, 'yes, we can believe them'! It's also chock full of ideas that you may want to take, and adapt :} to make into your own. The book has a number of case studies of organisations that have applied or represent these tools, theories and perspectives. They're not the just usual suspects and they do a great job of conveying the principles.
The book starts with a clear introduction to the principles involved in the complexity sciences, it's not technical, nor is there more than you really need to know to have a good working knowledge of the principles involved and it also looks at the historical context of strategy and business planning and its shortcomings. From there it moves into the case studies including VeriFone, St Lukes, Muhlenberg Medical Center, River Cafe, DuPont and others. The book concludes with several chapters on relationships (one of the core principles of complexity). It has invaluable discussions on leadership, emergent teams and relational practice. It's simply some of the best discussions of leadership, teams, emergence, relationships that I've seen in one place and they offer powerful tools and perspectives you can use in your business. It is authentic, real and powerful.
Weaving Complexity & Business is a very enjoyable read (which is rare for a business book) and I think one of the most useful in this field.
Highly recommended.
Can we believe them!.......2001-04-07
A typical format from a journalist (science writer). Similar to the original "Life at the Edge" by Lewin, and the original book on "Complexity" by Waldrop. They just keep on telling us how important complexity science is, and how the world can no longer be run on the old mechanistic principles that got us this far. This line is so overused and boring. Wow; major insight from the authors: The world revolves around relationships. And finally, their narratives ( not case studies as they are careful to point out) are different accounts from Monsanto to Du Pont. Can we believe them? These stories hardly confirm anything about why complexity science is so important. But to be fair the authors admit this right up front when they say they are not trying to establish formal proof, but rather seek resonannce and verisimilitude as a source of validation, rather than validity. And for this honesty they get 2 stars not 1.
A Complete Work !.......2000-06-15
From the first deep metaphor about vernal pools (not a failed pond but a force for ecological good) to the closing plea for care-full organizations (engage people's stories and dreams; patient and diligent; listen, respond, intuit), this book engaged my mind, feelings, passion, and excitement. It took awhile to read because I could barely get past one chapter at a time--its extremely relevant contents and powerful examples stirred my reflective energies.
I admit coming to this book already believing in chaos, systems, and feedback systems theory as extremely applicable to business organizations. My appetite was whetted by Margaret Wheatley's "Leadership and the New Science." I was looking for tangible examples about how these theories work in business. Roger Lewin and Birute Regine proved to me they can. They further helped me understand and provided a language about complexity science as the zone between stable and chaotic states of complex systems where adaptation and evolution take place.
Reviewing the passages I highlighted richly describe fundamental properties about complex systems. In between are stories of real people who achieved success and how they did it. Thus, the book is complete in describing the whats, hows, and whys of getting people successfully working together. It now occupies a prominent place in my repertoire to facilitate teams through complex projects.
Case studies of success with complexity.......2000-06-08
The goal of most change programs today is a flexible, adaptive organisation with highly motivated people who will identify and exploit new opportunities in ways that contribute to corporate strength and viability and also to improving the human condition. To achieve that, what you need is not better analysis, better extrinsic 'motivation' or better control. You need to change your focus and the way you see the world. That is the message of this set of case studies of organisations that are succeeding in the hard task of building organisations that are highly successful in dynamic markets and that fully reflect the aspirations and values of employees, customers and other stakeholders.
The authors are specialists in complexity science and the dynamics of relationships. The view of organisation as a 'complex adaptive system' and the belief that the key to business success in times of uncertainty lies in the quality of relationship are increasingly accepted. What this book adds is a clear and practical synthesis of these streams of thought and practice, based on a set of detailed case studies that get inside the values, beliefs and feelings of the participants in wide ranging transformational change. From their experiences the authors draw out the reasons for confronting radical change and the set of values and processes that appear to be most useful for those venturing on their own necessarily unique journey.
A major strength of the book is its success in conveying what it feels like to commit oneself to unknown risks in pursuit of a goal that can not be fully defined. The external driver is rapid market change, the main internal driver is the need to reconnect to the human spirit and re-ignite genuine shared commitment to inspiring goals. The book identifies the commercial and psychological rewards as well as the dilemmas and disorientation for both the leaders and the led as they start their journey, and shows how apparently simple changes can produce the kind of 'limited chaos' that is needed for creative transformation.
OD practitioners should not expect to find blinding insights into novel practices. The approaches to leadership, reliance on teams, focus on relationship and use of the existing culture to find ways of 'nudging' the existing culture into change are all part of today's currency of change management. What the authors do is provide another very approachable way of showing how these elements fit together and include both a rationale for particular processes and ways of behaving and examples of the dilemmas encountered along the way.
For a really good 'manual' for working with whole systems and with complexity, see Pratt, Gordon and Plamping: Working Whole Systems (listed at Amazon.co.uk but not currently at Amazon.com).
The Best Book on the Business Lessons of Complexity Science.......2000-03-13
I have read over two dozens books on complexity science and its applications to organizations of all types. Clearly, The Soul At Work is the best of those books. If you already know something about complexity science and its business applications and want to learn more or simply want to get started on the subject, this is the book you should read. Here's why. First, the authors are very fine writers. They also seem to have had outstanding editing. The book is by far the best written of any that I have read on this subject, and is among the best written of any business books I have read as well. This quality particularly shows up in clarifying ideas that can be hard to grasp (complexity science), explaining very interesting examples, and connecting the ideas to the examples in very useful ways. Second, most of the examples are fresh, so you will learn something new by reading these cases. Most business books choose the same examples over and over (do IBM and Coca-Cola seem familiar?), and it gets a little tiring for the reader. The one example in The Soul at Work that I was familiar with was Verifone, and the authors developed lots of new material there that substantially added to my understanding. Third, the cases have a lot of variety in them (as to type of organization, size of organization, the people profiled, the cultural background of the organization, and so forth) which provides a multidimensional perspective that is very helpful. Fourth, the authors successfully contrast their ideas with the humanistic approach to management and the engineering approach, which is a useful backdrop for understanding what they have to say. Anyone who does prefer the humanistic approach will like this book, and will get many new ideas for employing that direction. Fifth, and most importantly, the central theme of the book rings very true to me based on my over 30 years of consulting experience with organizations of all kinds. Trust-based relationships are an essential element of how organizations become more effective. Improve the trust, and any organization works better. The main reason is that trust helps overcome the stalls of poor communication, procrastination, bureaucracy, tradition, disbelief, and avoiding unattractiveness. Although others have made this point, The Soul at Work makes the point better. If you think about the new electronically-connected world, you can see that its main limitation is establishing trust before we can each feel comfortable extending ourselves and our connections in new directions. If you only read one business book this year, this is my recommendation. It's the best business book I have read since The Living Company by Arie de Geus.
Books:
- Organizational Behavior: Foundations, Reality and Challenges (with InfoTrac®)
- Organizational Behavior with Student CD and OLC/PowerWeb card
- Organizational Behavior with Student CD and OLC/PowerWeb card
- Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art since Pollock (A.W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts)
- Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating Health Promotion Programs: A Primer (4th Edition)
- Planning Programs for Adult Learners: A Practical Guide for Educators, Trainers, and Staff Developers, 2nd Edition
- Quick Guide to the 16 Personality Types in Organizations: Understanding Personality Differences in the Workplace
- Sew What! Skirts: 16 Simple Styles You Can Make with Fabulous Fabrics
- Singled Out: How Singles are Stereotyped, Stigmatized, and Ignored, and Still Live Happily Ever After
- Strategic Executive Development: The Five Essential Investments (Pfeiffer Essential Resources for Training and HR Professionals)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Big Cotton: How A Humble Fiber Created Fortunes, Wrecked Civilizations, and Put America on the Map
- The Summerhouse
- Placenta And Trophoblast: Methods And Protocols
- Textiles of Wiener Werk: 1910-1932
- The Glass Castle: A Memoir
- Understanding By Design
- The Wines of the South of France: From Banyuls to St. Raphael
- Georg Baselitz: Pastels, Watercolors, Drawings
- The Architectural Theory of Viollet-le-Duc: Readings and Commentaries
- The River God's Vengeance
Critical Thinking
Globalization: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Leadership: Theory and Practice
Classics of Organization Theory (with InfoTrac )
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition
