Workflow Modeling: Tools for Process Improvement and Application Development
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Finally a How-To!
  • Very good for newbies in process improvement field
  • Good Book for a Foundation
  • Excellent Business Process Modeling Book
  • Workflow Modeling - This Book Flows...
Workflow Modeling: Tools for Process Improvement and Application Development
Alec Sharp , and Patrick McDermott
Manufacturer: Artech House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1580530214

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Finally a How-To!.......2007-09-15

Good overall analysis and methodology for approaching process re-design projects. Very practical and well written. Includes strategies for avoiding common pitfalls.

5 out of 5 stars Very good for newbies in process improvement field.......2007-08-16

I enjoyed this book because of:
1) clear, coherent logic
2) it's very practical from cover to cover - everything you need to know before modeling processes you can find here and use it in your work on the very next day
3) the language - it's plain and definitely supports better adoption of the tools described. I also like the authors' delicate humor :)

As a whole - two thumbs up, 5 stars.

4 out of 5 stars Good Book for a Foundation.......2007-08-09

I was recommended this book from BPMN Essentials course I recently took and just finished the book. It has a great deal of examples and suggestions for how to perform process modelling, which I like.

5 out of 5 stars Excellent Business Process Modeling Book.......2006-11-29

Everything started with the creation of a two days workshop: Workflow Process Modeling. The authors have continually improved the workshop with participants' feedback and ideas based on their own hands-on consulting work with many organizations. The book is very well structured and it is based on real world experience. The structure is simple with no unnecessary parts that usually fill other books with redundant content. The content is not a mere recount of personal experiences: there are plenty of references to other publications. Plus, you will find good humor in the book that makes it even more readable.

Although the authors declared their work aimed at application development work as a final outcome, the book is focused very much on the business side with emphasis on process workflow. Nowadays the specialization pushes further and further apart the role of a business analyst from the system analyst, while in the past some would refer to these roles as one. This book might not be very useful for a system analyst because it is not very technically oriented. You will not find yourself drown under zillions of diagrams created with a specific software package, but you will get instead a method of how to approach business analysis from a broad, yet practical, perspective. The book does not bother even to talk too much about UML. I found that refreshing and extremely useful. I have been searching for a book that is more like a thought provoking companion rather than a software tool manual and this book fits that description.

Workflow Modeling is a comprehensive book. It does not focus on a particular stage of business analysis. It provides an inventory of areas the professional business process consultant would have to consider and the rationale for each one of them. Some readers might not agree with the little amount of space dedicated to class modeling which is almost inexistent. On the plus side, the authors talk about approach in dealing with project stakeholders, pitfalls, team building and difficulties and what questions to ask in various situations. The authors appreciate the importance of the final delivery, how to map the road between the as-is process to to-be process and understand the structure of the organization. I found many things that were said here very realistic and valuable; I could relate them to my own experience. The book does not say much about class modeling, but it talks a lot about swimlane diagrams and use cases analysis.

You can use Workflow Modeling to design your own work template that suits your style and formation. You can come back , re-read some parts or the whole book (I have done that) and still get something out of it. I recommend the book as a good investment that will not go out of fashion very soon.

5 out of 5 stars Workflow Modeling - This Book Flows..........2006-09-16

Workflow Modeling serves both as a primer to a process approach to management, and a step-by-step guide for modeling the workflow required to achieve the process goals. The skills it teaches are critical as modeling is often the first step within larger improvement projects of all kinds.

Beyond modelling itself, the authors provide the context for process issues by considering organisational mission, strategy, goals and culture within which design and improvement projects usually occur.

Readers will find lots of case studies and vignettes that clearly illustrate the points and enliven the book in no small way.
The Consultant's Big Book of Organization Development Tools : 50 Reproducible Intervention Tools to Help Solve Your Clients' Problems
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Cookbook of Interventions
The Consultant's Big Book of Organization Development Tools : 50 Reproducible Intervention Tools to Help Solve Your Clients' Problems
Mel Silberman
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0071408835

Book Description

The Consultant's Big Book of Organization Development Tools provides consultants with tools, interventions, and activities they can use to solve individual, team, and organizational performance problems.

This book offers incredible value for the consultant looking to use structured interventions as a vital part of the consultation approach. Many of the tools consist of a simulation or other structured activity consultants can use with leaders in the client organization to address the soft issues in a nonthreatening way. And most include downloadable, customizable handouts that they can freely reproduce and use with clients.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Cookbook of Interventions.......2006-02-24

A good compendium of intervention recipes. Lots of team activities. I have found a number of these available on the web, but this does compile them together. No theory, just recipes. You should already have a concept of your OD strategy, then use this as a reference.
Quick Changeover for Operators: The SMED System (Shopfloor Series)
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Easy and straight forward for beginners
Quick Changeover for Operators: The SMED System (Shopfloor Series)
Shigeo Shingo
Manufacturer: Productivity Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1563271257

Book Description

The Shopfloor Series puts powerful improvement tools in the hands of an entire workforce. And now Productivity's all-time bestseller, A Revolution in Manufacturing: The SMED System, is available in a condensed version prepared especially for front-line workers and general interest readers. Quick changeover techniques, the basis for "just-in-time" manufacturing, result in dramatically lower costs and vastly improved product quality. This peerless introduction includes chapter outlines, margin assists, illustrations, and helpful application questions. The late Shigeo Shingo was the undisputed master of advanced methods that revolutionized manufacturing worldwide. Dr. Shingo, inventor of the Single-Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) system for Toyota, shows how to reduce changeover time by an average of 98 percent! Application of Shingo's techniques can reduce lead time from weeks to days, and lower work-in-process, inventory, and warehousing costsall of which will improve quality, productivity, and profits.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Easy and straight forward for beginners.......2007-03-11

Whether you start with JIT/Lean or Quick Response Manufacturing, you need to learn some simple tools helping you with the process improvement after any process analyze. Many books about operations management will teach you the interaction of workstations and the parameters influencing the performance of a workstation, line or even a factory. Furthermore good operations books will give you the insights how to analyze the performance of a system. What often misses (which is Ok), is to provide the knowledge, e.g. if lot size reduction will bring a huge improvement for cycle-time etc., how to do this? Most of the books of this series exactly deal with this questions and present some methods that work and will simplify your life reading more sophisticated literature about this issue later on.

All the books of the productivity press series were a great help to me. The following books of this series provided a good start about:

- SMED: how to reduce change-over time and to make small lot sizes happen
- TPM: how to improve machine availability and breakdown variability
- ZQC: overcoming the problem of other quality methods, that only measure what was done but w/o pre-active prevention for rework/ scrap (Six-Sigma, SPC etc. are more complicated and not pre-active..)

The key for SMED is explained very well - separation of the change over step by distinguishing internal and external set-up and how to proceed. I read more sophisticated books about this subject, but this simple book is the first one I pick from my shelf, whenever I need some help. When you need more specific information e.g. about quick-fixations and what exists and how they look like, then buying other books can be helpful as well.

Best Regards,
Oliver
Build Your Own Garage: Blueprints and Tools to Unleash Your Company's Hidden Creativity
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • All Buzz and No Bizz
  • Clever stories but no handbook
  • Wake-Up Call for Traditional Marketing Literature
  • Build Your Own Garage
  • Sparking Corporate Creativity
Build Your Own Garage: Blueprints and Tools to Unleash Your Company's Hidden Creativity
Bernd H. Schmitt , and Laura Brown
Manufacturer: Free Press
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0743202600

Amazon.com

Ever since Hewlett-Packard emerged from one in 1939, a "garage" has come to symbolize the no-holds-barred mentality that fosters the kind of creativity that drove this company--and the dozens more it spawned--to heights theretofore unknown. Bernd Schmitt, a Columbia Business School professor who has written several well-received marketing books (Experiential Marketing, Marketing Aesthetics) takes this image to the next level in Build Your Own Garage by relaying strategies that readers can adapt to their own enterprises whether they are housed in a converted parking structure or not.

As one might suspect from a book that advocates the unorthodox, Schmitt chooses to deliver his ideas in an unconventional manner. Each chapter begins with an elaborate short story by Laura Brown that encapsulates its central concepts (such as a vampire tale based on Bram Stoker's Dracula that illustrates how "the strictures of traditional corporate culture are enough to suck the life energy out of anyone"). Also sprinkled throughout are photographs and images by graphic artist Gail Anderson, which simultaneously reinforce the book's themes (on topics including technology, branding and "customer experience management") and distance it from buttoned-down management tomes that espouse the very group-think Schmitt is trying to eliminate. Those seeking new ideas who are not turned off by unique presentations should find this intriguing. --Howard Rothman

Book Description

Is your company all bizz -- filled with professional managers, accountants, and financial planners who produce "smooth operations" but offer no customer savvy or soul? Or is it all buzz -- filled with talk, hype, and the brainstorming of half-cooked ideas that often lead nowhere?

To capture the best of these dichotomous worlds, creativity expert Bernd H. Schmitt and accomplished business writer Laura Brown introduce a groundbreaking model of a creative organization they call "The Garage." This powerful new framework demonstrates how any executive can manage the creative tension between the analytic, rational side of business and its dynamic, innovative side. After laying out the broad mission, or "blueprint," for constructing The Garage, Schmitt and Brown present The Toolbox -- specific instruments for infusing creativity into all aspects of a business -- and show how to use The Blueprint and The Toolbox as essential strategy, recruiting, resource, and communications devices. At the center of this immensely readable book are the "Mastercrafts of The Garage" -- technology, branding, and customer-experience management -- the organizational forces that guarantee creative efforts are coordinated and well implemented to provide competitive advantage.

To illustrate particular aspects of creativity, Schmitt and Brown open each chapter with a story or "business parable," each written in a different genre -- horror, detective, love story, or fairy tale -- accompanied by evocative photographs. They also draw on scores of cutting-edge examples of creative, innovative ventures such as American Express's Blue, W Hotels, Eli Lilly's "Answers That Matter," SAP, and NTT DoCoMo's i-mode.

Build Your Own Garage is timely and instructive reading for any manager charged with the mandate to bring to market quickly the most useful and innovative products and services. The book's Web site is www.BuildTheGarage.com

Customer Reviews:

2 out of 5 stars All Buzz and No Bizz.......2005-03-05

This is an incredibly structured book about creativity. Although I agree with most of what he says, I find little value in this book. The thing that I disagree with most is the need for tension between bizz and buzz. I know that harmony between the two is not only acheivable but more productive.

The short stories about real companies earned this book its second star. They had real value.

To the writers of the 5 star reviews that convinced me to buy this book, I would ask "How in the world did you manage to walk away with anything of practical value?" It reads like an outline -- five steps to this, four tools for that, two types of that, three stages of the other thing. How boring!! And what a cluttered mind!!

In a sense, it is a great road map but tells you nothing about road conditions or the best route to take. To me, the creative stories just took up space and slowed me down. There is more information in a three frame Dilbert cartoon than in one of these stories.

I managed an innovation group for a fortune 100 company for 23 years and my experience taught me that people who try to create a "Cookbook" for creativity are usually devoid of it.

This would be a great $6.00 book.

2 out of 5 stars Clever stories but no handbook.......2001-12-31

The book benefits from amusing anecdotes but is very light on actual help for putting in place a workable framework for managing business innovation.

4 out of 5 stars Wake-Up Call for Traditional Marketing Literature.......2001-10-31

Finally somebody tearing down the "dusty" rules and old-fashioned formats of how to write a marketing book. This book is not only creative, well thought-out, and informative it is especially fun to read.
An absolute must-read!

5 out of 5 stars Build Your Own Garage.......2001-08-08

Another brilliant book fom Bernd Schmitt (the man behind "Experiential Marketing"). Very creative, great ideas about managing and adding creativity to yr organization. I loved the website too --buildyourowngarage.com. Very creative, hand-drawn design!

5 out of 5 stars Sparking Corporate Creativity.......2001-08-08

Having read Schmitt's books on marketing, I was very interested to see him branching out into the field of corporate creativity. "Build Your Own Garage" is a really interesting, quirky book that sparks the imagination and also offers practical, concrete tools that managers can use.

I believe that "Build Your Own Garage" is the first business book on creativity that really expresses the complexity of the creative process. Encouraging and managing creativity in a large organization is not a simple job. Schmitt and Brown approach the topic from different angles--analyzing the role of creativity in business organizations, detailing real-world examples of creative initiatives, and also offering creative "business parables" to show different facets of creativity in the workplace. (Look especially for the vampire story about "the Corporate Undead"!)

For all its quirkiness, "Build Your Own Garage" deals with corporate creativity in a down-to-earth way. This is not a giddy, dot-com, anything-goes approach to creativity. The book fully acknowledges the importance of business fundamentals and proposes a variety of realistic techniques to improve performance through creativity. Not surprisingly given Schmitt's background, the chapter on Branding is particularly strong.

"Build Your Own Garage" is a quick and enjoyable read that offers some useful insights into corporate creativity. I highly recommend it.
Organizational Surveys: Tools for Assessment and Change (J-B SIOP Professional Practice Series)
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Comprehensive - but needs an update to accommodate internet surveys and other methodological developments.
  • Was good to the last chapter...then was a downer.
Organizational Surveys: Tools for Assessment and Change (J-B SIOP Professional Practice Series)

Manufacturer: Pfeiffer
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ASIN: 0787902349

Book Description

With escalating demands upon research and assessment growing more varied, surveys are now used to assess and drive organizational change by examining company performance, customer and employee satisfaction, empowerment, and key aspects of corporate culture.

With Organizational Surveys, you'll learn how to:

  • Drive change with surveys
  • Use 360* feedback
  • Set expectations of results
  • Deal with ethical concerns
  • Facilitate feedback, action-planning, and follow-through . . . and much more!

    No other book approaches this collection's range and specificity, or its emphasis on actual practice in organizations. It's your indispensible toolbox for assessment and change!

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars Comprehensive - but needs an update to accommodate internet surveys and other methodological developments........2006-01-19

    I purchased this 418pp volume in 1998 and recently re-read this book to reacquaint myself with the rich material. What Kraut has done as an editor is to select 35 pertinent papers that discuss Organizational Surveys under three main heading:
    1) Purposes and uses.
    2) The Survey process.
    3) Special applications - such as linking survey results to "hard" figures such as productivity and performance.

    The book is packed with sage advice, both academic and practical. For example it counsels researchers to work closely with insiders in order to get the most useful surveys, and it spends many pages discussing the questions of implementing the recommendations and the whole issue of raising employee expectations by even conducting surveys.

    But what a lot has occurred in the 10 years since this book was edited. I find on re-reading that several cutting-edge ideas (linking internal results to customer satisfaction measures) are fairly standard now; and of-course the advent of web-based online surveys has had a major effect upon the practicability and style of conducting employee research. Online surveys, with their wonderful capacity to capture open-enders, really enable researchers to glue their quant findings much closer to qualitative styles of research including focus groups (given scant coverage here) and ethnography: the act of observing how the organisation does things. In essence, I don't feel the collection of papers deals quite adequately with the central question: what is it that makes organizational research and surveys different from other kinds of research.

    One key difference is the question of culture, and the way sub-units within an organisation may act as distinct and cohesive "tribes" capable of affirming, or subverting the overall objectives of the organisation by applying their sense of values, sense of fairness and sense of direction to their day-to-day involvement. Fascinating stuff - but this volume only discusses such issues in a generic manner.

    In short, the publishers might be prompted to consider a new updated edition. This book was state of the art 10 years ago, but its relevance is diminishing. I still give it four stars (just) because of the quality of the writing and the value of its insights - but the book is no longer solid gold. There's rust appearing on the bodywork, and readers will need to find other volumes to accompany this one. That's not a bad approach because the subject-matter has evolved quickly.

    4 out of 5 stars Was good to the last chapter...then was a downer........1998-12-10

    Book covers a wide variety of survey topics very well. I underlined a great many thoughts. One thought that occured to me was that I was on my way to doing Organizational Surveys. But at the end was warned "I would be a 'bounder' if I read a few books and started practicing." It seems this book's final conclusion is that you need to join the Union to do surverys, ie. be a phd or working under one. The book was still a great value.
    Why Teams Can Fail and What To Do About It: Essential Tools for Anyone Implementing Self Directed Work Teams
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • great book for modern work envronment
    Why Teams Can Fail and What To Do About It: Essential Tools for Anyone Implementing Self Directed Work Teams
    Darcy Hitchcock
    Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
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    ASIN: 0786304235

    Book Description

    Teams that work well together can achieve some of the greatest breakthroughs in organizational history. But with the rapid growth in popularity of teams can come failures, and every organization has experienced teams that are disorganized, unmotivated, and ultimately, short-lived. Why Teams Can Fail identifies the most common problems faced by high-performance, self-directed teams and offers specific suggestions for spotting and solving the problems and creating teams that really work. This unique troubleshooting guide shows how to: turn fear and intimidation into confidence and motivation; overcome lack of faith and commitment, and set positive, reachable goals; smooth out adversarial relationships and handle the problem of anarchy.

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars great book for modern work envronment.......2001-03-31

    In the past I had some concerns about work dynamics and why projects would keep failing, this book gave me amazing insights to the processes involved in team dymamics causing me to refocus my erergies, work style and accomplish better results in less time. Better than going to dilbert for figuring it out. They know how to make it work, read it. Its an important book for anyone who must particpate in elegate or be a part of the team structure environment that is cornerstione to the american work place. I think all managers and program managers who dont really owe to themselves to understand this concept to. Put it under the categorie on frequent read list of why companies fail. Alot do, but mostly wihthout a lot of people workign very hard to ensure they dont before hand. Buy the book.
    40 Tools for Cross Functional Teams (Tool Navigator)
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • A TREASURE TROVE OF TEAM BUILDING TOOLS!
    40 Tools for Cross Functional Teams (Tool Navigator)
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    1. Cross- Functional Teams: Working with Allies, Enemies, and Other Strangers (Jossey Bass Business and Management Series) Cross- Functional Teams: Working with Allies, Enemies, and Other Strangers (Jossey Bass Business and Management Series)
    2. The Basics of Cross-Functional Teams The Basics of Cross-Functional Teams
    3. From Cross Purposes to Cooperation: The Ten Factors that Unify a Cross-Functional Team From Cross Purposes to Cooperation: The Ten Factors that Unify a Cross-Functional Team
    4. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable

    ASIN: 1563271982

    Book Description

    Cross-functional teams, that is, teams comprised of members from different departments, are an essential element in developing a world class organization. Yet anyone who has tried to build effective cross-functional teams knows that they often fade away; they lack the tools, training, and motivation that would enable them to tackle more challenging tasks.

    In 40 Tools for Cross-Functional Teams: Building Synergy for Breakthrough Creativity, Walter Michalski cuts through the tangled thicket of team literature to give us a focused and comprehensive guide to building and sustaining cross-functional teams. This book will teach you everything you need to know about cross-functional teams. The author provides 40 carefully selected tools arranged in eight process stages, including getting cross-functional teams up and running, developing synergy/consensus, creatively solving problems, and recognizing and rewarding teams.

    An engaging book with clear illustrations, 40 Tools for Cross-Functional Teams is based on the same user friendly design of the Tool Navigator's Master Guide for Teams. Each tool is presented in a two or three page spread describing the tool, its function, method for implementation, and example of the tool in use. These 40 tools will assist any company in the creation of cross-functional teams to compete in today's team based corporate environment.

    Included are discussions of:

    Also by Walter J. Michalski:

    40 Top Tools for Manufacturers: A Guide for Implementing Powerful Improvement Activities

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars A TREASURE TROVE OF TEAM BUILDING TOOLS!.......1999-04-09

    This is a highly useful book that presents forty training and development tools, arranged in eight process stages covering initiating cross-functional teams, developing synergy and consensus, creatively solving problems, and recognizing and rewarding teams. The author describes the functions and methods for implementation of each tool, along with an illustration. Lots of illustrations and charts. A solid team-building resource. Reviewed by Yvette Borcia, co-founder, Stern & Associates, co-author of Stern's Sourcefinder The Master Directory to HR and Business Management Information & Resources, Stern's CyberSpace SourceFinder, and Stern's Compensation and Benefits SourceFinder.
    Tools for Team Excellence: Getting Your Team into High Gear and Keeping it There
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • Tools for Team Excellence
    Tools for Team Excellence: Getting Your Team into High Gear and Keeping it There
    Gregory Huszczo
    Manufacturer: Davies-Black Publishing
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

    GeneralGeneral | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    WorkplaceWorkplace | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    LeadershipLeadership | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    TeamsTeams | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    EntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Similar Items:
    1. Tools for Team Leadership: Delivering the X-Factor in Team eXcellence Tools for Team Leadership: Delivering the X-Factor in Team eXcellence
    2. The Skilled Facilitator The Skilled Facilitator
    3. Organizational Behavior Reader, The (8th Edition) Organizational Behavior Reader, The (8th Edition)
    4. Work It Out, Revised Edition: Using Personality Type to Improve Team Performance Work It Out, Revised Edition: Using Personality Type to Improve Team Performance
    5. Team Troubleshooter Team Troubleshooter

    ASIN: 0891060812

    Book Description

    Provides comprehensive information on building, assessing, and improving team performance.

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Tools for Team Excellence.......2000-04-25

    Dr. Gregg Huszczo provides a great road map for team development. He has laid out practical exercises for Steering teams to follow through out the journey to teams- from assessing the need for team development, getting ready for teams, and implementing, evaluating and nurturing team success.

    Huszczo delivers common sense information much like he delivers in person, in a simple pragmatic way- he is easy to understand by all levels in an organization.

    This book provides a hands-on guide for team development and teamwork. If you are considering implementing teams this is a good easy read and you'll want to use it weekly as a guide.

    I hope to write back one year from now and document how this hands-on guide helped in our process of team development. There are so many unknowns and directions teams can take- "Tools for Team Excellence" provides a roadmap.

    Good luck in changing the culture of your organization and team development process.

    Joe Boyle

    Manufacturing Engineer
    The Boundaryless Organization Field Guide : Practical Tools or Building the New Organization
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • Most Boundaries Are Self-Imposed
    • Boundaryless Organization Fieldbook Review
    The Boundaryless Organization Field Guide : Practical Tools or Building the New Organization
    Ron Ashkenas , Todd Jick , Dave Ulrich , and Catherine Paul-Chowdhury
    Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Ring-bound

    GeneralGeneral | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Organizational ChangeOrganizational Change | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Human Resources & Personnel ManagementHuman Resources & Personnel Management | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    TrainingTraining | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    EntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Vocational GuidanceVocational Guidance | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Organizational BehaviorOrganizational Behavior | Business Management | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    Business & InvestingBusiness & Investing | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    ProfessionalProfessional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    Similar Items:
    1. The Boundaryless Organization: Breaking the Chains of Organizational Structure (The Jossey-Bass Management Series) The Boundaryless Organization: Breaking the Chains of Organizational Structure (The Jossey-Bass Management Series)

    ASIN: 0787943215

    Book Description

    This hands-on kit contains everything managers need to put the strategies presented in The Boundaryless Organization into actual practice. Based on the renowned WorkOut process initiated at General Electric, this complete resource offers specific guidelines for facilitating dialogues that result in rapid, significant change. Practical tools include PowerPoint slides that reinforce key concepts, a diagnostic questionnaire for assessing your current boundaries, and exercises that apply boundaryless thinking to real-life scenarios. A leader's guide to WorkOut, process mapping, customer-supplier projects, and the employment of technology is also included.

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Most Boundaries Are Self-Imposed.......2002-02-24

    The title is a misnomer: Although the authors do indeed suggest how to "break through the chains of organizational structure", they provide an enlightening explanation of four different types of boundaries (vertical, horizontal, external, and geographic) which give definition to any organization. They do not advocate the total elimination of these boundaries (which is impossible, anyway); rather, they suggest how to rearrange them so that an organization can thrive. For the authors, there is what they call "A New World Order":

    "In living organisms, membranes exist to give the organization shape and definition. They have sufficient structural strength to prevent the organism from dissolving into an amorphous mess....Like a living organism, the boundaryless organization also evolves and grows, and the placement of boundaries may shift....Because the boundaryless organization is a living continuum, not a fixed state, the ongoing management challenge is to find the right balance of boundaryless behavior, to determine how permeable to make boundaries, and where to place them."

    This brief excerpt from the first chapter correctly suggests the purpose of this remarkable book: To explain HOW to meet that challenge. The material is presented within four parts plus a conclusion. The first explains how to achieve "free movement up and down" by crossing vertical boundaries; the second explains how to achieve "free movement side to side" by crossing horizontal boundaries; the third explains how to achieve "free movement along the value chain" by crossing external boundaries; and in the fourth part, they explain how to achieve "free global movement" by crossing geographic boundaries." Then in the Conclusion, the authors discuss "Making It Happen: Leading Toward the Boundaryless Organization." The authors also include a series of six questionnaires. By completing each in sequence, the reader is able to determine (a) where her or his organization is now located relative to "the boundaryless paradigm", and (b), what is needed to eliminate the "gap" between where it is now and where it should be.

    Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to read The Boundaryless Organization Field Guide. It contains a wealth of hands-on set of diagnostic instruments, exercises, and tools as well as a disk with presentation slides in Powerpoint format.

    5 out of 5 stars Boundaryless Organization Fieldbook Review.......2000-05-17

    The fieldbook is written in a very user friendly way. It provides information that can be used in various ways - presentation slides, workshops, surveys and inteviews. Each tool is explained in great detail - how to use it and the intended purpose. I borrowed a copy from our corporate libary and liked it so much I will order my own personal copy!
    Strategic Organization Design: Concepts, Tools and Processes. (Scott Foresman Management Application Series)
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Strategic Organization Design: Concepts, Tools and Processes. (Scott Foresman Management Application Series)
      David Nadler , and Michael Tushman
      Manufacturer: Scott Foresman & Co
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      GeneralGeneral | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
      Systems & PlanningSystems & Planning | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
      Similar Items:
      1. Competing by Design: The Power of Organizational Architecture Competing by Design: The Power of Organizational Architecture
      2. Designing Organizations: An Executive Guide to Strategy, Structure, and Process Revised Designing Organizations: An Executive Guide to Strategy, Structure, and Process Revised

      ASIN: 0673158608

      Books:

      1. Written on Silk (The Silk House #2)
      2. A Work of Heart : Understanding How God Shapes Spiritual Leaders
      3. American Country Building Design: Rediscovered Plans for 19th-Century Farmhouses, Cottages, Landscapes, Barns, Carriage Houses & Outbuildings
      4. Behavior in Organizations: Understanding and Managing the Human Side of Work (8th Edition)
      5. Behavior in Organizations: Understanding and Managing the Human Side of Work (8th Edition)
      6. Behind Adobe Walls: The Hidden Homes and Gardens of Santa Fe and Taos
      7. Best Practices in Planning and Performance Management: From Data to Decisions (Wiley Best Practices)
      8. Black Swan Green: A Novel
      9. Blended Coaching: Skills and Strategies to Support Principal Development
      10. Blood Diamonds

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