Book Description
In this era of technology, terror, and massive social change, it takes a deft touch to connect with Americans. Applebee's America cracks the twenty-first-century code for political, business, and religious leaders struggling to keep pace with the times.
A unique team of authors -- Douglas B. Sosnik, a strategist in the Clinton White House; Matthew J. Dowd, a strategist for President Bush's two campaigns; and award-winning political journalist Ron Fournier -- took their exclusive insiders' knowledge far outside Washington's beltway in search of keys to winning leadership.
They discovered that successful leaders, even those from disparate fields, have more in common than not.
Their book takes you inside the reelection campaigns of Bush and Clinton, behind the scenes of hyper-successful megachurches, and into the boardrooms of corporations such as Applebee's International, the world's largest casual dining restaurant chain. You'll also see America through the anxious eyes of ordinary people, buffeted by change and struggling to maintain control of their lives.
Whether you're promoting a candidate, a product, or the Word of God, the rules are the same in Applebee's America.
• People make choices about politics, consumer goods, and religion with their hearts, not their heads.
• Successful leaders touch people at a gut level by projecting basic American values that seem lacking in modern institutions and missing from day-to-day life experiences.
• The most important Gut Values today are community and authenticity. People are desperate to connect with one another and be part of a cause greater than themselves. They're tired of spin and sloganeering from political, business, and religious institutions that constantly fail them.
• A person's lifestyle choices can be used to predict how
he or she will vote, shop, and practice religion. The authors reveal exclusive new details about the best "LifeTargeting" strategies.
• In this age of skepticism and media diversification, people are abandoning traditional opinion leaders for "Navigators." These otherwise average Americans help their family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers negotiate the swift currents of change in twenty-first-century America.
• Winning leaders ignore conventional wisdom and its many myths, including these false assumptions: Voters only act in their self-interests; Republicans rule exurbia; and technology drives people apart. Wrong, wrong, and wrong.
• Once you squander a Gut Values Connection, you may never get it back. Bush learned that hard lesson within a year of winning reelection.
Applebee's America offers numerous practical examples of how leaders -- whether from the worlds of politics, business, or religion -- earn the loyalty and support of people by understanding and sharing their values and goals.
Customer Reviews:
Communications & Community Today.......2007-01-29
By examining developments in business, church and politics, the author opens a fascinating view on how people respond to belonging, form community, and make relationships in our new age, and how new communication methods and deliberate efforts by institutions to use them are re-shaping traditional processes and systems, and yielding remarkable success. As a new political leader who thought he understood how these things worked, it opened my eyes (once again) to an ever-changing world. Highly recommended. It will get you thinking ... a lot!
Where Community Connects.......2007-01-15
I enjoyed this book overall. The Navigators were an especially compelling article included. It reminded me of DuBois and The Talented Tenth and that a few people often make decisions for the entire community. I especially liked the section on Generation 9/11. As a grad student I intend to study this generation and this gives me a great starting point. One of the things I disliked was the linking of church, community, restaurants and many other points that were not covered enough or should be covered with additional books. Each topic deserved more coverage but I understand why he was trying to link them all. It seemed a little cluttered. Overall it is a well written book and I am sure it will be assigned to participation classes in the future. I give a grade of B.
Applebee's Profile.......2007-01-03
I loved the simple and almost comedic comparisons regarding Democrats v Republican profile... Some are shocking. Lighthearted and easy to read, great for just before bed.
A Mess of Consultant Babble.......2006-12-24
This poorly written book is mostly a fluffy mess of consultant babble. There is little material of interest or value in this book. The author's favorite catch term, "gut value connections" sounds like something some half-bright consultant would come up with. And they did.
Starting a non-profit? Read this book!.......2006-11-29
Anyone starting a non-profit organization (church, civic group, local political campaign, etc.) should read this book. It contains a wealth of insights that could be discussed by leadership and the committed core to identify key values and foster a healthy, collaborative organization.
Book Description
The same elements that are necessary in any great adventure--a deep appreciation of the terrain, an intuitive sense of direction, and the courage to carry through--are also essential to the resolution of complex issues in organization and society, says McWhinney. In Paths of Change, Will McWhinney outlines a new foundation for theories of change, initiating a discipline of praxis using concepts from psychology, sociology, anthropology and new methods of working with ontological and narrative concepts to produce intentional changes in society. The components of his theory include: a map of four alternative realities, a guidance theory based on two great myths that have been used in many cultures over the past millennia, and the qualities required to deal courageously with the paradoxes of change and resolution efforts. He indicates the critical role of leaders and followers, and of the coevolution of cultures that must accompany efforts to resolve major issues. McWhinney builds on the proposition that the most frequently encountered sources of conflict are the very changes we make in attempts to resolve related issues. The illustrative cases used are mostly derived from organizational life--a rich variety of examples drawn from history, politics, and technology indicate the broad relevance and practicality of the ideas. The theoretical developments provide a base for exploring topics as different as selection of tools for problem solving, formation of cultures, and new logics of transformative processes. As the theory emerges, it incorporates elements of action research, management and community development work, future studies, and aspects of system thinking that borrow from the human sciences. This synthesis is a new vessel within which to develop a positive human science of action for the 21st century.
Customer Reviews:
A briljant meta-model.......2006-02-25
This book contains a meta-model that is applicable to almost everything. It gives the reader an opportunity to check if he has looked at all points of view that are possible.
"...profoundly influenced my professional practice...".......1999-11-29
This book breaks new ground and will impact many organization development theory and practice areas, such as cognitive styles, change management, and leadership for many years to come. McWhinney begins by introducing the reader to a model of "reality archetypes" that he claims underlie all individual and collective thinking processes in Western society. The four realities remind one of Jungian types, but differ in that these are more like worldviews than personalities.
On one level, by using an instrument called "The Reality Inventory," one can learn how his/her personal worldview maps over McWhinney's model. This is useful for understanding how interpersonal conflicts are often, in essence, not as much fueled by divergent issues and interests, but by different mental models that influence how people define issues and communicate their interests. How often have we intervened in a conflict, only to discover that what appears to be a "real" difference over a substantive issues, turns out to be a battle over semantics? However, lest we be tempted to jump to "Men are from Mars..." pop psychological conclusions, it's important to note that McWhinney's approach goes any beyond any static "styles" theory.
The reality model serves as a basis for new insight into the dynamic nature of change. Most of us know that when a major organizational change conflicts with existing organizational culture, the culture most often prevails and the change effort dies. This happens when change agents and their sponsors fail to understand that most planned change interventions require an organization to move into a new collective reality (or mental model, worldview, frame of reference, etc.). The symptom we call "resistance" develops as underlying conflicts between old and new worldviews surface. McWhinney describes six modes of change to help organizations traverse the "territory" of the reality map. Interestingly, these also connote six leadership styles.
A short review doesn't do McWhinney's ideas justice. Repeated readings will yield new insights. I also highly recommend the companion volume, "Creating Paths of Change," especially for practitioners. Suffice it to say that this material has profoundly influenced my professional practice, as well as my personal life.
Book Description
Continuing his groundbreaking analysis of economic structures, Douglass North develops an analytical framework for explaining the ways in which institutions and institutional change affect the performance of economies, both at a given time and over time. Institutions exist, he argues, due to the uncertainties involved in human interaction; they are the constraints devised to structure that interaction. Yet, institutions vary widely in their consequences for economic performance; some economies develop institutions that produce growth and development, while others develop institutions that produce stagnation. North first explores the nature of institutions and explains the role of transaction and production costs in their development. The second part of the book deals with institutional change. Institutions create the incentive structure in an economy, and organizations will be created to take advantage of the opportunities provided within a given institutional framework. North argues that the kinds of skills and knowledge fostered by the structure of an economy will shape the direction of change and gradually alter the institutional framework. He then explains how institutional development may lead to a path-dependent pattern of development. In the final part of the book, North explains the implications of this analysis for economic theory and economic history. He indicates how institutional analysis must be incorporated into neo-classical theory and explores the potential for the construction of a dynamic theory of long-term economic change. Douglass C. North is Director of the Center of Political Economy and Professor of Economics and History at Washington University in St. Louis. He is a past president of the Economic History Association and Western Economics Association and a Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has written over sixty articles for a variety of journals and is the author of The Rise of the Western World: A New Economic History (CUP, 1973, with R.P. Thomas) and Structure and Change in Economic History (Norton, 1981). Professor North is included in Great Economists Since Keynes edited by M. Blaug (CUP, 1988 paperback ed.)
Customer Reviews:
Not enough economics for someone interested in economics; not captivating enough for anyone.......2007-09-28
As a fan of the economic focus on institutions, I was excited to read one of Douglass North's books. North is the founder of this school, it would seem, and won a Nobel for it.
Unfortunately, North's book hasn't enough mathematics to satisfy those with a quantitative bent, nor enough elegance to captivate anyone. I had to put it down after 80 pages (of 140 or so). I haven't felt like precious moments of my life were being lost so viciously since I last hurled Cryptonomicon across the room. I'm told that I should read North's papers rather than his books; this seems wise.
If you want to read books that refocus economics on institutions, I'd strongly suggest starting with Bowles's "Microeconomics: Behavior, Institutions, and Evolution." It's the best synthesis of the subject that I've seen, bringing in threads from evolutionary game theory and probably every major economist from the last 75 years.
The Limits of Hard-Rational Choice.......2006-08-02
North's work attempts to show how hard-rational choice theory and neoclassical economic theory are weak in that they argue that cooperation and coordination are not fundamental to transactions. North writes that in the "zero transaction-cost world, bargaining has no place, however, in the real world, institutions, bargaining and cooperation are necessary" (16).
The author argues that the rigidity of the human behavior described by hard-rational choice theorists is not practical in a real-world sense. For example, actors do not have perfect "computational power" and as such they don't have a perfect description of the world. Rather, the situations faced by actors are complex and uncertain. As such, transaction outcomes are unpredictable. North writes, "Uncertainties arise from incomplete information with respect to the behavior of other individuals in the process of human interaction" (25).
In order to protect oneself or maximize his or her individual utility, an individual must collect information regarding a transaction. The costs of transaction "consist of the costs of measuring the valuable attributes of what is being exchanged and the costs of protecting rights and policing and enforcing agreement" (27). Institutions are created to generate regular patterns in human interaction. Doing so decreases the costs of transaction, or "playing the game."
However, the game is never stable and as such institutions are malleable; they are capable of change. Yet the changes occur slowly, by increments. In the later chapters of the book, North takes a historical look at economic development, stability and change. Had all things been equal, transaction costs being zero, North argues that little diversity between economic systems would exist. North writes, "In a world in which there are no increasing returns to institutions and markets are competitive, institutions do not matter. If the actors initially have incorrect models and act upon them, they either will be eliminated or efficient information feedback will induce them to modify their models" (95). However, in real-world situations, institutions do matter and they are in continuous need of minor, or marginal, adjustments. In many ways, it is the behavior of the actors that make adjustments to the institution. North writes, "Incremental change comes from the perceptions of the entrepreneurs in political and economic organizations that they could do better by altering the exiting institutional framework at some margin" (8).
In conclusion, new institutionalism has emerged in response to the concentration on behavioral/rational choice theories in the discipline. The new institutionalism attempts to "bring the institutions" back in to political science. However, institutional scholars have evolved from the days of strictly studying the political systems of polities. The new institutionalism attempts to blend aspects of behavioral/rational choice theories with the importance of institutional structure and establish a new paradigm with which to study political phenomena.
Incentiv-creating institutions.......2004-05-19
The puzzle of the modern world is not that so many people are poor, but that so many are wealthy. How do democracies, with well-defined property rights and education for all com into place? In this Nobel prize winning work, North investigates some issues overlooked by most economists: the role of a society's institutions, defined as formal and informal constraints, varying from written laws to vague values (but important nevertheless) in a society. Economic theory is not able to explain the great differences in wealth between nations, argues North, and that is certainly a shame, because that would be the most interesting explanation it could possibly make. The solution is to include institutions into economic analysis.
Institutions determine transaction costs. In neoclassical economic theory, transaction costs are usually assumed to be zero (for reasons of comfort). North assumes transaction costs to make up half of the economy in a modern well-organized Western society with efficient institutions. A major reason for developing countries to be poor is that transaction costs are prohibitive, obstructing the benefits of trade.
North asks some extremely important questions in this book, but I was a bit disappointed that he didn't offer more answers. English not being my natural tongue, I found the book a bit hard to read. However, being very interested in the subject, I found it well worth the effort. Without a major (interest) in economics, you should probably enjoy some of the reviews instead. North's main answer to the main question, by the way, is that countries will prosper if the incentives created by their institutions motivate production, and not redistribution.
Most comprehensive book ever.......2004-02-05
Douglass North is an amazing writer. If you are purchasing this book, you probably already know what this book is about and its impact. This book, I would argue is largely responsible for his receiving the Nobel Prize in 1993.
His new-institutionalist view links together history, economics, political science, sociology, and every other social science. This book truly inspired me to specialize in institutional economics. Every social issue can be approached from the institutional perspective, namely that institutions determine actions and the market determines institutions. Though my professors are all old institutionalists, they agree this is the best book by far on the subject and most research papers in the subject thus reference this book.
For more information on New Institutional Social Science, visit the website at http://cniss.wustl.edu/people.html
OBVIOUS IN RETROSPECT, WHICH MAKES IT EVEN MORE OUTSTANDING.......2003-04-27
In this book, North outlines the precise features of the neo institutional economics school, which includes Coase, Williamson, Olson, Fogel, among others. This book is mainly about the theory itself and its origins and features, not about applications in particular, though the author does address that issue at the end of the book in the section about eocnomic performance.
I believe this book is great reading for the literate economist. It is difficult to follow for the non-economist, which I believe North focuses on in his other book, "Structure and Change in Economic History". That work is earlier and I believe not as complete, but it is much more readable. Either way, North's work is among the most important advances in economics in the 20th century (for which he got the Nobel Prize), so knowledge of it should benefit one and all.
Book Description
With its confining cubicles, incompetent leaders, bureaucratic inertia, and corporate doublespeak, the workplace can sometimes seem cartoonishly sinister--right down to the pointy-haired bosses and malevolent canines!
It's time to snap back into flesh-and-blood reality and tune in to ESCAPE FROM CLUELESSNESS. This refreshing book offers an antidote to the creeping cynicism and feelings of helplessness that ensnare millions of employees--each struggling to make sense of the strange and puzzling world of work.
There are no sugarcoated management mantras here. Instead, the book uses a punchy text and biting wit to survey the same grim territory so brilliantly satirized by "Dilbert." But, unlike the cartoon, ESCAPE FROM CLUELESSNESS takes the strong, positive stand that something CAN be done to improve things.
And the book supplies a detailed road map for making it happen, leading readers on a journey away from cluelessness and toward a better, more rewarding work life. Along the way, they'll: * Plunge into the murky underworld of office politics--and learn how to play the game (without getting eaten) * Enter the hothouse of interpersonal relationships--and learn to understand themselves and the people around them * Tour the feudal landscape of corporate monarchs, lords, and serfs--and learn to work around the bureaucratic barriers that hierarchy creates * Crack the hidden cultural codes, create pizzazz in a sterile workplace, navigate the endless--and endlessly bumbled--change efforts, and much more.
Customer Reviews:
A Politically Incorrect Situation.......2000-05-04
This book was written for those who are experiencing serious problems in the workplace. In the Introduction, the authors provide a self-audit consisting of a series of direct questions. For example:
"Have you ever wondered why so many people in high positions seem to be selfish, power-crazed boneheads?"
"Do you detest office politics?"
"Do relationships at work remind you of a dysfunctional family?"
The balance of the book focuses on strategies and tactics to help resolve (or at least alleviate) the problems suggested by the various questions. The book is divided into several different parts which focus on the nature of cluelessness, organizational politics, improving relationships on the job, "mapping the pecking order", "cracking the cultural code", understanding change, and "choosing [an appropriate] life path." The book makes tons of sense. The authors obviously care sincerely about the victims of cluelessless. They offer what they call "both an atlas and a guide" for coping with system dynamics, "the murky world of politics", "the emotional world of people at work", "the red tape of bureaucracy", "the depths of tribal life at work", and sudden/traumatic change. Finally, they examine "a deeper question that's a silent companion at work: What life path do you really want to follow?"
Who should read this book? I highly recommend it to those who feel that they are clueless and/or victims of those who are. The authors offer excellent advice as to what to do (and what not to do), how to do it, and when. I also recommend it highly to anyone in a senior management position who has direct responsibility for developing others to their full potential. Chances are that many (of not most) of those "others" are clueless, not only in the workplace but also to the fact that this book is available.
Huge Disappointment.......2000-05-03
Take just a little bit of useful information, add a little bit more of relevant information, put in a whole lot of useless junk and fluff, and tack on a catchy title: That's what this one is folks. I usually give away books that I end up not wanting to keep. In the case of this book, I wouldn't do that to anyone. I bought this one yesterday and it is destined for the trash barrel today. It's interesting that trash like this even gets published.
Book Description
Empirical Studies in Institutional Change is a collection of nine empirical studies by fourteen scholars. Dealing with issues ranging from the evolution of secure markets in seventeenth-century England to the origins of property rights in airport slots in modern America, the contributors analyze institutions and institutional change. To make the papers accessible to a wide audience, the editors have written an introduction to each study and added three theoretical essays to the volume, including Douglass North's Nobel Prize address, that reflect their collective views as to the present and future status of institutional analysis.
Average customer rating:
|
Making Local Governance Work: Networks, Relationships and the Management of Change (Government Beyond the Centre)
Sue Goss
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Public Affairs & Administration
| Government
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
State & Local Government
| Government
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Urban Planning & Development
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Local Government
| Levels of Government
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0333917871 |
Book Description
New forms of local governance require new ways of working, and in this important new book, Sue Goss assesses the nature of the challenge and how individuals and organizations have responded. Drawing on a wide range of political and management theory and research and her own extensive experience, she provides the clearest picture yet of the emergence of new "relationship organizations" and of their engagement with the new roles of citizens, public managers, and local politicians.
Book Description
Since its publication in 2000, Public Management Reform has established itself as the standard text in the field, presenting a comparative analysis of recent changes in Public Management and Public Administration in a range of countries in Europe, North America and Australasia. This
completely rewritten second edition radically expands, develops and updates the original.
Two countries have been added to the comparison (making twelve countries in all) and a much fuller treatment has been provided of the European Commission (including a commentary on the recent reforms led by Vice-President Kinnock). Empirical data has been brought up to date, so as to cover many
key developments of the last few years. The theoretical framework of the book has been further developed, including a challenging new interpretation of the trends in continental Europe, which are seen here as markedly different from the Anglo-American style 'New Public Management".
This second edition provides an unparalleled synthesis of developments in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the UK, the USA and the European Commission. It is organized in an integrated format, within an overall theoretical framework
that identifies the main pressures for and trajectories of, change. It includes a multi-dimensional analysis of the results of reform, and a chapter reflecting on the dynamic relationship between management reform and politics. Extensive appendices provide an in valuable information resource for
students.
Customer Reviews:
An integrated analysis of the wave of management reforms.......2000-07-19
In this major new contribution to a rapidly expanding field, the authors offer an integrated analysis of the wave of management reforms which have swept through so many countries in the last twenty years. The reform trajectories of ten countries are compared, and key differences of approach discussed. Unlike some previous works, this volume affords balanced coverage to the 'New Public Management' (NPM) and the 'non-NPM' or 'reluctant NPM' countries.
Book Description
This is the most challenging time for public management that I have seen in my 35 years of public and non-profit service. The ?survivors,' ten years from now, will be working in systems they could not possibly imagine now. They will have gotten there not just by luck, but by the full commitment of all members of their organizations and by dramatically different methods of public engagement. This book is an excellent resource for starting that journey and for assessing the progress of efforts to date.
?James Kunde, executive director, Coalition to Improve Management in State and Local Government
Creating High-Performance Government Organizations presents practical advice and tools that managers and innovators at every level of government can use in molding their organizations into results-oriented, mission-driven operations. Developed by a top-notch author team under the auspices of The Alliance for Redesigning Government, these recommAndations are rooted in the authors' years of experience in the public and private sectors, and thorough research into the theory and practice of organizational transformation.
The more than three dozen cases presented here will help you understand what high-performance organizations are and develop a clearer understanding of the preconditions to major change, the steps essential to getting started, and ways to overcome common roadblocks along the way.
Customer Reviews:
Too the Point with Steps That Make Sense.......2000-05-04
As a manager of a medium size agency in a fairly large city, I've looked at a lot of these kinds of books. Too often they are fed-land oriented or full of impractical or incomplete ideas. This one wasn't and it has been very useful as we pursue a strategic reform of our management systems.
Helpful, Concise, Coherent.......2000-03-16
I've been working on rego in my federal agency for seven years. While this book had no great surprises for me, it was a useful resource to think through what we've done so far and what remains to be done.
Usual , General, Superficial.......2000-01-14
Having finished the book, I asked about what I learned .. nothing new. Superficial, usual and step-by-step path. I advice an excellent and strong book that is Creating Public Value : Strategic Management in Government by Moore...
high performance concrete.......1999-11-02
I'm Korean studant.. Please, give me some information about high performance concrete.... Have a nice days......
Good source of ideas - challenging AND concise.......1999-03-04
This is one of a couple of books I've found that have proven to be helpful in both my day-to-day work and in trying to think more strategically and long-term about helping the city agency I work for perform at a significantly higher level.
Book Description
Individuals, Institutions, and Markets offers a theory of how the institutional framework of a society emerges and how markets within institutions work. The book shows that both social institutions, defined as the rules of the game, and exchange processes can be analyzed along a common theoretical structure. Mantzavinos' proposal is that a problem solving model of individual behavior inspired by the cognitive sciences provides such a unifying theoretical structure. Integrating the latest scholarship in economics, sociology, political science, law, and anthropology, Mantzavinos offers a genuine political economy showing how social institutions affect economic outcomes.
Customer Reviews:
This book is bound to become a classic in its field.......2001-12-27
This book is a novel analysis of how the institutions of a society emerge and how the markets within institutions work. It is an innovative contribution based on the recent advances in the cognitive sciences that will definitely become a classic in its field when digested by economists, sociologists, political scientists and the other social scientists that are interested in institutions.
Books:
- Art Deco New York
- Atomic Ranch
- Barcelona and Modernity: Picasso, Gaudi, Miro, Dali
- Best Practices in Leadership Development and Organization Change: How the Best Companies Ensure Meaningful Change and Sustainable Leadership (Essential Knowledge Resource)
- Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality
- Building Expertise, Second Edition
- Built to Change: How to Achieve Sustained Organizational Effectiveness
- Business Valuation Body of Knowledge: Exam Review and Professional Reference
- Busting Loose From the Money Game: Mind-Blowing Strategies for Changing the Rules of a Game You Can't Win
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