The difference between successful organizations is not between the business and the social sector, the
difference is between good organizations and great ones.
Customer Reviews:
Thought-provoking for non-profits.......2007-09-06
A friend mentioned Good to Great in a sermon and I thought it might be a worthwhile read for me as the executive director of a non-profit association facing the challenge of how take the organization to the next level.
I found the book fascinating and will share it with my Board of Directors as a roadmap for how we will move our organization from good to great.
The monograph provides a great overview of the concepts developed in the book and is of a very manageable length.
I would strongly recommend it to leaders of non-profits as a basis for a conversation about their organization making the great leap forward.
A must read for anyone in a leadership position.......2007-09-05
This is a great companion for Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't for anyone that works in the social sector. As an assistant principal in a large, suburban high school, this book helped to bring into focus the principles reviewed in Good to Great.
Great Principles make for Great Outcomes.......2007-09-04
The social sector does not need to be more business like; it needs to implement more great business principles tailored for the social entities economic engine - so says Collins in this 35 page, add-on for a future "Good to Great" update. In addition to tailoring some of the Great principles
* Define Great by calibrating success without business (monetary) metrics
* Lead thru a blend of personal humility and professional will to get things done within a diffuse power structure
* Get high quality people with a personal commitment to the cause on-board the bus
* Find the intersection of the social entity's Passion, Best at, and its Resource Engine
* Build brand recognition
to the specifics of the social entity, Collins suggests that the leadership principle of managing within a diffuse power structure is something for the business sector to learn; as business executives do not have the same concentration of pure executive power they once enjoyed.
All in, a useful bit of thinking for those in a not-for-profit enterprise, as well as for business leaders who like to look at organizational effectiveness from different perspectives. Dennis DeWilde, author of The Performance Connection
Good to GREAT.......2007-08-10
Jim Collins is always spot on. The insights he presents are presented with such clarity and ease of reading that I look forward to anything he does. I use it as a key part of the extensive Strategic Visioning work I do. While I enjoy all of his work, being in the social service sector, I can personally and professionally validate this offering with enthusiasm.
Book review of Good to Great.......2007-06-30
I thought the book was awesome. The concepts of how to become a Great Leader was quite helpful. These are concepts that I'll use to try and move my organization "From Good to Great.
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Five years ago, Jim Collins asked the question, "Can a good company become a great company and if so, how?" In Good to Great Collins, the author of Built to Last, concludes that it is possible, but finds there are no silver bullets. Collins and his team of researchers began their quest by sorting through a list of 1,435 companies, looking for those that made substantial improvements in their performance over time. They finally settled on 11--including Fannie Mae, Gillette, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo--and discovered common traits that challenged many of the conventional notions of corporate success. Making the transition from good to great doesn't require a high-profile CEO, the latest technology, innovative change management, or even a fine-tuned business strategy. At the heart of those rare and truly great companies was a corporate culture that rigorously found and promoted disciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner. Peppered with dozens of stories and examples from the great and not so great, the book offers a well-reasoned road map to excellence that any organization would do well to consider. Like Built to Last, Good to Great is one of those books that managers and CEOs will be reading and rereading for years to come. --Harry C. Edwards
Book Description
The Challenge
Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the verybeginning.
But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness?
The Study
For years, this question preyed on the mind of Jim Collins. Are there companies that defy gravity and convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? And if so, what are the universal distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great?
The Standards
Using tough benchmarks, Collins and his research team identified a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained those results for at least fifteen years. How great? After the leap, the good-to-great companies generated cumulative stock returns that beat the general stock market by an average of seven times in fifteen years, better than twice the results delivered by a composite index of the world's greatest companies, including Coca-Cola, Intel, General Electric, and Merck.
The Comparisons
The research team contrasted the good-to-great companies with a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to make the leap from good to great. What was different? Why did one set of companies become truly great performers while the other set remained only good?
Over five years, the team analyzed the histories of all twenty-eight companies in the study. After sifting through mountains of data and thousands of pages of interviews, Collins and his crew discovered the key determinants of greatness -- why some companies make the leap and others don't.
The Findings
The findings of the Good to Great study will surprise many readers and shed light on virtually every area of management strategy and practice. The findings include:
-
Level 5 Leaders: The research team was shocked to discover the type of leadership required to achieve greatness.
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The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the Three Circles): To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence.
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A Culture of Discipline: When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results. Technology Accelerators: Good-to-great companies think differently about the role of technology.
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The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Those who launch radical change programs and wrenching restructurings will almost certainly fail to make the leap.
“Some of the key concepts discerned in the study,” comments Jim Collins, "fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people.”
Perhaps, but who can afford to ignore these findings?
Customer Reviews:
A very thought-provoking book for people trying to grow their business........2007-10-02
This was a very interesting book for me to read. I have to imagine that I am in a pretty narrow target market for this book, though the concepts may be broadly applied. I work for a small business and can see many opportunities to put this book's findings to work.
The book tells the various stories of companies that made a transition from a market participant to market leader and saw sustained success for at least 15 years. The author was able to identify a few common factors between these companies, and he and his research team present them as a model for us to follow.
I had but one small issue, which is probably not information that contributes to the rest of the research. They detail radical decisions made by upper management, sometimes completely changing the face of an established business. I figure there must be a largely disproportionate number of business that fail when they made the same or a similar move. I would have liked to see some detail behind how those successful companies came to make that decision. The decision itself was largely overlooked.
Like many "business" books, I feel that much of what was written here was largely common sense. They weren't necessarily ideas that I have had or would have come up with on my own, but as I read them they seemed mundane in analysis. It made the reading slow going, but there was a silver lining -- for instant gratification, each chapter ends with a few pages of main concepts extracted from the text.
There was some very insightful research in Good to Great. The common elements identified were relevant and practical. It would not be an easy model to follow, but if it were it would defeat its own purpose to isolate those corporate characteristics that set successful companies apart. If you have ever wondered what steps you should follow to take your company from Good to Great, this is a book you should read (even if it is just the chapter summaries).
"Good" is not "good enough"........2007-10-02
"Good" is not "good enough". When organizations and/or individuals settle for "good" as "good enough" they set themselves up to become obsolete. "Good to Great" looks at those organizations that decided never to settle for "good enough" and became "Great". How about you? Are you striving to become great at what you do, or have you settled for being good enough to get by? Does the organization that you work for have a plan to move from good to great? Are you a part of the change that will take your company to the next level or do you believe that your company is "good enough" right where it is?
I believe there is more value to be gained by pushing good organizations to become great than trying to turn mediocre organizations into good ones. The data presented in "Good to Great" shows just how much value can be gained by those willing to make the leap to Great. The book also shows you what principles of business those companies that made the leap had to adopt.
My favorite chapters are chapter two (Level 5 Leadership) and three (First Who...Then What). Level 5 Leadership address the benefits of having personal humility combined with a strong will to build something great. We have to many leaders at the top that have let their egos become more important than the organizations they run. "Good to Great" explains how the leaders of those companies that made the leap avoided the ego trap while having great ambitions for building something exceptional. Everyone who wishes to become a leader that makes a difference should read this chapter.
"First Who...Then What" does a good job of showing how great companies put "talent" at the top of the agenda. Any leader who wants to build a strong organization must put "talent" at the top of their agenda. Jim Collins address two critical issues companies need to address when it comes to recruiting and developing their talent. He shows us why it is important to get the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus. And then goes on to explain how great companies get the people in the right seat. How many people in your organization are in the wrong seat? How many should be taken off the bus entirely? Companies are not good at hiring the right people and then are terrible at assigning them to the right job. This chapter is a must for anyone involved in the hiring of talent.
I also recommend spending some time at jimcollins.com. I have visited and revisited this site to get more information on the concepts presented in "Good to Great". Buy the book, then go to the website and start your own journey from good to great.
Larry Kevin Adams
theactionator.com
Good To Great.......2007-09-28
Our company is taking the advice of the book to heart. We have formed our "hedgehog" group and all are excited. We want to work in an environment of greatness. The book shows us the way. We have 7 of our employees who have agreed to "donate their time" at lunch several times a month to help us identify our circles. I would recommend this book to any company or organization that truly wants to have their maximum impact in the arena in which they operate!
My Business Bible.......2007-09-24
If I have a bible for business, this is it. First who then what is the only way to go!
Still applicable in 2007.......2007-09-19
I enjoyed the thought provoking aspect of this book. The different levels of leadership, the hedgehog concept are the two takeaways from this book.
How many of us fall into the trap of being everything to everyone? Most I suspect from the findings presented in the book.
Read this book to find out how you can strive to be a Level 5 leader. I found the book very insightful. Jim Collins and his team hit a homerun!
Book Description
In Leading Change, John Kotter examines the efforts of more than 100 companies to remake themselves into better competitors. He identifies the most common mistakes leaders and managers make in attempting to create change and offers an eight-step process to overcome the obstacles and carry out the firm's agenda: establishing a greater sense of urgency, creating the guiding coalition, developing a vision and strategy, communicating the change vision, empowering others to act, creating short-term wins, consolidating gains and producing even more change, and institutionalizing new approaches in the future. This highly personal book reveals what John Kotter has seen, heard, experienced, and concluded in 25 years of working with companies to create lasting transformation.
Customer Reviews:
Effectively Managing Change.......2007-08-17
In this book, Kotter methodically and carefully explains his eight-step process for creating major change in business organizations. He notes that the rate of organisational change has been increasing in recent years. The rapid and continual innovation in technology is driving changes to organisational systems and processes. There are also increased expectations of employees as they move more freely between organisations.
Kotter highlights the critical importance of leadership in any change programme. Strong, sustained leadership is crucial to changing deeply rooted corporate cultures and successfully implementing the change process.
John Kotter describes a helpful eight step model for understanding and managing change. Each stage acknowledges a key principle identified by Kotter relating to people's response and approach to change, in which people see, feel and then change.
In spite of the importance and permanence of organisational change, most change initiatives fail to deliver the expected organisational benefits. This book should help those involved in the change process to avoid the pitfalls and follow the eight steps that are explained in detail in the book.
Anyone planning or implementing a change programme will find the book useful, helpful and handy. The author presents the subject in a simple, concise, and easy to follow format.
Wow - thoughtful AND useful.......2007-06-28
Kotter's book is a roadmap of how to introduce a culture change effectively into an organization. Similar to "Good to Great" (Jim Collins), the book is much better organized and thorough.
Amazing!!.......2007-06-26
Have no further words to describe how increrable John Kotter brings in a easy way a subject so complex and important now-a-days. Indeed, it is recommend for all leaders who wants to take right decisions during turbulent times.
Still the definitive work on Change.......2007-06-13
I have been working in the change arena for the last 15 years and Kotter's book on Leading Change is still the definitive work. Based on his seminal 1994 HBR article "Leading Change: Why Transformations efforts fail" this is the best down-to-earth guide for both consultants and managers leading change. It has good practical examples and straightforward arguments - no psychological mumbo jumbo.
Envision, introduce, sustain change. or die........2007-05-09
Kotter gives us here a valuable handbook on how to visualize, introduce, and sustain change in an organization. Here are a few quotes:
"Handling new initiatives quickly is not an essential component of success in relatively stable or cartel-like environments. The problem for us today is that stability is no longer the norm. And most experts agree that over the next few decades the business environment will become only more volatile."
"Useful change tends to be associated with a multistep process that creates power and motivation sufficient to overwhelm all the sources of inertia."
Book Description
Published in Association with the USA Group Foundation
"This book is a 'must-read' for higher education leaders or those who aspire to become higher education leaders. Only Bob Dickeson, with his many years of higher education experience, could have incorporated so much information in such a concise and informative manner."
--James E. Walker, president, Middle Tennessee State University"Will reassure those who are in the process of institutional review."
--Continuing Higher Education Review
Written in clear, straightforward language, Prioritizing Academic Programs and Services outlines a step-by-step method for effectively reallocating resources. Robert C. Dickeson, a former university president, guides academic leaders through the process of ranking programs according to such critical factors as enrollment size and relevance to institutional mission. The book also includes successful strategies for suspAnding programs that hover on the margins of productivity and affordability.
This flexible, essential resource will help administrators on any college or university campus determine which programs and services are the most efficient, effective, and central to institutional mission. Robert Dickeson draws from thirty-five years of experience as higher education administrator and consultant to offer useful techniques for overcoming barriers to prioritization, implementing program decisions, and achieving strategic balance and fiscal responsibility. This book's concise format is ideal for group use, including members of governing boards and public officials concerned about reform in higher education.
Customer Reviews:
Maximizing Resources with Program Prioritization.......2001-07-12
Dickeson's book is a comprehensive manual for academic administrators at all levels who need to maximize resources because of cutbacks. Since the most likely source for needed resources is reallocation of existing resources, he suggests a means to prioritize programs so administrators can make well-informed decisions. Dickeson's ideas have a firm basis in practical applicaitons. He has served as a university president and is currently president of a consulting firm that has guided hundreds of colleges and universities through program prioritization. This book contains checklists at all stages of the planning process plus samples of actual priortizing plans and is a very useful resource not only at the institutional level but for any program undergoing review.
Book Description
"CHANGE OR DIE. What if you were given that choice? We're talking actual life and death now. Your own life and death. What if a well-informed, trusted authority figure said you had to make difficult and enduring changes in the way you think, feel, and act? If you didn't, your time would end soon—a lot sooner than it had to. Could you change when change mattered most?"
This is the question Alan Deutschman poses in Change or Die, which began as a sensational cover story by the same title for Fast Company. Deutschman concludes that although we all have the ability to change our behavior, we rarely ever do. In fact, the odds are nine to one that, when faced with the dire need to change, we won't. From patients suffering from heart disease to repeat offenders in the criminal justice system to companies trapped in the mold of unsuccessful business practices, many of us could prevent ominous outcomes by simply changing our mindset.
A powerful book with universal appeal, Change or Die deconstructs and debunks age-old myths about change and empowers us with three critical keys—relate, repeat, and reframe—to help us make important positive changes in our lives. Explaining breakthrough research and progressive ideas from a wide selection of leaders in medicine, science, and business (including Dr. Dean Ornish, Mimi Silbert of the Delancey Street Foundation, Bill Gates, Daniel Boulud, and many others), Deutschman demonstrates how anyone can achieve lasting, revolutionary change.
Change or Die is not about merely reorganizing or restructuring priorities; it's about challenging, inspiring, and helping all of us to make the dramatic transformations necessary in any aspect of life—changes that are positive, attainable, and absolutely vital.
Customer Reviews:
Change or Die ... you gotta buy!.......2007-09-27
I consume an enormous amount of books - many of them audio to help expand my brain during commute time - for professional and personal development. This book was a jaw-dropper for me.
There are a lot of concepts thrown out in the idea playground, but few that hit the heart of transformation in the way this one does. Alan D. busts apart several deeply ingrained beliefs by dissecting case studies that destroy "the conventional wisdom."
It's easy ... the lazy way ... to simply state that people don't change, or can't change. What he does masterfully is shows why we hit the walls of resistance, and how to pull it down brick by brick if we really want to.
There is nothing more exhilarating for me to read a book that literally changes the way you look at the world when you finish it. "Change or Die" is a must read for anyone seeking to expand their thinking and view of the world ... enough said!
Why We Need More Change.......2007-09-08
Change or Die deserves a wide audience, not as a self-help book, but as an important way to understand why so many elements of our society are not working.
We label more and more acts as criminal. We build more prisons. But crime doesn't go away.
We keep asking, "Who should pay for health care?" when in fact over nearly 80% of health "care" costs could be reduced (or even eliminated) by iifestyle changes.
Psychologists have long known that change is rarely a matter of willpower. Karen Pryor's Don't Shoot The Dog warns that most of our education and training systems are not based on sound psychological guidelines.
Deutschman, as a journalist, presents case studies showing how groups of people changed following a few key principles. They identified with a person, leader or community. They got to practice, over and over again. They learned to think "as if" they had already changed. And they learned to reframe their experiences.
So prisoners at Delancey Street become members of a community. They learn to act "as if" they're ordinary, law-abiding citizens. They develop what Deutschman calls a middle-class mindset.
Dieters who followed Dean Ornish's program first joined a support group. They practiced new styles of eating and exercise. And they reframed their views about health, moving from helpless patients to strong achievers who took charge of their own health.
These two examples are most powerful, although Deutschman includes a few others (a parole officer learns to talk to clients a new way and businesses absorb cultures). In fascinating first-person narratives, he recounts his own struggles with mastering college French and with his own weight loss. In each case, he failed with credentialed teachers at Princeton and a high-priced gym, respectively, but mastered French and exercise when he connected to teachers with whom he shared interests.
As a former professor myself, I would add that the university system combines learning with assessing. Sometimes those goals conflict. Faced with limited time and an expectation that not everyone can earn A's, not to mention consequences of getting too friendly with students, few teachers can create the connection that Deutschman describes.
Ironically, as a society, collectively we're like the patients in the Dean Ornish study. His patients knew they should lose weight and exercise. We know we're implementing programs that don't work. Why do we keep doing it? Why do we keep building prisons and creating health programs that don't address the causes of the problem?
And do we really need to learn from credentialed experts? Ornish's own change agent was the man who taught his sister's yoga class. It seems that relationships lead to therapy, not a particular set of techniques. It's little wonder that lightly-trained coaches, without the cloaks of power and professionalism, have been successful as change agents for many of their clients.
If institutions and widely held beliefs don't change, more of us may die, literally or metaphorically. That the unintended lesson of this deceptively simple book.
A terrific book.......2007-05-07
If at all possible I purchase the audio CD version of books, and the hard copy of the book as well. Being a frequent traveler, being able to listen to the book gets my creative thought flowing. I then can use the book to drill down on more information as time permits. I found Change Or Die to be a very interesting and helpful book. Being involved in organizational change initiatives, I found the book to provide insights as to why change is difficult, and most often why change initiatives fail before they can bare fruit. The book offers helpful strategies for helping people work through the process of change. Despite the negative statistics that the author cites regarding success rates of change initiatives, I found the book to be very hopeful - in that there are concrete things that we can do to help the change process along. I found the examples that the author uses to be very interesting. The book and the CD is worth multiple readings and listenings.
You might not die, but if you don't have that attitude you might not change.......2007-03-30
I was first attracted to this book when I spotted its stark black and white cover with the simple words "Change or Die". It was enough to get my attention on a flight layover, and I made a note to myself to check out the book when I got home.
I judge a book on if it's able to accomplish what it sets out to do. If it does at least that I'll give it 4 stars. If I feel the author went above and beyond the tour of duty to get his point across, I'll give it 5. That being said, this book is a solid 4, 4 still being very good.
Did this book get the point across that if you don't change you'll die? Actually, yes. The author uses several well-laid out case examples from heart patients to career criminals to demonstrate why change is so important; he also retells his own personal "change or die" story, which lets you know that he doesn't just talk the talk, he also walks the walk. Even though you may not be able to relate to all the people in the book (I am neither a criminal nor a heart patient), he brings their stories close down to a personal level and then details how they each used some version of the 3-steps to change (Relate, Repeat, Reframe) to bring their life and outlook to a new, positive level.
The case studies (stories really), the application of the 3-steps, and the simplicity are really the strong points of the book. I'm not sure if Mr. Deutschman is a psychiatrist or not, but the writing style came across as very down-to-earth and easy to read. It wasn't bogged down in any psycho babble, just 3 steps and how different people applied them to their lives, and the lives of others to change. That's it. Unlike other books covering the topics of change or psychology, it doesn't get cheesy or sugar-coated or cliched, and I was glad for it. This may also be a weakness of the book, since it really wasn't inspirational nor used "go-get-'em" language. That's not say it isn't, it is inspirational in its own way because you get to see how change is possible for even the most ordinary or hopeless situations. But I feel the author could have used a little more enthusiasm in his writing, that's a very minor quibble though.
Another small issue i have with the book, which is purely subjective, is that I wish the author spent a little more time on personal change, or at least gave more examples. There were perhaps 25-30 pages on personal change, and I bought this book expecting more of that. HOwever, I know this book was meant for the topic of change on a personal, corporate, and organizational levels so the author really did cover what he wanted. Hopefully, in the future he'll come out with a follow up dealing solely with the topic of personal change.
Overall, if you are interested in changing yourself, your company, or group, this is a solid book. You can read it in a few days, and not feel overwhelmed with complex psycholiteral language. Instead, there's a lot to learn from the many stories and cases presented here. You really will learn how the 3-steps to change (Relate, Repeat, Reframe) are applied, but it is still up to you to use them.
Change or Die CD.......2007-03-24
The CD was very imformative and very well done, however I would have loved to see a little more "how to" included. It talks about the 3 keys to change but could use more information regarding how to go about changing yourself, changing a loved one and changing a corporation. Still worth buying, I learned a lot and I think it is very accurate.
Book Description
Getting a new job or a big promotion is like building a house: You need to get the foundation right for both. With a job, the quick-drying cement is how well you do in your first hundred days, since they establish the foundation for long-term momentum and great performance.
Tom Neff and Jim Citrin are two of the world’s leading experts on leadership and career success. As key figures at Spencer Stuart (hailed by the Wall Street Journal as the number one brand name in executive search), they must understand the criteria for success when they recruit top executives for new leadership positions.
Through compelling, first-hand stories you will hear from people such as Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of GE, on how his career has been a series of successive first hundred days. Larry Summers, president of Harvard University, talks candidly about what he could have done differently in his early days to avoid dissipating goodwill among the diverse constituencies important for his future success. Gary Kusin of Kinko’s shares the specifics of the hundred-day action plan he crafted for himself before he started his new job. Paul Pressler of Gap Inc. shows how he developed a general strategic agenda that established fundamental principles and goals, waiting to prepare a more detailed strategic plan until later in his tenure.
Tom Neff and Jim Citrin’s actionable eight-point plan will be the foundation for your success—whether you are moving to a new organization or being promoted—showing how to:
• Prepare yourself mentally, physically, and emotionally from the time you accept until the time you begin
• Manage others’ expectations of you—bosses, colleagues, and subordinates
• Shape and build the team that will work with you
• Learn the lay of the land and find out how things “really work around here”
• Communicate your story effectively to people inside and outside the organization
• Avoid the top ten traps that confront every new leader, such as disrespecting your predecessor, misreading the true sources of power in the organization, or succumbing to the “savior syndrome”
When you start a new job you are in what AOL’s Jon Miller calls a “temporary state of incompetence,” faced with having to do the most when you know the least. But with the eight-point plan of You’re in Charge—Now What? you’ll understand and be able to take action on the patterns that will build your success.
Also available as an eBook
Customer Reviews:
Get a leg up on the competition.......2007-10-08
An executive how-to kit for the first 100 days suitable for both small and large businesses - a hard nut to crack. Thomas Neff and James Citrin offer a seven-step action plan for any new executive: do your homework, align expectations, build a management team, develop a strategy, explore and define the culture, find the source of power and set a vision for the company. Few other reviewers have claimed these to be `self-evident' and motherhood and pie, but the examples provided by the authors are well worth the time on their own. The book may not revolutionize your thinking, but it has certainly helped me identify a few underwater stones - experience is cheapest second hand, do not overlook this book.
Czarnecki's "You're In Charge..What Now?" Better for non-CEOs.......2007-06-17
When I saw the "Recommended for You" email, I thought Gerald Czarnecki had come out with a sequel. Instead, I find a not as elegant knock-off.
Czarnecki offers a much better, more digestible plan for those who are newly appointed in positions of management. His "Seven Essential Steps for Work Leader Success" are useful and proven techniques for those who need it the most: the everyday people in an organization who get the job done, not the Stanford-grad CEOs who have already spent years in management and academia learning the ropes. I have recommended his book to friends in just about every industry, from IT to the military. I, myself, found Czarnecki's book extremely useful as a new senior non-commissioned officer in dealing with people who became my subordinates overnight. Unfortunately, this book did not address that sort of issue.
This book isn't a terrible book by any means, and perhaps for a CEO or high-level manager it is something good. As I am neither, I didn't find it appealing. It's essentially the same information you can find elsewhere, and as a previous reviewer pointed out, the tips and techniques are more for those already in the boardroom. Go back to Czarnecki's original if you are a new manager, especially one who was promoted from within, or looking for a gift for the grad or newly promoted.
You're In Charge...What Now?
Very Helpful in Starting Off on the Right Foot.......2007-06-04
My executive coach recommended this book and she was right. It is very well organized with lots of examples on how to get started as the new leader in a large organization. Suitable for small but oriented towards large business of all types. Did not provide Government examples but was still very helpful. I read the book cover to cover and made lots of notes. Try to read at least 3 weeks before reporting. I am three weeks into a Government IT job with a staff of 650 and $100M in budget and all the signs are there that this book was helpful for accelerating my early take-off.
Good Guide.......2007-05-01
I bought You're in Charge... on Amazon.com. I am interested in the leadership process, how to approach new roles, some of the pitfalls, etc and thought this was a good book on the subject. I do believe that the best place to get leadership ideas and tips is from Michael Watkins' The First 90 days, but I think Thomas Neff and James Citrin provide aspiring leaders with a worthwhile book.
The best feature, although sometimes over done are the real life examples of CEO's who took the reigns, and what they did. Whether it was a turnaround situation, or continuing a legacy of success, there are some standard approaches that each of these leaders used. The premise of the book is that there are 8 steps to the new leadership process -
1. Prepare yourself before taking over
2. Align expectations (internally, externally)
3. Build a management team you can rely on
4. Build a strategy (Which includes just refining the old one)
5. Transform the culture to aling it with your expectations
6. Manage up and where influence lies (Board, boss, whoever has more power... and also manage those who have institutional influence.)
7. Communicate your vision, your steps in the process, strategy
8. Avoid common pitfalls.
Nothing really earth shattering here, but certainly good advice. The focus of the book are the steps every leader should take within the first 100 days of your tenure.
One of the more interesting parts of the book goes back to the CEO's and what they did. Since this was published in 2005, some of the CEO's haven't turned out to be the captains fo industry that they are potrayed to be (At least from a market perception perspective.). You read about Paul Pressler and Bob Nardelli and what they did in their first 100 days. Needless to say, as time passed, their reputations are somewhat tarnished now. There are others referenced as well that haven't been treated very kindly by the marketplace.
Anyhow, there is no harm in picking this up, although like I referenced before, I think there are other leadership books out there that I more worthwhile. You're in Charge tends to get a bit over done, but if you can overlook that, there are some worthwhile tips to pick up.
Written only for CEOs.......2007-01-09
If you are a brand new CEO and need to know how to run your organization, buy this book. If you are at any lower level, this book is not meant for you.
The authors state directly from the beginning that they focus more on CEOs than most other positions but the lessons learned are applicable to anyone. This is not true. The author focus too much on the role of a CEO. The examples and suggestions are unique to that role. In one section the book describes how to find your management blind spots such as research and development, marketing, etc. If you are a software development manager in a large firm, your knowledge of marketing or R&D will most likely do little for your career. Yet this book highlights that as areas you should improve.
Another example on how the book focuses too much on CEO is displayed in the how-to-work-with-your-boss chapter. They entire chapter discusses how you should interact with the board of directors! This is a complely different relationship than what 99.9% of workers engage in. The relationship you have with your boss is possibly the most important relationship in your career. To focus this chapter on working with the board makes it absolutely useless to anyone who is not an officer or anyone that does not work for a private firm.
Book Description
How can you build a successful community of practice that is integrally linked to your company's strategic vision? Learn from the first-hand experience of Hubert Saint-Onge, recognized by Fortune magazine as a leader in the field of knowledge capital, and co-author Debra Wallace, the people responsible for a recent project to establish a community of practice for independent agents at Clarica Life Insurance Company voted one of the most admired knowledge enterprises in the world by practitioners and researchers.
'Leveraging Communities of Practice for Strategic Advantage' combines theory and practice to outline a model for developing successful communities of practice and proposes a direction for establishing communities of practice as an integral part of the organizational structure. Saint-Onge and Wallace relate what worked, what didn't, and why as they tell the story from inception through implementation to assessment. Whether you're developing communities of practice or want to learn how to leverage existing communities for strategic gain, this book provides you with everything you need to launch successful communities of practice in your organization.
* Hubert Saint-Onge has been recognized by Fortune magazine as a leader in the area of leveraging knowledge capital
* Clarica has been voted one of the most admired knowledge enterprises in the world by practitioners and researchers
* Combines theory and practice to outline a model for developing successful communities of practice
Customer Reviews:
Excellent practical guidebook.......2005-12-31
While there are a number of books with marvellous content about the theory of communities of practice, this is the one that I go back to over and over again for practical, step-by-step guidance.
I have used and recommended this book often. It is the manual I employed when I created my first formal community of practice in early 2004 - and that community is still going strong and growing, even though I am no longer working with that organization!
thick clotted prose.......2005-03-27
This book is comprised of the kind of writing Sockel calls "thick clotted prose". After decades of reading the clear, unadorned, precise and excellent English of The Economist, I have become intolerant of pretentious layered jargon. What, for example, does this sentence say, which could not be said in simple words: "The organization's objectives, responses, and business models should be calibrated on the basis of its capabilities." Perhaps it could have been: "Organizations should do things they are good at." If this thick clotted prose had coagulated into high scholarship, I might have bothered to read on. Alas, that was not the case. The authors write, in a gesture alluding to scholarship: "Evidence shows that customers are demanding clearer information from their solution providers..." What evidence? It was not given, nor references to studies showing it. Read this book to find out how not to write.
Better still, get yourself a good book on this topic. See "Cultivating Communities of Practice" by Wenger at al., from Harvard Business School Press. Here you shall find lucid expression, good English, thorough endnoting and source documentation, and a comprehensive treatement of the topic.
Very practical indeed.......2003-09-26
This book has proved very practical indeed with the developing of CoPs in our environment.
A useful practical model.......2003-02-19
The book describes the introduction of a virtual community of practice, the Agents Network, at Clarica Life Insurance, Canada's first and oldest mutual insurance company. The book offers a practical and detailed example of the establishment, implementation and evaluation of the virtual community, with examples of the tools used by the project team at Clarica.
The authors introduce the notion of communities of practice as a new strategy to leverage knowledge capital to create sustainable competitive advantage. By valuing communities of practice, by recognising the contribution of community members, and giving support for time and commitment) and providing an infrastructure (e.g. giving them a communication platform, active facilitation and information resources), the authors suggest that organizations can increase the speed of innovation and knowledge sharing.
The Community Development Process Model (p.137) provides an excellent 'roadmap' to the approach they undertook that is readily understood. Practical suggestions and tools about evaluating the value of the community are also provided. There is a good combination of theory and practice and, therefore, something for anyone interested in this topic. It has a balance between high-level strategic models, and detailed and practical examples.
The approach taken at Clarica was systematic and project-managed, with the organization playing a very active role in facilitating the conceptualisation, establishment, growth and expansion of the community. The organization obviously provided significant resources to undertake the project. Virtual communities of practice, like the one described in the book, clearly require strong organisational support and resources due to the technological infrastructure they require to be effective.
The authors do not purport to provide a recipe - rather, they tell a story about the introduction of a virtual community of practice in one organization - as such, the book offers an in-depth view of the process. The questions asked at the end of each chapter are intended to challenge readers to assess whether the approach described would work in their own organization.
Practitioners may be tempted to read more widely to find alternative approaches to developing communities of practice, and to select 'the best of the best'. The Clarica approach is only one way, but it does provide sound conceptual models that set the strategic context, as well as diving directly into the detail. There is a useful associated website.
The Future is Here!.......2003-01-25
Hubert and Debra, thanks, you two have written a monumental work, but in such a humble and mater-of-fact manner. The more I read, the more I became frustrated with the title, because although the book is about the strategic nature of "Communities of Practice," it offers so much more. For the last thirty years, people have been trumpeting the `end of the hierarchy,' but without anything to put in its place. Know we know the future, and it is here!
In Nonaka and Takeuchi's "The Knowledge Creating Company," there was the suggestive diagram of the "hypertext organization." It showed three layers, the hierarchy, the project team community and a third space, the knowledge community. A few years later Nonaka understood that this third space was what the Japanese call "Ba," a shared mental space. Is this not what you two are talking about in your "Reflective and Strategic - Communities of Practice?"
Please write your next book as quickly as possible and reveal the key to the "culture of leadership," a phrase that got short-shrift. Revisit the earlier work you did at The Mutual Group around "values." I am convinced this, more than any number of memos, meetings and check lists, was what made it possible to accomplish what you did at Clarica.
Book Description
If there's one thing that's consistent in today's business world, it's rapid change. So how do you not only stay steady but actually grow—and quickly enough to stay safely ahead of your competitors? Built for Growth delivers specific solutions to create a brand and presence that generates true customer passion, as you lay a solid foundation for long-term success. Author Arthur Rubinfeld was a major driver in Starbucks' unprecedented retail expansion from 100 stores to more than 4000-- and its transformation into one of the world's most recognized brands. Here he draws on his singular expertise to present a proven, holistic approach to conceiving, designing, and executing your business plan: creating exciting concepts, growing them to fruition in local markets, expanding rapidly, and keeping your brand fresh and relevant as it matures. His revolutionary approach to business strategy embodies strong personal values, promotes exceptional creativity, leverages scientific methodology in finance and market analysis, and brings it all together with 'old-time' customer service. Each lesson is clearly distilled with detailed examples from one of the best business writers, Collins Hemingway, co-author with Bill Gates of the #1 bestseller Business at the Speed of Thought. So whether you're seeking to reignite growth or planning your first store, Built for Growth will be utterly indispensable. Foreword by Jeff Brotman, Co-founder and Chairman of Costco, the world's #1 warehouse club.
Download Description
"""A valuable primer on all aspects of retail: brand, location, people, finance, property management, expansion strategy, and long-term thinking. Rubinfeld understands the difficulty of the small guy getting started and the big guy keeping the brand fresh. Even an experienced retailer will want to stop and reflect at his insights, which come from many years in every aspect of thebusiness.""
¿From the Foreword by Jeff Brotman, Chairman, Costco
Built for Growth shows exactly how to create winning retail brands, how to create a unique, compelling brand even as you establish a rock-solid foundation for long-term success. Arthur Rubinfeld architected Starbucks' expansion from 100 stores to nearly 4,000, helping to establish Starbucks as one of the world's most-recognized brands.
Now, drawing on his singular expertise with Starbucks and as a consultant to Oakley, Gateway, adidas, and Washington Mutual, he offers breakthrough strategies and techniques for all facets of retail: choosing locations, recruiting management and associates, defining organizations and systems, designing stores, merchandising, day-to-day execution, and more.
Together with Collins Hemingway, coauthor with Bill Gates of Business @ the Speed of Thought, Rubinfeld introduces a proven, holistic approach to conceiving, designing, and executing your retail business plan: creating exciting concepts, growing them in local markets, preparing for aggressive expansion, and keeping the brand fresh and relevant as it matures. This revolutionary approach integrates strong personal values, exceptional creativity, the latest scientific methodology, and passionate customer service. Whether you're seeking to reignite growth or planning your first store, Built for Growth will be absolutely indispensable.
- Retail brands that win, brands that last
- A complete framework for retail success: conception, design, and execution
- Imagination, courage, and drive
- Start by believing: you can become a national or international brand
- ""Go long"": execute on rapid growth
- Retail organizations and models that scale rapidly and ""put the game out of reach""
- Your retail presence: capturing the essence of your brand
- From locations to store design: generating real customer passion
- ""Main & Main"": own the best locations and markets
- From demographics to street traffic: all you need to know about choosing locations
- Push the envelope: innovate to maintain brand leadership
- How to reinvigorate product, design, service, and quality¿over and over again
Arthur Rubinfeld achieved breakthrough results for such premier companies as Starbucks, Oakley, Gateway, adidas, and Washington Mutual. In Built for Growth, he shares his unparalleled knowledge about envisioning, building, launching, expanding, and sustaining winning retail brands. The book delivers battle-tested advice for crafting retail plans that work, executing them systematically and aggressively, generating genuine customer loyalty, and innovating to keep your brand fresh, year after year. The lessons herein can mean the difference between success and failure. So whether you're opening your first store or you are an ""old hand"" in retail, don't just read this book¿live by it."
Customer Reviews:
For Big And Small.......2006-05-28
Rubinfeld has credibility, being the person who commanded the domestic and global expansion of Starbucks. Here, Art Rubinfeld gives very specific advice on not only the "what" but the "how." His well-rounded and varied background has has enabled him to perceive things the way he does and then implement his ideas. He worked as an architect and as a construction manager. Later as Brand Development Consultant for Adidas and Washington Mutual Bank, prior to joining
Starbucks. He took Starbucks From 100 stores to over 4,000
worldwide. The concept of Starbucks is, and has has been unique. Who thought, back in the early 1990s that this new coffee outlet would do what it has done? I didn't.
Rubinfeld presided over and directed the Starbucks corporation's
growth in the 1990s, but he's also served as an independent
consultant for many other companies, so this adds to a more
multi-dimensional level of knowledge and numerous experiences of which to draw from. He specifically sites successes - and failures - with specific and detailed examples. Because of his background he can apply theory and also apply actual practice: from upper-lever strategy to front-line consumer. ( E.g. the 80:20 rule.)
Another concept: location plus people. The emphasis is on the
concept of retail and retail expansion, and the author doesn't stray from this as the foundation. Even of course, down to the store design which (Starbucks contains elements of the natural Earth, and presents the entity of the coffee bean and it's progression to the cup of java you get in-store). The complete retail puzzle involves many pieces. Strongly integrated throughout this book on retail is the concept of brand.
This book is categorized into 4 categories, with each category having a couple, to seven chapters. The Chapters zero-in on such areas as creativity, and customer loyalty; finding the best locations for your brand, management, staff and organization, for the big or small operations; implementation (translation: doing it). How to adapt, and continue to being dynamic and change, to maintain your customers. One useful term is what Rubinfeld calls "ideation." This is the
creation of new ideas. In the changing market place, this is the corner stone separating those who stay, from those who fade. Lots of proven ideas and concepts in this book.
Expert advice on retail chain locationing.......2006-04-14
Rubinfeld is one of the masters in the retail locationing process. I own about 50 books in English and German on retail management, but none has included the expert advice on the very specialized retail locationing process. At least not compared to Rubinfeld's understanding. Both from a very strategic point-of-view and down to the nitty-gritty details of the legal agreement.
Rubinfeld's experience from Starbuck's rapid expansion in the 90s is very helpful, but he also adds a lot of other interesting retail cases from his work as an independent consultant.
The book's website includes very interesting checklists, but is not as impressive as you would expect based on the references made in the book.
The title's focus on "Expanding your business ... across the globe" is misleading in my opinion. Rubinfeld's advice hardly crosses the Atlantic nor the Pacific Ocean. But if you are interested in his ideas and concepts, you'll soon see that it doesn't matter. The principles remain the same with some adjustments for local responsiveness...
Being a chairman of a small retail chain, I have already put the author's advice into practice in the negotiations for a new retail location. They are easy to follow.
I also highly recommend the book's excellent chapters on retail chain financials. It is one of the first books that clearly distinguish between retail chain earnings and store earnings. Rubinfeld's focus on having a robust proforma economic model is key - also in my experience. And this is irrespective of whether you own all the stores yourself or also include a franchise system.
Peter Leerskov,
MSc in International Business (Marketing & Management) and Graduate Diploma in E-business
Star of Starbucks gives insight into retail success.......2006-02-13
Author Rubinfeld took Starbucks to its place in retail dominance by creating a brand identity, yet assuring that stores did not have a "cookie-cutter" feel to them. The author points out for retailers, the store is the experience, and this is key to estabilishing a foothold. The way Starbucks stores were put together allowed them to be located even in historical building and other places where a normal outlet might not be desired.
The book doesn't just cover marketing strategy. It also discussing hiring the right team, and how locations are chosen. This information is golden.
Chapters include
* Make No Little Plans--core values, first store, maximizing retail experienc
* Go Long: blueprint for execution
* Own Main & Main: location, hot spots, how to grow rapidly without stumbling
* Push the Envelope: Path to Growth
Can't think of another book that outlines how to get to mega-success in retailing as well as this one.
A roadmap for retail strategy.......2005-12-24
“Who doesn’t want to run his own business? Who doesn’t want to have her own store? If you’re young, you think about it from time to time. If you’re older, you wish you had opened that little shop before the kids came – or you plan to open it when you retire. We all want to control our destiny. We all want to express our creativity. We all want to build something that will last. But how do you start a retail operation? That’s the question I am most often asked. How do you create a going concern, one that will grow and build long-term value? That is another common query. ‘Built for Growth: Expanding Your Business Around the Corner or Across the Globe’ answers these and related questions (from the Introduction).”
Arthur Rubinfeld, the architect behind Starbucks’ expansion, helped build Starbucks into one of the world’s top brands, says that ‘Build for Growth’ distills what I have learned into a comprehensive view of what it takes to develop a winning retail concept. This shows you:
• How to combine core personal and company values with your business expertise to create a meaningful brand.
• How to creatively craft your on-the-street retail presence to capture the essence of your brand and develop customer loyalty.
• Hot to identify the best locations for your concept.
• How to build your management team, organization, and systems – whether you want to have one store or 1,000.
• How to systematically and aggressively execute your plans.
• How to successfully operate your business to keep customers coming back.
• How to innovate and renew your brand.
In addition, he says, “Other books deal with one or two of these topics, but none has taken a holistic approach to retail development, combining theory and practical ideas to cover the entire scope of what it takes to succeed in retail.”
In this context, this invaluable book has been organized into sections based on four fundamental principles: (1) Make No Little Plans, (2) Go Long, (3) Own Main & Main, and (4) Push the Envelope. Each of these sections has covered a major aspect of retail strategy, in order in which you will normally experience them as you grow your business.
I highly recommend.
At Last a Book On Expanding a Low-Tech Operation.......2005-12-04
There are any number of books that have come out in recent years on high tech business, how to start them, how to grow them and everything else. In spite of this, the really big growth companies in the past few years have been other areas, like Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Home Depot and the others.
For once, this book is on working with standard companies, not high tech. This book is written by the architect behind Starbucks expansion from some 100 stores to nearly 4,000 stores worldwide. He tells the story of evolving the stores as experience teaches what works and what doesn't. He concentrates on the details, always the details that have proven over and over to be successful.
Beyond the story of Starbucks he has generalized the experience to be useful in a wide variety of low-tech specialty stores. The lessons taught in this book can be used in a wide variety of operations and literally worldwide.
Book Description
Building upon the concepts introduced in Good to Great, Jim Collins answers the most commonly asked questions raised by his readers in the social sectors. Using information gathered from interviews with over 100 social sector leaders, Jim Collins shows that his "Level 5 Leader" and other good-to-great principles can help social sector organizations make the leap to greatness.
Customer Reviews:
What makes strategy really work ?.......2007-04-10
Considering the high ranking and the established name of Warton School, I bought this book. Whether you like this book or not, depends mainly on what you are looking for.
The author says, making strategy work is more difficult, than finding a suitable strategy for the business you are in. Following my own experiences I doubt this. How many companies do we really know, that have a sound strategy that can be simply expressed and proofed right by many years of succes? Go to the shopfloor and ask your employees simple things as e.g. why your customers buy from you and what your business is or should be about. Although the author does not focus on how to build a strategy and covers the aspects of strategy implementation, a good strategy will first of all decide, whether any implementation has a chance for success.
A good strategy gives you answers on:
1.) Who are we and where are we actually (not only internal view) ?
2.) Where do we go ?
3.) Why will we be succesfull ?
Answering this questions will cope with the core question of strategic marketing as positioning and differentiation as well. Implementing any longterm strategy is mainly dedicated to leadership, preliminary people development around core competencies and step by step project management by having easy and consistant measures defined.
There are to many basic statemants in this book and definitions - just common sense. Focus on analysing your current external position and the internal view, the strategy definition and the strategy implementation will be much easier. Change has mostly to do with communication and telling the story as it is, the rest relays on your leadership and how convincing the need for change is. Eliminate the "jerks" and develop the "right" people and your strategy will move forward. The question about the "right" people is linked to change management and leadership, but non of this books will provide you the answer of this question.
Even though softfactors are important, any book about making strategy work should first of all rise a few questions what preliminary answers on important questions need to be on hand?
Best Regards,
Oliver
Superb.......2006-07-31
"Making Strategy" contains tons of topics, case studies, and specific methods to improve the implementation aspect, after planning and, how to make change and then manage the change. Each chapter has several detailed related sub-chapters.
Chapters:
1. Strategy Execution is the Key
2. Overview and Model: Making Strategy Work
3. The Path to Successful Execution: Good Strategy Comes First
4. Organizational Structure and Execution
5. Managing Integration: Effective Coordination
and Information Sharing
6. Incentives and Controls: Supporting and Reinforcing Execution
7. Managing Change
8. Managing Culture and Culture Change
9. Power, Influence, and Execution
10 Summary and Application: Making Mergers and Acquisitions Work
Hrebiniak first notes the education system where minds are molded. MBA programs focus on the formulation of strategy and functional planning: competitive strategy, marketing strategy, financial strategies, and so on. Execution gets little attention. Most managers delegate the implementation of plans to the employers under them. A key point in this book is that planning and execution are interdependent. Execution is a process, and it involves more people than just strategic planning does.
Many factors influencing who and how things get done emanate from the organizational power structure, the leadership climate, style of approach, and centralization vs. decentralization.
Some of the companies and examples listed are Johnson & Johnson, Citibank, South West Airlines, Phillip Morris, 7-up, ABB, GM, Dell, Kraft, and more. Case studies and Hrebiniak's personal experiences add relevant points and examples.
When certain companies such as Microsoft interviews applicants they are generally not concerned with academic achievements (grades) or professional accomplishments but instead focus on how the applicant, if hired, would fit in and jell with the team he/she would be joining. This is called "cultural due diligence." And Hrebiniak emphasizes that within companies culture is not homogeneous. Even moreso when M&As occur. Or, when a company has different and autonomous decentralized Strategic Business Units (SBUs) producing vastly different products in different markets (e.g. Johnson & Johnson).
This is a helpful book on how to do things more efficiently and effectively. One quote I recall from the first page of this book is, "The problem with poor performance typically is not with planning, but with doing." And this goes for about everything. The questionnaire in the back is a survey and is helpful to those who conduct it and those who respond. "Making Strategy Work" is highly recommended.
Does Make Strategy Work!.......2006-07-07
I have been somewhat confused by complicated strategy map like approaches. I love the simplified and common-sense approach to making strategy work presented by Dr. Hrebiniak. One can use it in developing strategy for execution, and improving success rate of strategies from 10%. I plan to use it in making strategies for business intelligence and innovation work!
Probably the best and clearest book on the subject I've read.......2006-02-05
Lawrence Hbrebiniak's "Making Strategy Work" is billed as a comprehensive roadmap and process model for executing strategy. This is absolutely what this book contains. Giving excellent examples from top firms like GE and Dell, the author lists the processes to use in simple to complex business situations where the executive manager can lay out a plan to execute their business strategy.
Executing strategy is by no means easy. This is why good managers get the top bucks. Along the way from plan to accomplishment are a number of difficult roadblocks. Not the least of these is communication. The chapter on coordination and communication follows the chapter on organizational structure. This is not by accident. A proper structure allows the flow of vital information down and up.
First and foremost, however, is having the right strategy in place. A decision to fund a feeble project is not going to have a happy outcome, no matter how efficient the organization and clever the execution. Corporate culture is another important factor, and Professor Hrebiniak doesn't neglect to discuss in a very clear way how a corporate culture must be managed to effect a good strategic plan. If you look at some of the notable failures in the last 10 years in some Fortune 100 firms where change in strategy was vital, not a few of the lapses were due to a failure to assess and manage changes in the prevailing culture. The author links culture and behavior: shared values and norms--"The way we do things"; A common vision /Credo--"How we compete" "How we treat each other"; common goals and incentives-- and "Risk Taking and Innovation." The author points out how mergers and acquisitions are strongly affected by corporate culture and gives models for changing and reinforcing behavior. A start-to-finish case study of a merger/acquisition is included, a tremendous resource.
I cannot think of another book that is more direct and to the point about this subject. This should be on the bookshelf of every manager in every organization, whether for profit or not-for-profit. Absolutely essential reading. Highly recommended.
Joanna Daneman
Unexpectedly Comprehensive .......2006-02-05
The most elaborate corporate strategy is worthless if it can't be implemented. The key to success is not the planning of strategy, but the execution. Dreams are empty without action and results. Agreed?
The problem in today's organization is the inability to implement a disciplined process for making strategy work in the real world. If corporate leaders were able to execute as well as they can plan, tremendous results could be realized. That's the secret. How can it be done? That's the teaching you'll find in this book. You'll learn lessons that will let you enjoy running circles around your competition-while they're still mired in those beautifully-drawn plans that sit proudly on executive desks waiting for someone to do something.
The author does not suggest that the planning and development of strategy is wrong or a waste of time. Quite the contrary; he's all in favor of it and even devotes a chapter of his book to the wisdom and technique of effective strategic planning. Good planning is the foundation of good execution. Attempted execution of a bad plan will also waste resources and increase risks.
Hrebiniak marches through the strategic execution process like Sherman through Georgia. He gives us the big picture, but delivers detail in process explanations and case studies. The reader will quickly grasp that this author has considerable experiences in the trenches of Corporate America, practicing what he preaches.
Importantly, this book includes valuable-and one might argue, essential-content that is not found in similar volumes. It would be easy to stay on point with all the chapters focused on the message and methods of strategy execution. However, other factors influence how successful companies will be. So, Hrebiniak and Wharton bring us bonus chapters on managing change, managing culture and culture change, and another on power, influence, and execution. Capping the book is an application chapter: Making Mergers and Acquisitions Work.
Consider this publication to be more of a textbook than a read-through management book. It will be highly instructive for your first read, then serve as a keep-on-the-shelf reference book for years to come. Learn its lessons, practice them, and you'll be miles ahead of the competition. Not only can you plan, you can actually get the job done!
Books:
- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
- Got Parts? An Insider's Guide to Managing Life Successfully with Dissociative Identity Disorder (New Horizons in Therapy)
- Graphic Guide to Frame Construction: Details for Builders and Designers (For Pros by Pros)
- Hank Rosso's Achieving Excellence in Fund Raising (Jossey Bass Nonprofit & Public Management Series)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- How to Be Invisible: The Essential Guide to Protecting Your Personal Privacy, Your Assets, and Your Life (Revised Edition)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Adventures In Mosaics: Creating Pique Assiette Mosaics from Broken China, Glass, Pottery and Found T
- The Time Traveler's Wife
- New York for New Yorkers: A Historical Treasury and Guide to the Buildings and Monuments of Manhatta
- Research Techniques in Human Engineering
- Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Pers
- The Fellowship: The Untold Story of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Fellowship
- The Photographic Guide To Jumping
- Don Reitz: Clay, Fire, Salt, and Wood
- San Francisco Modern: Interiors, Architecture & Design
- Riches of the Wild: Land Mammals of South-East Asia
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
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