Book Description
This globally oriented book covers the most current research and trends in International Management. It offers comprehensive and integrative cases that illustrate the actual behaviors and functions required for successful cross-cultural management at the strategic and interpersonal level.
Includes numerous boxed features that relate concepts to real-world practice. Also includes experiential exercises for self-test.
For professionals in international business.
Customer Reviews:
Still number one in International Management.......2007-07-06
This book was published in 2004. I have used it for the past three years in a college course with exactly the same title. It covers the cultural differences of managerial operations in multinational enterprises. The PowerPoint slide is useful for lectures. Many in-class exercises were done using articles from: BusinessWeek, Crains NY Business, Economist (online), Financial Times (online), Forbes and Fortune magazines.
The book will be better if more real-world examples were given on CEO of Ikea, Mittal Steel or News Corporation. Students did the reseach on the CEOs of these firms and reported their final projects. Final projects were done individually or in a group. Students generally like the book except the cost. But the book is cheaper than most of the other international management titles. I would recommend this book to everyone.
Great book describing culture.......2000-09-15
Excellent Book. I was impressed on how the author was able to showthe various difficulties that are faced and how one can go about managing them. Real scenarios helped a lot in understanding the difficulties better in International relations.
Book Description
This readable, research-based book contains a somewhat psychological approach that is balanced by engaging business and management features. Clearly presented theory is backed up by real-world cases, discussion questions, and experiential exercises. Comprehensive coverage includes organizational behaviour and management; personality and learning; perception, attribution, and judgment of others; values, attitudes, and work behaviour; theories of work motivation; motivation in practice; groups and teamwork; social influence, socialization, and culture; leadership; communication; decision making; power, politics, and ethics; conflict and stress; organizational structure; environment, strategy, and technology; organizational change, development, and innovation. For organizations' individuals who want to be successful and happy in the workplace.
Customer Reviews:
Fast Service.......2007-09-17
Book was delivered in a timely manner and in promised condition. I would order from this source again.
Long winded but not unbearably so.......2003-04-10
This book was used as part of a Business Management program I'm doing and because of the length of chapters we did not get to cover much of the book. I think that the chapters could have been shortened a great deal and more emphasis placed on important issues. The book itself (quality) is extremely poor. Every student in the class found that despite its having a hard cover the pages were falling out and the binding didn't hold.
Ironically, this books needs some ORGANIZATION.......2002-09-14
Maybe, it is just me but I personally think that the book is poorly written and structured. I dislike the style that the author uses writing this book by constantly mentioning the names of scientists who developed some of the theories. This made it extremely difficult to follow due to the overflow of people's names. An example of my own "I wrote this review because John made an experient with Dave Smith that shows Amazon.com Customers will read it and not purchase the book. Dave Smith with Mark Davidson and Howard James conclude that reviews are good and reviews have become a part of good books". This sentence clearly did not have any great purpose, all it did was take up 'word counts'.
Other bad layouts include: Bad paragraph strucuturing (some paragraphs are so badly strucutured that it takes up the entire page), lack of highlights, bad definitions meant that you would actually have to look in the dictionary to get a better explaination. Another example of mine BAD: "Java is comprised of Legend 1422 and Cobra122, using H111 as a base running-engine symmetric to C1223". ALOT of useless nonsense, instead of simple saying "Java is a computer-friendly high level programming language....."
Maybe, I'm wrong or biased but I have definitely seen and used better books. Please write a review on what you think and maybe correct me on some areas if i'm wrong
Book Description
For more than two decades, Dr. John Hoover has written books on leadership, creativity, and organizational performance, extolling the virtues of flattened organizations, collaborative leadership, and shared responsibility. His clients welcomed him, praised him...yet (he felt) completely ignored his advice! This book contains the confession of a recovering "I-Boss" (Idiot Boss). After decades of writing and consulting, Dr. John finally realized that the vast majority of people he kept trying to "energize," "motivate," and "enlighten" were, well, idiots. Also he was an idiot for trying to change them. Instead, he has decided to enlighten you, who actually have to continue working for difficult and demanding bosses. You cannot change them. You cannot challenge them. Yet, you can survive them, even thrive under them, if you learn how to deal with them using this book. It offers hope for the spirit and strategy for the mind to help you deal with your work place situation.
Customer Reviews:
Thrive and keep your sense of humor.......2007-06-13
This book is a quick and easy read that kept me laughing while providing solid practical advice about how to handle a difficult boss. There were a few silly parts that I breezed over. But overall, the tone is light, and the tips are useful. The author helps you reel in your rage by reminding you how unproductive anger is. And he helps you realize that making your boss comfortable around you is the best way to get what you want. If you're a person who's passionate about your work and you just want to figure out how to get around the brick wall of incompetence and idiocy that exists in so many workplaces, check out this book. Save yourself an ulcer and years in therapy and learn how to put your passion to good use.
THANK YOU, DR. HOOVER.......2007-04-03
I would like to thank Dr.Hoover. He came to help me at the right moment...Well I almost became a serial killer who is after I-bosses. His friendly and humorous style makes the reading fun while teaching you to keep your anger at bay.
Turn the other cheek.......2007-03-01
I guess I had expected a bit more practical advice than to simply accept the fact that life isn't fair and to let my boss take credit for all of my accomplishments. Funny thing though, I DID feel better after reading the book as it made me realize how incompetent leaders can survive and even thrive despite all their shortcomings.
if you don't see the value through the humor, might want to check your inner idiot.......2006-12-20
I, like others, picked up this book while waiting in a kinkos for the latest i-boss crisis to print. The value of the laugh I got when I shared it with several co-workers and consultants was worth the price of the book right there. But it wasn't until a couple weeks later that I picked up the book in utter desperation to talk me out of killing my boss that I realized its true value: the advice cleverly packaged inside the sarcastic humor (is there any better way to proffer advice?)
I know if I say this it will sound like I'm exaggerating for effect, but I'm not kidding when I say that this book saved my job. I've always been the one in the room willing to call attention to the white elephant in the room...not something most idiot bosses particularly appreciate. Dr John's book allowed me the ability to let go of my mission to "state the truth with humor and sarcasm" without feeling that I've completely surrendered to the corporate suck-up rules. Okay, so maybe John simply speaks my language, but I really do need to know how to be a teensy bit more political (aka telling my boss that his stupid ideas really have value so that I can get back to work and maybe even get ahead someday) in my job without feeling that I'm cooperating with the evil empire.
Even a comment like, "wear a large suit to make it look to your boss like you don't make enough money" has a hidden message that indirect, nonverbal clues might be a better way to make a subliminal statement because some bosses just can't handle direct communication.
Thank you, Dr John, for your insight, humor, and liferope. I recommend this book to anyone who is willing to look inside to their own inner stupidity and find grace there to deal with others'.
Pretty mediocre.......2006-06-04
This book wobbles between weak attempts at humor, brief examples of Idiot Bosses which aren't used to demonstrate any points, and inane advice on how to get along with "idiot" bosses. The author doesn't succeed in any of these areas.
I'll save you the money: His advice on how to deal with "idiot" bosses is to not get upset about their idiocy, which I think is better summed up by the Serenity Prayer:
"Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference."
Of course, he doesn't really give any advice on how to actually DO this. I think anyone who is really having problems at work dealing with a difficult boss look at another book, since this one won't help them at all.
Book Description
All managers get saddled with "problem" employees from time to time; what sets great managers apart is how they deal with them. Drawing from real-life stories, this helpful and humorous guide provides readers with practical advice for handling a wide range of difficult types, including:
* The Impossible "I"s: Incompetents, Idiots, and Imbeciles -- clueless employees who simply don't know what they're doing
* The Bull in the Office China Shop -- the frequently angry worker ready to confront anyone and everyone
* The Party-Time Performer -- the employee who, although great with people, constantly turns work-time into fun-time
* I've Got a Problem -- employees whose work is compromised by any of a range of personal demons, from drug and alcohol problems to emotional issues
From whiners and wastrels to the needy and nefarious, this book gives readers the tools they need to handle any type of difficult employee.
Customer Reviews:
A 'must' for managers.......2007-02-03
A 'must' for managers is Gini Graham Scott, Ph.D.'s A SURVIVAL GUIDE TO MANAGING EMPLOYEES FROM HELL, telling how to handle a typical problem employee. Humor blends with practical, life-tested advice for handling different types of employee issues, from the clueless incompetent to the party-time performer who can't seem to separate work from fun. Case histories blend with advice and techniques from the field in a manual key to any level manager's success.
A common-sense approach to the difficult employee.......2007-01-29
We have all known the "employee from hell" in all of his or her guises: the complainer, the egomaniac, the troublemaker, the passive-aggressive type, the clever con artist, and many more.
In this plain-spoken book, management consultant Gini Graham Scott categorizes bad employees into some three dozen pigeonholes (like the "impossible intern," the "negative Nelly," and the out-and-out liar) and assigns each a brief chapter that opens with a succinct case study. In each setting, Scott asks the same question: Did the boss handle the situation well? Should she have fired the employee on the spot, put him on probation, called a staff meeting, had a one-on-one conversation with the troublesome employee, let the whole thing go, or done something else entirely?
Scott's advice springs largely from common sense. She acknowledges that there isn't just one way to handle a difficult worker. A good deal depends on the office atmosphere, the employee's and boss's personalities, and other intangibles. In discussing a saleswoman who gives so much attention to the first customer of the day that she neglects her duties to other customers, Scott suggests a variety of steps: giving the worker one more chance, explaining that she will be fired if she doesn't change, clarifying where she has gone wrong, asking another employee to monitor her behavior, and rewarding her with small bonuses if her performance improves.
Of course, some problematic behavior - drug use on the job, stealing from the employer, a pattern of lying -- can't be tolerated, and Scott urges that supervisors should fire people who do those things, even if the employee is a friend, or the friend of a friend. Still, there are a number of ways to dismiss someone, and Scott insists that even a fireable employee should be shown the door graciously.
Book Description
The premier authority on organizational transformation takes his classic work to the next level, showing managers how to prevent a company from falling into a period of decline.
For three decades, Ichak Adizes, Ph.D., has studied the patterns of organizational growth and changes in businesses worldwide, from Bank of America to Domino's Pizza to small start-ups. In his breakthrough book Corporate Lifecycles, Dr. Adizes traced the typical corporate path from inception to decline. Now, in this long-awaited follow-up, he guides companies on the optimal path--and reveals how to sustain peak vitality.
Courtship, Infancy, the heady Go-Go years, and turbulent Adolescence. These are the stages every company goes through to reach what Dr. Adizes calls PRIME--the ideal stage of balanced creativity and discipline. At every stage, he shows how to anticipate and handle "normal" problems--whether with goal setting or managing employees--then quickly move on and up. Once in the PRIME stage, the author presents proactive measures for maintaining focus and vision, nurturing cohesion, and achieving "predictable excellence." He also offers strategies for avoiding the typical downhill path--starting with the Signs of Aging, such as risk avoidance; moving on to Aristocracy, where power and protocol dominate; and culminating in the final stages of decay: Recrimination, Bureaucracy, and Death.
Easing the pains of growing, MANAGING CORPORATE LIFECYCLES opens the way for every organization to thrive--indefinitely.
Download Description
Execubooks are eSummaries of books for mobile professionals, available in single-copy or by subscription, and optimally formatted for onscreen reading on laptops or handhelds - so you can stay abreast of leading business wisdom, wherever you have a moment! Renowned business analyst and author, Ichak Adizes, follows the patterns of organizational growth and changes in business over the past three decades. This book explains how a company can continue to maintain its peak levels indefinitely.
Customer Reviews:
Buyer beware.......2003-09-26
Shame on me for not reading the reviews. The information on the download version is readily available all over the net.
Avoid the e-book version.......2003-09-13
The hardcover and the e-book version should not be linked together because the e-book version is only 12 pages! Complete waste of money, I wish I could return it. I made the mistake of reading the review of the hardcover version (which is shown on this page too), and since I had already read the original book, I though I was making a bargain. The joke is on me... :-(
Helpful in sorting out a turbulent corporate adolescence.......2000-04-02
This book (an updated, improved version of Adizes' 1988 "Corporate Lifecycles") has given me an extremely useful framework for thinking about and improving the organization I work with. In the Adizes framework, my organization would be considered in Early Adolescence, and a turbulent Adolescence at that. What Adizes has helped me to more clearly see is that some of our turbulence is predictable and structural, just as each stage in the typical corporate lifecycle features problems that are normal (as well as problems that are abnormal or pathological). Furthermore, Adizes doesn't stop at diagnosis; he offers prescriptions for anticipating and addressing the tensions inherent in moving from one stage in the lifecycle to another. As a founder of more than one company, Adizes is also refreshingly candid about the difficulty founders face in helping their companies move through the stages. ("It's hard to see the picture when you're in it.") Adizes has helped me to articulate critiques and advocate solutions that I have long sensed dimly, but couldn't adequately pinpoint. Here's a great resource for your leadership team to discuss at a retreat or planning session -- and then to act upon.
Book Description
Losing top talent can cost businesses big money. This guide provides management strategies for talent-rich companies, identifying ways to create an ?employer brand? to attract and retain the best employees out there. Case studies show how market-leading brands identify and nurture talent, positioning themselves to be employers of choice. Written in an accessible style, this guide is a comprehensive introduction to managing talent with examples from Virgin, Universal Music Group and Peter Honey, an expert on learning and behavior.
Contents: What is talent, HR's strategic role, Becoming an employer of choice, Supporting new leaders, The war for talent, Talent motivators, Creating the right environment for talent to thrive, Creating the talent pool, Developing thought leadership, The future of talent development.
Customer Reviews:
Provides companies of all sizes with management strategies.......2007-03-12
The Essential Guide to Managing Talent: How Top Companies Recruit, Train & Retain the Best Employees provides companies of all sizes with management strategies, showing how to create an 'employer brand' of quality and how to become the employer of choice. From HR's strategic role in the process to learning what motivates talent, tailoring rewards to foster improvements, and creating and utilizing a 'talent pool', business managers will find much here to lend for building a successful company - and business libraries will find it a popular choice.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Book Description
The Fortune 500 list, defined by size and volume, is the current measure of success in the corporate world. This timely book suggests instead a "Fortunate 500" list, based on the quality of service available to customers and the quality of life accessible to employees. Managing by Values shows how all stakeholders in a company can win based on their commitment to a common purpose and a set of shared values emphasizing stability, continuity, and growth, all in an ethical context. More than a "must read," this book is a "must do" that shows organizations, owners, managers, and employees how to create and apply a plan to ensure they survive - and thrive.
Customer Reviews:
Aligning Rewards.......2007-05-18
One takeaway keyword from Blanchard & O'Connor's book for me is "alignment". The authors provide an excellent illustration of transformational leadership. Take note that this leadership style is not conducive and/or effective for all. For example, the book highlight many examples related to the use of rewards and incentives. They are more than "just posters on the wall" or "overkill" attempts to reward people for a job they are supposed to do. I heartily disagree.
Incentives and motivation need to be aligned with the culture of the company. In some instances, "job well done" or "annual teaching award" certificates may not be appropriate and use financial incentives instead, like annual bonuses. I'm sure many of us have received at least one of these in the past. A "wall of fame" or annual bonuses may do very well in a sales-driven corporate setting....if that is the culture of the workplace. I believe in awarding employees for a job well done, in form of: whether monetary, PTO, promotions, certificates, awards, visible accolades.....whatever is fitting for the workplace culture I am in. They're symbols of extraordinary results similar to....hmm...hanging a framed, doctoral degree on the wall.
I think Blanchard & O'Connor have provided an excellent example of leadership in action.
Beyond Power to Stakeholder-Centered Missions and Values.......2004-09-25
If you like Ken Blanchard's other books (like The One Minute Manager with Spencer Johnson), this could turn out to be your favorite Blanchard book of all time. This book looks more fundamentally at how people get their business and personal lives out of whack than the other Blanchard books. That usually means putting the pursuit of prosperity ahead of health, happiness, and peaceful relations with others. The book is built on this premise: "It's values that align people, that get them all committed to working for the common good."
On the other hand, if you dislike Blanchard's general approach to business and book-writing, enough said. This one will affect you the same way, and you should skip it.
Most people who think about leadership imagine exercising great power by using moral persuasion and commands to shift an organization into a better direction. Actually, that's harder than turning a supertanker around, and often less useful.
In my experience, and in the views of this book, it works better to find a purpose for the organization that is equally valuable and meaningful to everyone involved (those who work there, customers, suppliers, shareholders, distributors, partners, and the communities you serve). That purpose doesn't come from the CEO, but rather it emerges from conversations with all of the interested parties.
Then, by using that central purpose, and the values to support it, everyone can decide what the right thing to do is in any situation with a minimum of leadership and management from elsewhere. Johnson & Johnson is probably a good example of a company that runs this way. When someone tampered with some Tylenol capsules, the company quickly recalled all Tylenol products as a reflection of its value of providing only helpful, healthful products.
Unlike Ken Blanchard's other books, this one has a lot of process-oriented information about how to go from how you lead today to a mission and value-centered process. I found that very helpful, and the process suggestions seemed sound to me. I have not actually seen a company use the exact process here, but it seems reasonable compared to the examples I have seen in other companies.
As you probably guessed, the book is built around a fable that involves someone (CEO Tom Yeoman of RimCo) having an epiphany that leads to a desire to change his life and improve his company. The epiphany follows his best friend refusing to help start a new business with him, saying, "The trouble with you, Tom, is that you're in a rat race. Remember, even if you win the race, you're still a rat."
Tom meets a change agent (a consultant who specializes in Managing by Values) and several clients of the change agent who share their experiences.
The book goes on to describe how Tom's company implements that advice.
You'll also recognize the familiar summaries, diagrams and short quotes ("The most important thing in life is to decide what's most important.") to emphasize what you have just learned.
This book is also a good reference tool, because it has a lot of detail about how to implement the process.
The main drawback to the reader is that you probably cannot implement this process very well by yourself. You will probably want to hire one of the firms that the coauthors work for if you like the process. Normally, I complain bitterly about this in other business books. I am making an exception here, because my experience has clearly been that an outsider can be essential to establishing personally-meaningful missions, values by consensus, and creating the adjustments needed to live by those values.
The actual content in the book is probably five times greater than in a typical Ken Blanchard book, so you'll definitely get your money's worth.
Live long and prosper by your values!
Amazon.com
Perceptive business leaders are starting to understand that their enterprises will fully succeed only when all of their myriad stakeholders--owners, employees, customers and neighboring communities--also succeed. In the slim, but very thought-provoking
Managing By Values, Ken "The One Minute Manager" Blanchard and behavioral researcher Michael O'Connor lay out a realistic step-by-step plan for determining any company's core beliefs, and then putting them into practice throughout the organization in order to achieve real across-the-board satisfaction.
Customer Reviews:
Managing by the heart..........2006-08-15
Yet another great book for leaders or those who are leading people, not just managing people. O'Connor tells a story that gets to the heart of managing by the heart!
Easy read, great parable.
It All Starts with Mission & Values.......2005-10-25
Ken Blanchard's collaboration with Dr. Michael O'Connor has produced another management, leadership, and ethical living primer that is highly recommended to all current and future organizational leaders at all levels.
This book is about an inwardly-troubled, yet outwardly "I-have-it-all" president and CEO of a struggling company who, by chance, meets a managing by values (MBV) consultant who immediately and eventually helps transform the CEO's company into a "Fortunate 500 company" and his personal life into a rewarding family success story. The authors' important message that MBV provides the best framework for stability, continuity, and growth in today's fast-paced environment of social, cultural, personal, economic, and technological change was constantly and believably reinforced.
Through meetings with the consultant and interactions with some of his other clients, the CEO learns the fundamentals of MBV and how to apply them at home and at work: the three acts of life (achieve, connect, and integrate); the four pillars of Fortunate 500 companies (`raving fans' customers, employees who feel and act like owners, satisfied owners and stockholders, and the `significant others' who interact in mutually beneficial ways with the company (to include vendors, suppliers, creditors, distributors, the community, and the competition)); and the three-phased MBV process (clarify mission and values, communicate mission and values, align daily practices with mission and values).
I was most impressed with the authors' ability to effectively balance the conceptual and practical application aspects of MBV in a story that brought their extensive research and experiences with real-life MBV organizations to life. Do not let the fact that this book was written in 1997 dissuade you from reading and learning from it for it's message is timeless and probably even more relevant today.
Inspiring yet realistic overview of values integration..........2001-07-20
Finally... a book that gives more detail on how the values integration process works. Reading this book 6 months into our own values integration process is very reassuring because it really hits home on a lot of points. This book outlines the same process that we used and its working! The interpersonal relationships seem to me to be the first notable change. The buy-in part is crucial. This book is also realistic about internal opposition to the values integration and the length of time that it takes to truly become a values- based company. Another key topic in this book is that being a values-based company is about being a group of values-based people. You need to work on yourself too; it's not just that you have values when you come to work. I think an important feature of any values integration process is promoting the importance of living each day with integrity in ALL things that we do, not just at work. The amazing thing is that once you start to see and feel that your company is living your values, you will try harder to keep moving forward. Another good book to get people inspired is Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive by Patrick Lencioni.
Good principles - too simplistic to execute.......2001-06-18
The basic messages of this book can be summarized in one paragraph. First writing down values and guiding principles is necessary. It’s important to know what’s important and making sure our staff and our stakeholders buy into these values. This requires communication. Secondly, writing mission and values won't be enough. The question is how we will put our values into action. It’s in the action that you will see how committed people are to the values. Commitment will mean that people’s behavior is aligned with the mission and the values. Not only does this mean that our values have to be written in a way they provide guidance for this.
Once you know this, reading the book is a waste of time. In fact I learned nothing from this book. The *real* challenges are formulating the mission and values in such a way that people REALLY buy into them. A first level of answer can be found from book such as "Visionary Leadership Skills (Dilts, 1996) and my own book "7 steps to emotional Intellince". A second level of comes from books such as "Appriciative Inquiry".
Good Luck on your search for meaning!
(extract from newsletter of ...
Insightful!.......2001-04-18
Managing By Values uses the same simple, direct story format used in The One Minute Manager and many other Ken Blanchard books. This makes the book easy to follow as it moves from one concept to the next. This book does a good job of presenting the Managing By Values system as an idea that makes sense for a company's bottom line. It's great to have a work force that enjoys their jobs, but those jobs won't last long if a company doesn't remain profitable. Managing By Values shows that you don't have to sacrifice profit to increase worker satisfaction and that you don't have to sacrifice worker satisfaction to increase profit. The MBV process shows that increased worker satisfaction leads to increased profit. This book is written for CEOs and people in senior leadership positions.
Book Description
"Making Six Sigma Last is the most practical and helpful resource that I have seen on this subject. George's charisma and charm spill over into this interesting and entertaining book. Using one of George's many analogies, 'this is an upper-deck shot,' and combined with his first book should become the benchmark for Six Sigma learning."-Dan Porter, Chairman and CEO, Wells Fargo Financial
"An energetic, step-by-step exploration filled with interesting and entertaining examples of real-world business experiences. Making Six Sigma Last is a powerful action plan for managers!"-Guenter Bulk, Managing Director, GE Capital IT Solutions
Customer Reviews:
Starting is Much Easier Than Staying the Course: Here's How.......2001-12-06
There are several outstanding books on the general subject of Six Sigma and Eckes has written two of the best. Previously in The Six Sigma Revolution, he examined major corporations such as Motorola and GE in which Six Sigma programs really did create revolutions which continue as I compose this review. These are properly acclaimed successes. Of course, little (if any) attention has as yet been devoted to those organizations which initiated and then later abandoned Six Sigma programs. The reasons for doing so vary, of course, but most can be classified within two categories of resistance to change: cultural and technical. As O'Toole brilliantly explains in Leading Change, it is a formidable task to overcome what he characterizes as "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom." In this volume, Eckes suggests all manner of strategies and tactics by which to overcome resistance and then sustain Six Sigma programs, once launched. Correctly, he stresses the importance to an organization of achieving a "balance" between its culture and its technology. Moreover, at a time when change is (literally) the only constant and occurring at an ever-increasing velocity, its is also a formidable challenge to maintain the proper balance of the two. For many years, I believed that most people fear change. I no longer believe that. Rather, I have become convinced that most people fear the unfamiliar. Hence the importance of constant and effective communication between and among everyone involved. Eckes suggests that this book will show his reader how to "Create the need for Six Sigma" but, in fact, the need probably exists already so there is a need to help everyone recognize that need and appreciate the importance of responding to it. Therefore, Eckes also shows his reader how to "Shape a vision of Six Sigma so that employees understand the desired results and new behaviors of a Six Sigma organization." Also, he shows the reader how to "Mobilize commitment to Six Sigma and overcome resistance" which is inevitable. Only then can any organization change its systems and structures "to support the new Six Sigma culture." Next: "Measure Six Sigma cultural acceptance" and "Develop Six Sigma leadership." All of these components are absolutely essential, difficult to integrate, and even more difficult to sustain in appropriate balance. In this volume, Eckes explains how and he does so with precision and eloquence.
In recent years, I have become more involved in Six Sigma or process improvement programs which vary somewhat in terms of their design and scope but all of which encountered several of the "pitfalls" which Eckes discusses in Chapter 8:
1. Feeling obligated to achieve quick success
2. Clogging up agendas with competing distractions
3. Having unrealistic time frames
4. Ignoring previous quality efforts
5. Conducting poor Six Sigma cultural planning and follow-through
6. Delegating (i.e. dumping) cultural development or seeing it as a one-time event
7. Not having appropriate cultural goals or objectives
8. Not allowing for unexpected interruptions
9. Allowing false or cosmetic positive readings to suggest authentic cultural transformation has been achieved
10. Underestimating resource allocation
Of course, whether or not involved with Six Sigma initiatives, any organization can experience some or even all of these "pitfalls." In this book, Eckes offers sound, street-smart advice on how to avoid them. Time and again, he places great emphasis on the importance of cultural values by which everyone involved in a Six Sigma can be guided and, when under duress, sustained. Herb Kelleher has this in mind whenever he explains what Southwest Airlines competitive advantage is: "Maintaining excellent customer service involves a process of getting people to understand the importance of it to them in their daily lives as well as in others'. We were a little concerned as we go bigger that maybe some of our early culture might be lost so we set up a culture committee whose only purpose is to keep the Southwest Airlines culture alive. Before people knew how to make fire, there was a fire watcher. Cave dwellers may have found a tree hit by lightning and brought fire back to the cave. Somebody had to make sure it kept going because if it went out, there would be serious problems. That cave dweller was the most important person in the tribe. I said to our culture committee, `You are our fire watchers, who make sure the fire does not go out. I think you are the most important committee at Southwest Airlines.' I really do believe that to be the case." This is precisely what Eckes means by "culture" in this book. For everyone in any organization already embarked on a Six Sigma program or now considering one, this is a "must read."
Making Six Sigma Last Is The Best Of Strategic Excellence!.......2001-11-24
The new book: Making Six Sigma Last, by Mr. George Eckes, is the the most comprehensive and excellent road map to reach corporate cultural excellence.
The previous book by Mr. Eckes: The Six Sigma Revolution, successfully teaches us the way to implement the tactical component of Six Sigma: process management excellence.
The current book is the only book to date that offers a complete process to achieve the key strategic component of Six Sigma: corporate cultural excellence.
Mr. Eckes has again produced an enjoyable, very enlightening and important Six Sigma book that is easy to read and comprehend.
It is perfect for corporate executives, managers, employees, consultants, quality practitioners, and students of best business practice.
Thank you for the opportunity to express my high regard for the outstanding book: Making Six Sigma Last.
Regards,
Marc St.James
November 24, 2001
Highly Recommended!.......2001-08-08
No one knows Six Sigma, which seeks near perfect customer satisfaction, like George Eckes, the consultant who literally wrote the book on it (The Six Sigma Revolution: How General Electric and Others Turned Process into Profits). In his second book, Eckes emphasizes the importance of molding organizational culture to generate broad acceptance of a Six Sigma initiative, using illustrative examples from his workshops. He describes ways to overcome internal resistance to change, to sell the program's benefits and to get key people as well as the masses on board. If you are launching a Six Sigma program, Eckes provides many specific suggestions of strategies you can employ. But because much of Eckes' wisdom can be applied more generally to organizational change efforts, we [...] recommend this insightful book to any executive, whether or not Six Sigma is your strategy of choice.
Best Book On How To: Create & Sustain a Six Sigma Culture.......2001-06-22
Think about it. Seriously think about it. What was the downfall of your quality endeavor? Your performance improvement plan? Your Six Sigma initiative? Was the wrong strategy used or was it the wrong tactical approach? Mostly likely it was neither your strategy nor your tactical approach. The failure was most likely do to people. Most likely your people hadn't really bought in. Buy-in from your people is necessary for an initiative such as Six Sigma to be successful. The people in your organization create your organizations' culture. How do you get cultural buy-in? How can you sustain that buy-in?
In the book Making Six Sigma Last, the author, George Eckes shows us how. Through heart-felt stories, humorous personal examples, and real business illustrations the author takes us through the process needed to create and sustain a culture that supports Six Sigma.
First we learn about Q x A = E. This powerful formula shows us that: "Q" Quality, the technical and strategic elements of a Six Sigma initiative, times "A" Cultural Acceptance, of the technical and strategic elements of Six Sigma, determines "E" the success of the Six Sigma process. Then, the author addresses resistance. We are reminded that it's a natural process for people to resist change. Eckes describes four types of resistance and offers specific strategies for overcoming each. The next chapters show how to sell it and then manage it. Now it's time to ask did it work? Did you get the cultural buy-in you were attempting? How do you know? In Making Six Sigma Last, Eckes offers a model that is used to measure the cultural acceptance within the organization or as Eckes says, "how well Six Sigma has been baked into the organization". Five case studies are used to illustrate these concepts. Then through profiles of leadership, the author shares real business examples of what worked, what didn't and why. Finally we learn how to sustain the culture that will support Six Sigma initiatives with the chapter on pitfalls: 10 things to avoid.
Making Six Sigma Last is an informative and easy read. It's effective and efficient, hallmarks of Six Sigma. The book leaves you inspired and hopeful that this stuff really can work. Don't start without it!
If you like the psychology of business, read this book.......2001-06-13
What I enjoyed most about this book was the applied "psychology of business" in other words, how to get people (organizations)to do what you want them to do and like it!
The book gives you answers to the "what if" questions that anyone trying to succeed in changing their corporate culture has. The examples and the personal tone of the book make it a fast, informative and easy read.
Book Description
MODULE 5: MANAGING CONFLICT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONSHIPS shows you how to manage your own emotions, as well as those of others. Creative conflict, along with harmony and synchronicity in the workplace are issues too many of us have avoided because we simply didn't understand them or didn't know what to say. This practical textbook will help you understand conflict and how to deal with it.
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- Leadership in Organizations (6th Edition)
- Leadership: Theory and Practice
- Managing Technological Change: Organizational Aspects of Health Informatics
- Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change
- Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change
- Managing Virtual Teams: Getting the Most from Wikis, Blogs, and Other Collaborative Tools (Wordware Applications Library)
- Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life : How to Use Feng Shui to Get Love, Money, Respect and Happiness
- Navigating the Badlands: Thriving in the Decade of Radical Transformation
- Newton's Cannon: Book One of THE AGE OF UNREASON (The Age of Unreason)
- OBJECTION!: HOW HIGH-PRICED DEFENSE ATTORNEYS, CELEBRITY DEFENDANTS, AND A 24/7 MEDIA HAVE HIJACKED OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Books Index
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General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
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Managing Organizations in a Global Economy: An Intercultural Perspective
Effective Small Business Management (8th Edition)
Managing Innovation: Integrating Technological, Market and Organizational Change, 3rd Edition
Fundamentals of Information Systems, 4th Edition
