Book Description
In the world's harshest environments, the key to survival is adaptation. It's a simple tenet of biological life, but when you apply it to the business realm, it can yield fresh insights and innovative ideas for companies struggling to survive.
In this intriguing new book, Harvard Business School Fellow William Fulmer does just that. Drawing on ideas and concepts of biology, he provides a broad, sweeping look at the business environment today--one characterized by unprecedented volatility and constant uncertainty.
And the book supplies concrete advice on how to build an adaptive organization that's able to embrace constant change and thrive in today's highly competitive business landscape. Readers learn how to:
* Pinpoint which landscape they operate in, recognize how rugged it is, and gauge their own fitness for survival * Cultivate learning, the root of adaptive organizations, through strategic planning and organizational design * Emulate the leadership skills needed for creating adaptive organizations, both start-ups and established companies * Discover why "the edge of chaos" is the best place to be.
SHAPING THE ADAPTIVE ORGANIZATION is packed with powerful examples of how adaptive companies are coping in an unpredictable, ever-changing environment--as well as eye-opening stories of how successful businesses can quickly find themselves in serious trouble.
Customer Reviews:
Insightful!.......2001-05-08
Author William E. Fulmer uses a biological analogy to discuss how organizations form and evolve in an environment that changes through co-evolution with other organizations. Organizations must be ready to learn, and need leaders who can help participants understand change and adapt to it. Though strategic planning can help, Fulmer emphasizes preparing for continual adaptation. His thoughtful, in-depth discussion draws on research from biologists, philosophers and various academic and business writers to create a biological model. He weaves in examples of businesses that have thrived or failed based on their ability or inability to adapt. When Fulmer veers away from his biological analogy, he starts to sound much like many of the other adapt-or-die prophets out there today, but nevertheless, we [...] recommend this solid presentation of a complex subject to executives, top managers and academics.
The changing face of business strategy.......2000-04-01
While the coverage of some topics is slightly more cursory than I might consider appropriate, I have found this book useful in prompting new thinking about how we fashion strategy in the new business environment. This is an excellent book for anyone who has interests in the new understandings we are gaining in the sciences, and is wondering about how to apply the new thinking to shaping organizations, old or new. While one may question some of the corporations selected as exemplars, among the real benefits of this book is that the author steps far out onto the limb to suggest practices in current organizations that illustrate key points in the development of an organization that can thrive in the tumult of our times. I believe that this book is a must read for people interested in the evolution of business strategy.
Average customer rating:
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The Organizational Capabilities: Emergence, Development and Change (Strategic Management Society)
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing Limited
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ASIN: 1405103043 |
Book Description
How do the resources and capabilities of organizations emerge and develop over time? This Handbook brings together scholars of strategic management, economics, history, organizational theory, international business, and technology management in order to address this question.Many of the contributions present new theoretical or empirical material which enhances our understanding of how organizational resources and capabilities evolve. Others offer thought-provoking commentary on current streams of research. Several themes recur throughout the volume, including: the role of geographic location and social networks; the influence of managerial mindset; and the co-evolution of resources and capabilities with other factors, including products. The chapters are organized according to a time line of resource and capability evolution.This body of work provides a firm basis for future research and practice, promoting a better understanding of why firms, industries, technologies, and even entire economies fare well or poorly.
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- Tower of Babble
- Stop the Vanity Presses
- not quite there
- Shared Knowledge and Success
- Insightful
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Going the Distance: Why Some Companies Dominate and Others Fail
Kevin Kennedy , and
Mary Moore
Manufacturer: FT Press
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Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
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Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant
ASIN: 0130461202 |
Download Description
Going the Distance identifies eight key obstacles to the long-term success of great businesses-and shows exactly how to overcome them. Former Cisco SVP Kevin Kennedy and leading consultant Mary Moore show how to assess corporate health and correct weaknes
Customer Reviews:
Tower of Babble.......2005-09-12
I thought Silicon Valley was for smart people. A Stanford professor and a retired Cisco executive have managed to write one of the most indecipherable business tombs in recent memory. I was asked to review this book for graduate school and I found it mostly incoherent business babble. "Billiard Ball Management." "Shallowly Rooted Strategic Vectors." "Kinetic Structures Prevail." What kinds of business leaders talk like that today? I often find the best business books package challenging business problems with no non-sense solutions. Save your money. This book is a tower of babble.
Stop the Vanity Presses.......2005-09-11
If Kevin Kennedy leads like he writes, he must have been one of the most mediocre executives at Cisco. This book is a hair-ball of rambling thoughts and jingo-isms and its assertions are neither clear nor connected in any manner that demonstrates business acumen. I suspect this is one of those vanity books that masquerade as a business book. In the alternative, consider leadership books by Jack Welch, Larry Bossidy, and Rudy Guiliani. Whoever edited this book should be sent back to community college to read Strunk & White 'elements of style' on the merits of clear, concise and declarative writing. In this effort, I am afraid the English language was Mr. Kennedy's enemy, not his friend.
not quite there.......2005-07-18
This book is just too long. If it were condensed to sub-100 pages it might be worthwhile as it contains some interesting ideas. Unfortunately most of the examples begin with "Cisco decided to..", "At Cisco we..., "The Cisco method of..." ......you get the idea. The authors cite "Good to Great" which is a real contrast, because the Collins team examines a wide variety of companies and industries rather than simply concentrating on Cisco. The book is also packed with graphics that -- let's face it folks -- are simply meaningless. I do not understand the reason for the other glowing reviews. Mediocre "at best".
Shared Knowledge and Success.......2003-09-30
Kevin Kennedy and Mary Moore have put together a book that is interesting, thought provoking, and extremely knowledgable and comprehensive. Although the book uses high-tech examples, Kennedy successfuly makes a correlation to other industries helping the reader understand the in-depth information. Furthermore, there is a constant focus asking the reader to question their own business adventures. This allows them to gain insight and help improve their own businesses. The knowledge that Kennedy and Moore share is backed by years of experience and success in the business world and should be looked at carefully because it is very valuable.
Insightful.......2003-06-20
Going the Distance is an great guidebook for anyone in management. You'll understand the common traps, how to identify them and how to recover. What I like best is that the authors have years of real life experience in large corporations. They didn't just interview other people about what they have done, Kennedy and Moore have lived it. This is an excellent resource, especially in these economic times.
Book Description
Click 'Additional Materials' for downloadable sample chapter
"George Huber makes an important contribution with profound insights on what the future firm will look like. It will be congruent with its environment. To realize opportunities from continuing advances in science and technology and environmental complexity, the successful firm in the future will be especially good at gaining environmental intelligence, learning and integrating knowledge, and being innovative and flexible. This is not a fanciful prophesy; it is a necessary logical conclusion that Huber draws from an extensive body of scientific knowledge."
--Andrew H. Van de Ven,
University of Minnesota, Past President of the Academy of
Management, and coauthor of Organizational Change and Innovation Processes
“Huber gives a compelling account of the future landscape that many managers have to face today. Filled with solid academic research laced with real-world examples, Huber not only conveys the shape of that landscape, but also the roadmap to navigate it.”
--Kathleen M. Eisenhardt,
Stanford University and coauthor of Competing on the Edge: Strategy as Structured Chaos
"This is an important book for any manager who faces a rapidly changing and increasingly competitive environment--which is to say, virtually every manager. Huber makes a cogent case for the fact that businesses will face much more dynamic and competitive environments in the future than they face today. More importantly, he offers practical advice for how managers can prepare for the uncertain future they face. Clearly written and carefully grounded in the best research evidence available, this book stands head and shoulders above the many management books offering short-term fads, fashions, and therapies of the moment."
--Richard T. Mowday,
University of Oregon, former President of the Academy of Management, and former Editor of the Academy of Management Journal
Click 'Reviews' to read more pre-publication praise for The Necessary Nature of Future Firms
Survival depends on the ability to read imminent shifts in the environment and respond accordingly. This holds true for any living system, but it is especially true for firms today.
The business environment is now changing rapidly, but will change even more rapidly in the future. Only firms that can respond to these changes will survive. It is important to know, then, how business’s future landscape will look. George Huber’s new book,
The Necessary Nature of Future Firms, describes this landscape clearly and credibly and makes explicit the organizational attributes and management practices firms must possess to be among the ranks of the “future firms.”
Advances in science and technology will continue to affect business environments, making them more complex, dynamic and competitive. Moreover, this complexity and dynamism will increase at increasing rates. As the book makes clear, successful firms will cope with or exploit these changes by increasing their capabilities for correctly interpreting threats and opportunities, making decisions, acquiring and managing knowledge, innovating, and changing while simultaneously dealing with the needs for efficiency, flexibility, and employee commitment.
The Necessary Nature of Future Firms is written for managers, especially those managing change. Professionals in a wide variety of organizational roles will find it a particularly useful reference for its foresight and as an invaluable tool in winning approval for projects and initiatives. Academics in change management, information systems, organizational science, strategy, and human resources management can draw on the book as a supplementary text or as a source for lecture materials.
References housed in endnotes rather than in the text contribute to the book’s readability and ease of use, as does the accessible writing style. But for all its accessibility and reader friendliness,
The Necessary Nature of Future Firms is still firmly grounded in scholarship. Hundreds of authoritative works and systematic studies specifically inform this book, as do Huber’s own studies and his interviews with over 100 middle- and upper-level managers about changes in their organizations. To add meaning and interest, the book’s insights and conclusions are elaborated with real world examples.
Customer Reviews:
For managers at all levels.......2004-01-29
There is a lot about this book that sets it apart from other advice-to-managers books. Perhaps the most significant is that it offers actionable suggestions to managers at all levels. It is not just for the CEO or other high level managers. In addition, the suggestions are not just opinions or the experiences of one company. They are backed with high-quality studies that are applicable across a broad range of firms. Even with my thirty years as a manager at a Fortune 50 company, I found the book to offer many opportunities for improving the competitive advantage of my function.
A Must Read.......2004-01-07
I took the title of my review from one of the 12 reviewer testimonials that appear on the back cover and on the back of the the first page:"This book is a must read for managers concerned with guiding their organizations into the information age. THE NECESSARY NATURE OF FUTURE FIRMS represents the first rigorous in-depth effort at anticipating the shape of new organizations by combining and interpreting vast management research literature and presenting it to managerial audiences. The book is very accessible to a broad managerial audience."
What first attracted me to the book is that the majority of the testimonials are from very, very accomplished authorities, people who seem to have reached really high stature as faculty at the top business school AND who have been successful authors themselves of books for managers. What then impressed me was how readable the book is. Knowing that it was written by a professor, I suspected the worst, but found that the book was actually an enjoyable read, with lots of examples, some from the author's own experience. But make no mistake, this isn't a shallow book with large print, lots of white space, three bullets per page, and unsubstantiated assertions. To the contrary, from two other testimonials: "This book stands head and shoulders above the many management books offering short-term fads, fashions, and therapies of the moment." and "THE NECESSARY NATURE OF FUTURE FIRMS is cleverly written, grounded in history, integrates an unusually extensive survey of organizational research, and is filled with evocative examples and practical guidelines." I found these comments to be on target.
Average customer rating:
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Innovation and Social Learning: Institutional Adaptation in an Era of Technological Change
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
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ASIN: 0333752848 |
Book Description
The ability of societies to manage the current transition to an innovation-driven learning economy is determined by the capacity of existing institutions to facilitate the changes underway. Individual and social learning dynamics are critical to the innovation process and essential for developing and maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage. The crucial issue is: how well suited are the institutions of a region, nation or international regime to the task of coping with the dramatic changes currently underway in the global economy?
Download Description
Identifying which business ideas have real commercial potential is fraught with uncertainty, and even the most admired companies have stumbled. In this article, W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne introduce three tools that managers can use to help strip away some of that uncertainty. The first tool, "the buyer utility map," indicates how likely it is that customers will be attracted to a new business idea. The second, "the price corridor of the mass," identifies what price will unlock the greatest number of customers. And the third tool, "the business model guide," offers a framework for figuring out whether and how a company can profitably deliver the new idea at the targeted price. Applying the tools, though, is not the end of the story. Many innovations have to overcome adoption hurdles--strong resistance from stakeholders inside and outside the company. The authors conclude by discussing how managers can head off negative reactions from stakeholders.
Customer Reviews:
Worth it.......2002-11-16
Presents an excellent framework for brainstroming and categorizing business ideas. Worth having in your reference library. You may not use the framework directly, but it does help you think about the *entire* value chain and where your idea fits in.
Average customer rating:
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Leadership and Learning: Helping Libraries and Librarians Reach Their Potential
Lyndon Pugh
Manufacturer: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0810841460 |
Book Description
Lyndon Pugh's Practical Training Techniques speaks plainly and persuasively of the dynamic relationship between trainer and learner. It argues for the use of traditional training techniques based on classical ideas, describing a process that owes as much to Aristotle as to modern gurus such as Blanchard, Naisbitt and Tapscott. Traditional training, claims Pugh, is uniquely placed to meet the learning requirements of modern organizations, precisely because such organizations value on-site ongoing development over off-site just in time approaches. And while technology undoubtedly can improve the lot of trainers, as well as the efficiency of the learning process, belief in its efficacy as the primary channel for learning delivery is by no means universal.
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Making Connections: Technological Learning and Regional Economic Change (Organisation of Industrial Space Series)
Manufacturer: Ashgate Publishing
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ASIN: 1840145501 |
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Managing the People Side of Innovation: 8 Rules for Engaging Minds and Hearts
A. J. Chopra
Manufacturer: Kumarian Press
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Working with Emotional Intelligence
ASIN: 1565490983 |
Book Description
Must reading for anyone who has to foster innovation, but finds that people resist new ideas. Implementing change means extra effort, and who wants more work when they feel stretched, as people do in today's "lean" organizations?
But even in these organizations some people have a knack for getting others to embrace change. Managing the People Side of Innovation reveals how these "naturals" tap some powerful sources of motivation through what they do with ideas.
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Organizational Learning and Knowledge Technologies in a Dynamic Environment
Walter R. J. Baets
Manufacturer: Springer
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Manager's Guides to Computing
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ASIN: 079238170X |
Book Description
While theories on `learning organizations' and `knowledge-based companies' have recently emerged, little attention has yet been given either to the underlying structures of these developments, or to the link between these underlying structures and the resources available to manage them. Organizational Learning and Knowledge Technologies in a Dynamic Environment attempts to fill this gap. It thus presents practical and concrete ways for companies to be adaptable and flexible whilst operating effectively and efficiently. Underlying concepts and insights into flexible management and chaotic market behavior are translated into a pragmatic approach to knowledge management within companies, using the latest technology. Corporate knowledge is increasingly proving to be not only an important resource, but possibly unique in its sustainability. Managing knowledge as a resource, as well as managing learning as the process which creates that resource, can only be done using appropriate information technologies. The foundational concepts discussed emerge from such fields as neurobiology, cognitive sciences, physics, and organizational theory. These are applied to management and substantiated with examples. New developments in knowledge management, such as connectionist approaches, are outlined and illustrated with real cases. The author further describes an approach for developing knowledge networks in companies. The annex offers readers with an advanced interest in the matter an epistemological discussion on scientific methods for management research and touches in a broader sense on the measurability of management processes.
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- Ship it! A Practical Guide to Successful Software Projects
- Strategies for the New Health Care Marketplace: Managing the Convergence of Consumerism & Technology
- Team-Based Strategic Planning: A Complete Guide to Structuring, Facilitating and Implementing the Process
- The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm
- The Blackboard and the Bottom Line: Why Schools Can't Be Businesses
- The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization
- The Fred Factor: How passion in your work and life can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary
- The Journalist And The Murderer
- The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action
- The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action
Books Index
Books Home
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Dynamic Leader Adaptive Organization: Ten Essential Traits for Managers
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