Amazon.com
"After conducting fourteen formal studies and more than a thousand interviews, directly observing dozens of executives in action, and compiling innumerable surveys, I am completely convinced that most organizations today lack the leadership they need," contends John P. Kotter, the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership at Harvard Business School. "And the shortfall is often large. I'm not talking about a deficit of 10%, but of 200%, 400%, or more in positions up and down the hierarchy," he writes in the opening essay to John P. Kotter on What Leaders Really Do, a collection of his most notable articles on the topic for the Harvard Business Review. Kotter isn't known to pull punches, and these pieces--falling into two categories, those concerned with "Leadership and Change" and those focusing on "Dependency and Networks"--are no exception. The articles in the book sensibly point out the difference between management and leadership; they advocate setting a direction rather than planning and budgeting, and motivating people rather than controlling them. They are tied together effectively by the aforementioned new essay, in which Kotter presents his "Ten Observations About Management Behavior" to summarize the concepts he has developed over a 30-year career. --Howard Rothman
Book Description
Widely acknowledged as the world's foremost authority on leadership, John Kotter has devoted his remarkable career to studying organizations and those who run them, and his bestselling books and essays have guided and inspired leaders at all levels. Here, in this collection of his acclaimed Harvard Business Review articles, is an astute assessment of the real work of leaders, as only John Kotter can offer. To complement these articles, Kotter also contributes a new introduction, a thoughtful reflection on the themes that have developed throughout his work. Convinced that most organizations today lack the leadership they need, Kotter's mission is to help us better understand what leaders-real leaders-do. True leadership, he reminds us, is an elusive quality, and too often we confuse management duties and personal style with leadership, or even mistake unworthy leaders for the real thing. Yet without leadership, organizations move too slowly, stagnate, and lose their way. With John Kotter on What Leaders Really Do, readers will learn how to become more effective leaders as they explore pressing issues such as power, influence, dependence, and strategies for change. With the relentless change and escalating uncertainty that define our times, the need for strong leadership in business, government, and society has never been greater. Careers, customers, and communities all suffer in a poorly run enterprise. Sure to be eagerly embraced by Kotter's huge global following, John Kotter on What Leaders Really Do provides an invaluable opportunity to consider the core issues that lie at the heart of leadership and to rethink our own relationship to the work of leaders. A Harvard Business Review Book.
Customer Reviews:
The Differencing Between Leading and Managing.......2007-02-15
In a long working career I have observed numerous instances of the high management manage companies with very few examples of them leading the company somewhere. I worked for Univac for instance, saw them merge with Burroughs, and watched as they turned two five billion dollar companies into one six billion dollar (with a loss in 2006 of almost $300 million). I watched Digital Equipment completely misunderstand the impact of the PC and go from a major player to be part of Compaq, then part of HP.
While this was happening, Microsoft and Intel were truly exercising the leadership that took the computer world through what Andy Grove (of Intel) called an inflection point.
This book is a collection of six essays. The first three discuss leadership. The second three discuss the management aspect. It's a quick easy read, and while there is little practical 'do it this way' advice, the overall impact is just what a true leader needs.
A good book on leadership.......2006-07-01
Kotter, a professor of leadership at Harvard Business School, distinguishes between a leader and a manager. The former is someone who works thru people and culture; the latter works thru hierarchy and systems. Kotter points out the need to nurture leaders, and he writes of the interdependence of leaders and led. What is required to bring about change, he says, is starting with a sense of urgency, developing a team, communicating the vision, etc. A leader works with others to develop a vision as well as strategies to implement that vision. He or she empowers individuals to bring that vision to life. There are executives who don't lead; they thereby fall into predictable traps. Therefore they find themselves unable to bring about good, nonincremental change. More is involved in leadership than giving orders within an authority structure. The vision need not be original, but it must serve the interests of the constituencies.
Much here may sound like common sense, but it is organized and delivered in a helpful manner. This work is based on the runs, hits, and errors of many organizations and their executives. A solid treatment. Should be read together with Jim Collins's Good to Great.
A 6-pack of Kotter articles.......2005-12-30
In the reviews below, only Godfrey notices that this book is simply a collection of 6 previously published Harvard Business Review articles (1979-1997). As such, the book is a handy one-stop shop of Kotter's leadership and management writings over the years, and these articles contain nothing new. One might have wished for Kotter's current commentary on each of the individual articles.
His original contribution to this volume is the first chapter, where he retroactively imposes order on and draws lessons from the earlier works. Overall, this book is a useful compendium of Kotter's ideas from the past 30 years for those who are unfamiliar with his work.
Kotter Knows.......2003-05-17
John knows his stuff. I've worked for P&G, M&M/Mars and The NutraSweet Company and I know the halls, people and thinking Kotter discusses. He is spot on in his examination of what good leaders really do, something that can often seem like a mystery. I found it interesting that people were evenly split on this book between raves and pans. So much of what you get out of a book like this is related to personal experience. I don't know if I changed my paradigm after reading What Leaders Really Do, but I increased my empathy and understanding. Always a good thing, no?
The Same Old Stuff!.......2003-04-22
Please retire, or get some new ideas!
Book Description
Leading Minds and Landmark Ideas In An Easily Accessible Format
From the preeminent thinkers whose work has defined an entire field to the rising stars who will redefine the way we think about business, The Harvard Business Review Paperback Series delivers the fundamental information today's professionals need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world.
Harvard Business Review on Leadership gathers together eight of the Harvard Business Review's most influential articles on leadership, challenging many long-held assumptions about the true sources of power and authority. A Harvard Business Review Paperback.
Download Description
The Harvard Business Review paperback series is designed to bring today's managers and professionals the fundamental information they need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world. Here are the landmark ideas that have established the Harvard Business Review as required reading for ambitious business people in organizations around the globe. Harvard Business Review on Leadership gathers together eight of the Harvard Business Review's most influential articles on leadership, challenging many long-held assumptions about the true sources of power and authority. Articles include: The Manager's Job: Folklore and Fact by Henry Mintzberg; What Leaders Really Do by John P. Kotter; Managers and Leaders: Are They Different? by Abraham Zaleznik; The Discipline of Building Character by Joseph L. Badaracco, Jr.; The Ways Chief Executive Officers Lead by Charles M. Farkas and Suzy Wetlaufer; The Human Side of Managment by Thomas A. Teal; The Work of Leadership by Ronald A. Heifetz and Donald L. Laurie; and Whatever Happened to the Take-Charge Manager? by Nitin Nohria and James D. Berkeley.
Customer Reviews:
Enduring insights from multiple perspectives .......2007-05-15
Much of the contextual material in this volume is out-of-date, given the fact that the eight articles originally appeared in the Harvard Business Review years ago (1975-1998). However, I think the core concepts remain sound and provide a valuable frame-of-reference for understanding the advances in effective decision making that have occurred during the last five years. For example, if anything, Henry Mintzberg's article ("The Manager's Job") is even more relevant today than it was when it first appeared in the July/August issue in 1975. In it, he examines "four myths about the manager's job that do not bear up under careful scrutiny of the facts," such as "the manager is a reflective, systematic planner." In fact, Mintzberg suggests that managers work "at an unrelenting pace, that their activities are characterized by brevity, variety, and discontinuity, and that they are strongly oriented to action and dislike reflective activities." Mind you, this was an opinion expressed more than 30 years ago.
No brief commentary such as this can do full justice to the rigor and substance of the eight articles. It remains for each reader to examine the list to identify which subjects are of greatest interest to her or him. My own opinion is that all of the articles are first-rate. One of this volume's greatest benefits is derived from the fact that a variety of perspectives are provided by a number of different authorities on the same general subject. In this instance, leadership.
Readers will especially appreciate the provision of an executive summary that precedes each article. They facilitate, indeed expedite frequent review of key points which - presumably - careful readers either underline or highlight. Also of interest is the "About the Contributors" section that includes suggestions of other sources to consult. Here are questions to which the authors of the other seven articles respond:
What do leaders do? (John P. Kotter)
Comment: "Institutionalizing a leadership-centered culture is the ultimate act of leadership."
How do managers and leaders differ? (Abraham Zaleznik)
Comment: "Managers see themselves as conservators and regulators of an existing order of affairs with which they personally identify and from which they gain rewards [whereas] leaders tend to be twice-born personalities, people who feel separate from their environment."
How do "defining moments" help to develop character? (Joseph L. Badaracco, Jr.)
Comment: "Defining moments force us to find a balance between our hearts in all their idealism and our jobs in all their messy reality."
Note: In Leading Quietly (2002) and then Questions of Character: Illuminating the Heart of Leadership Through Literature (2006), Badaracco develops in greater depth many of the core concepts introduced in this article.
What are the ways in which CEOs lead? (Charles M. Farkas and Suzy Wetlaufer)
Comment: "No matter where a company is located or what it makes, its CEO must develop a guiding, overarching philosophy about how he or she can best add value.... A leadership approach is a coherent, explicit style of management, not a reflection of personal style. This is a critical distinction."
Why are there so few great managers? (Thomas Teal)
Comment: "Great management involves courage and tenacity. It closely resembles heroism."
How to lead others during adaptive change? (Ronald A. Heifetz and Donald L. Laurie)
Comment: "Solutions to adaptive challenges reside not in the executive suite but in the collective intelligence of employees at all levels."
"Whatever happened to the take-charge manager?" (Nitin Nohria and James D. Berkley)
Comment: "Pragmatists understand that it is unrealistic to try to avoid uncertainty. Attempts to deny or ignore it can blind managers to the real contexts in which they are working and prevent them from responding effectively."
Those who share my high regard for this volume are urged to check out the recently published Harvard Business Review on Making Smarter Decisions as well as other series title in the Harvard Business Review Paperback Series such as those on Becoming a High-Performance Manager, Change, Corporate Strategy, Decision Making, Effective Communication, the Innovative Enterprise, Leadership, Leadership at the Top, and Measuring Corporate Performance.
Essential Resource for Executives.......2007-03-25
Another fantastic resource from HBR.
The article titled, "The Manager's Job: Folklore and Fact", by Henry Mintzberg, has been requested for reprint more than 22,000 times in the past two years. Mintzberg did a fascinating study of how managers worked to analyze behavior.
"What Leaders Really Do", by John Kotter, provides a wealth of helpful information. Among the passages I've underlined:
"Leadership complements management; it doesn't replace it..."
"Planning is a management process, deductive in nature... Setting a direction is more inductive..."
"One of the most frequent mistakes that overmanaged and underled corporations make is to embrace 'long-term planning' as a panacea for their lack of direction and inability to adapt to an increasingly competitive and dynamic business environment..."
"In a company without direction, even short-term planning can become a black hole capable of an infinite amount of time and energy."
"Leaders also regularly involve people in deciding how to achieve the organization's vision... This gives people a sense of control..."
All of the articles in this volume are helpful, but these two are the ones I found most interesting.
Worthwhile read for entrepreneurs.......2005-08-30
There are many books with an entrepreneurial bent available, most of which are aimed at folks considering starting a business. This is a solid compilation of HBR white papers on various aspects of entrepreneurship. Although the information is useful to those exploring the possibility of starting their own venture, it is more useful to those who have taken the plunge and are immersed in the day to day challenges of building and sustaining a new business venture.
Amar Bhide ("New Business Ventures and the Entrepreneur") is one of the primary contributors, with analyses of entrepreneurial strategy and financing.
This book is useful for those starting, seeking financing, or growing a new venture (I define new as
<5 years old). For someone exploring starting a new venture, it may be useful or information overload, depending upon the person.
Is leadership managment?.......2005-07-23
This book encapsulates the responsibilites of a leader and the diffirenciation between a leader and a manager. A leader is always in front... never in second place. Thats where managers are... because they are not as good, as the book states. Every manager should strive to be a leader.
Great articles on defining and teaching about leadership.......2004-07-26
The wide variety of articles on leadership covers well items from the basic topics such as the difference between managers and leaders to how someone can be both (and the tensions that can cause!). Two of the best articles were on how leaders really spend their time during the day and how leaders foster an environment in which other people can also be identified and brought forward as leaders.
I would've rated this five stars, but there are a couple of articles (on 'defining moments' and CEOs) that weren't a complete waste of time but seemed too far divorced from the typical leader within a company that I was surprised the HBR didn't find something more likely to be widely applicable to fill the space.
Book Description
The Harvard Business Review Paperback Series is designed to bring today's managers and professionals the fundamental information they need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world. From the preeminent thinkers whose work has defined an entire field to the rising stars who will redefine the way we think about business, here are the leading minds and landmark ideas that have established the Harvard Business Review as required reading for ambitious businesspeople in organizations around the globe.
The latest thinking in the field of leadership is collected in this volume. With all-new articles published in the last three years and two articles from leadership guru, Daniel Goleman, this collection is a must have for CEOs and top level managers. The volume also pays special attention to leadership succession issues.
Customer Reviews:
Given the Quality, an Exceptional Value.......2002-04-05
This is one in a series of volumes of articles which previously appeared in the Harvard Business Review. They offer direct and relatively inexpensive access to cutting-edge thinking on a major business subject. This volume provides eight essays, each preceded by an "Executive Summary." The first selection "What Makes a Leader?") was written by Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, Working with Emotional Intelligence, and the most recently published Primal Leadership. After years of wide and deep experience with all manner of executives, Goleman has found that "the most effective leaders are alike in one crucial way: they all have a high degree of what has come to be known as emotional intelligence [which Goleman asserts] is the sine qua non of leadership." He then identifies and briefly discusses what he calls "The Five Components of Emotional Intelligence at Work": Self-Awareness. Self-Regulation, motivation, empathy, and Social Skill." These are the titles and authors of the other seven essays:
"Narcissistic Leaders: The Incredible Pros, the Inevitable Cons" (Michael Maccoby)
"Leadership That Gets Results" (Goleman)
NOTE: Those especially interested in this subject are urged to check out Bossidy and Charan's Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done (June 2002).
"Getting the Attention You Need" (Thomas H. Davenport and John C. Beck)
NOTE: Davenport and Beck later developed their ideas in much greater depth in The Attention Economy.
"The Successor's Dilemma" Dan Ciampa and Michael Watkins)
"The Rise and Fall of the J. Peterman Company" (John Peterman)
NOTE: To "Seinfeld" fans, yes, he is that Peterman.
"Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?" (Robert Goffee and Gareth Jones)
"Leading Through Rough Times: An Interview with Novell's Eric Schmidt" (Bronwyn Fryer)
No brief commentary such as this can do full justice to the rigor and substance of the articles provided. It remains for each reader to examine the list to identify those subjects which are of greatest interest to her or him. My own opinion is that all of the articles are first-rate. A majority were later developed into books. For me, one of this volume's greatest benefits is derived from sharing a variety of perspectives provided by several different authorities on the same general subject. In terms of value, if all eight articles were purchased as an individual reprint, the total cost would be $56.00.
Some valuable insight.......2002-02-01
This book contains a collection of essays about the makings of a great leader. Some essays, particularly the one about emotional intelligence, I found invaluable. Others, were interesting, but not new news.
Book Description
Harvard Business Review on Corporate Responsibility
What and whom is a business for? This collection of articles gathers the latest thinking on the strategic significance of corporate social responsibility. Readers will develop an understanding of why businesses should continue to give money away even while laying off workers, how companies play a leadership role in today's social problems by incorporating the best thinking of governments and nonprofit institutions, and how community needs are actually opportunities to develop ideas and demonstrate business technologies. Readers will see how corporate responsibility can lead to new markets and solutions to long-standing business problems.
The Harvard Business Review Paperback Series
The series is designed to bring today's managers and professionals the fundamental information they need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world. From the preeminent thinkers whose work has defined an entire field to the rising stars who will redefine the way we think about business, here are the leading minds and landmark ideas that have established the Harvard Business Review as required reading for ambitious businesspeople in organizations around the globe.
Customer Reviews:
Harvard CSR .......2007-05-14
As an educational leadership professor, I am interested in learning about corporations and how they impact educational settings. This text was one of the most comprehensive collections of essays to offer a wide range of perspectives on the issues of corporate social responsibility. With its researchers and the commentary, this text provides a novice, like myself, with the background, application and insight as to how the business world perceives CSR within its own environment. For those of you who are new to this field, this is a must read.
Dr. Joan Jackson, Asst. Prof. Ed. Leadership, ODU
8 articles on Corporate Social Responsibility.......2006-11-07
This collection of article opens interesting lines of reasoning and might just get fresh ideas in front of decision makers who can use business as a tool for good on the global scale. The eight articles cover a broad range of topics and vary in tone from sweeping philosophical musings to rigorous academic pieces. The first article is a very strong lead-off, I will try to summarize this piece in hopes of giving you a flavor for the whole collection:
* Serving the world's poor, profitably - C.K. Prahalad & Allen Hammond
How can companies profitably serve a market where consumers live on $2000 or less per year? On the other hand, how can companies afford to ignore a market of 4 billion potential customers? This article explores reasons why companies have in the past shied away from trying to serve the "bottom of the pyramid" (BOP) markets, why major growth opportunities exist in this niche, and how typical strategies need to be adapted into new thinking that will benefit the world's poorest communities and those who compete for their business. There is a distasteful element to imagining multinational corporations, the most powerful institutions of our time, engaging and profiting from the most economically powerless. The authors make the case that the poor suffer more from being ignored by the global marketplace of the multinationals than by engagement with it. They illustrate how prices charged by the informal economy that serves poor communities are typically much higher for the same goods than prices in more affluent communities served by efficient distribution. When BOP strategies are done correctly, corporations also benefit in more ways than simply generating additional sales: BOP markets can serve as incubators for new products, ideas and approaches that can revitalize productivity and leadership in the developed (and saturated) markets as well. An innovative approach for reaching poorer customers is to de-aggregate ownership from use by exploring "pay per use" models. Another strategy, that runs counter to mainstream thinking, is to deploy some of the most cutting edge wireless technologies in the least developed markets to overcome the isolation of poor rural areas.
8essays that see corporate responsibility as an opportunity.......2003-10-22
Traditional corporate executives may shudder when they hear the term "corporate responsibility". In their view, the corporation's responsibility is to maximize shareholder value within the bounds of the law. That's a tall order as it is, so resistance to the thought of additional sources of responsibility and additional relevant "stakeholders" isn't surprising. The writers gathered in this collection of papers from HBR see corporate responsibility less as a burden and more as an opportunity. The opportunity lies in creating new markets, resolving age-old business problems, improving public perception, strengthening brands, and melding the best ideas for governments and nonprofit institutions for doing well while doing good.
This collection of eight essays provides a firm foundation in both critical and creative thinking on issues of corporate responsibility and active philanthropy. If the terrain is unfamiliar, the collection's fifth essay - "The Path of Kyosei should be a comfortable entry point. Canon's honorary chairman, Ryuzaburo Kaku, sets out five steps along a path toward a "spirit of cooperation". Practical but still intellectually not so challenging is Rosabeth Moss Kanter's "From Spare Change to Real Change: The Social Sector as Beta Site for Business Innovation". Craig Smith in "The New Corporate Philanthropy" sees philanthropic strategies as giving a competitive edge. A similar perspective, worked out in some detail, comes from Michael Porter and Mark Kramer in their contribution, "The Competitive Advantage of Corporate Philanthropy".
Charles Handy takes his turn at defining the extent of corporate responsibility in "What's A Business For?". A more impressive piece with far more potential payback for the executive reader comes from C.K. Prahalad and Allen Hammond in their recent essay, "Serving the World's Poor, Profitably". Also of high quality is Roger Martin's "The Virtue Matrix: Calculating the Return on Corporate Responsibility". For the more philosophical, a challenging and well-presented argument for strong corporate responsibility appears in "Can a Corporation Have a Conscience?" by the fittingly-named Kenneth Goodpaster and John Matthews. With a couple of weaker spots, this collection succeeds in bringing together some of the best recent thinking on the issue in recent years. To fill in the gaps, be sure to look at the best pieces from other publications.
Book Description
Most organizations struggle with the question of leadership. How do you identify leaders in the making? How do you train them, taking into account their unique strengths and weaknesses? This collection of articles examines the ways in which managers and executives develop as leaders, and then helps readers apply successful tactics in real-life settings. Using innovative as well as time-honored approaches, Harvard Business Review on Developing Leaders guides readers through the challenges of leadership development.
Customer Reviews:
Great Product.......2007-09-09
Product in GREAT condition as described. Very fast shipping!! Will do business with again!!
Book Description
Harvard Business Review on Corporate Ethics
Resolving today's most pressing questions about business behavior has become a priority in today's corporate environment. In deciding how to act, managers reveal their inner values, test their commitment to those values, and ultimately shape their characters. Readers of this collection of articles will learn to identify the theoretical and practical issues of recognizing and responding to ethical dilemmas and will find the link between good ethics and good business.
The Harvard Business Review Paperback Series
The series is designed to bring today's managers and professionals the fundamental information they need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world. From the preeminent thinkers whose work has defined an entire field to the rising stars who will redefine the way we think about business, here are the leading minds and landmark ideas that have established the Harvard Business Review as required reading for ambitious businesspeople in organizations around the globe.
Book Description
Before they can effectively manage others, managers have to be adept at managing themselves. That requires truly understanding their own passions and motivations, strengths and weaknesses. This guide offers sage advice from business greats, including Peter F. Drucker and John P. Kotter, on how managers can improve personal performance and productivity and, in the process, become better managers of those they lead.
Customer Reviews:
Trivialities and drivel.......2007-03-30
Absolutely uninteresting, I'm returning it. Did you know that you have to get enough sleep, eat well, and exercise? If not, learn it from this book.
Over the years, I've bought, oh probably like a dozen of these books (from this series, I mean) and, with the exception of Managing High-Tech Enterprise, found them completely unhelpful and uninteresting. Always self-contradictory, unintelligent, and droning, they remind me of the "self-help" book genre -- which is to say, politically-correct, vapid tripe that the publishers probably believe will sell in any quantities and no matter how bad, simply because people look forever for advice and will probably buy and keep buying. Very disappointing; I'm through with this series.
Book Description
Seventy percent of all change initiatives fail. Yours won’t have to—when you apply the practices provided in HBR on Leading Through Change. In this vital new resource, today’s leading thinkers offer suggestions for articulating a compelling vision of an organization’s future, overcoming employee resistance to change, and surmounting other challenges that come with leading change.
Customer Reviews:
Why some change initiatives succeed...and others fail.......2007-06-02
This is one in a series of several dozen volumes that comprise the "Harvard Business Review Paperback Series." Each offers direct, convenient, and inexpensive access to the best thinking on the given subject in articles originally published by the Harvard Business School Review. I strongly recommend all of the volumes in the series. The individual titles are listed at this Web site: www.hbsp.harvard.edu. The authors of various articles are among the world's most highly regarded experts on the given subject. Each volume has been carefully edited. Supplementary commentaries are also provided in most of the volumes, as is an "About the Contributors" section that usually includes suggestions of other sources that some readers may wish to explore.
In this volume, the reader is provided with eight articles whose authors provide a variety of perspectives on how to lead an organization through a process of significant change while minimizing fear, frustration, and resistance. All of the articles first appeared in the HBR over an extended period of time, from March-April, 1992, to October, 2005; some but remarkably little of the material is dated. Here are some of the important business issues to which four contributors direct their (and our) attention:
Which seem to be the most common mistakes made by executives? ("Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail," John P. Kotter)
Comment: Kotter identifies eight and suggests how to avoid or repair them.
How to focus only on what is most important? ("Tipping Point Leadership," W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne)
Comment: The co-authors of Blue Ocean Strategy explain how "tipping points" can result in fundamental changes when a sufficient number of people embrace and support a powerful idea. They examine how a newly appointed police commissioner, in less than two years, turned New York into the safest large city in the nation by following a four-step process to bring about rapid, dramatic, and lasting change with limited resources.
Why is follow-through "the DNA of decisive cultures"? ("Conquering a Culture of Indecision," Ram Charan)
Comment: In all of his various books and articles, Charan stresses the importance of making correct decision and then taking effective action to achieve desired results, whatever they may be. To change a culture of decision, he insists, leaders must ask hard questions such as "How robust and effective are our social operating mechanisms?" GE has forged a system of ten tightly linked operating mechanisms that, Charan suggests, comprise its "secret weapon."
Why are leaders sometimes "on" and other times Not? (""Moments of Greatness: Entering the Fundamental State of Leadership," Robert E. Quinn)
Comment: Quinn identifies four "awareness-raising questions" which leaders must ask and then answer honestly so that they can challenge themselves to have a positive impact on their own lives and on those around them. These questions "often lead to high-performance outcomes, and repetition of high-performance outcomes can eventually create a high-performance culture."
Which factors correlate with the success or failure of change initiatives? ("The Hard Side of Change Management," Harold L. Sirkin, Perry Keenan, and Alan Jackson)
Comment: Based on their research on change initiatives at 225 companies, the co-authors of this article concluded that it is possible to predict the probable results of such initiatives by considering what they characterize as four "DICE factors" within a diagnostic framework. Once the evaluation has been completed, the executives involved can then "shine a spotlight on the interventions that would improve their chances of success."
As I indicated earlier, at least some of the material in this volume is dated. However, the insights shared in these articles as well as in the other remain relevant. Those who share my high regard for this volume are urged to check out the recently published Harvard Business Review on Making Smarter Decisions as well as other series titles in the Harvard Business Review Paperback Series such as those Effective Communication, the Innovative Enterprise, Leadership at the Top, and Measuring Corporate Performance.
Also Michael George's Authentic Leadership and True North, Jack Welch and Suzy Welch's Winning, Michael Ray's The Highest Goal, Ram Charan's Know-How, and Deborah Ancona and Henrik Bresman's X-Teams, Richard Ogle's Smart World, and James O'Toole's The Executive's Compass.
Highly Recommended for Executives Leading Organizations Through Change.......2007-03-24
I picked this book up at an airport to have something to read on my flight, and I was not disappointed in the least. It provides excellent information and insight on leading organizations during times of change.
In Kotter's essay, "Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail", he analyzes common errors of leading through change, and converts them into 8 steps for transforming an organization: (1) establishing a sense of urgency, (2) forming a powerful guiding coalition, (3) creating a vision, (4) communicating the vision, (5) empowering others to act on the vision, (6) planning for and creating short-term wins, (7) consolidating improvements and creating still more changes, and (8) institutionalizing new approaches. Kotter shows how these 8 principles can lead to either the downfall or the success of an organization.
I also found Ram Charan's essay, "Conquering a Culture of Indecision", to be extremely helpful. He outlines the steps for creating greater communication, turning that into action, and providing follow-through and feedback.
Also of great interest to me was Eric Abrahamson's "Change Without Pain". He defines the difference between "tinkering" and "kludging" (tinkering with a college education). He also offers helpful operating guidelines that make quite a bit of sense.
Different essays will be more relevant for different individuals, but all in all, this compilation of essays provides excellent insight, and should be required reading for executive teams in the midst of major periods of change.
Book Description
Leading Minds and Landmark Ideas In An Easily Accessible Format
From the preeminent thinkers whose work has defined an entire field to the rising stars who will redefine the way we think about business, The Harvard Business Review Paperback Series delivers the fundamental information today's professionals need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world.
Corporate governance can raise many difficult leadership, strategy, and policy questions within an organization.
Harvard Business Review on Corporate Governance is an essential reference, focusing on both policy and strategic challenges, for senior managers working with boards or dealing with governance issues. A Harvard Business Review Paperback.
Customer Reviews:
a variable overview about governance.......2000-07-24
This paperback is designed to be a reference, focusing on both policy and strategic challenges for senior managers working with Boards and Board members. Some of the chapters are articles; others are transcripts of interviews with key business leaders.
Like any edited series, there is a range of quality here.
Some of the pieces are far-out prescriptions from academics that will never see the light of day.
And some of the pieces are practical, thought-provoking ideas written by academics, consultants, and Board members themselves.
For example, Walter Solomon serves on the Board of Neiman Marcus Group, Hannaford Brothers Company, Tufts Health Plan, and Circuit City Stores. He has an excellent article that provides a framework for Board size and composition.
Philip Caldwell is former CEO of Ford Motor Company and former member of the Boards of the following companies: Chase Manhattan, Federated Department, and the Kellogg Company. He notes that the selection of the CEO is one of the most important roles of a Board. It is in the interests of the company that there be viable internal candidates and that the Board have options. It is sometimes in the interests of the incumbent CEO that the CEO be the one to nominate the one and only internal candidate.
For this reason, the Board needs to annually monitor CEO Succession development. The Board also must make sure the program is focused on the competencies of chief executive officers. For example, being a better team player may or may not be a critical issue in the role of CEO. Great team players don't necessarily make great CEOs.
Book Description
This book gathers together Peter Drucker's articles from Harvard Business Review and frames them with a thoughtful introduction from the Review's Editor Tom Stewart
One of this century's most highly regarded students of management, Drucker has sought out, identified, and examined the most important issues confronting managers, from corporate strategy to management style to social change.
Through his unique lens, this volume gives us the rare opportunity to trace the evolution of the great shifts in our workplaces, and to understand more clearly the role of managers.
This book gathers together Drucker's articles from Harvard Business Review and frames them with a thoughtful introduction from the review's editor Thomas A. Stewart.
Customer Reviews:
Great management book.......2007-09-24
This is one of the best management books I've ever read. Despite the articles being written 10 - 20 years ago, they are still relevant. Drucker uses good examples to illustrate his points, and avoids the word "synergy."
Wisdom for the ages.......2007-01-05
I found the chapter on self-management alone to be worth the price of the book.
A compendium of business wisdom which should be in every business library collection.......2006-07-04
If the name of Peter Drucker sounds familiar, it should: he's inspired managers with his works for nearly half a century, with his articles in Harvard Business Review - gathered here for the first time under one cover and offering his best works to audiences of business learners. From how to remain productive throughout your work life and choose careers which are lasting to learning how and when to make changes, Classic Drucker is a compendium of business wisdom which should be in every business library collection.
Simplicity on the other side of complexity.......2006-06-20
To me, one of Peter Drucker's greatest strengths as a business thinker is his ability to cut to the proverbial "bone" when sharing an insight about an especially complicated subject. This unique talent illustrates what Oliver Wendell Holmes meant when observing that he didn't "care a fig about simplicity on this side of complexity" but greatly admired simplicity "on the other side of complexity." Given Holmes' observation, consider these three prime examples of "classic Drucker":
In 1963: "There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all." (Managing for Business Effectiveness, page 83)
In 1995: "EVA [economic value added] is based on something we have known for a long time: what we generally call profits, the money left to service equity, is usually not profit at all. Until a business returns a profit that is greater than its cost of capital, it operates at a loss...By measuring the value added among all costs, including the cost of capital, EVA measures, in effect, the productivity of all factors of production." (The Information Executives Truly Need, page 107)
In 1988: "Information-based organizations, in other words, require clear, simple, common objectives that translate into particular actions. At the same time, however, as these examples dicate, information-based organizations also need concentration on one objective or, at most, on a few. Because the `players' in an information-based organization are specialists, they cannot be told how to do their work...So [such an organization] must be structured around goals that clearly state management's performance expectations for the enterprise and for each part and specialist and around organized feedback that compares [and contrasts] results with these performance expectations so that every member can exercise self-control. The other requirement of an information-based organization is that everyone takes information responsibility...The key to such a system is that everyone asks: Who in this organization depends on me for what organization? And on whom, in turn, do I depend?" (The Coming of the New Organization, page 133)
There several other excellent sources of Drucker quotations (e.g. The Daily Drucker) which I frequently consult. However, in the 15 Harvard Business Review articles which are assembled in Classic Drucker, there is a context within which the value of each insight is more clearly indicated. In the Introduction, Thomas A. Stewart (editor of the Harvard Business Review) cites three of Drucker's great gifts to his life work: "First was the talent for asking the right questions...His second gift was to see organizations whole...[Drucker's] third gift was the ability to reason equally well both inductively and deductively." All three gifts are clearly evident in each of the 15 articles.
Near the conclusion of an interview by T. George Harris in 1993, Drucker makes several points which seem even more relevant now: "'Democratic' bespeaks a narrow and legal organization. Nor do I use the buzzword `participative.' Worse yet is the `empowerment' concept. It is not a great step forward to take power out at the top and put it in at the bottom. It's still power. To build achieving organizations, you must replace power with responsibility."
During the months and years to come, decision-makers in all organizations (regardless of nature or size) would be well-advised to keep such basic business precepts in mind, not as simplistic solutions to immensely complicated problems but, rather, as fundamentally sound principles to keep in mind when attempting to solve such problems.
Books:
- Leading Change
- Macroeconomics
- Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change
- Marketing: An Introduction
- Marketing Management (12th Edition) (Marketing Management)
- Microeconomics, 6th Edition
- Mobile Messaging Technologies and Services: SMS, EMS and MMS
- Modern Real Estate Practice in Pennsylvania
- Never Cold Call Again: Achieve Sales Greatness Without Cold Calling
- One More Kiss: The Broadway Musical in the 1970s
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Home-Based Bookstore: Start Your Own Business Selling Used Books on Amazon, eBay or Your Own Web
- Silent Knife: Cesarean Prevention and Vaginal Birth after Cesarean
- History: Fiction or Science
- Instant Productivity Toolkit, The
- MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit
- No Sheep for You: Knit Happy with Cotton, Silk, Linen, Hemp, Bamboo & Other Delights
- Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy
- Learning Bedford Integrated Accounting an Applications Workbook
- It Takes A Prophet To Make A Profit: 15 Trends That Are Reshaping American Business
- Me Bandy, You Cissie - The Journals of Bartholomew Bandy
General
| Organizational Behavior
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Leading Change
Force For Change: How Leadership Differs from Management
The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations
Corporate Culture and Performance
Be * Know * Do, Adapted from the Official Army Leadership Manual: Leadership the Army Way (J-B Leader to Leader Institute/PF Drucker Foundation)
