Book Description
In Leading Change, John Kotter examines the efforts of more than 100 companies to remake themselves into better competitors. He identifies the most common mistakes leaders and managers make in attempting to create change and offers an eight-step process to overcome the obstacles and carry out the firm's agenda: establishing a greater sense of urgency, creating the guiding coalition, developing a vision and strategy, communicating the change vision, empowering others to act, creating short-term wins, consolidating gains and producing even more change, and institutionalizing new approaches in the future. This highly personal book reveals what John Kotter has seen, heard, experienced, and concluded in 25 years of working with companies to create lasting transformation.
Customer Reviews:
Effectively Managing Change.......2007-08-17
In this book, Kotter methodically and carefully explains his eight-step process for creating major change in business organizations. He notes that the rate of organisational change has been increasing in recent years. The rapid and continual innovation in technology is driving changes to organisational systems and processes. There are also increased expectations of employees as they move more freely between organisations.
Kotter highlights the critical importance of leadership in any change programme. Strong, sustained leadership is crucial to changing deeply rooted corporate cultures and successfully implementing the change process.
John Kotter describes a helpful eight step model for understanding and managing change. Each stage acknowledges a key principle identified by Kotter relating to people's response and approach to change, in which people see, feel and then change.
In spite of the importance and permanence of organisational change, most change initiatives fail to deliver the expected organisational benefits. This book should help those involved in the change process to avoid the pitfalls and follow the eight steps that are explained in detail in the book.
Anyone planning or implementing a change programme will find the book useful, helpful and handy. The author presents the subject in a simple, concise, and easy to follow format.
Wow - thoughtful AND useful.......2007-06-28
Kotter's book is a roadmap of how to introduce a culture change effectively into an organization. Similar to "Good to Great" (Jim Collins), the book is much better organized and thorough.
Amazing!!.......2007-06-26
Have no further words to describe how increrable John Kotter brings in a easy way a subject so complex and important now-a-days. Indeed, it is recommend for all leaders who wants to take right decisions during turbulent times.
Still the definitive work on Change.......2007-06-13
I have been working in the change arena for the last 15 years and Kotter's book on Leading Change is still the definitive work. Based on his seminal 1994 HBR article "Leading Change: Why Transformations efforts fail" this is the best down-to-earth guide for both consultants and managers leading change. It has good practical examples and straightforward arguments - no psychological mumbo jumbo.
Envision, introduce, sustain change. or die........2007-05-09
Kotter gives us here a valuable handbook on how to visualize, introduce, and sustain change in an organization. Here are a few quotes:
"Handling new initiatives quickly is not an essential component of success in relatively stable or cartel-like environments. The problem for us today is that stability is no longer the norm. And most experts agree that over the next few decades the business environment will become only more volatile."
"Useful change tends to be associated with a multistep process that creates power and motivation sufficient to overwhelm all the sources of inertia."
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Five years ago, Jim Collins asked the question, "Can a good company become a great company and if so, how?" In Good to Great Collins, the author of Built to Last, concludes that it is possible, but finds there are no silver bullets. Collins and his team of researchers began their quest by sorting through a list of 1,435 companies, looking for those that made substantial improvements in their performance over time. They finally settled on 11--including Fannie Mae, Gillette, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo--and discovered common traits that challenged many of the conventional notions of corporate success. Making the transition from good to great doesn't require a high-profile CEO, the latest technology, innovative change management, or even a fine-tuned business strategy. At the heart of those rare and truly great companies was a corporate culture that rigorously found and promoted disciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner. Peppered with dozens of stories and examples from the great and not so great, the book offers a well-reasoned road map to excellence that any organization would do well to consider. Like Built to Last, Good to Great is one of those books that managers and CEOs will be reading and rereading for years to come. --Harry C. Edwards
Book Description
Built To Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the very beginning.
But what about companies that are not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness? Are there those that convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? If so, what are the distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great?
Over five years,
Jim Collins and his research team have analyzed the histories of 28 companies, discovering why some companies make the leap and others don't. The findings include:
- Level 5 Leadership: A surprising style, required for greatness.
- The Hedgehog Concept: Finding your three circles, to transcend the curse of competence.
- A Culture of Discipline: The alchemy of great results.
- Technology Accelerators: How good-to-great companies think differently about technology.
- The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Why those who do frequent restructuring fail to make the leap.
Customer Reviews:
A very thought-provoking book for people trying to grow their business........2007-10-02
This was a very interesting book for me to read. I have to imagine that I am in a pretty narrow target market for this book, though the concepts may be broadly applied. I work for a small business and can see many opportunities to put this book's findings to work.
The book tells the various stories of companies that made a transition from a market participant to market leader and saw sustained success for at least 15 years. The author was able to identify a few common factors between these companies, and he and his research team present them as a model for us to follow.
I had but one small issue, which is probably not information that contributes to the rest of the research. They detail radical decisions made by upper management, sometimes completely changing the face of an established business. I figure there must be a largely disproportionate number of business that fail when they made the same or a similar move. I would have liked to see some detail behind how those successful companies came to make that decision. The decision itself was largely overlooked.
Like many "business" books, I feel that much of what was written here was largely common sense. They weren't necessarily ideas that I have had or would have come up with on my own, but as I read them they seemed mundane in analysis. It made the reading slow going, but there was a silver lining -- for instant gratification, each chapter ends with a few pages of main concepts extracted from the text.
There was some very insightful research in Good to Great. The common elements identified were relevant and practical. It would not be an easy model to follow, but if it were it would defeat its own purpose to isolate those corporate characteristics that set successful companies apart. If you have ever wondered what steps you should follow to take your company from Good to Great, this is a book you should read (even if it is just the chapter summaries).
"Good" is not "good enough"........2007-10-02
"Good" is not "good enough". When organizations and/or individuals settle for "good" as "good enough" they set themselves up to become obsolete. "Good to Great" looks at those organizations that decided never to settle for "good enough" and became "Great". How about you? Are you striving to become great at what you do, or have you settled for being good enough to get by? Does the organization that you work for have a plan to move from good to great? Are you a part of the change that will take your company to the next level or do you believe that your company is "good enough" right where it is?
I believe there is more value to be gained by pushing good organizations to become great than trying to turn mediocre organizations into good ones. The data presented in "Good to Great" shows just how much value can be gained by those willing to make the leap to Great. The book also shows you what principles of business those companies that made the leap had to adopt.
My favorite chapters are chapter two (Level 5 Leadership) and three (First Who...Then What). Level 5 Leadership address the benefits of having personal humility combined with a strong will to build something great. We have to many leaders at the top that have let their egos become more important than the organizations they run. "Good to Great" explains how the leaders of those companies that made the leap avoided the ego trap while having great ambitions for building something exceptional. Everyone who wishes to become a leader that makes a difference should read this chapter.
"First Who...Then What" does a good job of showing how great companies put "talent" at the top of the agenda. Any leader who wants to build a strong organization must put "talent" at the top of their agenda. Jim Collins address two critical issues companies need to address when it comes to recruiting and developing their talent. He shows us why it is important to get the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus. And then goes on to explain how great companies get the people in the right seat. How many people in your organization are in the wrong seat? How many should be taken off the bus entirely? Companies are not good at hiring the right people and then are terrible at assigning them to the right job. This chapter is a must for anyone involved in the hiring of talent.
I also recommend spending some time at jimcollins.com. I have visited and revisited this site to get more information on the concepts presented in "Good to Great". Buy the book, then go to the website and start your own journey from good to great.
Larry Kevin Adams
theactionator.com
Good To Great.......2007-09-28
Our company is taking the advice of the book to heart. We have formed our "hedgehog" group and all are excited. We want to work in an environment of greatness. The book shows us the way. We have 7 of our employees who have agreed to "donate their time" at lunch several times a month to help us identify our circles. I would recommend this book to any company or organization that truly wants to have their maximum impact in the arena in which they operate!
My Business Bible.......2007-09-24
If I have a bible for business, this is it. First who then what is the only way to go!
Still applicable in 2007.......2007-09-19
I enjoyed the thought provoking aspect of this book. The different levels of leadership, the hedgehog concept are the two takeaways from this book.
How many of us fall into the trap of being everything to everyone? Most I suspect from the findings presented in the book.
Read this book to find out how you can strive to be a Level 5 leader. I found the book very insightful. Jim Collins and his team hit a homerun!
Book Description
Human Resource Champions issues a challenge to HR professionals: define the value you create and institute measures for your performance, or face the inevitable outsourcing of your function. Ulrich identifies four distinct roles that human resources staff must assume-strategic player, administrative expert, employee champion, and change agent. He provides hands-on tools that show HR professionals how they can operate in all four areas simultaneously and offers specific recommendations for partnering with line managers to deliver value and make their organizations more competitive.
Customer Reviews:
Outlining a future for HR.......2006-04-13
Author Dave Ulrich reflects an awareness that many professionals keenly feel: in these highly competitive times, they must either evolve or stagnate. His book tells human resource (HR) leaders how to assume more vital, strategic roles within their organizations. He makes a convincing argument that successful companies must elevate HR to the role of a strategic partner, to enable it to implement programs that support an organization's goals. Whether reading any book can put you in the forefront of hands-on transformation remains to be seen, but this volume certainly offers plenty of real-world case studies to back up its premise that HR professionals must step into a new, vital strategic role. Each company and each HR department is so different, however, that it may be challenging to apply some of these broad themes to specific situations. That said, the themes themselves ring true, although the book is now more of a classic than the innovative think piece it was when new. We recommend it especially to HR professionals as a comprehensive look at why you must conquer so much territory to keep your organization competitive.
Building a competitive organization with Ulrich.......2005-10-06
Ulrich has marked a new theory on human resources management system. According to him, company's HR manager has strategic position and more than just "a head of employee division". HR manager, said Ulrich, at least has four key positions in building a competitive organization: as (1) strategic partner, (2) administrative expert, (3) change agent, and (4) human resource champion. Ket's learn more strategic steps with this Number One Management Guru!
Read if you are a businessman - shape up your HR department.......2005-08-07
HR Champions was the first mainstream book that looked at HR as more than just an administrative department. Regrettably, in the eight years since it's publication, few companies have truly taken heed. Many HR "professionals" (sic) quote Ulrich's work but few practice it.
This is a well written book crisp, devoid of too many clichés, practical, comprehensive. Forget those useless university HR text books, this one should form the base of your knowledge of the function. But make sure you keep up with the latest trends.
It's a classic.......2004-10-07
When Fortune Magazine published "Taking on the Last Bureaucracy" in 1996, a gauntlet was thrown down for the HR community. Thomas Stewart, Fortune columnist, indicted the professional Human Resources community on many fronts. The most damning was, though, that HR added nothing to the achievement of strategic organizational purpose.
This book was the best response to that challenge, and it was a great start. I've assigned this book to my HR management graduate students since 1998, and have not regretted it.
Yes, it is somewhat outdated now, but should be read for its role in reshaping the very definition of HR work. Sorry to say that its companion volume, "Delivering Results," is now out of print, but it can still be obtained.
A recommendation: read this book along with "The HR Scorecard." They work together almost seamlessly.
basically good, but no longer cutting edge.......2004-02-21
I read this book back in grad school (degree in HR). While it was current then, the concepts are no longer cutting edge/benchmark HR. This is a well-written book and is helpful for the HR novice to gain an understanding of the evolution of HR as a profession. However, for those who already work in an organization where HR is not only at the table, but setting the strategic direction hand in hand with the CEO as a valued member of the leadership team, this book could use a few more chapters. In the last 5 years many companies have moved past the "recognizing HR as a player" stage and are firmly in a space where there is a set expectation of HR - to help set the stategic direction for obtaining their revenue and market growth targets. It is in these areas that I would like to see the next ground breaking insights from Ulrich.
Customer Reviews:
Thank you .......2007-02-01
This is my first time to order anything off of Amazon and it was a good experience.
Excellent Seller.......2006-03-20
I recommend this seller for more items. Seller was reliable and shipped product quickly. I would purchase more items from this seller. Plus, cost was low. :)
Amazon.com
Five Frogs on a Log is a practical and easy-to-absorb manual for corporate leaders facing those intense periods of total transformation that seem--for better or for worse--to define today's business world. Written by Mark L. Feldman and Michael F. Spratt, both partners and managing directors of PricewaterhouseCoooper's global M&A consulting division, the book aims to help managers through the "jolts, curves, and emotional potholes" that inevitably accompany such large-scale restructuring. "The high-priced bankers and lawyers exit with the close," they write, "leaving management to confront the challenge of producing results that justify the price, the added risk, and/or the significant disruption to current operations. To complicate matters, they face what amounts to a new company and a set of unexpected demands that can easily divert them from capturing the value that drove the deal." With help from insightful illustrations and quotations from those who have been there, Feldman and Spratt build upon their basic theory--that speed is of the essence in corporate upheavals of this type--by offering pragmatic solutions for the myriad problems that invariably arise. --Howard Rothman
Book Description
A riddle:
Five frogs are sitting on a log.
Four decide to jump off. How many are left?
Answer: Five
Why?
Because there's a difference between deciding and doing.
Written by Mark L. Feldman and Michael F. Spratt of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Five Frogs on a Log offers readers an entertaining and no-nonsense field guide to the mergers and acquisitions jungle, packed with insight and instruction for executing corporate change and capturing shareholder value. Whether you're buying another company or acquiring a new vision of the future, this book proffers an unconventional perspective and a practical, readily accessible set of solutions to the single greatest challenge facing today's managers: executing rapid transitions ion mergers, acquisitions and gut wrenching change.
Designed for corporate managers and CEOs caught up in the whirlwind of change, every chapter provides accessible ideas and wisdom for navigating the most demanding business transitions. The authors offer a unique hands-on perspective based on their work with top Fortune 500 firms. As they state:
"Increasingly, the companies that win are those that learn faster, act quicker and adapt sooner. They will compress time by making and executing early, informed decisions about economic value creation, ruthless prioritization and focused resource allocation. They will use these decisions to take early firm stands on management deployment, organization structure and culture. Their actions will increasingly be linked to long-term, sustained economic value creation."
The advice and expertise offered in this book can be used to solve a range of operational problems from speeding up new product development to merging two businesses; from changing company culture to repositioning a business in a while new marketplace.
Whatever the challenges and opportunities facing you, your company, your industry, Five Frogs on a Log will move you from deciding to doing.
Customer Reviews:
Definitely Worth Reading.......2007-03-24
My organization is in the process of a major change and reorganization. I found this book to be right on target in identifying the challenges and hurdles that we faced as well as providing some effective solutions to ensure that we do not make the same mistakes that others before us have made. I believe this is an excellent book and a must read for anyone within the organization, not just CEOs.
good for frogs.......2006-07-11
Feldman and Spratt advise lots of CEOs of large corporations as part of their work for PricewaterhouseCoopers (a mergerized mouthful if there ever was one), and those consulting habits show. The book is anecdotal and clever without being practical or useful, even if you're actually contemplating a merger. You will, however, learn the riddle of the five frogs on a log, which in the interest of saving time, we offer here: Five frogs are sitting on a log. Four decide to jump off. How many are left? Five. Because there's a difference between deciding and doing. "Execution," the authors tell us, "is always more difficult than it seems."
Here's the lesson: Smart advice is timeless. If you do want a quick take on making effective decisions, then consider the very short chapter "The Effective Decision" in Peter Drucker's Managing the Non-profit Corporation (HarperCollins, 1990). Drucker writes sharply about the evils of reaching consensus too quickly, the dangers of not doing your homework, and the fact that decision making always involves risk taking. He also observes that "far too many decisions remain pious intentions." Even more memorable than the frog story.
Very thought provoking.......2002-06-27
This book is an excellent view of the M&A process from a very different angle. Many books cover the mechanics of the process, but this one looks at the outcomes for human beings - our most important assets. I would recommend it highly.
Worth reading.......2002-04-30
Having been on the receiving end of several poorly-executed acquisitions, I much appreciated the authors' vivid descriptions of merger complexity - and their straightforward advice on how to avoid it. Definitely worth reading.
The best of them all.......2002-04-29
My company has been making acquisitions for over twenty years and I think we've read all the merger books in print. "Five Frogs" is the winner when it comes to candid, practical and intuitive advice on how to accelerate through the post-deal transition without destroying shareholder value. Its a fast and easy read that makes its points clearly and with great examples that force you to think intelligently about decisions that must be made and executed quickly. The two chapters on internal and external communications planning and execution alone are worth the price. Our results from following the authors'advice on post-deal priority setting were both powerful and surprisingly painless. We're about to go through the biggest merger in our history and every member of every transition team in both companies now has a copy of "Five Frogs." It's become our merger bible. Also, if you get a chance to hear Feldman speak on the subject, don't miss it. He's an articulate and entertaining speaker who's seen it all. Very motivating.
Book Description
When people in an organization or community get together and work for change, the result can be powerful. But managing group dynamics is often difficult. This unique guide showcases 18 tried-and-true methods for facilitating change in a group situation, each explained by an expert who developed or elaborated the method. The book explains what each method is rather than how to do it, with extensive suggestions for further reading.
Customer Reviews:
Too general.......2002-07-13
The book provides general information about different organizational intervention methods. Since most of the writers in this book provide only introductory information and market their method in a similar way, you can't really see much difference between them. If you want to learn how to work with any of those techniques, I suggest you buy the book that focuses on your area of interest.
a good survey of change tools.......2002-02-03
This book is ok - I do this kind of work for a living so there was nothing new in it for me and I returned it - but for those needing an intro to change approaches/techniques this is a good start. My problem with books like this is that they tell you the tools and the how tos to some extent but the real value in engaging in change efforts is knowing when/where the alligator in the swamp is going to pop up and bite you. They don't lay out any lessons learned or things to watch out for so for the unsuspecting they may engage in a change effort and have it fail due to poor delivery etc.
A good place to start for doing large scale interventions.......2001-06-29
When you want to change a company and you do this top-down, using a cascade system in which higher levels of your organisation change the lower levels, you are in for a long change process. For instance, specialists will tell you it can take 7 years before you really change a company's culture. No wonder people like Art Kleiner (co-author of "The Dance of Change") will warn you that up to 70% of your change efforts will fail. The solution comes from taking a more systemic approach, involving as much people of the organisation at once as possible. These kinds of large scale interventions often do wonders if the management is willing to work in a more participative manner. Some methods are more directed to specific change goals, whether it is to set a new direction for your organisation or redefining working relationships (re-organising the buisiness); other methods are more adaptable.
This book will help you find your way in the world of large scale interventions. The 18 proven group methods each have a chapter, written by originators and/or foremost practitioners. Each method-chapter includes a case, the explanation of the methodology, the conditions to success, the theoretical basis, etc. In the back of the book you'll find a table describing all 18 methods (explaining how many people can be involved, how lang the change process takes, how it impacts the organisation, etc.). Once you have found which method fits your situation, you'll find references to more specific books explaining a particular method. Another book painting the big picture as well is Barbara Bunker's "Large Scale Interventions".
I recommend the book as a place to start, if you are prepared to treat your organisation as having more EQ than each of the individuals.
Patrick E.C. Merlevede -- co-author of 7 Steps to Emotional Intelligence
I also submitted a "listmania" list entitled "Systemic Large Group Interventions" in which you'll find more references on this topic.
Insightful!.......2001-05-09
This handbook of change is a must-have for any executive, simply as a primer in the language spoken by consultants. Read this book and become instantly familiar with the latest, most successful, and even the trendiest theories of change management. The editors have evaluated 18 leading change methods, as applied and tested by some of the largest corporations in the United States. They group the change methods by functional categories, making it easier for readers to go directly to the method that applies to their particular problem. Another bonus: The leading practitioners in the field write the change method chapters, bringing a unique depth of perspective. The editors also have written several excellent chapters on the nature of change. An extraordinary comparative matrix - worth the price of the book by itself - is included in the "Afterword." We [...] recommend this book to executives, managers, change agents, human resources professionals and students.
A Resource Treasuretrove.......2000-02-23
Holman and Devane have created an amazing resource for anyone interested in helping to shape the future of our organizations and communities. 18 proven group methods each have their own chapter written by originators and/or foremost practitioners.
The editors have done an excellent job of sheparding each chapter so that the story is alive, honoring the uniqueness and history. And, also, consistent information is presented, allowing comparison among the methods. The comparative matrix is a powerful tool for picking methods appropraite to a particular context.
Reading each chapter is like having a conversation with an expert; it is a quick and most effective way of understanding the method. Then, to dig deeper, the book provides a comprehenhsive list of resources for each method.
There is a synergy between the methods that makes this book more powerful than 18 separate books (and very much more accessible). And Holman's and Devane's editing and opening and closing chapters weave all into a beautiful tapestry. If you care about creating the future, this book provides help.
Amazon.com
What do the Honda Supercub, Intel's 8088 processor, and hydraulic excavators have in common? They are all examples of disruptive technologies that helped to redefine the competitive landscape of their respective markets. These products did not come about as the result of successful companies carrying out sound business practices in established markets. In The Innovator's Dilemma, author Clayton M. Christensen shows how these and other products cut into the low end of the marketplace and eventually evolved to displace high-end competitors and their reigning technologies.
At the heart of The Innovator's Dilemma is how a successful company with established products keeps from being pushed aside by newer, cheaper products that will, over time, get better and become a serious threat. Christensen writes that even the best-managed companies, in spite of their attention to customers and continual investment in new technology, are susceptible to failure no matter what the industry, be it hard drives or consumer retailing. Succinct and clearly written, The Innovator's Dilemma is an important book that belongs on every manager's bookshelf. Highly recommended. --Harry C. Edwards
Book Description
The Innovator's Dilemma demonstrates why outstanding companies that had their competitive antennae up, listened astutely to customers, and invested aggressively in new technologies still lost their market dominance. Drawing on patterns of innovation in a variety of industries, the author argues that good business practices can, nevertheless, weaken a great firm. He shows how truly important, breakthrough innovations are often initially rejected by customers that cannot currently use them, leading firms to allow their most important innovations to languish. Many companies now face the innovator's dilemma. Keeping close to customers is critical for current success. But long-term growth and profits depend upon a very different managerial formula. This book will help managers see the changes that may be coming their way and will show them how to respond for success. The Management of Innovation and Change Series.
Download Description
Revised, updated, and with a new chapter, this book continues to take the radical position that great companies can fail precisely because they do everything right. It demonstrates why outstanding companies lose their market leadership when confronted with disruptive technology--and it explains how to avoid a similar fate. Drawing on insights from a number of industries--such as the computer and disk drive industries, discount retailing, minimills, pharmaceuticals, and the automobile industry--Christensen shows why good management often turns out to be all wrong--and what to do about it.
Customer Reviews:
No Dilemma Here.......2007-08-18
It is the typical manager's nightmare. A startup with a powerful idea wipes out all the dominance your large ogranisation had. It can happen overnite and without warning.
How do you stop this nightmare from happening? Well, the answer could lie in The Innovator's Dilemma.
Kishore Dharmarajan
Author of Eightstorm: 8-Step Brainstorming for Innovative Managers
A disruptive view on innovation.......2007-08-09
Professor Clayton Christensen introduced the term "disruptive innovation" as a management buzzword, the whole book spins around this concept and offers very perturbing views on why being a star performer is a major threat to pass the next opportunity.
First, a definition: disruptive innovations are those that offer "less" in the critical performance parameters of current customers. As a consequence disruptive innovators have to look for different customers than the ones that established companies already have.
To make the point a deep analysis of the hard disk drive industry is made. More than 100 innovations are analysed and only 5 are claimed as being disruptive: the progressive reduction of size from 14", to 8", to 5 1/4", etc. All follow the same pattern: the innovation had lower performance on capacity which was the critical parameter for existing customers and innovators had to find new customers, eg for the 8" drive the mini-computer manufacturers instead of mainframe manufacturers. In fact innovations were so disruptive that almost none of the established companies was able to be successful in the new market. Although current players where by and large able to bring forward the other 100 sustaining inovations without major troubles.
The second part of the book recommends how to make disruptive innovations work, with supporting evidence from examples. This are:
-Create a new organization to deal with the innovation
-Match organization and opportunity size
-Allow the organization to fail rapidly and inexpensively and move on
-Leverage some of the existing resources but not the values and processes of the main organization
-Spend time looking for the right customers rather than the right technology.
The surprising learning is that what impedes that good companies cannot profit from disruptive innovations are that they are good at what they do in their main business not that htey are bad. The hot topic is still when a disruptive innovation is comming how can we spot and capitalise on it, and put ourselves in the dilemma of chosing the best option.
A well laid out, thought provoking and seminal work on innovation.
Repetitive.......2007-06-23
It was a hassle getting through this book, but overall it was worth it. A lot of good lessons learned, but he says the same things over and over again. Read the first and last chapters and you'll be fine.
Business calssic.......2007-06-17
The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen is a must read book for any person interested in keeping their business moving forward or for any person starting a business. Christensen clearly exposes the traps that cause successful companies to stop innovating and succumb to innovative new firms. The material is presented as a series of fascinating case studies with commentary.
just great book.......2007-05-12
Just great book for those considering start their own business.
Would be helpful for bean counters in large corporations too.
Book Description
In this important book, successful organizations—including well-known companies such as Agilent Technologies, Corning, GE Capital, Hewlett Packard, Honeywell Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, MIT, Motorola, and Praxair—share their most effective approaches, tools, and specific methods for leadership development and organizational change. These exemplary organizations serve as models for leadership development and organizational change because they
- Commit to organizational objectives and culture
- Transform behaviors, cultures, and perceptions
- Implement competency or organization effectiveness models
- Exhibit strong top management leadership support and passion
Download Description
In this important book, successful organizations—including well-known companies such as Agilent Technologies, Corning, GE Capital, Hewlett Packard, Honeywell Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, MIT, Motorola, and Praxair—share their most effective approaches, tools, and specific methods for leadership development and organizational change. These exemplary organizations serve as models for leadership development and organizational change because they
- Commit to organizational objectives and culture
- Transform behaviors, cultures, and perceptions
- Implement competency or organization effectiveness models
- Exhibit strong top management leadership support and passion
Customer Reviews:
The Lack of Leadership .......2006-09-11
As a graduate student in International Relations I study the effects of poor leadership all over the world. So you can imagine how important insightful words on leadership are in this day and age. Mr. Carter has given us the tools to make us better leaders all we have to do is use them! I highly recommend we all read this book.
"Must have" for your leadership library.......2006-08-24
Once again Louis Carter and a team of experts have written a brilliant book on leadership development. As a person working with organizations to enhance their leadership systems I highly recommend this book as a must have for their library. Great case studies and best practices to benchmark.
Chris Webb, Director, The Ariel Group
This book shows the landscape about how the great companies use OD and HRD .......2006-07-08
I think this is for the practitioner. In fact it is lack of accademic focus, but it has the great merit to show how the OD and HRD is implemented in field actually . Throuhg this book I can see the overall landscpe of practical OD.
Glorification of deadbeats.......2006-05-30
Ulrich leads up to believe that the likes named here are the holy grail of best practice. The list of names reads like the book of deadbeats and the academically challenged, Agilent thrashed its self to a fraction of its former glory by the people he named and we are supposed to kneel in worship. Its leaders were clueless buffoons.
The other three reviewers must be Ulrichs relatives, or on the payroll. If you take on board this rubbish, do your current employer a favour and find work in another field of endeavour.
A Step-by-Step System To Organization and HR Development .......2005-03-16
"In September 2003, Lou Carter's Best Practices Institute performed a research study on trends and practices in leadership development and organization change. BPI asked organizations in a range of industries, sizes, and positions in the business cycle to identify their top methods of achieving strategic change and objectives. The study found that there is a strong demand, in particular, in the following areas of leadership development and organization change (leadership development, performance management, organization development and change, innovation and service enhancement, and coaching). Louis Carter, David Ulrich, and Marshall Goldsmith (editors) say that our continual research in the area of best practices in leadership development and change strongly support the assumptions and organizational case studies that we profile within this book (from Introduction)."
Louis Carter et al. write that `'this book contains step-by-step approaches, tools, instruments, models, and practices for implementing the entire process of leadership development and change. The components of this book can be practically leveraged within your work environment to enable a leadership development or change initiative. The exhibits, forms, and instruments at the back of each chapter may be used within the classroom or by your organization development team or learners.''
In this context, BSI defines a six-phase system to leadership and organization change, which may be seen in most of the case studies in this book. The phases and case studies are listed below:
I- PHASES:
(1). Business Diagnosis, (2). Assessment, (3). Program Design, (4). Implementation, (5). On-the-Job Support, (6). Evaluation.
II- CASES:
(1). Agilent Technologies. Inc. - Electronics with 36,000 employees. (2). Corning - Communications with 23,300 employees. (3). Delnor Hospital - Health care with 1,382 employees. (4). Emmis Communications - Media with 3,080 employees. (5). First Consulting Group - Business services with 1,775 employees. (6). GE Capital - Finance with 315,000+ employees. (7). Hewlett-Packard - Computer hardware with 141,000 employees. (8). Honeywell Aerospace - Technology and manufacturing with 100,000+ employees. (9). Intel - Manufacturing, electronics with 78,700 employees. (10). Lockheed Martin - Aerospace and defense with 125,000 employees. (11). Mattel - Consumer products with 25,000 employees. (12). McDonald's Corporation - Leisure, restaurants with 413,000 employees. (13). MIT - Education with 9,400 employees. (14). Motorola - Telecommunications with 97,000 employees. (15). Praxair - Chemicals with 25,010 employees. (16). St. Luke's Hospital and Health Network - Health care with 5,500 employees. (17). StorageTek - Computer hardware with 7,100 employees. (18). Windber Medical Center - Health care with 427 employees.
Finally, as Louis Carter et al. say, ``although each organization differs with respect to area of expertise, amount of yearly revenues, and types of initiatives undertaken, each shares a similar goal of creating more successful and results-oriented organizations by way of organizational change and leadership development.''
I highly recommend this handbook to all leaders who want to achieve organization change and leadership development.
Book Description
Misaligned companies, like cars out of alignment, can develop serious problems if not corrected quickly. They are hard to steer and don't respond well to changes in direction. This groundbreaking book shows you how to get -and keep -all the vital elements of your organization aligned and headed in the same direction at the same time.
Managers must now keep their people centered in the midst of change, deemphasize hierarchy, and distribute leadership by distributing authority, information, knowledge, and customer data throughout their organization. Alignment is a response to the new business reality where customer requirements are in flux, where competitive forces are turbulent, and where the bond of loyalty between an organization and its people has been weakened. The old linear approach to management has given way to one of simultaneity -to alignment.
As pioneers of the alignment concept, the authors have developed this unique approach based on their work with leading companies throughout the world. The Power of Alignment is packed with war stories and the firsthand perspectives of industry leaders. You'll learn how world-class organizations, including Federal Express, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Columbia/HCA Healthcare, Citizens Utilities, AirTouch, and UNUM achieved extraordinary business results. Now, through the authors' expertise, you'll see how alignment can work for your organization.
In essence, alignment links the five key elements of an organization -people, process, customers, business strategies, and, of course, leadership -to obtain breakthrough results, chief among them, sustained growth and profit, loyal customers, and a high-performing work force. The Power of Alignment:
* Offers a clear framework for aligning and linking the crucial elements that build and sustain a company's success
* Provides self-assessment tools as well as benchmarking measures for evaluating an organization's critical competencies
* Enables managers to create a work force where each employee can relate his or her activities to the goals and strategic objectives of the company
* Helps a company determine when and where it is out of alignment, and gives descriptions of such common company pathologies as "The Phantom Limb Syndrome," "Strategy Interruptus," and "Dead Man Walking"
* Prescribes specific steps for getting an organization back on track toward a single, shared vision of its goals
Essential reading for all managers and executives, The Power of Alignment offers a new way to reestablish focus and sustained energy, and is a dynamic approach for staying balanced and achieving extraordinary levels of performance.
"This book is savvy, detailed, timely, and clearly written. I highly recommend it for any leader facing the challenges posed by global business today." - Dana Mead Chairman and CEO, Tenneco Former Chairman National Association of Manufacturers
"It's not only the stars that have to be in alignment to reach your destination, it's all the internal processes, rewards, and drivers. Read The Power of Alignment, and while you may not unlock the secrets of the universe, you will overcome the barriers to corporate success." - William L. Boyan President and COO John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company.
"This important book goes beyond TQM and reengineering by creating a new approach called Alignment. The authors show that great companies manage to link strategy and people and integrate customer needs with continuous improvement processes." - Peter Augustsson President and Group Chief Executive AB SKF.
"The Power of Alignment gets to the heart of a critical element of organizational leadership, namely focus. Every leader who reads it will undoubtedly do some serious soul-searching about the consistency of corporate vision, goals, management systems, and incentive mechanisms." - Louis E. Lataif Dean Boston University School of Management.
Customer Reviews:
As significant today as it was when first published.......2007-08-26
After reviewing several books on Strategic Execution, I was continuously left with the feeling that the authors had ommitted a key ingredient. This book has convinced me that that key ingredient was "Alignment".
This book was published 10 years ago (OK, I am embarrassed that I have only just got around to reading it) but it is as significant today as it was when it was first published. Probably more so considering the rapid state of change that most companies are faced with today.
It is a simple read, and the concepts are easy to follow. What I enjoyed most about the book is that the suggestions are practical and you can take them and implement them immediately within an organization.
I noticed that one of the readers who has reviewed the book said that the book was required reading for his MBA course. 10 years on, I still think it should be required reading for any business executive.
This Is a Great Resource!.......2007-07-10
I'm always looking for visual ways of understanding critical elements of strategy. The Power of Alignment offers a very helpful way of thinking about four important ingredients in keeping the main thing, the main thing. Vertical alignment, the relationship between your strategy and the people on your team, "energizes...provides direction, and offers opportunity for involvement." Horizontal alignment refers to the connection between your processes and customers. Taken together the two measures provide some great insight into the development of genuine alignment.
One of the most interesting elements of the book is a 16 question diagnostic tool that is designed to provide a graphic view of your organization's alignment. Very helpful!
Make Sure That Everything You Do Points To Success !.......2006-05-03
Great book! The basic premise is that once a business has a raison d'etre, or a 'main thing', that profits are maximized by the alignment of four key business areas: Strategy, Processes, People, and Customers. Built on this premise are actionalbe ways to build a self-aligning organization. I got the sense of discovering truth while I read this book. Leadership isn't really about power, it is about responsibility. This book shows a manager at any level how to align his area to the overall strategy of the company and to the end products of the company. It shows how processes should be designed and what factors should be used to reward, recognize and evaluate employees. Great food for thought and realistic to implement.
Five Stars
Powerful Organizational Focus.......2003-05-28
Quite simply, this book was one of the best business management and leadership books I have ever read. It was well-written and expertly balanced management and leadership concepts with real-world examples of effectively aligned organizations, such as Federal Express and Southwest Airlines. This book should be read and discussed by leaders and managers at all levels, especially by mid- to senior-level executives.
In brief, alignment deals with the relationships among the people, processes, strategy, and customers of an organization relative to that organization's purpose, or what the authors called "the main thing." Alignment is both a noun, a state of being, and a verb, a set of actions. Vertical alignment connects organizational strategy with the people responsible for transforming that strategy into meaningful work. Horizontal alignment deals with understanding your customers' wants and then creating processes to deliver what your customers want, when and how they want it. Effective leadership nurtures the organizational culture that is built around and upon "the main thing," and it is this culture and leadership combination that drives and sustains self-aligning organizations in turbulent times.
The authors' analogy of landing a plane helped me to visualize the dynamics involved with organizational alignment. To land a plane, a pilot must adjust and react to multiple simultaneous factors and conditions (i.e. air speed, altitude, angle of approach, wind speed and direction, etc.) and then understand how a change in one will affect the others. Likewise, to align an organization, a leader must adjust and react to feedback about his people, processes, strategy, and customers, and then understand how a change in one will affect the others.
The authors clearly and thoroughly explained the alignment factors and conditions throughout the book. They followed their explanations with incisive questions for readers to ask about themselves and their organizations to assess their degree of alignment. Those questions were definitely a highlight of the book for they really helped to stimulate my thinking and should help inspire organizational progress to alignment. Another highlight was the appendices that contained examples of actual tools and products used and created by some of the aligned organizations studied by the authors.
The inside back cover jacket sums up why I give the book my highest recommendation: "Essential reading for all managers and executives, "The Power of Alignment" offers a new way to reestablish focus and sustained energy, and is a dynamic approach for staying balanced and achieving extraordinary levels of performance."
Alignment is Key Essential Usually Overlooked.......2001-07-13
I found this book easy reading, concise, and presented it's basic premise well with specific examples and good suggestions for creation and implementation.
Working as a Director in Managed Care for several pharmaceutical companies, it creates a focus for any organization and a roadmap for the future(physician, health plan, pharmaceutical company) to avoid many of the mistakes and pitfalls that have already been experienced in an attempt to align with the ever changing healthcare landscape.
For those who do account management, it provides a construct and roadmap to use to optimize alignment with internal customers and maximize resources to create value and return with the external customers (....and their customers.) As the authors point, alignment is a continuing process, not a single event in time. Many companies become quickly aligned with the past, and misaligned with the present & future, and can not sustain the competitive edge because they forget this basic premise that the authors reinforce.
The concepts are basic and fundamental, but usually overlooked and forgotten in the day to day business of rapidly growing companies and changing environments.
Book Description
Since it was first published in 1995,
Practicing Organization Development has become a classic in change management. Now completely revised and updated, editors Rothwell and Sullivan, leaders in the field of OD, and numerous expert practitioners, walk you through each episode of change facilitation.
Youll find exhibits, activities, instruments, and case studies. You'll get help applying each phase of a popular emerging change making model. And youll find include applied research and insights from a wide variety of well-known OD practitioners and academicians. Included in this comprehensive resource are an instructor's guide, ever expanding materials on the Web, and a companion CD-ROM with PowerPoint slides and supplemental materials.
Practicing Organization Development is packed with useful, current, proven direction on applying OD principles in the real world -- order your copy today!
Download Description
"Since it was first published in 1995, Practicing Organization Development has become a classic in change management. In this completely revised and updated second edition, expert authors walk you through each episode of change facilitation.
The second edition is enhanced with exhibits, activities, instruments, and case studies. This indispensable guide will help apply each phase of a popular emerging change making model. The editors, themselves leaders in the field of OD, include applied research and insights from a wide variety of well-known practitioners and academicians. A comprehensive resource, included is an instructor's guide, ever expanding materials on the Web, PowerPoint slides and supplemental materials on the companion CD-ROM. "
Customer Reviews:
Too Academic.......2006-07-29
This book is much too academic. Can somebody recommend an organizational change book written by a practitioner? This book is designed for undergraduate students.
Professional 'Keeper'.......2003-03-17
This 'Guide' book is one of four used in a Human Resource Development course that I took in a masters program. The content is the type that will be referred to over and over again in the course of an HRDV career. Some principles should not change, and the ones in this book are rich. A copy is staying in my personal library.
Solid definitions and foundation for understanding OD.......2001-08-04
I love this book! It is a must-have for all practitioners, beginners, or anyone who wants to place solid definitions of all elements associated with organization development.
Excelente.......1999-02-17
Es nuestro libro de texto en la materia de Desarrollo Organizacional de la Maestría de Gestión de la Calidad en el Centro de Excelencia de la Universidad Autonoma de Tamaulipas, México. Por motivo de traducción su lectura no es tan rápida como desearamos por lo que me interesa saber cuando tendrán una edición en español. Gracias. Ana Luisa Mejía.
The essestial skills needed to do change management today.......1997-06-16
This book has become a best seller in the change managment and organization development arena. It is used as a text book by many universities. At the last OD network meeting, 4 graduate programs in OD identified this as the favorite of students.
It is practical, easy to read and is very useful for anyone doing consulting.
Dick Beckhard who coined the phrase Organization Development says it is the best book on change since his Addision-Wesley Series on OD
Books:
- Leading from the Inside Out: The Art of Self-Leadership
- Making the Team: A Guide for Managers, Second Edition
- Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change
- Marketing Management (12th Edition) (Marketing Management)
- Marketing Management (12th Edition) (Marketing Management)
- Marketing Management (12th Edition) (Marketing Management)
- Marketing w/ PowerWeb (Mcgraw Hill/Irwin Series in Marketing)
- NAIL THE BOARDS 2007-2008! The Ultimate Internal Medicine Review for USMLE STEPS 2 & 3
- Organization Theory and Design
- Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions
Books Index
Books Home
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- Teach Your Children Well : A Teacher's Advice for Parents
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- New Car Buying Guide 2006 & 2007
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- Microeconomics: Principles and Applications, 2006 Update
- Satanstoe, or the Little Page Manuscripts: A Tale of the Colony
Strategy & Competition
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations
Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions
Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change
The Heart of Change Field Guide: Tools and Tactics for Leading Change in Your Organization
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
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