Book Description
A thoroughly revised second edition of the leader's concise guide to the process of creating and managing an organisation, no matter how complex, that will achieve unique competitive advantages and be poised to respond effectively and rapidly to customer demands.
In this book executives, managers, and consultants will find the concrete tools they need to select and implement an efficient design that creates superior and more competitive performance. In addition to analysing the four key forces shaping today's organisations -- buyer power, variety, change, and speed -- this new edition addresses the concerns of new economy by expanding on the section on the Flexible Organization and includes a new section on organising around the customer. The book:
- Describes what leaders can do to effect the change process
- Addresses the concerns of new economy companies
- Contains rich examples from successful companies
Customer Reviews:
applied the knowladge.......2006-02-23
i have read this book with a great deal of intrest. it was a great help in implementing change and designing a organization structure that is able to deliver on the new strategy.
excellent resource.......2003-09-06
Really good intro to ideas and concepts needed to redesign an organization in terms of its structure. Best if you already have some degree of experience in do it so you can really apply the concepts.
Guide to the factors that shape organizational design.......2002-12-28
Jay R. Galbraith is an internationally recognized expert on organization design. He is a Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California and Professor Emeritus at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland. This book is a updated/revised edition of 'Designing Organizations' which was originally published in 1995. It is split up into 10 chapters.
Chapter 1 - Introduction - really sets the stage for the rest of the book. It discusses the six main organization shapers: the increase buyer power; increase in the number of products and services; the Internet; multiple dimensions (functions, products, and geography, but also customer segments, solutions or offerings, and channels and processes); the requirement for a capacity to change; and speed (in bringing products and services to the market).
The following two chapters discuss how companies have to shape their organizational design, strategy, and structure in order how to deal with these organization shapers. Galbraith introduces his copyrighted Star Model (Strategy, structure, people, rewards, and processes), which looks AND sounds very similar to McKinsey's 7-S framework. Chapters 4 and 5 build on these chapter and discuss how organizations have to link their processes to coordination needs and integrate group processes. Then, in Chapter 6 discusses the easily changeable or reconfigurable organization based on the Star Model, which, according to Galbraith, results from the skilled use of three capabilities: (1) forming teams and networks across organizational departments; (2) the use of internal prices, markets, and marketlike devices to coordinate the complexity of multiple teams; and (3) the forming of partnerships to secure capabilities that it does not have. Each of these capabilities are discussed in detail.
The Chapters 7 to 10 are all very current and fashionable. They discuss the organizing around the customer, customer-focused structures, the design of the virtual corporation, and organizing the continuous design process. Although the subjects discussed are important, some of the examples are too long and take up most of the chapters. Some of the examples also do not really apply to every company/organization but are too specific. Still, these are issues that should not be forgotten about, especially organizing around the customer remains important.
I must admit that I am somewhat disappointed with this book, which is written by a leading authority in the field of organizational design. I believe it is especially the title that lets the book down. It is not so much a guide into strategies and structures; it more discusses the organization shapers and the possibilities that companies/organizations have to tackle the organization shapers. I believe that the book is especially weak in discussing organizational design and structures. Galbraith discusses his own Star-model (which reminds me of McKinsey's 7-S framework) and his reconfigurable organization (the learning organization?), but leaves all other models/designs/structures untouched. I have not been generous, the book really deserves a 3.5-star rating. The author uses simple business US-English.
Book Description
The world's most exciting, fastest-growing new market? It's where you least expect it: at the bottom of the pyramid. Collectively, the world's billions of poor people have immense entrepreneurial capabilities and buying power. You can learn how to serve them and help millions of the world's poorest people escape poverty.
It is being done-profitably. Whether you're a business leader or an anti-poverty activist, business guru Prahalad shows why you can't afford to ignore "Bottom of the Pyramid" (BOP) markets.
In the book and accompanying CD videos, Prahalad presents...
Why what you know about BOP markets is wrong A world of surprises-from spending patterns to distribution and marketing
Unlocking the "poverty penalty"
The most enduring contributions your company can make Delivering dignity, empowerment, and choice-not just products
Corporations and BOP entrepreneurs Profiting together from an inclusive new capitalism
"C. K. Prahalad argues that companies must revolutionize how they dobusiness in developing countries if both sides of that economic equation areto prosper. Drawing on a wealth of case studies, his compelling new bookoffers an intriguing blueprint for how to fight poverty with profitability." Bill Gates, Chairman and Chief Software Architect,Microsoft
"The Bottom of the Pyramid belongs at the top of the reading list forbusiness people, academics, and experts pursuing the elusive goal ofsustainable growth in the developing world. C. K. Prahalad writes withuncommon insight about consumer needs in poor societies andopportunities for the private sector to serve important public purposes whileenhancing its own bottom line. If you are looking for fresh thinking aboutemerging markets, your search is ended. This is the book for you." Madeleine K. Albright, Former U.S. Secretary of State
"Prahalad challenges readers to re-evaluate their pre-conceived notionsabout the commercial opportunities in serving the relatively poor nations ofthe world. The Bottom of the Pyramid highlights the way to commercialsuccess and societal improvement--but only if the developed worldreconceives the way it delivers products and services to the developingworld." Christopher Rodrigues, CEO, Visa International
"An important and insightful work showing persuasively how the privatesector can be put at the center of development, not just as a rhetoricalflourish but as a real engine of jobs and services for the poor." Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme
Customer Reviews:
Saving the World.......2007-10-02
The author loves his TLA's (3 letter acronyms)! I wish someone had told me how technical this book was; those with an MBA will get the most out of it. But I love Prahalad's outlook and creativity. Perhaps with a little advice I can take my ideas and come up with a formal business plan.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and anecdotal evidence is not proof.......2007-06-24
Last year this book became a best seller hit among the developmental community at Washington, D.C., to the point that all bookstores at Metro DC run out of it. With notorious and well publicized praising comments from Madeleine Albright, Bill Gates and the like, I bought it too, but just to discover all the frenzy was undeserved from the viewpoint of poverty eradication.
Undoubtedly Mr. Pralhad's research demonstrates there are plenty of opportunities to do good business among the poor at the BOP (bottom of the pyramid), for them to benefit from the products and services not available now, and for some of them to go out of poverty by becoming entrepreneurs (market penetration is always limited). I agree on these conclusions, as commented extensively by the previous reviewers, and without a doubt this book will become a reference in many Business Schools. But to assert that this strategy will eradicate poverty and bring development is plain sophistry. As Carl Sagan said "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence".
Why sophistry? Regarding the poverty eradication claimed by Mr. Prahalad I will try to highlight some of the main flaws in his rationale and lack of sufficient evidence:
1. Despite the consideration of several cases from around the Third-World, most of the discussion and arguments to build the framework are related to India, excessively. The conditions of the poor in Latin America are quite different, and often, they have better public services available to them. On the other hand, many African countries have worst conditions. So you can not reach valid conclusions based solely on a country with such unique cultural and ethnical conditions. For doing business the cases are fine, especially for India or China because they are such huge markets at the BOP.
2. Wealth creation is hugely overestimated. Poor entrepreneurs and their immediate family will undoubtedly benefit from these new economic activities, but the framework lacks an explanation about how these oases of welcomed capitalism will trickle-down to the rest of their neighbors and poor villages. The implicit assumption is that everybody at the BOP has to become an entrepreneur for this strategy to work, because by just having access to affordable consumer products it seems very unlikely that poverty will be eradicated. The proposed framework is just good for doing business and for the poor to have access to new services and products, but where is the sustainable "fishing industry" for the rest of the poor population? The cases are very unique, islands of excellence, and with limited potential for a population the huge size of the BOT to bail out of poverty in significant numbers.
3. The analysis lacks the historical, cultural, legal and socio-economical background for a given country or region, and this consideration is fundamental for a proper analysis on sustainable development. Even when Mr. Pralhalad correctly identifies lack of education, corruption and the size of the informal sector as barriers for development and doing business, he then oversimplifies a lot on how to overcome these key issues, and again, an isolated Indian case is used as the magic formula to solve the problem through information technology. In fact, at the end of Chapter 6, within the conclusions, he recognizes that the illustrations he provides "are but islands of excellence in a sea of deprivation and helplessness". As the development community knows well, these successful stories are very hard to replicate. In Latin America we have the outstanding cases of Chile, Uruguay and Costa Rica. In Brazil, we have the cases of the Southern states of Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul. All of them very developed as compared to their neighbors (in terms of income, education, health, etc.), but despite all efforts, no one has successfully reproduced these islands of excellence at a scale that makes a difference.
4. An example will help to understand how superficial the cases are from a point of view of development and poverty eradication. The Brazilian case of "Casas Bahia" lacks the consideration of the socio-economic environment of the country, especially the case omits to mention key characteristics of the financial and credit markets (for those interested in this particular case from the point of view of business, I recommend you read "Samuel Klein e Casas Bahia: Uma trajetoria de Sucesso", Novo Seculo, 2005, this is a real and really impressive business success story). Mr. Klein successfully, by trusting the poor, built an empire that today is still one of the few option many mid- and low-income families have to buy the first computer for their children going to college in Brazil. But, let's see why the market share for credit cards is only 4%, and why it is not a real threat for Casas Bahia own financial system as stated in the book, as well as why there is not much in here to help eradicat poverty in Brazil. Annual inflation today in Brazil is in the order of 3-4%, and the Brazilian currency, the "Real" have been steadily revaluating against the dollar for the last 3 years. However, interest rates in Brazil are sky-high, a legacy of the hyper-inflation times of twenty years ago. Interest rates for well-known international credit cards are 9-11% per month, which compounded translates to an annual rate close to 180%, regardless of whether you're poor or rich. Today retail chain stores of this type charge around 3% per month, embedded in the price of the consumer products, so the consumer doesn't know up-front the real price. This translates to a compounded rate of 43% per year. Often if you try to pay upfront, there is no discount. So where is the real benefit for the poor? Or are they just getting every day more indebted, and spending money on fat interests that they could have used to buy more or better food or better health services for their kids. I do not see where poverty eradication fits in this case. Obviously Brazil has a problem of lack of real competition in the capitalist sense; even the branches of American Banks doing business in Brazil charge these exorbitant rates. As a reference for the readers, you can buy a 30Gb iPod in Brazil for the "reasonable" amount of US$1,000, payable in 12 installments, and for the high price we also have to thank the federal government high taxes on almost everything. Coming back to the case, as an additional "benefit", you only can make the payments in person at stores of the retail chain, just to make sure the poor are tempted every month and come back for more when they are close to payback that debt. That's why there is a 77% of clients who make reapeat purchases as the book reports. Not surprisingly the case description mentions the criticism "that Casas Bahia simply exploits the poor and charges them exorbitant interest rates", but neglects to present a due explanation of why this is not truth, and simply disregards the cristicism.
5. Finally, Mr. Prahalad is extremely optimistic. At he end of Chapter 6 and in his own words: "I have no doubt that the elimination of poverty and deprivation is possible by 2020". This prophecy speaks by itself about the reliability of the analysis. And again, let's remember that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. All the book presents is anecdotal evidence, which is not proof as any scientist knows, and the framework presented has no predictive power, much less to assert that poverty will end by 2020.
Unquestionably an excellent business book, and a very innovative one, but just for that, business. That's why to me it only deserves 3 stars. On the other hand, not much value-added in there for doing real sustainable development across the board, as the author insinuates and some of the readers think, and certainly not much for real poverty eradication. For that outrageous addition to the book's title I took the other 2 stars. The "Erradicating poverty through profits" part of the book's title should be erased, so the book really deserves the 5 stars most reviewers gave to it (and as the previous reviewer rightly complained, the cases were really awfully edited for the paperback edition, even with repeated sentences). Definitely this book is not recommended if you are serious about new ideas for sustainable development. For a real book on that subject, read the recently publicated "The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It" by Paul Collier, though its scope refers mainly to very poor African countries, it is an example of a serious and proper approach to the problem of eradicating poverty. To understand the complexities of promoting development, you may also read "Making Globalization Work" by Joseph Stiglitz. These two books will clearly ilustrate why "The Fortune at the BOP" is not a book on development, and absolutely, no Nobel Prize is deserved.
Hardcover and tradepaperback are different!!!.......2007-04-13
Here is a note I sent to the editor after buying the tradepaperback version.
Your editorial staff has done something so dumb I am astounded! (Also really $%^& mad.) The hardcover and trade paperback versions of CK Prahalad - The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid, are NOT the same. I assigned readings from this book to my class of 100 students. They went and bought the book and found that the case studies aren't there. On closer investigation I see that you shortened the case studies and renamed the chapters. Unfortunately the editing on the shortening is terrible and I simply can't ask my students to read such badly written material.
You did several things wrong
1) You sell two books with identical titles and covers, which have different content
2) You edited very very badly
3) You did this on an award winning book with high visibility
As far as I can tell there is no way for anyone to figure out that the content is different except in the very rare case that they own both versions.
This is a black mark on the Wharton name. What were you thinking?
-james
at last a pragmatic approach to develpment.......2007-01-09
Prahalad'book "the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid" demonstrates the importance to get the people we are "supposed" to help to get involved. The bottom up approach is in line with William Shaffeerly and David Bornstein books where the people are key to any lasting development. The top down approach a la Jeffrey Sacks are fine for the politicians but did not bring much results after all these years. It is time for a change in approach and the Nobel Price to Dr. M.Yunus is very encouraging.
Magical .......2006-08-29
FBP is an intriguing concept and the model can be scaled up or down in size in all parts of the world. The book serves as a wake up call to businessmen across the world.
Customer Reviews:
Disappointing.......2007-05-09
I had this book for a PhD class in finance and have very few good words to say. The derivations should have been omitted: rarely is anything followed from the beginning to the end; the excerpts that are provided do not give much additional insight. Abundant typos in the formulas. In addition, the context of the models is often poorly presented and I was often left wondering what the situation or some assumptions are. Overall, relatively poorly written.
The book does give an overview of a lot of papers and as long as it is viewed as a starting point to read the papers it is acceptable. Still, the presentation is very fragmented and frustrating, creating a strong desire to read the original papers.
A Good Update to a Classic Text.......2007-04-09
It took a while before this 4th edition came out. The 2nd and 3rd editions were pretty good, and the 4th ed still contains a lot of the old material. Clearly, this says something about finance theory - but it updates a lot of the empirical results and includes some new/relevant topics. I would have to agree that this book is probably a little shallow for the Ph.D. level, but most Ph.D. corporate finance courses probably would use papers rather than texts. Hence, that's where your actual derivations and the actual author's thought comes from. On the other hand, this book takes a very good approach and the authors are very respected in the field. In terms of a more advanced MBA text, I think that this is the best book available.
It is definitely not a book for PhD level.......2006-08-01
The book suggests it serves as a first course in finance for PhD students, and a second course in finance for master students. But as I see it, it is too shallow for PhD level reading, as it never explain some complicated derivation clear enough. You don't know how some statements or conclusions come from. There is just not enough explanation. I mean, the author could have said that "after some derivations" or "it can be shown that...", but they just give some results without mentioning whether it can be derived with some convoluted math but because it is out of the depth of the book, only the result is given, or it just comes easily from the assumptions or conditons. I have to figure their logic since usually I just like to thought about how to derive a result as I am supposed to read it as a first book in finance for a PhD student. Many times I have to give up figuring, as the steps the authors take from the conditions to the results are usually too big to guess. So I ended up with treat this book as an ElEMENTARY level book, giving up any derivation and analyzing, just taking the results as granted.
According to my roommate who is a master in finance student and who happened to look at my book for curiosity, this book looks too deep for a master level in some topics, e.g., real options. They try to talk about some complicated financial theories, not deep and clean enough for a PhD student and also not that intuitive to understand for a master student.
In sum, I would say, don't waste money and time on this book. If you are a PhD student, read some books or papers treating certain topics with clear derivations and depth. If you are a master student, though my opinion is sort of partial, the book does not provide good intution for some advanced topics.
It's a masterpiece!.......2005-03-31
"Financial theory and corporate policy" is THE theory-of-finance book. It is so well-written, concise, and most importantly, it gives you the framework of conceptual knowledge and intuition to understand what the literature on financial theory is trying to do and how it all fits together. It is appropriate for a second course in finance or a first PhD level course. The building blocks needed to get the most out of this text is matrix algebra, elementary calculus (integrals and differentials), intermediate microeconomics, basic statistics (regression analysis), some optimization (min and max of functions), and basic financial skills such as discounting, the use of cash flows, pro forma income statements and balance sheets. The book has excellent appendices if you lack or need to brush up on these topics. Also, after each chapter state-of-the-art references are listed, very useful if you want to delve a little deeper. To summarize, I just love this book, and I think you will too.
Book Description
"A lot has happened in the financial markets since 1992, when Peter Bernstein wrote his seminal Capital Ideas. Happily, Peter has taken up his facile pen again to describe these changes, a virtual revolution in the practice of investing that relies heavily on complex mathematics, derivatives, hedging, and hyperactive trading. This fine and eminently readable book is unlikely to be surpassed as the definitive chronicle of a truly historic era."
- John C. Bogle, founder of The Vanguard Group and author, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing
"Just as Dante could not have understood or survived the perils of the Inferno without Virgil to guide him, investors today need Peter Bernstein to help find their way across dark and shifting ground. No one alive understands Wall Street's intellectual history better, and that makes Bernstein our best and wisest guide to the future. He is the only person who could have written this book; thank goodness he did."
- Jason Zweig, Investing Columnist, Money magazine
"Another must-read from Peter Bernstein! This well-written and thought-provoking book provides valuable insights on how key finance theories have evolved from their ivory tower formulation to profitable application by portfolio managers. This book will certainly be read with keen interest by, and undoubtedly influence, a wide range of participants in international finance."
- Dr. Mohamed A. El-Erian, President and CEO of Harvard Management Company, Deputy Treasurer of Harvard University, and member of the faculty of the Harvard Business School
"Reading Capital Ideas Evolving is an experience not to be missed. Peter Bernstein's knowledge of the principal characters-the giants in the development of investment theory and practice-brings this subject to life."
- Linda B. Strumpf, Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, The Ford Foundation
"With great clarity, Peter Bernstein introduces us to the insights of investment giants, and explains how they transformed financial theory into portfolio practice. This is not just a tale of money and models; it is a fascinating and contemporary story about people and the power of their ideas."
- Elroy Dimson, BGI Professor of Investment Management, London Business School
"Capital Ideas Evolving provides us with a unique appreciation for the pervasive impact that the theory of modern finance has had on the development of our capital markets. Peter Bernstein once again has produced a masterpiece that is must reading for practitioners, educators and students of finance."
- André F. Perold, Professor of Finance, Harvard Business School
Customer Reviews:
Capital Ideas Evolving.......2007-09-19
This was not an easy read, but it was worth it. I received my MBA in 1976. Much of this book was an explanation of the effects of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) on current investment practices. He assumes that the reader is well versed with the intricacies of CAPM. I had to go back to other sources to review CAPM, but once I did, the book was a great explanation of how CAPM and other academic innovations have had a practical effect on portfolio management. When I finished the book, I had to admit that I was not able to apply much to my personal portfolio management, but I have a much better understanding of what my pension plan administrator is thinking about as well as what certain mutual funds managers are doing. The book is more beneficial for the professional investor than the individual investor.
Ludicrous.......2007-08-21
Maybe this is a great intro to classic theory, but then there is something wrong with classical thinking.
My one-star rating is for his "forgiveness" of the Long Term Capital Management gang, since no one could have predicted what actually happened.
LTCM managers (inducing Merton and Sholes, subjects of chapters) had excessive confidence in models based on theories that have not been even come close to being validated.
It is ironic that Amazon pairs this book with "The Black Swan" in their "Buy Two" promotion since Bernstein has clearly been "fooled by randomness".
Accessible explanation of the foundations of finance.......2007-08-02
In the early 1950s, graduate student Harry Markowitz presented his Ph.D. dissertation to the University of Chicago economics department. The response was less than encouraging. "This isn't a dissertation in economics," Milton Friedman told Markowitz. "It's not math, it's not economics, it's not even business administration." Whatever it was, Markowitz's heterodox theory of portfolio selection changed finance forever and earned a Nobel Prize. Financial historian and investment manager Peter L. Bernstein humanizes his saga of great shifts in financial theory by organizing it around eminent thinkers (Markowitz, Myron Scholes, Franco Modigliani, Robert Merton, Bill Sharpe and others, if you ever want to look up a finance guru). Deepening his analysis with insights from "behavioral finance," Bernstein describes how these innovators generated and extended the now-orthodox "capital ideas" of portfolio selection, capital structure, the Capital Asset Pricing Model, the efficient market hypothesis and the Black-Scholes-Merton theory of option pricing. Bernstein's erudition is dazzling, his explanations pellucid and his narrative filled with scintillating characters. getAbstract doesn't need to hedge: you'll find this overview of current finance theory and practice brilliant, even if you don't know your alpha from alfalfa.
Unique and sunsurpassed........2007-07-28
I have recommended this and his previous book for finance graduate students at the University of Maryland.
An excellent book.......2007-07-19
This book should be on your book shelf. I would critize the book in that although it recommends against portfolios of individual securities it does not warn the investor against professional portfolio managers.
By way of example:Piscaqua Research in a study covering the period 1987-96 found that only 10 out of 145 major pension funds, or just seven percent, out performed a portfolio consisting of a simple 60%/40% mix of the S&P 500 index and the Lehman Bond index respectively.
Or is it logical I ask for you to believe that you can predict which actively managed funds will out perform, or are you overconfident of your skills? If you are trying to find the great fund managers who will out perform in the future ask yourself: what am I going to do differently in terms of identifying the future winning fund managers, than did the pension plans and their advisors? And if you are not going to something different what logic is there in playing a game at which others with superior resources have consistently failed?
If you a really serious in finding an investment technique that will provide you with reasonable return with less risk I suggest the following little book. This is a little book that I have written and contains the essential of how to invest. Just click on the title to find the book. How to Make Money in the Stock Market-Buy 2,500 Different Stocks-Pay no Commission
Amazon.com
In their previous book, The Balanced Scorecard, Robert Kaplan and David Norton unveiled an innovative "performance management system" that any company could use to focus and align their executive teams, business units, human resources, information technology, and financial resources on a unified overall strategy--much as businesses have traditionally employed financial management systems to track and guide their general fiscal direction. In The Strategy-Focused Organization, Kaplan and Norton explain how companies like Mobil, CIGNA, and Chemical Retail Bank have effectively used this approach for nearly a decade, and in the process present a step-by-step implementation outline that other organizations could use to attain similar results. Their book is divided into five sections that guide readers through development of a completely individualized plan that is created with "strategy maps" (graphical representations designed to clearly communicate desired outcomes and how they are to be achieved), then infused throughout the enterprise and made an integral part of its future. In several chapters devoted to the latter, for example, the authors show how their models have linked long-term strategy with day-to-day operational and budgetary management, and detail the "double loop" process for doing so, monitoring progress, and initiating corrective actions if necessary. --Howard Rothman
Book Description
In today's business environment, strategy has never been more important. Yet research shows that most companies fail to execute strategy successfully. Behind this abysmal track record lies an undeniable fact: many companies continue to use management processes-top-down, financially driven, and tactical-that were designed to run yesterday's organizations.
Now, the creators of the revolutionary performance management tool called the Balanced Scorecard introduce a new approach that makes strategy a continuous process owned not just by top management, but by everyone. In The Strategy-Focused Organization, Robert Kaplan and David Norton share the results of ten years of learning and research into more than 200 companies that have implemented the Balanced Scorecard. Drawing from more than twenty in-depth case studies-including Mobil, CIGNA, Nova Scotia Power, and AT&T Canada-Kaplan and Norton illustrate how Balanced Scorecard adopters have taken their groundbreaking tool to the next level. These organizations have used the scorecard to create an entirely new performance management framework that puts strategy at the center of key management processes and systems.
Kaplan and Norton articulate the five key principles required for building Strategy-Focused Organizations: (1) translate the strategy to operational terms, (2) align the organization to the strategy, (3) make strategy everyone's everyday job, (4) make strategy a continual process, and (5) mobilize change through strong, effective leadership. The authors provide a detailed account of how a range of organizations in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors have deployed these principles to achieve breakthrough, sustainable performance improvements.
Presenting a practical, proven framework steeped in rich case study experience, The Strategy-Focused Organization helps solve a universal management problem-not just how to formulate strategy, but how to make it work. Building on one of the most revolutionary business ideas of our time, this important book shows how today's leaders can shape their own companies to meet the challenges and reap the rewards of a new competitive era.
Robert S. Kaplan is the Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development at Harvard Business School. David P. Norton is President of Balanced Scorecard Collaborative, Inc.
Download Description
The creators of the revolutionary performance management tool called the Balanced Scorecard introduce a new approach that makes strategy a continuous process owned not just by top management, but by everyone. In The Strategy-Focused Organization, Robert Kaplan and David Norton share the results of ten years of learning and research into more than 200 companies that have implemented the Balanced Scorecard. Drawing from more than twenty in-depth case studies--including Mobil, CIGNA, and AT&T Canada--Kaplan and Norton illustrate how Balanced Scorecard adopters have taken their groundbreaking tool to the next level. These organizations have used the scorecard to create an entirely new performance management framework that puts strategy at the center of key management processes and systems. Kaplan and Norton articulate the five key principles required for building strategy-focused organizations: 1) translate the strategy into operational terms, 2) align the organization to the strategy, 3) make strategy everyone's everyday job, 4) make strategy a continual process, and 5) mobilize change through strong, effective leadership. The authors provide a detailed account of how a range of organizations in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors have deployed these principles to achieve breakthrough, sustainable performance improvements.
Customer Reviews:
Overview, technique and implementation.......2006-08-21
An outstandingly well written book that decribes the balanced scorecard and provides excellent examples. An effective, practical guide for C-level executives and mid-level managers for implementing strategic scorcarding. I recommned this book for the breadth and depth of the explanation of the subject matter and concise implmentation examples.
If you can measure it, you can manage it.......2006-02-28
The Balanced Scorecard was initially designed as a financial and non-financial corporate performance measurement tool. Organizations focused on strategy have taken the Balanced Scorecard and transformed it into a strategic tool for measurement. These 5 key principles transform the Balanced Scorecard:
Principle 1: Translate Strategy into Operational Terms. Describing the strategy of the organization, communicating it via the Building Scorecard in an insightful, consistent and operational manner is the cornerstone to putting strategy at the center of an organization. This principle accomplishes this by using the Balanced Scorecard to view strategy from 4 different perspectives: financial, customer, internal business processes, and learning.
Principle 2: Align the Organization to the Strategy.
The Balanced scorecard can link the many different and dispersed functions. It can clarify the values, beliefs and ideas that reflect the organization's identity, and clarify the actions mandated at the corporate level that create synergies at the business unit level.
Principle 3: Make Strategy Everyone's Everyday Job.
This principle, utilizing the Balanced Scorecard, focuses on three processes to align employees to the strategy: creating strategic awareness, defining personal and team objectives, and linking compensation to the Balanced Scorecard
Principle 4: Make Strategy a Continual Process.
The Balanced Scorecard creates a reporting system to monitor progress and serve as a link between managing strategy and managing operations. This system enables organizations to accomplish three things: link strategy and budget, close the strategy loop, and test, learn, and adapt.
Principle 5: Mobilize Change Through Executive Leadership.
The Balanced Scorecard helps executive leadership implement large scale changes that are necessary to implement new strategies. Specifically, it helps organizations specify, in detail, critical elements:
· Target customers where profitable growth will occur
· Value propositions that lead customers to do more business and at higher margins with the company
· Innovations in products, services and processes
· Investments in people and systems to enhance processes and deliver differentiated value propositions for growth
Highly Recommended!.......2005-06-20
The fact that executives keep trying new strategic initiatives despite their abysmal rate of failure is, like second marriages, a triumph of hope over experience. Or, it may indicate just how much pressure top managers face to improve their profits. By one estimate, nine out of ten companies fail to execute their strategic visions. Yet, CEOs - who witness a world in constant flux - continue to introduce change initiatives. Are they trapped in the operational definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? Or, are they just ready for this book? Authors Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton offer wise counsel to help executives break the cycle of strategic flops. They advise executives to transform their companies into "Strategy-Focused Organizations" using the "Balanced Scorecard" and "strategic mapping" tools. With these initiatives, CEOs can ensure that every employee pays attention to strategy implementation. Kaplan and Norton, the all-star co-author team who wrote "The Balanced Scorecard" and "Strategy Maps", have done it again, in this well-organized but somewhat dry volume. We strongly recommend this book to any manager who is responsible for designing or implementing a strategic change initiative.
Overblown and impractical.......2002-11-22
Having used the BSc a few times in my work, I expected this to be a hepful addition to my knowledge base in the area. I found that it added little to the author's other published tomes and to his articles in journals like HBR. Although the basic concept is sound, the implementation challenges are dealt with as you'd expect from an ivory tower-based profesoor and are several steps removed from the challenges that most of my real-world, and smaller company clients, need to address. I truly felt as though I didn't get my money's worth with this purchase and I should have stuck with the materials I already had by the author that was available in other forms. I would have saved time, money and a degree of frustration.
A must have tool for business improvement.......2002-05-23
If you're attempting to improve the way you do business, this book is a must have. It is a little dry so you have to be committed to using the concepts presented. If you can manage to stick with it, you will reap the benefits of the BSC. Good Luck!
Book Description
Public Finance made simple to understand! PUBLIC FINANCE: A CONTEMPORARY APPLICATION OF THEORY TO POLICY WITH ECONOMIC APPLICATIONS uses the latest and clearest examples along with proven teaching techniques to help you master the material and prepare for tests. And with this Finance textbook's Internet resources, it's easier than ever to get the grade you need.
Book Description
The past twenty years have seen great theoretical and empirical advances in the field of corporate finance. Whereas once the subject addressed mainly the financing of corporations--equity, debt, and valuation--today it also embraces crucial issues of governance, liquidity, risk management, relationships between banks and corporations, and the macroeconomic impact of corporations. However, this progress has left in its wake a jumbled array of concepts and models that students are often hard put to make sense of.
Here, one of the world's leading economists offers a lucid, unified, and comprehensive introduction to modern corporate finance theory. Jean Tirole builds his landmark book around a single model, using an incentive or contract theory approach. Filling a major gap in the field, The Theory of Corporate Finance is an indispensable resource for graduate and advanced undergraduate students as well as researchers of corporate finance, industrial organization, political economy, development, and macroeconomics.
Tirole conveys the organizing principles that structure the analysis of today's key management and public policy issues, such as the reform of corporate governance and auditing; the role of private equity, financial markets, and takeovers; the efficient determination of leverage, dividends, liquidity, and risk management; and the design of managerial incentive packages. He weaves empirical studies into the book's theoretical analysis. And he places the corporation in its broader environment, both microeconomic and macroeconomic, and examines the two-way interaction between the corporate environment and institutions.
Setting a new milestone in the field, The Theory of Corporate Finance will be the authoritative text for years to come.
Customer Reviews:
an enchiridion on corporate finance.......2007-08-23
This book is the best enchiridion for any kind of studies in finance. All students are advised to read it;they will find it useful, not only due to its deep and scrutable meanings, but also because it awakes profound questions to the reader and urge him to make his own research on a sector in finance which is still in its infancy.
This handbook helped me a lot with my dissertation, as it concentrates in its pages various and many topics on corporate finance.
Excellent Theoretical Approach .......2006-04-06
Even a few years ago the theory of corporate finance was relatively simple. To be sure, everyone knew that the models weren't perfect. The close cooperation between favorite trading partners and/or between companies and their governments, the impact of taxes, currency issues, and a whole raft of financing instruments that never existed before has forced drastic changes in the basic theories of corporate financing.
This book employs a single, elementary model in order to illustrate the main economic insights. While this approach doesn't take into account all of the various extentions that more complex models might give, it is much easier for the student to get accustomed to one model and then to modify it as circumstances warrent.
This book is aimed at the advanced undergraduate student, or more likely one at the graduate level. While not nearly as mathematically oriented as some books, this one does include enough that the student should consider calculus as a prerequisite.
All in all, this book does a supurb job of developing a theory that reflects the real world as it exists today.
Superb.......2006-02-05
Tirole's book is one of the very few formal texts to cover corporate finance theory. It is structured around a few basic models which are changed/extended in myriad ways in order to illuminate this or that topic. This allows the reader to cover a lot of ground with minimal investment.
I have taught a master's level finance course based on the notes that the book is built on and found it a pleasure.
I found it useful to cover some basics of principal agent theory before covering Tirole's material, as some knowledge of information economics is assumed. Laffont and Martimort's book makes the transition smooth as they essentially use the same basic two action two outcome setup as Tirole's first couple of chapters.
I very much doubt that a superior book will appear on the shelves for some time, that is of course, until Tirole decides to update his text some years from now.
Good PhD book.......2006-02-04
This is definitely a good PhD-level book on Corporate Finance. It is based on Jean Tirole's lecture notes at Toulouse and definitely follows his research style. It uses theoretical models with agency problems to explain several empirical findings of corporate finance. A great purchase for grad students interested in financial THEORY.
Average customer rating:
- Innovative
- If you like learning from novels
- 5 star concepts in a 3 star novel
- A must for every potential project manager
- if you manage projects for a living...
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Critical Chain : A Business Novel
Eliyahu M. Goldratt
Manufacturer: North River Press
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ASIN: 0884271536 |
Book Description
Powerful yet simple techniques to solve project management's toughest problems. This book teaches companies to drastically cut project development times resulting in early completion within budget and without compromising quality or specifications.
Customer Reviews:
Innovative.......2007-01-03
An interesting concept presented in an innovative novel. Easy to read and follow. Just like a novel once you start, it is a page turner and hard to put down.
I highly recommend this along with Goldratt's first novel, The Goal.
If you like learning from novels.......2006-10-24
A "made-for-TV" novel with a lesson about a new method of project scheduling. Goldratt invented the "Theory of Constraints," a general problem analyis and planning method which he then applies to various areas. Each application presented in story format.
"Critical Chain" = "Critical Path" x "Theory of Constraints".
Read this book if you want an easy read and a fun introduction to the subject. But if you actually want to apply the Critical Chain method, you'll probably need a textbook format. Or make the effort to abstract the method from the dialogue of the story.
5 star concepts in a 3 star novel.......2006-10-04
Eli Goldratt is one of the most respected experts in the field of Project Management. His work on the Theory of Constraints provides project managers with some very useful tools for keeping projects focused, on budget, and on target. I have definitely benefitted from Goldratt's insights into these topics.
Unfortunately, this work of fiction, with three largely separate story lines, makes for an awkward read. The 246 page novel has about half of its page count spent on two stories that add little to the main message of the book. The ongoing storylines about fixing the business school's executive MBA program and the main character's relationship with his wife Judith have nothing to do with project management. Fortunately, these two superfluous stories are at the end or beginning of each chapter and it is easy to skip over them and get to the useful subject material in the main story line, the running of projects and their problems. Skipping over about 100 pages of the book makes me question the value of paying for a book that could have easily been less than half as long. I might be OK with that if the stories were interesting or well written, but they are not.
Using the book as a reference would be challenging. It has no Table of Contents, no Index, nor a Glossary. The Chapters do not even have titles, or a summary of the key concepts at the end in most cases. I would struggle to find an important concept if I went back to the book more than a week or so after reading it.
A much slimmer, edited version of this book, with just the TOC and project management material, laid out end to end would be an instant must have, and a valuable learning tool.
A must for every potential project manager.......2006-08-11
I've been introduced to CCPM (critical chain project management) years ago in school, but thought it was boring. Reading Goldratt's novel opened my mind to it in a much deeper way, and I'm now using it at my work with great success. I also recommend his other business novels.
if you manage projects for a living..........2006-06-27
Face it, everything that happens in a business is either a process or a project. Even companies that manage projects for a living (e.g. construction, software development) often are lousy at managing internal projects (working ON the business). If you have anything to do with projects, you need to read this book. It will change how you look at projects forever. This guy is brilliant.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent.......2007-09-13
It was in excellent shape and got what I was looking for. I am happy with it.
Great purchase!.......2007-09-05
The condition was exactly what it stated, and it was the cheapest with high quality.
Recommend.......2007-08-23
The product was delivered to me ahead of schedule through regular US Postal mail....no problems, new book, all is well!!!! Great source for MBA course.
Product Description
As its title implies, this book is the Handbook for the Professional Risk Manager. It is for those professionals who seek to demonstrate their skills in the field of financial risk management and for those looking simply for an excellent reference source. With contributions from nearly 40 leading authors, the Handbook is designed to provide you with the materials needed to gain the knowledge and understanding of the building blocks of professional financial risk management. Financial risk management is not about avoiding risk. Rather, it is about understanding and communicating risk, so that risk can be taken more confidently and in a better way. Whether your specialism is in insurance, banking, energy, asset management, weather, or one of myriad other industries, this Handbook is your guide. In Section I, we introduce the foundations of finance theory, the financial instruments that provide tools for the mitigation or transfer of risk, and the financial markets in which instruments are traded and capital is raised. In Section II, we take you through the mathematical foundations of risk assessment. While there are many nuances to the practice of risk management that go beyond the quantitative, it is essential today for every risk manager to be able to assess risks. The chapters in this section are accessible to all, including those without any quantitative skills. The online Excel spreadsheets that accompany the examples are an invaluable aid to understanding the mathematical and statistical concepts that form the basis of risk assessment. In Section III, the current and best practices of Market, Credit and Operational risk management are described. This is where we take the foundations of Sections I and II and apply them to our profession in very specific ways. Here the strategic application of risk management to capital allocation and risk-adjusted performance measurement takes hold. At the end of your progression through these materials, you will find that you have broadened your knowledge and skills in ways that you might not have imagined. You will have challenged yourself as well. And, you will be a better risk manager. It is for this reason that we have created the Professional Risk Managers' Handbook.
Customer Reviews:
Invaluable for the Risk Management Professional.......2005-07-12
As reflects a book published by an organization dedicated to improving professionalism in a field as broad as financial risk management, the contents are both wide and deep. Contributors are all experts in their individual fields - leading academics (providing underlying theory) and experienced practitioners (providing pragmatic, practical advice). As would be expected, the contents are best when the topic is well established, such as with Credit Risk, but less so in newer disciplines, such as Operational Risk. It is a book that will be close at hand to, and well thumbed by, practicing risk managers but also one that can give non-practicing managers and students an insight into some very complex topics.
Books:
- Dynamic Hedging: Managing Vanilla and Exotic Options (Wiley Finance)
- Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data
- Economics of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets, Update (7th Edition) (Addison-Wesley Series in Economics)
- Entrepreneurial Finance
- Excel 2000 for Windows for Dummies Quick Reference
- Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
- Fee-Only Financial Planning: How to Make It Work for You (J.K. Lasser Pro.)
- Finance: Introduction to Institutions, Investments, and Management
- Financial Accounting: An Introduction to Concepts, Methods, and Uses
- Financial Accounting: Information for Decisions
Books Index
Books Home
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Designing Dynamic Organizations: A Hands-On Guide for Leaders at All Levels
Designing the Customer-Centric Organization: A Guide to Strategy, Structure, and Process (Jossey Bass Business and Management Series)
Competing by Design: The Power of Organizational Architecture
Designing Organizations to Create Value: From Strategy to Structure
From The Ground Up (Jossey-Bass Business & Management)
