Book Description

From Business Strategy to IT Action gives companies of all sizes the tools to effectively link IT to business strategy and produce effective, actionable strategies for bottom-line results. The authors present CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, and IT managers with a powerful and accessible resource packed with such useful material as:

• The Strategy-to-Bottom-Line Value Chain, which integrates the management practices relating to planning, prioritization, alignment, and assessing a company’s entire IT budget
• Methods for using IT Impact Management to establish IT culture and performance models for the business/IT connection
• The IT Improvement Zone, which quickly identifies where a company can focus its energies for maximum results
• And much more

Reviews (3)

From Business Stratey to IT Action
Drawing from a wealth of success in balancing business requirements with IT solutions, the authors of "From Business Strategy to IT Action" have identified the elements required to keep IT budgets in-line with the overall goals of the business. As many IT managers know it is easy to get caught up in the swirl surrounding keeping the "lights on" and lose focus about using technology to bring value to the organization in ways that help achieve the goals necessary to move the organization forward. I particularly liked the chapter devoted to discussing the culture of an organization. As they point out, losing sight of the bottom-line is easy when organizations get hung up on the culture of the institution and continue to do things the old way rather than routinely evaluating the goals of the organization with an eye toward improvement. To quote them, "New Information Economics (NIE) is a set of practices and principles for moving from business strategy to IT action to bottom-line impact". To me this means staying focused on the business of the organization and not getting caught up in thinking that IT is in business for itself.

Bottom Line --> Results
This book provides solid, rational, and most importantly, actionable guidance for managers and executives faced with the challenge of identifying, evaluating, and prioritizing their IT spend. The authors provide a concise, structured framework which leads the reader through a step-by-step process to make reasoned decisions about both steady state ("lights on") expenditures and new project investments. The writing style is clear, fluid, and easily digestible. Each chapter includes fact-filled charts and diagrams to make the concepts come alive, along with a chapter summary, targeted questions, plus additional reading references. From defining goals, asking the penetrating "right questions," through charting a path to implementation, this truly is a guidebook to learning how to control spending while concurrently maximizing the impact on your bottom line. This book should be required reading before the beginning of your next planning cycle. Whether you've been in the IT business for a year, a decade or longer, you will undoubtedly benefit from the multiple layers of insight contained within this book. Note: I also recommend sales personnel absorb the concepts in this book -- if you understand how your customers are evaluating IT investment decisions, you can communicate the value your offerings will deliver in a manner which will better resonate with the decision maker.

One of the best books on the subject!
I've read a stack of books related to this subject, and this is one of two books that I think hit the bullseye and that I recommend to peers and clients (the other is Value-Driven IT Management, ISBN 0750659254).

What I most like about this book is the highly focused, clearly defined approach to transforming strategy into action. In fact, 'action' is the main characteristic of this book, both in writing pace and in the results you can achieve if you follow the map the authors provide. Chapter 1 leads you through defining your goals that links the strategy to your bottom line. This establishes the methodology that you'll follow through the rest of the book.

Each subsequent chapter is a milestone in the process of transforming strategy into action. What I like is the consistent format, which starts with "Ask the Right Questions", then listing steps, ending with a summary. More importantly, the bottom line remains the focus of this book from start to finish. This keeps the reader's attention on the goals, business issues and costs.

The topics covered in each step represent best practices that should be present in any organization that is mature enough to undertake a business-IT alignment. For example, portfolio management, prioritization techniques, and aligning to a value chain are addressed, In addition, the challenges faced by both business and IT are uncovered, with advice on how to meet them during the process. Finally, the book sets forth the transformation process in a well ordered sequence that will get you from inception to meeting all objectives if followed. The chapters on scoring and measurement are invaluable.

One topic that makes this book exceptionally valuable is the introduction of the Business Value Maturity Model™. This model, in my opinion, is the missing link in the quest for Business-IT alignment initiatives, and one that I hope gets wider dissemination than in this book. Other aspects of the book that I especially like include the excellent use of graphs and diagrams, and the absence of empty claims and theory. The material is clear, actionable and realistic. Think of this book as both a compass and blueprint. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough, particularly to organizations that are struggling with business-IT alignment. ... Read more

Book Description

Management and Organizational Behavior: An Integrated Perpective blends the traditional management and organizational behavior topics by presenting the technical aspects of management and managerial practice, as well as its social-psychological and behavior consequences. The authors present an integrative model that positions Management philosophy as a force which shapes the practice of management and organization design, both of which impact and explain organizational behavior. The text emphasizes that to be a strategic manager, there must be an understanding of the organization, management process, individuals as members, and the deep interrelationship between all these areas. ... Read more

Book Description

Learn how to mobilize support, improve efficiency, and get things done!

Politics is an inevitable, legitimate, and even beneficial aspect of corporate and organizational life. Hard work and good ideas are not enough to ensure success-your ability to win allies and head off resistance is what really matters in today's corporate environment. If you don't garner support for your ideas, you could become an organizational casualty.

Get Them on Your Side outlines how to:

Book Description

By studying the work of hundreds of the most original and effective business minds, the authors present a common architecture that illuminates exceptional analysis and creative performance. 2 x 2 Thinking is characterized by a fundamental appreciation for the dynamic and complex nature of business. The best strategists go out of their way to tackle dilemmas rather than merely solve problems. They use opposition, creative tension, iteration and transcendence to get to the heart of issues and involve critical others in finding the best solutions. The authors demonstrate how to apply the 2 x 2 approach to a wide range of important business challenges. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A must buy...
If you want to learn about how to go deep in strategy this is a really good book. The authors propose a method to help you define core dilemmas facing your business and then use that as a starting point for developing strategy. They say that dynamic tension and conflict are the starting point for change and growth, both in the firm and as managers.
The second half of the book is devoted to 55 classic and not-so classic 2 x 2 matrices. The typical business student may be aware of many of these such as BCG portfolio grid and Stephen Covey's urgency and importance. However, the best value is the 2 x 2 models and cases in areas such as marketing, risk, and organizational processes. I think every organization will see itself in these examples. The authors include a method for each 2 x 2. You can literally begin to apply the thinking right away. I think anyone in business or a business strategy course would benefit.

Makes Einstein look like a chump
For years, people have thought that complex thought was the best way to address complex problems. What utter fools! Complex problems are just simple problems if you ignore enough variables. Alex Lowy and Phil Hood throw the idea of "Thinking outside the box" outside of the window! Or the Walls! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Brilliant ...
Saw Mr. Ganor on C-Span - May 2005. His absolute (total mastery) of the suject of the (radical) Muslim terrorist movement mindset, and his analysis how to end this (complex, difficult, and long-range problem) ... is nothing short of brilliant ! ... Read more

Book Description

A Pathbreaking Model for Building a New-and Far Better-World of Work

For more than a decade, business thinkers have theorized about how technology will change the shape of organizations. In this landmark book, renowned organizational theorist Thomas Malone, codirector of MIT's "Inventing the Organizations of the 21st Century" initiative, provides the first credible model for actually designing the company of the future.

Based on twenty years of groundbreaking research, The Future of Work foresees a workplace revolution that will dramatically change organizational structures and the roles employees play in them. Malone argues that current notions about decentralization merely scratch the surface of what will be possible as technological and economic forces make "command and control" management increasingly less useful.

In its place will be a more flexible "coordinate and cultivate" approach that will spawn new types of decentralized organizations-from internal markets to democracies to loose hierarchies. These future structures will reap the scale and knowledge efficiencies of large organizations while enabling the freedom, flexibility, and human values that drive smaller firms.

Exploring the skills managers will need in a workplace in which the power to decide belongs to everyone, this optimistic book shows how we can help create a world that is not just richer, but better. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

The Future of Work, by Thomas W. Malone
"The Future of Work" began changing my thinking and attitudes about work from its very first pages. It clarified and extended my understanding of myself as a worker, as well as of friends and colleagues, many of whom are either, like me, self-employed, or have entrepreneurial-type positions within organizations. I've already begun using Malone's ideas in consulting with individual clients and organizations, and found them relevant, productive and fun.

Malone's central tenet is that the nature of organizations has been substantially influenced throughout history by the cost of communication. Thus, face-to-face communication characterized hunting and gathering bands, but the advent of writing--with its reduced cost of communication compared to face-to-face talking-- made larger, more powerful and more centralized societies possible. Kingdoms and empires were richer and more powerful than hunting and gathering bands, but at the cost of some of the freedom of most of their members. The advent of the printing press, by further reducing the costs of communication, made possible the reversal of the ancient trend toward greater centralization, facilitating the democratic revolution.

Business organizations show a similar developmental path. Up until the 1800s, most businesses were small and local. By the 1900s, the telephone, telegraph, typewriter, and carbon paper allowed centralization on a large scale, and business "kingdoms" emerged. Today, e-mail, instant messaging, and the internet make it economically feasible for huge numbers of workers to access the information they need to make, for themselves, more of the choices that matter to them.

This change, Malone asserts, is driving a revolution in our attitudes about organizational leadership. "We need to shift our thinking from command-and-control to coordinate-and- cultivate...Good cultivation involves finding the right balance between centralized and decentralized management, between controlling and letting go...Coordinating and cultivating... include the whole range of possibillities for management...To be an effective manager in the world we're entering, you can't be stuck in a centralized mind-set."

Reading "The Future of Work" made me think about the political implications of Malone's vision of the future. Malone grew up on a farm, and his vision of self-employed, or loosely employed, freelancers (or "e-lancers") evokes the same values of independence, and a combination of self-sufficiency and interdependence when necessary, that characterize people who live by working the land. Thomas Jefferson saw the educated independent farmer as the backbone of the American experiment in democracy. But the Jeffersonian polity has been fundamentally altered by the evolution of large, hierarchically organized, centrally managed organizations, in which only those at or near the top have the same sense of personal stake in their work that characterizes the independent farmer. This has contributed to the development of an electorate which sems to me to be largely apathetic or dependent. Malone's vision of a nation of independent or semi-autonomous freelancers might presage a return to Jefferson's vision and values among a substantially larger proportion of the electorate than currently.

Another direction of thinking provoked by "The Future of Work" is to wonder how many people are really capable of the measure of independence which Malone envisions. As a well-established leading international management thinker, and professor at MIT, Malone has been rubbing shoulders with people at the top of the planetary organizational learning curve. His stories about how they've grown their companies, both in the U.S.A. and internationally, delight and inspire throughout this book. But as somone who's been closer to the bottom of things, I see a lot of stupidity, as well as success, when people actually get more control over their work-lives. I discussed this with a client who is the CEO of his own successful company, and who sits on the boards of several others. He agreed that Malone's vision was optimal and appealing, but felt that only about 1/4 of the people he knew could actually thrive with that level of independence. Most people, he felt, needed to have their hands held and be told more or less what to do.

In any case, Malone's is a refreshing, insightful and inspiring vision of humanity's nature, history, and future, and of the power of organizations and markets to maximize human efficiency and ingenuity, for whatever proportion of humanity who are, or may become, ready, willing and able to take their economic fates into their own hands and make their future work.

A Communications Cost/Benefit Analysis of Organizations
The title of this book is misleading. A more apt title would have been: The Future of Organizational Structure. If you really want to read about the future of work, I suggest you look for a different book.

As an expert on communications costs and benefits, Professor Malone explores how the pros and cons of centralized hierarchies, loose hierarchies, democracies and free markets compare in producing better organizational results. The book abounds with examples, most of which were not new to me.

The book's overall theme is that with the costs of communications plummeting and the value of the information communication increasing it is inevitable that organizations will decentralize more than ever . . . by employing hybrid forms of loose hierarchies, democracies and free markets for the same organization.

The book ends up with a call to live your dreams that draws on decidedly nonmanagement sources of inspiration. The key idea is that organizations can live values that uplift everyone in them.

If you would like a solid introduction into the forces that are influencing shifts towards decentralization, The Future of Work is a good theoretical overview. Professor Malone also points you to online resources for finding out about best practices in some of these areas.

As a book for a practitioner, The Future of Work leaves a lot to be desired. Most will find it too abstract and theoretical to help them decide what changes to make in an organization. The book would have been vastly more valuable if it had focused on a few key areas of management performance (such as developing new business models, creating breakthrough new products, or bypassing competitor's established cost advantages) and described how best to apply the concepts in those contexts. I hope that Professor Malone will choose to do this in future books and articles.

The writing leaves something to be desired. Although the book is brief, it has a startling number of repetitions of examples and references. I sometimes felt like I was being talked down to (as though I could not make the links for myself or remember the example that had been mentioned two chapters before).

Much of the book also suffers from an over focus on the "economic human" rather than the "total human." For instance, there is little reference to psychology until quite late in the book. Any success with organizational structure has to take into account both the rational and emotional sides of those involved in the organization.

But I am unaware of any better book on the theory behind this subject, so for the time being we should view this book as the gold standard . . . and thus worthy of five stars.

I suspect that many people will find that rereading books about chaos theory as applied to organizations will have new meaning when viewed through Professor Malone's perspective. I encourage you to do some of that rereading after you tackle this book.

Typical Academic Vapor
Interesting theoretical stab, but lacking in substantiation. Will be of interest to governance theorists, as a thought-provoker or dialog-starter.

We heard similar things twenty years ago. This lacks a true big-picture perspective and is too rooted in organizational design and leadership thinking to be of true utility in terms of enterprise-level or industry-level business architecture. While it presents some intersting concepts, few of these are new ideas The author either does not grasp, or assumes the reader cannot grasp, the true complexity of the situation in large, complex organizations -- issues of centralization and decentralization must be examined across a number of interrelated parameters (strategy, business/performance model, policy, information frameworks for interoperability, business process framework ownership/standardization, actual business processes and busieness rules, organizational model, actual organizational structure, information technology governance, corporate infrastructure -- and, of course, time. This is highly dynamic n-dimensional network of interacting forces, flush with uncertainties.

Academia routinely spouts prophesy based on a sophomoric grasp of business reality. This is interesting and worth reading, but of limited practical value.

A timely, provocative essay on the changing workforce
The Future of Work provides a lucid, common sense analysis of the changing nature of work. This book will benefit not only MBA types but any senior level manager looking at how decentralization, smart client technology and global connectivity are shaping our present and future of work.

A book for its time
Given all the controversy regarding outsourcing, offshoring and its impact on the economy and the upcoming presidential election, this book couldn't be more timely. Malone says we're in the early stages of another revolution -- a revolution in business that may ultimately be as profound as the democratic revolution in government. Given his years heading up the Center for Coordination Science at MIT, it's no wonder that he concludes that new information technologies make this revolution possible. No doubt. One need look no further than the impact Napster and Kazaa have had on the recording industry, or the potential for Skype to disrupt the telecommunications sector. Malone suggests that as businesses and technologies decentralize, we will have to manage in new ways. He summarizes this perspective by saying that managers must begin shifting their thinking from command and control to coordinate and cultivate. Given the very changing nature of work itself, this is sound advice, and Malone offers guidance, if not a prescription, for how to navigate the shifting currents of management and work. This book provides important insights for managers and non-managers alike. It's also refreshing to read a business book that doesn't offer a lame 10-step guide to survival. The presidential candidates and their staffs would be well advised to read this book. Maybe then, we'll get past the superficial bromides that permeate the current debate about offshoring, and begin to substantively address the very changing nature of work itself. ... Read more

Book Description

Advance Praise for Willie Pietersens Reinventing Strategy

"With today's uncertainties, a sound strategy is not enough for business success. Effective, dynamic leadership is more important than ever in piloting an organization through a constantly shifting environment. In this timely book, Willie Pietersen reveals the profound connections between strategy and leadership, and offers a proven method for strengthening both." –Jim Copeland, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte & Touche LLP, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

"The companies that win tomorrow will be those that generate superior insights today. Willie Pietersen is a master of the process, and in Reinventing Strategy he teaches you how to make it work for your business." –Faith Popcorn, founder, BrainResource Inc., author, EVEolution: The Eight Truths of Marketing to Women

"Take the business savvy of a former CEO, mix in the leading-edge insights of a faculty member at a top business school, garnish generously with crystal-clear writing, and what do you have? Willie Pietersen's Reinventing Strategy–a must for executives in these turbulent times." –Donald C. Hambrick, Samuel Bronfman Professor of Democratic Business Enterprise, Columbia University Graduate School of Business

"Finding ways to transform companies into adaptive organizations able to respond intelligently to an ever-changing environment has become the top priority for business leaders. Reinventing Strategy offers a proven process for doing just that. It is a wonderful mix of theory and practice, plus commonsense reasoning that works–for all the right reasons." –From the Foreword by Bob Johansen, President, Institute for the Future ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Willie Pietersen gives us great strategy AND great practice
Willie Pietersen's Reinventing Strategy contains the basics of strategy, i.e., how to win, how to align the organization behind the chosen strategies, how to be sure that superior insights drive the strategic process. If that alone were his contribution, this book would be a significant contribution to the strategy literature.

But Pietersen goes much further than that. He shows us how, exactly, to develop these strategies, how he himself developed such strategies and what he learned about leadership in the process.

This book is about strategy, implementation and one man's journey as a leader and life-long learner. The result is an immensely human business book. The singular voice of the author comes through with clarity and humility. I know of no other business book that combines theory and practice with such a strongly personal view. Pietersen talks about the value of developing a leadership credo in his book. This book is, in essence, his own credo from a lifetime of leading and learning.

Every Manager Should Read This Book
I am VP at a large consumer products company in Ohio and I found this book very insightful in the areas of creating strategy and leadership. I read a lot of business books and most are very slight in what they have to offer -- a few thoughts, old stories or worn out sayings. However, "Reinventing Strategy" is a real how-to-book and goes through running a successful business step-by-step. This book will definitely help my division be more profitable! In fact, I would love to go and take one of Prof. Pietersen's courses at Columbia University.

A survival guide for business
Willie Pietersen has managed to pull together what's really important to achieve breakthrough performance. He's done this by telling clearly and convincingly the lessons learned from his years as a chief executive, but explained them from his new role as a Professor of the Practice of Management at the Columbia Business School. I've had the personal pleasure of watching Pietersen in action with business leaders from around the world who have participated in Columbia's Executive Education programs. The overriding comment from these executives is "this guy makes sense and has shown we how to face up to the challenges to my business' survival." Reinventing Strategy: Using Strategic Learning to Create and Sustain Breakthrough Performance is the next best thing to the live program.

If you want to move from Strategy theory to action and have your business survive in the process, read this book.
William M. Klepper, Ph.D.
Academic Director, Executive Education
Columbia Business School

Business strategy as it should be written
Here is book that takes a practical look at business strategy and helps the business person to streamline his/her thinking.
Written in Willie Pietersens highly readable style,it has heft as well as humor, theory as well as practical examples. Oh that our Business School text books had been written thus!
I would recommend this book to anyone who sells anything.
Read the introductory chapters,grasp Pietersen's premise the go to any of the rich chapters. Concepts are clearly tagged, each making for a delicious informational meal that forces reflection. ... Read more

Book Description

The new edition of Groups reflects the author's unique combination of academic expertise and group consultant experience by including the latest research on group dynamics and the most current views on ways to make working in groups more effective. Napier and Gershenfeld present complex concepts in a way that makes them more understandable, recognizing that students are more familiar with the dynamics of individual behavior and building on that knowledge to teach group theory.

Throughout the text students are presented with tools that help them apply concepts and theories. Case studies provide real-life context and Reader Activities (reflective exercises) and Individual Experiments—creation and observation of group situations—engage students in the learning process by asking them to apply what they learn to their own lives. At the end of every chapter, For Further Information sections list book and web resources to provide an expanded perspective of concepts discussed in the text.

• New! Chapter 10, From Groups to Teams: The Changing Landscape of Organizational Life, summarizes the latest research on the dynamics of teams and applying it to business and mental health settings.
• New! Updated exercises have been moved from the end of each chapter to the Instructor's Resource Manual.

Reviews (2)

Questionable Reference Causes Doubt
On page 19, under the heading of Selective Perception and Communication, the authors indicate that "research" has shown that grades received by teachers reveal bias of the teacher as opposed to the actual level of knowledge of the child. Two specific examples are provided but WITHOUT citation to the supposed research. Since the research material is so well documented in the rest of the book, I question why they did not make the citation available here. I would like to read this research but am left without the option to find it myself. Ironically, my view of everything that I read in this book from this point on will be tarnished by this experience.

A classic book about groups- EXCELLENT resource
The authors have been around for a long time, but they still have fresh ideas. Anyone interested in the complexity of groups, should read this book. It is wonderful. ... Read more

Book Description

Why do some companies consistently win in the marketplace while others struggle from crisis to crisis? The answer, says Noel Tichy, is that winning companies possess a "Leadership Engine" -- a proven system for creating dynamic leaders at every level.

Reviews (22)

EMMP: Central : A very good book to read.
The book "The Leadership Engine" by Noel Tichy, discusses how to build dynamic leaders at every level within an organization. The book focuses on fundamentals of winning organizations and the characteristics of these leaders giving insight into some of the greatest leaders stories. Noel Tichy has researched companies like General Electric, Ameritech, PepsiCo, Intel and Focus Hope.

The book is concise in its contents and is good for intellectual reading. Author has made his best attempt to present conceptually his thoughts about leadership engine by proving the facts that "winning organizations are teaching organizations". Senior leaders take direct responsibility for developing and teaching other leaders. Those leaders have great "teachable point of view" as composed by ideas, values and E3 (Emotion, Energy and Edge). Each of these leaders has their own style of teaching and the technique may vary based on the needs of the organization. Great leaders use stories to teach and communicate their ideas.

The term "Engine" as used by author, illustrates the dynamic potential of the winning organization to teach the leaders and develop future leaders. Noel says, "Many management theories don't buy the argument that leadership engine is the key factor in determining an organization's success. They assert that a winning culture, or efficient work processes, or any number of other ancillary attributes are the sine qua nons for success". But he believes that leadership takes precedence over everything else and one reason leadership take precedence is that leaders are the people who decide what needs to be done and are the one's who make things happen. To accept the fact as represented by author, the research should also include mid sized organizations and opinions of middle layered managers.

The ultimate test of success for an organization is not weather it can win today but whether it can keep winning tomorrow and the day after. The key ability of winning organization and winning leaders is creating leaders. One of the greatest quotes in the book was "Every person in a key position has to see himself or herself as a mini-CEO. They have to conceptualize what has to be done in the same way the CEO has. Then it cascades."

They Can, They Do, They Teach
Noel Tichy's "The Leadership Engine" is a practical and easy to read book on leadership. His research is exhaustive and well documented; there are sixty pages of notes and bibliographic citations. Tichy's central theme is that winning companies possess a "Leadership Engine" that produces dynamic leaders at every level within the organization. He argues forcefully that winning is about leadership and that leadership is the key trait that distinguishes winners from losers. He defines winning as success in adding value, coupled with sustained excellence. For a company or organization to be successful it must have outstanding leaders at every level. In order to have those dynamic leaders at every level, the organization itself must systematically produce them.

Tichy insists that learning, teaching, and leading are intertwined and admits he is a proponent of transformational leadership theory. Elements of this theory are clearly evident throughout his book. Tichy is also resolute in his belief that leading IS teaching-"they can, they do, they teach"-this point is driven home numerous times throughout his book(1). Winning organizations are teaching organizations. Successful organizations have proven leaders who are both teachers and avid learners themselves. The author emphasizes on numerous occasions that leaders must have a teachable point of view and must create teachable moments for the right kind of learning to occur-the kind that transforms an organization. A leader's "teachable point of view" is a trinitarian view composed of: a) ideas, b) values, and c) emotional energy and edge(2). Ideas are the substance of learning and good ideas are teachable.

Tichy uses numerous real life examples from the business world and even the military to highlight his points throughout the book. His liberal use of relevant and true stories to emphasize the point he is making, is in itself, a subtle illustration of a key leadership trait-being a good story teller. Tichy insists that successful leaders are successful teachers because they use stories and share examples from their own personal life. The author's frequent use of stories makes the book interesting, even captivating at times and minimizes the possibility of the reader getting bored.

The Leadership Engine is an outstanding, well organized, and very readable book; and not just a book, but a useful handbook as well. Tichy includes a 99-page workbook with practical exercises designed to both help the reader assess his or her own leadership and to help the reader develop a "Leadership Engine" in his or her own organization. The workbook is what sets this leadership book apart from the thousands of others in this crowded category. Noel Tichy has accomplished what he set out to do-convince us that winning organizations are teaching organizations. However, for the student of leadership, there is no new ground or profound insights in this book and consequently, I am not convinced that it deserved its Business Week "Book of the Year" honor.

NOTES
(1)Taken from the oft repeated jest by George Bernard Shaw that, "Those who can, do-those who can't, teach." This quote does not appear in Tichy's book.
(2)Tichy defines "edge" as the courage to see reality and act on it.

APPEALING AT THE BEGINNING
I read Tichy's ideas for the first time in a Harvard Business Review exhibit which he wrote to be inserted in an interview with Jacques Nassar, former CEO of Ford Motor in an issue from 1997/1998. That exhibit was so illuminating I went just right then to get a copy of the whole book in the library. I should've stayed with the exhibit in the magazine...

The CORE of the ideas of Mr. Tichy is superb. Really. Building a model (a triangle which is not, for one of the corners includes "emotional, energy and edge" and there's is not the sligthest reference in the book why these are bundle together) where he included values, ideas and the emotional side to introduce the discipline of the storytelling in the organization is a premier work intended to give a method to build those stories (World Bank, 3M, Ford and many other companies with a long tradition of strategic planning are working on this line, prefering it over conventional bullet lists, formats and charts but back in 1997, when Tichy's work arrived it was a weird idea).

BUT that's all! If you expect to learn here how to buid the "teachable point of view" (this is how Tichy christened his baby) forget it. At least an useful one. Many water has gone under the bridges since 1997 and there're many subsequent authors with better techniques to teach you to do so. Nevertheless, Tichy's work is a nice model to keep in mind when you build and use the strategic stories. But as a framework... and I've got that in the little excerpt of the exhibit in HBS.

Last, but not the least... the examples. And this REALLY bothered me. Rather than present the teoric foundations for his ideas, in order to let you to figure out how he get there and then let the reader to develop his own path (like Collins&Porras, Tichy's nemesis, did in "Built to last"), Tichy gives an harangue of two or three lines with his ideas and then throw at you a 3-pages example so tailored-made for the concept you wonder if he's not explaining a coyuntural practice in some organization which he happened to hear about or maybe witness now and then rather than give you some new insights about leadership. And that organization, 70% alongisde 250 pages or so, is GE, 20% is AliedSignal's Larry Bossidy (a GE insider) and the 10% are ocassional references to Ameritech or well-konwn leaders so suitable for the day-to-day environment of XXI century business like Martin Luther King and Winston Churchill. Of course you can learn from any leader, that's what metaphors are for, but it's risky at least to compare the deployment of some set of values and ideas in a company with somebody who broadcast alive in the middle of some war. HOW the leaders deploy their messages (not the build of the message, but the media and the selection criteria they used) is a major absence in this book. And when it comes to learn about diagnostics and measures for the performance of his idea, Tichy olimpically come down from the bronco saying "I think the value market is the best measure to keep track of the performance of the company in the long term". And thats's it: one line and a half and keep going repeated like a mantra (I wonder what does Tichy thinks about some market values like Enron' And by the way, Ken Lay wrote in the back of the book a very nice appraisal of this leadership method to succeed in the market...) Which means if you're CEO in a private held company, a non-profit organization, a multillateral banking institution like IMF, a public company far away from the S&P or Dow Jones or the local chamber of commerce, you can implement these ideas but for measures go to the nearest church.

Noel Tichy was director at mythical Crotonville GE Human Developing Center. And the book become for moments a "Thanks my sweet lord psalms choir" to Jack Welch. Who is, no doubt, the best known business leader worldwide today. And Tichy used his previous book (Control your destiny) about the great man to quote himself a lot of times as authoritative source. But with the teorics of the book, it is at least arrogant to place such an emphasis in this company. I mean, if "winning companies" are the ones who win today, tomorrow and the next day by the inheritance and labor of its present leaders, how Tichy knew it would be the case back in 1997? Jeffrey Immelt hasn't been appointed to the office and you simply can't know, even today, 5 years after the book, if Welch revolution will survive him. Tichy made an example of his method and of a "winning company" out of Coca Cola under Goizueta reign, and you can go to ask about all this revolution to his succesors, Doug specially. Welch might well become a sort of Tom Watson, the head of the company Tichy's beat to death every single opportunity he has to the point you wonder if they fired or offended him in some moment: if he couldn't illustrate some point in the book with some real practice, then he explain it by default showing HOW IBM didn't do this or that and ergo fell down... and GE sure has, no doubt, somewhere around the world, even if he can't prove that, but the wonderful market value of the company is enough proof. And by the way.... if you read "Straight from the gut" by Welch himself, you learn many of Tichy' affirmations about his practices are, to be candorous, descontextualized or mistaken.

In short, a very, very good idea with a very, very bad excution in a very, worse package.

Business Success is people dependent - Develop Great People
I find this book to be much more than a how-to book on developing strong leaders. I find the examples and templates to be an excellent framework for your team members and employees to develop their mission, objectives and people development.

There are formal leaders and informal leaders in every group. You can't succeed without both understanding the objectives, risks, strengths and weaknesses of the situation.

Noel Tichy has been a leading consultant to many of the big name corporate leaders and companies. From GE, Coca Cola, Mercedes Benz Tichy takes you through his experiences, to provide practical, sound advice that you can pick up and begin to use immediately in you business.

I have personally utilized many of the concepts with my employees together in meetings or individual coaching sessions to identify their development strengths and weaknesses or dealing with difficult coaching moments. The format and style have been easily accepted and used again by my team leades on their own.

I highly recommend the book for all leaders, of any level to develop yourself and your team. You will find this book to be a ready reference over and over for succession planning, business planning and performance evaluations of your leadership team each year.

"Winning Organizations are Teaching Organizations"
"A major part of my job has always been figuring out what works and what doesn't. Several years ago, however, the great disparity between the track records of the corporate winners and losers prompted me to step back and specifically tackle the broader question: Why do some companies succeed while others fail? The answer I have come up with is that winning companies win because they have good leaders who nurture the development of other leaders at all levels of the organization. The ultimate test of success for an organization is not whether it can win today but whether it can keep winning tomorrow and the day after. Therefore, the ultimate test for a leader is not whether he or she makes smart decisions and takes decisive action, but whether he or she teaches others to be leaders and builds an organization that can sustain its success even when he or she is not around. The key ability of winning organizations and winning leaders is creating leaders" (from the Introduction).

In this context, Noel Tichy divides his book into ten chapters. After defining what he means by 'winning' in Chapter 1, in the rest of the book, he talks specifically about what winning leaders do that makes them winners and how they develop other winning leaders at all levels of their organizations. In order to help reader, he emphasizes following 30 main themes that emerged in the book:

* Winning is about leadership,

* Leaders have ideas, values, energy and edge,

* Without leaders, organizations stagnate,

* Leaders manage through times of change,

* Leaders make things happen,

* Leaders are revolutionaries,

* Great leaders are great teachers,

* Winning leaders make teaching a personal priority,

* Winners have a 'teachable point of view,'

* Winning leaders draw from their past,

* Leaders' stories reveal their teachable points of view,

* Everyone has a usable past: Leaders just use theirs better,

* Winning organizations are built on clear ideas,

* Leaders make sure the ideas are current and appropriate,

* Ideas are the framework for actions at all levels,

* Winning organizations have strong values,

* Winning leaders live the values-privately and publicly,

* Values are a key competitive tool,

* Winning leaders are high-energy people,

* Winning leaders create energy in others,

* Times of transition: Teachable moments,

* Winning leaders never take the easy way out,

* Categories of edge,

* Edge isn't cruel, it's honest,

* Winning leaders portray the future as an unfolding drama,

* Winners' stories create scenarios for success,

* Leaders' stories are dynamic and motivating,

* Winning leadership is about building for the future,

* Success is achieved by developing other leaders,

* The best leaders know when it's time to leave.

Finally, he says that "Organizations that have a Leadership Engine win because they have leaders at every level who teach others to be leaders. Teaching and learning are at the heart of these organizations."

Highly recommended. ... Read more

Book Description

This course will demonstrate communication techniques that build customer loyalty, and how to defuse customer anger with attentive listening and empathy, focus on the customer’s needs without blaming, and respond to personal accusations without becoming defensive. Customers are your most important assets, but sometimes they get upset. It’s critical to learn what steps to take to address the situation quickly and tactfully, and what can be done to keep the customer coming back. You will learn how listening, nonverbal communication, feedback, and management all help to deal with an unhappy customer, and turn the situation into a positive one. ... Read more

Book Description

Aldag and Kuzuhara combine key management and organizational behavior concepts with intense application of critical managerial tools and techniques. In each chapter, the learner is presented with a short discussion of relevant theory and concepts and then actively participates in the application of these concepts through experiential exercises, self-assessment tools, and case studies. Throughout the text are examples and interviews with practitioners, emphasizing to the learner the importance of the topic at hand. Internet links and activities provide guidance on how to use the Internet as a management tool and to explore management in today's organizations. ... Read more

Book Description

Cliff Ragsdale is an innovator of the spreadsheet teaching revolution and is highly regarded in the field of management science. This new edition of Spreadsheet Modeling and Decision Analysis provides instruction in the most commonly used management science techniques and shows how these tools can be implemented using the most current version of Microsoft Excel for Windows. This text also focuses on developing both algebraic and spreadsheet modeling skills. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Solid text that really teaches decision analysis
Since Lotus 1-2-3 burst onto the scene almost thirty years ago, spreadsheet software has been a vital tool in aiding business decision-making. There are many books offering instruction in learning to use a spreadsheet. Some books promise to teach business processes but end up delivering a course on basic spreadsheeting with only a passing nod to the business processes the student was expecting to learn.

This fine book actually delivers the goods. First and foremost, it is a solid text on decision analysis in business management. It teaches the student on how to model optimization problems and solve them using linear programming. It covers sensitivity analysis and the simplex method, network modeling, integer linear programming, goal programming and multiple objective optimization, non-linear programming and evolutionary optimization, regression analysis, discriminant analysis, time series forecasting, introduces simulation, queuing theory, project management, and concludes with a chapter devoted to decision analysis. This final chapter covers both probabilistic and non-probabilistic methods, the expected value of imperfect information, decision trees, analyzing risk in a decision tree, computing conditional probabilities, and finally, utility theory.

What is wonderfully useful about this book is that it teaches these important principles of business decision making by turning them into practical tools using Excel spreadsheets. It not only shows the reader (student) how to build the spreadsheet, it also does the important task of teaching the WHY of the tool, not just the how.

It is clearly written, is laid out logically, and comes across as supportive of the student trying to learn this material.

Included in this book are 2 CDs. Included are: an advanced Solver, a 140 day trial of the Crystal Ball software, which will limit your use of it to the term you first study the material, but won't be of use to you unless you buy the software. The same goes for the 120-day trial of Microsoft Project. It is great to be introduced to these tools, but once you have invested time learning them, you will need to make other investments to keep using them. This is OK with me; I just think you ought to know that up front.

I think this is a fine text and could be the foundation of a very useful course.

This book is a great Sleeping aid
I was required to buy this book for a first year MBA course, and i found myself unable to stay awake for more than one page at a time. Not so much the author but the subject matter is enough to make one comatosed.

A truly excellent book
Ragsdale is a true master not only of spreadsheet modeling, but also of explaining complex things simple and understandable. More textbooks should have such a high quality.

Best MBA Level Book on Optimization
This book was a textbook for the required 1st year MBA operations research class at Berkeley. I waived the class, but bought the book anyway and still occasionally refer to it as needed. Ragsdale does an excellent job explaining how to setup and solve operations research problems in MS Excel.

Book was very informative and useful
Book was great but I couldn't believe the price when I saw it. I can get the same book for about $20 less. Anyways thank you! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Classify this itsy-bitsy book as a project management guide that isn't aproject to read but that distills all the basics for you into a quick thumbnailguide on everything from establishing objectives and keeping to schedules andbudgets to providing effective leadership and tackling problems efficiently.Along the way, simple checklists enable you to be fully prepared at every stage,from starting up to closing down, and accessible diagrams and flow chartsexplore different options for action and provide useful examples. Granted, ifyou're looking for very specific or in-depth guidance, you may find this booktoo cursory and general in its approach. But if you're looking for a thumbnailguide to the basics, it'll do you just fine.

It's worth mentioning that thebook is also part of reference publisher Dorling Kindersley's Essential Managersseries--20 itty-bitty li'l books on business and career topics ranging fromcommunication, leadership, and decision making to the management of time,budgets, change, meetings, people, projects, and teams. Combining the ForDummies book series's talent for breaking down a lot of information intobite-size bits and sidebars with Dorling Kindersley's signature design style ofcrisp, classy graphics on a gleaming white backdrop, they don't represent thecutting edge of business thinking and they don't necessarily reflect any uniqueindividual perspective. Instead, it's as though someone collated the bestgeneral thinking on these 20 topics and rolled them out into 72 brightlydesigned and easy-to-read pages, studded along the way with boxed tips, colorshots of a multiracial cast of "coworkers" animatedly hashing through theworkplace issues of the day, and a self-test of one's skills in the topic athand on the last few pages of each volume. Again, they're not for anyone lookingfor more in-depth or focused help on any of the subjects they cover, but they'reperfect as a quickie general-interest reference... and let's face it, they're so cute and look so smart in a neat little stack or row that you'll probably wantto buy a whole bunch to give to your entire staff or department. --TimothyMurphy ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Guiding Light!
The Book is a great 'Guiding Light' - I mention this because Project Management is a wide topic. Any good business needs to begin with a plan to blueprint for operating and building company eg. Establishing, Budget, Targetting market, Competition etc. This book provides check lists with diagrams, graphs and examples that focus on SWOT (Strength, weakness, Opportunities and Threat) analysis of business. There's expert advice on team work, communication and developing Leadership and the authors' co-experience brings to limelight the basics of understanding the Project with topics like:

1. Defining Project
2. Planning Projects
3. Implementing Plans
4. Monitoring Performance

Quickie tips and perfect gem picks, this book from Defining leads to non stop information through monitoring and tracking progress tips, overcoming probs, dealing with change and summarizing assessment on management skills too. Dorling Kindersley's reference books has been a classy pick and gem on book shelf, this book also stands a 'Sure Pick' for lovers of Management field.

Essential Managers: Project Management
An excellent, very portable, reference crammed cover-to-cover with easy to read information, including a multitude of diagrams and clear instructions that will allow managers and team players alike, to plan, monitor and control business projects to successful completion. ... Read more

Book Description

This innovative book teaches students to understand the strategic value of data and statistics in solving real business problems. Following principles of effective learning identified by educational and behavioral research, the instruction proceeds from tangible examples to abstract theory; from the big picture, or "whole," to details, or "parts"; and from a conceptual understanding to ability to perform specific tasks. While the computer is used for computational details, the authors describe the role of statistical thinking and methods for problem solving and process improvement to encourage use of the tools. Hoerl and Snee also teach skills to improve business processes, including collecting data appropriate for a specified purpose, recognizing limitations in existing data, graphically analyzing data using basic tools, deriving actionable conclusions from data analyses, and understanding the limitations of statistical analyses. In summary, the authors demonstrate that statistical thinking and methodology can help students be more valuable and effective in their chosen careers. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Absolutely Wonderful book
Used this book in a 400 level business statistics class, great book overall. Is quite a bit different from most statistics books that I have encountered, however I think that difference is what makes it so effective, this book has been a big eye-opener in viewing everything as a process. The book focuses on principals and the different tools that are available rather than focusing on drilling students with problems. I figure the authors understand that these days computers and statistics software is widely available, so the mathematics behind the techniques is only lightly touched upon. Book finishes up with some theory and a few useful appendixes that go more indepth into certain topics (such as surveying, probability distributions and process reengineering). This is also the book that introduced me to the wonders and excitement of experimental design, which it does a nice job introducing you and preparing you for more advanced texts such as Montgomery's Design of Experiments text.

teaching business statistics through ideas and strategy
Roger Hoerl is a famous industrial statistician who is currently the head of corporate research and development in statistics at a well known company where he took over recently when Gerry Hahn retired. In addition to his contributions to ridge regression Hoerl has written a number of fine statistical texts and has been very influential in emphasizing the growing need and demand for statistical methods in industry (work that may be done by non-statisticians). With the widespread availability of statistical software, the layperson is gaining the ability to do fairly sophisticated statistical analyses. For these people to be successful it is important that they understand the fundamentals and not just how to turn the crank on a particular procedure. Users of statistical methods must understand the concepts of variability and randomness and be able to know when statistical methodology can be helpful and when it cannot. This also means being able to question the underlying assumptions in a statistical model.

Hoerl and Snee accomplish this by teaching the principles and giving the student ideas to help him think statistically. This is different from the traditional approaches of most business statistics texts. Chapters 1 and 2 emphasize concepts before delving into techniques. Software tools...are introduced as needed. The underlying theory is well covered in chapter 9, but note that the authors have deliberately left the theory to the end of the book. The applications and illustration of techniques come first to teach the how and why. In the end the reader can be satisfied to learn the mathematical justification. Chapter 10 reviews what has been learned through two case studies and directs the student on how to take further steps to more advanced topics. ... Read more

Book Description

MAKING HARD DECISIONS WITH DECISIONTOOLS® is a special version of Bob Clemen's best-selling text, MAKING HARD DECISIONS.This straight-forward book teaches the fundamental ideas of decision analysis, without an overly technical explanation of the mathematics used in management science.This new version incorporates and implements the powerful DecisionTools® by Palisade Corporation, the world's leading toolkit for risk and decision analysis.At the end of each chapter, topics are illustrated with step-by-step instructions for DecisionTools®.This new version makes the text more useful and relevant to students to business and engineering. ... Read more

Book Description

This cost-effective pocket guide ensures that project teams achieve high-quality results. It provides each member of an organization with an easy-to-use roadmap for managing all types of projects. Whether a team is planning the construction of a new facility or implementing a customer feedback system, this pocket guide can help you avoid typical problems and pitfalls. It is packed with useful information on everything from project concept to completion.The method described in the Project Management Memory Jogger is consistent with industry standard approaches such as PMBOK, with an emphasis on participation, empowerment, individual accountability, and results, and utilizes continuous improvement tools and concepts. It measures 3.5" x 5.5". ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A must-read for anyone who manages projects.
Whether you work on huge, complex, international projects for one of the Fortune 50 or you are putting together a family reunion, you will find something of value in this little book. But don't let either the size of the book (pocket) or the size of the print (small) fool or intimidate you. The ideas are clear and accessible.

These two consultants have written a project management book for our times. Their approach is team-based and collaborative -- particularly useful for those of us who work in organizations that use teams but still think in functional silos -- as well as practical and flexible. Personally, I have always found other project management models to be too complex, too highly delineated, and too quantitative. This approach is logical, fact-based, and flexible enough for me to work the parts that apply and skip the ones that don't.

I highly recommend the book as well as the approach. If you want to get the full benefit of their methodology, bring the authors in for in-house training. That way, the kinesthetic and auditory processors in your organization will "get it" even better. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Excellent Guide
The concepts are well illustrated with tables and charts. Though I find the case studies a bit outdated, the strategies discussed along with it provides a clear picture on how the industry is structured and different management style. The reading is excellent and not fill with nonsense like other textbooks.

Note to review below
Please note that the review discussed below assumes that you are focussed on the "Positioning school of thought" as propogated by Harvard.

Awesome book
Excellent book. Highly recommended. This book is probably the best introduction and overview about strategic management. It will _quickly_ bring you upto speed about the latest thinking in this area and take you further. It talks about core concepts that do not die with time. References are provided so as to let you delve into details if need be.

If you are just getting into this area or have been working in this area for a while, no matter where you come from, this will be awesome reading. Excellent cases are provided, so you can really apply what you learnt to the cases and do the analysis.

What I really liked about the book was that I could read the book and apply what I've read to my company's strategic management process.

Buy it now!

Brilliant Structural Analysis
"Strategy and the Business Landscape" is a superb guide to the current field of strategic management, illustrated by recent and well-researched case studies.

The brilliant structure and convincing presentation of state of the art literature is to the point and remains, to my mind, unmatched. Ghemawat's work has helped me tremendously to develop a more complete picture of the ever-evolving field of strategic management.

At the same time, deficits are revealed and many original thoughts are introduced. This is what gives this textbook an inspiring and very valuable quality.

This is a great textbook
We used this textbook in my strategy class. It is a good read, I loved the case studies. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

DOE Simplified
As a mechanical engineer (just beginning self study on the topic of DOE) I found this book very useful. The author provides practical insight that I was unable to find in other DOE or statistics books. This is not a book for advanced statisticians, however, it is a great book for someone trying to understand and apply the principles of DOE.

DOE Simplified
a comprehensive new introductory text geared towards readers with minimal statistical background. ... Read more

Reviews (20)