Book Description

This brief and applied text blends description, insight, self-assessment, skill development, and prescription.Andrew DuBrin has a strong managerial focus and emphasizes the human relations aspects of organizational interactions. This text is for the instructor who is looking to supplement his instruction with a digestible text.This text is ideal for short courses, executive education programs, and unique courses that canvass organizational behavior issues or combine them with those of organizational theory, strategy, marketing, human resources, and management. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Dr. DuBrin is a master!
I just finished a 10 week course with Dr. DuBrin and this book was wonderful. It is written in a very easy-to-understand manner, yet still explains the basics of Organizational Behavior. The book is easy reading, but uses lots of real life examples, so it keeps your interest. Good job Dr. DuBrin! ... Read more

Book Description

Organizational Diagnosis and Assessment presents sharp-image diagnosis, a distinctive approach to organizational consultation and planned change, that reflects current research and theorizing about organizational change and effectiveness. The authors draw on multiple analytical frames to produce empirically grounded models of sources of ineffectiveness and forces for change, showing how consultants, managers, and applied researchers can break free of unproductive practices and ways of thinking to avoid uncritical adoption of management fads. They offer workable solutions to critical problems and demonstrate ways to meet organizational challenges like market downturns, technological change, and alliances with other organizations. Organizational Diagnosis and Assessment covers diagnosis and assessment of work groups, organizations, and whole systems. This volume develops analytical approaches for problem solving and strategy formation in both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Diagnosis of public policy issues, like assessments of the effectiveness of health systems, is also addressed. Many of the models and techniques contribute to assessing the changing nature of the workplace, examining organizational decline and other life-cycle transitions; gendering; change and diversity in organizational culture and in workforce composition; the spread of new forms of work organization, including teams, flat hierarchies, and networks; new uses of information technology; and mergers and alliances among organizations.

Organizational Diagnosis and Assessment will be invaluable to advanced students, consultants, and applied behavioral scientists in social sciences, management, social work, organizational and industrial psychology, organizational sociology, nursing, and public administration.

Reviews (1)

Good theory book
This is a good theory book although its' title is missleading. Do not expect it to be an organizational diagnosis tool book. It goes through a lot of theory and pardigms and uses case interesting case studies. It is usful if you want to learn the basic OB theories (such as open system model, diagnosis models). The book also gives quite a comprehensive review of most HR areas of interest. But Saying that it bridges the gap between theory and practice is a bit too much. I do not feel as if I can take this book tomorrow morning and implement it in my work. It has potential but again, this is not a tool book ! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent overview of how headhunters work, but in mind 90's
As a novice in the recruiting/headhunting industry doing research for a business plan, I found this book to be very informative. It has input from a lot of real time headhunters, so you get to understand how they work on an industry level and on a day to day basis. However, in spite of vast research the authors have put into this book, most of the research was carried out in mid nineties (although the book was published in 2002) so the word "internet" comes up only twice (or a few times) in the book. One gets an impression that the resume/candidate database is one of the most important assets for a headhunter, but I wonder to what extent that is relevant given that a few resume databases such as monster, careerbuilder, hotjobs (some of these sites are mentioned only once or not at all) will give anyone access to a greater number of resumes' than someone who has been in this business for a long time and relies on the resume's in their own database.
But, is in any industry, certain things always remain the same, even with the influence of the internet, and this book does a great job of shedding light on how headhunters work in the marketplace.

A Must Read For All Headhunters
This book is really excellent. The authors have captured the essence of what it is to be a headhunter. Absolutely accurate. A must read for all headhunters, corporate recruiters, employers and employment professionals. This book is filled with perceptive insights, analysis and conclusions that accurately portray how and why headhunters do what they do. Headhunters, as well as people who use headhunters, will benefit greatly from this information. After reading this book you will know more about headhunting than many headhunters themselves. ... Read more

Book Description

This fascinating book sheds new light on all workplace interactions, from the dance of office politics to client relationships. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent book
This book is fabulous.Extremely readable, well thought-out, good advice.A must read for those in the work force!

If you need to work, you need to read this book.
The examples in this book are so true to life that I instantly recognized characters and conflicts in every chapter.Once I started reading (and it's extremely readable), I began to notice "anxious dynamics" everywhere, just as the author describes them -- in meetings, in office relationships, even in myself.And I've already seen more than once how his suggestions for breaking the anxiety chain can turn an ugly situation around.I recommend this book for everyone who works and especially for those in the ever-so-anxious business of advertising. ... Read more

Book Description

“This is a well-written book. Quite simple and precise . . . The authors should be commended. This book deals with leadership from a very contemporary perspective that reflects the importance of multiculturalism.”
?Guo-Ming Chen, University of Rhode Island  

No matter how culturally different the person or group, there will be common-ground similarities and no matter how similar the person or group, there will be significant differences. Culture influences our thoughts, words, and actions in ways that are often unrecognized, leading to misunderstandings. Each misunderstanding can become very expensive, both in terms of missed opportunities and less effective business outcomes.  Leadership in a Multicultural Environment provides leaders with the tools necessary to effectively interact with all individuals.  

Although much of the research related to multiculturalism has focused on expatriates and international assignments, Leadership in a Multicultural Environment also focuses on leaders in domestic organizations, as they can benefit from developing their own multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills. Effective leaders can shape the culture of their organization to be accepting of individuals from all races, ethnicities, religions, and genders with a minimum of misunderstandings.  

Leadership in a Multicultural Environment is well grounded in solid research, but written in an easy-to-comprehend style that:   

• Provides a “culture centered” leadership perspective allowing organizational leaders the opportunity to attend to the influence of culture
• Helps the reader find examples of how multicultural awareness can make their leadership task easier
• Promotes an organizational culture that is more satisfying to both individuals and their leaders by embracing and celebrating differences.  

Leadership in a Multicultural Environment is an ideal supplemental text for undergraduate- or graduate-level international management, leadership, or diversity-related courses taught in the business curriculum.  It could also be used in leadership courses taught in education and communication departments. 

Book Description

Crisis in Organizations is the most definitive and thorough work in the field of crisis management, providing detailed research and sound advice on preventing and managing crisis. Readers explore the array of incidents that face managers and organizations in crisis through a thoughtful blend of academic case studies and practitioner insights. An analysis of over 1400 disasters was completed in creating Crisis in Organizations to allow the reader to benefit from the learning curve of those confronted with real crisis. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

We're A Better Company Because Of This Book
I own my own business and was encouraged by one of our bankers to read Barton's book. The work is easy to read, well organized and pretty amazingly accurate. In my nine years of running a fairly large company, I've dealt with irate customers, earthquakes, contractors who filed for bankruptcy (mid project!), two serious cases of workplace violence, and assorted other not-so-mild incidents. This book spells out not only what could happen to your company, but what i REALLY loved was reading how other owners and CEO's got their companies out of trouble...and sometimes, how their mistakes made them considerably worse. Barton uses humor, fact, and practical insight to drive home the case for preparedness. I wish there were more photos in the book- those would have made the reading more enjoyable. Yet the case studies and interviews spice the work up very well, and this may be one of the single best books on management I've ever read.

Crisis In Organizations II: Home Run
When I saw the author on The Today Show a decade ago, I rushed to buy his book, and I've referred to it dozens of times each year at my job in Los Angeles, CA. To my delight, Dr. Barton has completely updated this book, and it's a joy to read. He examines why corporations in various industries face serious crises more than others, and then supports his arguments with credible, well written analysis. I learned much from the lessons of Coca-Cola's recall last year in Europe; even great brands can misjudge public opinion- and lose hundreds of millions of dollars as a result. I would say the best features of Barton's book are those that reflect on "best practices" in leading companies worldwide. And his new chapters on workplace violence, natural disasters and how to write a crisis management and communication plan all easy to apply, whether you work in public relations, security, human resources or in any position where you supervise people. Since Barton's first edition, he served as Vice President of Communication for Motorola, and I must say that his experience there boosts the practical value of this edition immensely. It's less theory this time, and more "here's the way it is" in writing: I valued his candor about managing downsizing, environmental spills and other serious incidents in the workplace. Barton's bibliography is thinner this time, as he has placed those resources on his web site. But that's a small point. Overall, this remains the single best book on crisis management I've read in a 30 year career spanning the industry. It's a must-read if you are interested in why companies get into serious trouble with the media, stockholders, employees and the public. His book is simply an outstanding read. ... Read more

Book Description

The authors of the hugely influential Corporate Cultures reunite to assess the effects of the last two decades of management trends and to offer new strategies for achieving corporate renewal. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

A classic on corporate culture.
The other reviewers have summed up the best points about this book. Anyone studying organisational behaviour will be well advised to read this book. It brings you up-to-date in developments on the subject of corporate cultures in the 1990s. The book has global application. The notes at the end of the book are a useful reference to locate related articles and content.(My comments refer to the paperback edition.)

Corporate Cultures from 1980s to 2000s.
"In 1982 we published Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life. We were motivated to write the book because of a nagging feeling that something was missing in our ability to understand organizations. This missing link was obviously very subtle-but also extremely powerful. Along with other pioneers (Organizational Culture and Leadership - E.Schein, Corporate Culture and Performance - J. Kotter / J. Heskett, Built to Last - J. Collins / J. Porras), we ventured an idea about what lay underneath the rational-technical veneer of business. We tagged the phantom force 'corporate culture.'... In this, our new book, we plan"Deal and Kennedy write, "to chronicle changes that have occured-where they came from, why they happened, and their effect on business cultures. We also offer suggestions for how corporations can be revitalized in the wake of the grueling assaults since the early 1980s. Our hope is that modern managers can use our book to find a balance between the management actions needed to stay competitive and the human needs of workers to belong to meaningful institutions."

In this context, with their words, Deal and Kennedy basically :

* summarize the evidence that has emerged since they first wrote about the importance of culture to superior performance over the long haul.

* chronicle, one by one, the forces that have chipped away at the culture of companies since the early 1980s.

* discuss the shareholder value movement and the impact it has had on corporate decisionmaking.

* focus on downsizing, which has cut the soul out of many corporations.

* show how outsourcing has emerged as the new tool of cost cutters just when conventional cost-reduction approaches have begun to run out of steam.

* explore how merger mania has forced the most unlikely of combinations on workforces still reeling from the waves of cost cutting that decimated them in the early 1990s.

* look at how computerization, potentially a tool for liberating workers from drudgery, has instead isolated workers from one another and made them servants to machines.

* discuss how the combination of these factors has decimated traditional corporate cultures, replacing joy, commitment, and loyalty with fear, alienation, and self-interest.

I highly recommend this study to all executives.

Look Back in Anger
The last twenty years have seen two major trends: increasing study of corporate cultures, and increasing reason to rue the cultures' progress. Since 1982, when Terrence Deal and Allan Kennedy published Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life, the havoc wrought by corporate upheaval has been measured as much by the spillage of ink as by the ruin of employee life. Short-term management, outsourcing, downsizing, reengineering, mergers, and the ever-popular leveraged buy-outs have taken their toll on once-strong corporate cultures. Today, when authors and analysts detect fear, cynicism, and anomie among corporations' employees, their blame is laid unhesitatingly at the door of senior executives. Look on thy works, ye mighty, and despair.

Now Deal and Kennedy are back with a sequel, The New Corporate Cultures, and they shall not fail or falter in condemning what they find. They devote the first half of the volume to a trenchant economic history of the last two decades, exposing the roots of these negative cultures with remarkable clarity and precision. Drawing largely from key books and articles in the field, Deal and Kennedy describe a Bizarro, anti-Rockwell world - culture of want, culture of fear, culture of denial - that makes you want to weep into your beer. Gone are the corporate cultures of yesteryear, supplanted by "negative influences that threaten the ability of businesses to thrive and compete."

This is a distinctly diffident claim, and rightly so. While few would argue that weak cultures are a good thing, even fewer have come close to proving that they impact the bottom line. John Kotter and James Heskett gave it a shot in their Corporate Culture and Performance (1992); as Deal and Kennedy admit, "in [Kotter and Heskett's] analyses, cultural strength itself did not seem to correlate significantly with financial performance." (Not that this stops Deal and Kennedy from deliberately skewing those data and presenting the results as revelatory proof, accompanied by a jab at Harvard academics.) Even if we presume that the strength of a corporate culture can be measured - for which Deal and Kennedy give neither formula nor method - we still don't know that a culture affects performance or ROI, rather than the other way around. Emboldened by proselytizing zeal, the authors have fallen victim to logical fallacy. True, Southwest Airlines is profitable, therefore it does not downsize. But it's bad logic to conclude that Southwest does not downsize, therefore it is profitable.

Deal and Kennedy are offering antagonism over answers, and their petulance is ultimately as dispiriting as their findings. Although their attacks on reengineering and overpaid CEOs may be trite, at least they're supported by facts. But they reserve a particular vitriol for the young ("young money managers", "consultants, most of them young", "newly trained MBAs not eager to spend their time on factory floors", etc.) that is unseemly in a professor and a management consultant. And when it comes time for solutions, Deal and Kennedy submit five chapters of vague recommendations unsupported by suggestions for implementation. They propose, for example, that companies should create and publish fair criteria for deciding which jobs and people are retained. That's all very well - no one wants to feel his company's retention decisions are made by the Giant Claw from Toy Story, which chooses who will go and who will stay - but who decides what is fair, whether the criteria are met, and how ever-present performance metrics can be prevented from sapping workers' souls?

Unable to prove or retaliate, The New Corporate Cultures falls back on finger-pointing and name-calling. It's a pity, really, because the authors have much to offer. Their combination of cultural anthropology, secondary research, and intelligent prose is rare and welcome among the shelves of business literature, and their book is worth reading simply for its chronicle of the American corporation in the 1980s and 1990s. As diagnosis and prescription, however, The New Corporate Cultures needs a taste of its own medicine. If you're going to pour your readers a bitter cup, be certain that the suffering is justified by the cure.

New Corporate Cultures
Corporate leaders need to re-visit corporate values to keep on track. Allan Kennedy and Terence Deal have put a message for corporations in their book. Corporations depend on their people - and people need to feel positive about their work and work situation to make the company fly. The book gets into outsourcing, downsizing, mergers, globalization, shareholder value, and cultural leadership. A wake-up book, written in clear, simple terms, a worthwhile read. ... Read more

Book Description

Virtual working is a fact of life as companies manage teams of individuals dispersed on sites across the country or around the globe; take increasing advantage of improving technology and software to telecommute and teleconference; and begin to think about the human element in disaster recovery.

The key to successful dispersed working is not technological expertise, but a clear understanding of what it takes to get the enterprise ready for virtual work, and of the skills for bonding individuals into cohesive, high-performance teams across distances and differences.

This book provides that guidance - through work charts, vivid "composite" examples, definitions and actual cases - and shows how the technological tools support and expand the options for collaboration.

It answers such critical questions as "What makes working virtually work?", "How do we start?", "How do you develop new leaders in a virtual environment?", "What skills do virtual managers and team members need?", "How do you determine how ready they are?", "Which technologies are most appropriate for your purposes?", "What's the impact on existing systems and structures?"

This book is an indispensable practical guide and reference for virtual team leaders, HR managers, CEO's and trainers. It will also be suitable for professional certification and business courses in organizational development. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An excellent, clearly written and positive instructional
Trina Hoefling is the founder of Consult One Group, Denver, Colorado, and a professional whose years experience in virtual working included developing one of the first remote training programs. Hoefling draws upon her considerable experience and expertise in Working Virtually: Managing People For Successful Virtual Teams And Organizations to presents examples, definitions, anecdotes, advice, and seasoned wisdom for making the most of telecommunication, teleconferencing, and enabling the team bonding process despite the separation of distance in the modern-day workplace. An excellent, clearly written and positive instructional guide to both personal and technological concerns, Working Virtually is especially commended reading for virtual team leaders, Human Resource managers, CEO's, and corporate trainers. ... Read more

Book Description

“This book introduces a unique and refreshing prism that is highly useful for managers and scholars alike. The authentic examples and case studies bring the content to life and make this book a very interesting and captivating read. It is a ‘must read’ for managers who need to effectively manage today’s diverse workforce in order to survive and thrive in the global economy.”
--Alan D. Levy, Chairman and CEO, Tishman International Companies  

“[Managing Diversity] is thorough, well-written and filled with interesting information and case examples.  It deals with an important issue in a very complete manner, providing both theoretical and conceptual content and outstanding practical information. It should be valuable and useful to anyone studying international business management.”  
--Sheila Akabas, Professor and Director, Center for Social Policy and Practice in the Workplace, Columbia University  

“I would definitely adopt this book, since it offers an excellent resource for developing, theorizing, and working out the inclusive workplace in a very comprehensive way.  [Mor Barak] gives many practical examples and very useful illustrations that make the book very interesting for both the conceptual researcher and the practitioner.  It is also written with a very international and global perspective and outlook.”  
--Cordula Barzantny, Associate Professor, Groupe Ecole Superieure de Commerce, Toulouse Business School  

Managing Diversity demonstrates the benefits of implementing inclusive practices and incorporates vignettes from different countries around the world and case studies illustrating practical solutions.   

Key Features:   

Michàlle Mor Barak, PhD, is a Professor at the University of Southern California with a joint appointment at the School of Social Work and the Marshall School of Business. She holds the Lenore Stein-Wood and William S. Wood Chair of Social Work and Business in a Global Society, is the Chair of the Industrial/Occupational Social Work Program, and is the founder and director of the International Center for the Inclusive Workplace.  

Book Description

A fresh, impassioned guide on the art of question-asking--withpowerful examples to use in every workplace situation.

What's wrong with this picture? On the one hand, a passive, unquestioningattitude is considered detrimental to a person's career and to an organization'sgrowth. On the other hand, focused, probing questions are rarely encouraged, andthe skills needed to ask them almost never taught.

QUESTIONS THAT WORK is here to change that. Written by a seasoned businessreporter and manager, this provocative "questioning manifesto" and practical"how-to" book gives people the insights and tools to ask thoughtful questions inevery realm of their professional lives. It is also a powerful tool to helpbusiness leaders create a progressive environment where questions flow freelyand creatively--boosting knowledge and performance at all levels of theorganization.

Best yet, the book supplies hundreds of pre-prepared, carefully craftedquestions that readers can use to find the right job, negotiate the best pay,hire the right team, sell an idea, or change their company.

When companies collapse, it is often a lack of questioning that contributed tothe crisis. When careers falter, it is a lack of questions that created thefailure. In the words of the author: "Your success depends on what questions youask. Workers of the world, question!" ... Read more

Reviews (6)

questions you never thought to ask
A lot of work went into this book. You can tell the author interviewed many people in many lines of work to come up with all of these questions. The book received a good review from the ALA which recommended it to their librarians. The book was described as sagacious. When you look it up, that's means it has keen practical sense. We need more books like that. Hope this review helps.

A Useful Tool and Enjoyable, Insightful Read
I read this book and found it to be extremely useful in a number of applications. In particular if you are looking for a job or career advancement, this book gives you great ideas to help you analyze your own objectives as well as the value that you bring to your company.

I think this book would be of great help to college students as well as they write papers or apply for internships. It helps you isolate what is important and to research appropriately.

I would highly recommend this book. A great read on business trips - gets you thinking.

Wonderful! - I recommend this book to my MBA students
Recent research suggests that questioning and listening are important but often neglected skills for MBA students. Therefore this past summer I surveyed the available books on this topic to see if there was a book I could use as a resource for my new course (at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley), which requires the students to do a significant amount of interviewing. I was delighted to discover "Questions that Work." Finlayson's argument is that in this time of constant change we each need to cultivate a "personal questioning network" of people with all sorts of expertise to whom we can go for help. His book is an inspiring and practical how-to guide for the construction of, and graceful and effective use of, such a network. I recommend it highly.

High hopes, but disappointed
I have always been a strong advocate for intelligent questioning, so was excited to see a book devoted to this topic. There were definitely some good points, but overall, I felt like I do after seeing a long movie I was anticipating to be wonderful, but turns out to be a waste of my time...I want my money back!

A few nice ideas but too long
Asking questions is an important skill and this book contains some useful ideas and techniques. However, it would benefit from some serious editing as it is far too long and is badly arranged. About 150 pages less would be about right. ... Read more

Book Description

This new edition, like its predecessor, will help people understand and cope with organizational change. New material includes the "Focus On" sections of each chapter, which apply key theories to contemporary cases of stunning change in corporate America, such as those of Napster, Microsoft, Ford, and GE. ... Read more

Book Description

"Most companies do a poor job of managing their brands. Scott Davis vividly illustrates well-managed and poorly managed brand programs and provides the best methodology I have seen for improving your brand asset management."
— Phil Kotler, S. C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

... Read more

Reviews (15)

Highly Recommended!
Managing your brands as an asset is one of those obvious management priorities that becomes less obvious under the pressure of quarterly earnings. To a great extent, however, short-term numbers depend on the long-term positioning of your brands. Take a look at your organization. Is branding relegated to a department in your marketing division? If so, chances are your brand is being managed as a marketing tool rather than a corporate asset. Because the brand is the living relationship you have with your customers, it is critical that branding be elevated as a corporate priority. This book will show you how. We [...] recommend this excellent book to top executives looking to reposition a company's brands, marketing professionals who have charge of branding strategies, and for anyone whose business relies on the power of your brands.

Leading-Edge Brand Management Techniques
This book is a must read for any executive charged with brand strategy development and management. I enjoyed reading it and found it extremely useful. I especially appreciate that it provides both the strategic elements around managing brands as financial assets and useful frameworks for implementation tactics. Rather than simply a numbered aggregation of thoughts around brand or a random collection of cases, this book spells out a logical approach to building, executing, and leveraging brands.

A new concept? You're kidding me!
I find it surprising the way that some business authors claim that they are creating a brand new concept on how to manage something - in this case the brand, using the "Brand Asset Management" concept - when in fact they are only repackaging old and traditional concepts - in this case, marketing and brand concepts - and giving them fancy names (BrandPicture, BrandContract, etc). Don't be surprised if you feel as if you're reading your old marketing or brand management textbook in a new paperback format. It is as if Kotler had rejuvenated himself and lost some weight.

There is absolutely nothing new on what the author proposes. From defining the "Brand Vision" to implementing it through communications, pricing, and channel strategy, the only positive someone can take out of this book is that it summarizes everything in 250 pages.

Definitely worth reading for beginners as well as experts
This book is a comprehensive and holistic approach to brand mgmt. The author presents an expanded view of the meaning and role of brands and gives a new dimension, deeper than the single, limited conceptualization of a brand as a product. The role of the organizational associations, of the culture values and the emotional imput is very well integrated to understand the multidimensional meaning of a brand. Another excellent brand book I realy like is 60-Minute Brand Strategist by Idris Mootee. This book is a very interesting read with lots of diagram and quotes, although not written in a traditional how-to book style. The insights presented to understand brand and company valuations are very well explained.

Pure Spin. Recycled material at best.
This book is more of the same rehashed, recycled, repurposed content from the authors. Much of this material is available in any basic marketing text. In fact, this book reads strikingly similar to just about any training manual on the basics of branding. If you've worked at any of the big agencies: McCann, JWT, Y&R, you learn the contents of this book on your first day in about a hour. All the cases cited in this book are stale and extremely weak. The "editorial reviews" listed above are shill quotes from clients who are cited as "cases" in the book.

Remember this before you buy: the author, and the firm for whom he works, use this book as nothing more than a lead-generation tool--it's called "thought leadership", a nebulous term used by company to propagate its own way of thinking. Save your money. Don't become a victim of Prophet's propoganda. Buy something with substance like Jean Noel Kapferer. ... Read more

Book Description

Help your downsized workforce bounce back

Layoffs make the business pages, even the front pages, of our newspapers with frightening regularity. And massive downsizing continues to reshape the face of American business. But what about those who remain behind? Healing the Wounds provides an antidote to the widespread malaise on the American business scene left in the wake of workforce reductions. Drawing on case studies and original research, David M. Noer--an expert frequently quoted in major media such as The Wall Street Journal and Fortune--provides executives, human resource professionals, managers, and consultants with an original model and clear guidelines for revitalizing downsized organizations.

... Read more

Reviews (1)

Identifies and addresses the social/cultural impact of RIFs
TO SUMMARIZE CHAPTERS 1 - 6

Why all these negative impacts from lay-offs? Simple, no one took any steps to prepare the personnel for the changes of work and values. The managers who initiated the lay-offs are still stuck in denial themselves - their method of denial is sometimes "When the going gets tough, the tough get mean!" Denial is the main reason that the problems go untreated. Symptoms of denial are Gallows humor, death paradigms or figures of speech, "We have to be strong", "We are only doing what is necessary", "Chainsaw AL", etc.. - anything except a direct reference or description of what is being done. No one should be laughing at actions taken or at the resulting pain.

Basic economic and social changes have resulted in a paradigm shift for the employer - employee relationship. The changes are summarized as:

(OLD PARADIGM) vs *NEW PARADIGM* = (People as assets to be developed) vs * as costs to be reduced* & (Nurturing) vs *Violent* & (Develop) vs *Take out* & (Help) vs *Shoot* & (Grow) vs *Terminate* & (Long term) vs *Short term* & (a carrrer) vs *a job* & (make an employee) vs *buy an employee* & (Synergistic) vs *Reductionist* & (build up) vs *make smaller* & (develop) vs *cut*

[My own comment - It is interesting to note that corporations developed a system of codependency in order to reduce costs and to maintain valuable employees. This has resulted, over a long period of time, in too many employees. We are experiencing a violent "weeding of the garden". This situation may turn around shortly due to the increasing decline in available employees (zero unemployment). The last time society underwent such an upheaval was in Pre WWII Germany. The German economy exploded, but the resulting unmanaged social pressures caused a World War.]

CURES AND FIXES BEGIN WITH CHAPTER 7 Level One: Manage the Layoff Process (Chapter 7) Practice "Clean Kills" / Redundant Communication is Essential / "Managers should think of how they would behave when they are the authority figure at a funeral or during a time of crisis, confusion, or emotional tension in a small group or family" / Avoid Control Traps (Managing Communication (limiting information)) & (Managing Emotion (find a way to release emotions is best)) & (Managing an Unproductive Image (don't fake it)) / Lead from the Heart and Follow with the Head / Tell the truth and never say never / Avoid Denial Traps (deal with the problem directly) / Insure that you use Fairness, Equity, Participation, Caretaking, and Prior Notification (the more the better).

Level Two: Facilitate the Necessary Grieving (Chapter 8) Read all of chapter 8 - This chapter is loaded with information. Help the organization through the process of Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. Outsiders are often necessary to facilitate this process as all of the insiders are too involved.

Level Three: Break the Codependency Chain and Empower People (Chapter 9) We will all have to take on the characteristics of Davy Crocket. He lived in a wild environment and depended on his own skills and resources. This resulted in a greater sense of freedom and higher self esteem. Change your mindset from Codependency to Independence

"A primary symptom of codependency is that the codependent's sense of value and identity is based on pleasing, and often controlling, not himself or herself but someone or something else. Codependents make themselves into permanent victims."

"Codependents are all collectively conspiring to be something that they do not want to be individually."

"Again and again in my practice, I see employees at all levels desperately trying to regain control of a decaying and nonproductive work environment."

"The paradox of codependency is that the controllers are always controlled; that is what makes them codependent." -- "they need to let go, to admit the folly of their attempts to control an uncontrollable situation."

[The truth shall set you free.]

Level Four: Build a New Employment Relationship (Chapter 10)

[You must read this chapter in full - I can't compress it.]

THE GREAT WAKE-UP CALL Please read chapters 11 and on for an understanding of the new relationship. ... Read more

Book Description

Organization Development at Work— a title in The Practicing OD Series— is a collection of conversations among leaders, practitioners, and educators in the organization development (OD) field. Throughout the book experienced professionals share their best thinking about principles, practices, values, and the future of OD. In this valuable resource, nearly 100 contributors share their operating principles, successful models, tools, application tips, and important insights from their years of practice. Written for organization development practitioners, consultants, and anyone who is considering a career in OD, Organization Development at Work will highlight the points of view that define the "values controversy" so you will be better able to clarify your own position on values-based work. As you read contributors stories, you will be able to compare your career path with others in the field. In addition, this book offers perspective on the debate about global work, with advice for practitioners seeking to do work on foreign soil. You will feel as if you are in a conversation with friends, mentors, and colleagues who are freely sharing their experiences, questions, and concerns.

... Read more

Reviews (1)

A gift to OD practitioners
When I first started reading this book, I so hooked myself on its contents that I didn't stop reading until two hours later, when I finished it. I continue to dip into this anthology from time to time, and no matter where I open it, I always find something that moves me into a reflective space about how I work and what I believe as a consultant. As an experienced practitioner, I really value this ready access to the current views and beliefs of such a large and diverse group of peers. The authors' chosen style, compelling virtual conversation with minimal pontificating, helps me to treat each visit to the book as an opportunity to obtain a range of trusted inputs all at once! This book is a gift to those of us lucky enough to be working in the OD field, and I can imagine the authors or someone else doing a new version every five years or so, as the challenges for organizations and practitioners evolve. ... Read more

Book Description

This book presents the latest research and theory about organizational evolutionary change. It brings together the work of organization theorists who have played key roles in challenging the orthodox adaptation views that prevailed until the beginning of the 1980s. Joel A.C. Baum and Jitendra V. Singh emphasize hierarchy of evolutionary processes at the intraorganizational level, the organizational level, the population level, and the community level. Derived from a conference held at the Stern School of Business at New York University, Evolutionary Dynamics of Organizations is organized in a way that gives order and coherence to what has been a diverse and multidisciplinary field. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Taking inspiration from The Wizard of Oz, international management consultants Roger Connors and Tom Smith have adapted the underlying framework of one of the world's most famous morality plays to propose a better way of doing business.In their first book, The Oz Principle, they described the potential benefits of a related structure of corporate unification and discussed its long-range ramifications for organizational improvement. In their new effort, Journey to the Emerald City: Achieve a Competitive Edge by Creating a Culture of Accountability, they articulate a step-by-step plan for accelerating its development. The obstacle-strewn path negotiated by the story's legendary characters helped create an "understanding of what was needed in order to achieve the goals of each person on the team," write Connors and Smith. "Yet, the journey not only led to personal insight about what needed to change, but also a collective insight about how the team needed to think and act as a whole in order to get where they were going." Accordingly, the authors present a Yellow Brick Road-map here for altering behavioral patterns of employees and managers to get them working together more effectively to achieve superior results. --Howard Rothman ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Long Term Success Must Read
One of the most challenging things for people to do is open their minds and accept new ideas and/or new thoughts about old ideas. Journey To the Emerald City affords readers the rare opportunity to overcome this challenge.

Following the metaphor developed in their best-selling book, The Oz Principle, Connors and Smith dive into the core issue surrounding the achievement of results in organizations...the company's culture. Simply put, the culture of the organization actually determines the results the company will achieve. Connors and Smith clearly let us know that the company culture is how the company both thinks and acts.

As readers of The Oz Principle found, the answers to the problems that plague most of us are most often found within ourselves. Journey To The Emerald City picks up where Oz left off. This is a step-by-step guide to first understanding your current culture and then defining what it needs to become in order to attain and even exceed your expected levels of achievement.

As a former TEC Chair, I had the privilege of working intimately with CEO's and Presidents of companies ranging in revenue from just under $2M to over $60M. One of the hardest steps any of these successful leaders had to take was creating a Culture of Accountability within their organizations. The reason for the challenge was painfully clear, most leaders do not know how to create a culture of accountability, let alone really understand what such a culture looks and acts like. More and more senior leadership teams are searching for the "magic program" to make people "more accountable." Happily, Journey provides just that program, but it isn't magic. It's practical and simple to understand. It's implementable, right now. It doesn't require any special training to understand, and in the face of potential return on investment of time, it stands head and shoulders above all other ideas on the subject.

In Journey, you will find a model called "The Results Pyramid." To borrow a phrase, this model is profoundly simple and simply profound. Readers will find their thoughts leading to circumstances and situations that exemplify and validate the model without effort. The beauty of the model is that it helps leaders define their business case for change, as well as defining the path along which the organization must be aligned in order to achieve success.

Readers are introduced (or reintroduced for readers of Oz) to the best practices that actually define "The Steps to Accountability," See It, Own It, Solve It and Do It. It is these best practices that, when applied and practiced within an organization, will lead to success. Connors and Smith clearly define the path and the processes necessary to change an organizational culture.

The final section of the book deals with accelerating the culture change within the organization. It's no secret that certain activities will impede and others will accelerate any change. Connors and Smith promote the use of what they call, "Focused Feedback" to accelerate and achieve the desired changes. Leadership is the key and the entire organization needs to be enrolled.
In making my decision to delve into this book, several things are worthy of note. First, as I mentioned, I have dealt with senior leadership for several years and believe they know they don't have all the answers. I wanted to have another tool to give them. Second, I read a review by someone who was frustrated with the book because he felt it was merely a promotional piece for the authors to sell their consulting services. This intrigued me because I have yet to meet an author of business and leadership books (myself included) who didn't want to be contacted by their readers and hopefully create some business relationship between these readers and themselves.

Lastly, I read The Oz Principle when it was first published in 1994. I have yet to find another business book that created as deep a feeling about "the right thing to do" as Oz did for me. Journey To The Emerald City runs a very close second. Having been exposed to authors writing about accountability from T.J. Rodgers to Jack Welsh and back to Andrew Grove and the Marines and our service academies, I understand the subject quite well (both as a service academy graduate and as a consultant). This book is a must in today's business environment. The stories support and motivate. The process is direct and clearly defined.

If you have the least concern for how to evolve, grow and define your company's future success, Journey To The Emerald City is required reading.

Gain a competitive Edge
In Journey to the Emerald City, Connors and Smith present the principles that make organizational culture THE competitive edge for the 21st Century. They describe in useful, applicable, and concrete ways how to blast away boundaries, create ownership, and drive performance by creating a culture of accountability. Applying the process found in Journey will give any organization a competitive edge!

David Mathisen
Sr. Vice President & General Manager
Orbital Transportation Management Systems

Good Content, Don't Need Toto
In 1998, the authors wrote The Oz Principle around the concept that "an organization will perform at its highest potential if, and only if, each of its members assumes personal accountability for achieving its results." Thus, Conners and Smith emphasize a corporate culture that is based on personal accountability, with leaders, goals, tasks, teams, and every aspect of organizational life connected to that theme.

I will admit to being put off by the title and the cover. Wizard of Oz? Dorothy and her red shoes? The Cowardly Lion? Do I have time for fables and games? There are some mentions of Frank Baum's classic, some quotes, and some relationships like explaining that managers don't have magic. Overall, however, this book is a solid management book on changing organizational culture. And that's a vital issue for a lot of companies today.

The book is organized into three sections whose titles give good insight into the value and flow of the text: Understanding Company Culture, Shifting to a New Culture, and Accelerating Culture Change. The ten chapters explain the concepts and a process for moving forward in an organized, results-oriented fashion. The book is filled with practical approaches that can open a company to achievements that have been trapped inside by a dysfunctional culture. The key is accountability that starts at the top of the organization with an open and complete style of leadership. No games: communication.

The authors show us how to change the way people think and act. They show how to get people involved in a positive way so transformation can occur. Culture change is a journey, a journey that can be taken at an agonizingly slow pace, a normal flow (whatever that is), or moved to a higher level of velocity and enthusiasm. Graphics and an index enhance the book's value, which is far beyond the connection to the Oz story.

You'll learn from consultants who have "been there" and achieved results. The knowledge you gain will enable you to achieve some change in your organization based on what these men have learned and share in this book.

It's to Laugh
Many business books are a form of utopian literature and should be treated as such. Given this premise, one would think that a book with a title like "Journey to the Emerald City" would be a top-notch business book as it suggests the authors might have a certain awareness of this genre.

Unfortunately, this in not the case here. Instead, this is yet another entry in the "book as selling tool" sweepstakes. In this sub-genre of the business book, the book is the foot-in-the-door for selling consulting services. Little more than a powerpoint presentation fleshed out with the usual miscellaneous facts and figures, these books are short on everything but jargon. They offer middle managers cozy, self-evident insights and simplistic advice that most company employees find insulting or at least insipid. (Around our office, the charts in the first chapter that show "non-aligned" and "aligned" processes and goals are considered a fine example of this facile and fallacious sub-genre as they keenly demonstrate the obvious in the most obvious fashion possible.)

Business books are not known for their sense of humor, certainly, because as we all know, business is extraordinarily serious. Yet, lack of wit and self-awareness are not virtures either. Nor is the plodding purposefulness with which the authors describe their "innovative" approach, although again, they are clearly in good company in this genre.

A shame really, especially since clearly the publishers felt strongly enough about the book to spend some extra bucks on shiny green foil on the jacket. Then again, perhaps the title is more apt than I take it to be. Like in the Wizard of Oz, we find there is no wizard behind the flashy curtain and special effects, but rather the usual seller of snake oil.

An Excellent Book!
An Excellent Book.. A must for all the mangers in any organisation. ... Read more

Book Description

"This book's practical orientation, in addition to the conceptual framework, offers practitioners and consultants strategies for effective leadership - such as empowerment - together with how leaders prepare for ethical leadership.It will be of valuable to enhance leadership courses in business schools or executive development programmes." --Financial Express "This volume is a timely, interesting, and courageous call for attention to moral standards that cross organizational and cultural boundaries, making it a worthwhile purchase for comprehensive general and academic management collections." --Choice The beliefs and values, the vision, and, above all, the actions of the leader of an organization set the ethical tone and standards for the organization. It is this fundamentally crucial role of the leader that is the basis of this book. Ethical Dimensions of Leadership proposes that one's understanding of leadership is severely incomplete, if not deformed, if one does not also consider the ethics or morality of leadership. The book examines the various modal orientations of leadership and demonstrates that true, effective leadership is that in which the leader's behavior and exercises of leadership processes are consistent with ethical and moral values. The book argues for an end to the traditional separation of personal and public morality. It also argues that the ethics of leadership is consistent with the spirituality of the different religious traditions. The practical orientation, in addition to the conceptual framework, offers practitioners and consultants strategies for effective leadership--such as empowerment--together with suggestions of how leaders can prepare for ethical leadership. Ethical Dimensions of Leadership will serve the needs of business education programs, business consultants, and researchers. The exhaustive and integrated conceptual treatment of the leadership phenomenon, consistent with ethical and moral values, will greatly enhance leadership courses in business schools or executive development programs. It is also of interest to students in business ethics, organization behavior, and managerial skills development. The inclusion of the cultural contingencies in leadership, in the context of non-Western socioculture environments, extends its suitability and usefulness for courses in international business and international management. ... Read more

Book Description

The move to teams has largely failed, say Harvey Robbins and Michael Finley, mainly because teams themselves are failing to think through the human implications of teaming. The NEW Why Teams Dont Work is a handbook for team members and team leaders to maintain the highest possible level of team intelligencethe skills, attitudes, and emotional flexibility to get the most out of a teams inherent differences.

Describing what teams are really like, not how they ought to be, the book teaches people how to work together to make decisions, stay in budget, and achieve team goals. Robbins and Finley show, for instance, how to get hidden agendas on the table, clarify individual roles, learn what team members expect and want from each other, choose the right decision-making process, and much more.

Updated throughout, the book includes completely new material on team intelligence, team technology, collaboration vs. teamwork, team balance, teams at the top, the team of one, plus all new and updated examples. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Making Teams Work Right
I was first introduced to Robbins & Finley, when I purchased a copy of the audiotape version of the original Why Teams Don't Work a couple of years ago (the book itself was out of print at the time). Like many others, I found the title compelling. Among the endless list of books touting teams as the pancea for all organizational problems, here was a book that provided a fresh, honest look at teams and their all-too-human members.

For those who have never been exposed to the original book, you are in for a real treat! In this new version, Robbins & Finley present the real-life lessons of teamwork that most of us have learned the hard way with all the wit and social satire of a Mark Twain novel. For those that have experienced the original book, you will find all of the wit and wisdom of the original plus some delightful new insights into human behavior in teams. The section on team myths alone is worth purchasing the new book.

I highly recommend the book to team members everywhere who struggle in the trenches to get their teams on track while juggling the performance demands of today's fast moving organizations. As Robbins and Finley point out, teams are a natural vehicle for human accomplishment but effective teams don't happen by accident. Or, as Forrest Gump might say, "Bubba told me a lot about teamwork, but you know what I learned, teamwork is hard."

The book may not turn your current team around, but it will certainly give you the insight to understand what went wrong and how to make it right next time.

Witty and Intelligent!
Robbins and Finley are highly witty and intelligent. They know their subjects and address them well. This is the first business book that has made me laugh out loud. Having experience as a team leader, I know these truths of which they speak. They offer very real solutions to very real problems.

Great read for teams and team leaders!

This is not a happy talk book about teams.
Read Chapter 5 on "misplaced goals, confused objectives," and you'll start getting a good handle on where most team problems lie. How many of us really understand what Demming meant when he stated that a good goal is not a number? The authors do. They know that a good goal is something that brings out passion. A good goal gives people something to respond to, buy into, claim ownership over. This is not a happy talk book about teams. With all the things that can go wrong with teams, and do, it's surprising they work at all. "Teams are trouble." Having this book available on your reference shelf will help you handle and minimize the inevitable missteps the next time you're asked to serve on a team, or lead it.

A Good Read!
Of teams and families it might be said, "Each is dysfunctional in its own special way." Today's corporate litany states that to succeed we must learn to cooperate more closely. The testing ground for this idea becomes trendy "cross-functional teams" or task forces. Here, antisocial tendencies and hidden agendas are sprinkled across meeting-room tables like dragon's teeth, springing up to mortally wound the best interests of your organization. The good news is that you can do something to help your organization's teams operate more effectively. Robbins and Finley are a couple of skilled veterans who say that "trust is the blood of teams." If you believe better teamwork is critical to your company's future, we think you will find the lessons in this book absolutely essential - whether you're a member of a team or the leader who serves them.

How to work with others to make decisions
In The New Why Teams Don't Work: What Goes Wrong And How To Make It Right, Harvey Robbins and Michael Finley effectively collaborate to explain how to work with others to make decisions, stay in budget, and achieve team goals. They also reveal how to get hidden agendas on the table, clarify individual roles, learn what team members expect and want form each other, and to choose the right decision-making process for the task at hand. This updated and revised edition of The New Why Teams Don't Work features a new section on team leadership which explores the necessary qualities and skills a leader must have; new concepts for addressing team problems such a boundary management; an in depth examination of "team of one" mentality and how to eliminate it; an expanded definition of teams that sees teams and their problems everywhere; the myths of teams and why a sports team is a fitting metaphor or template for like a business team. The New Why Teams Don't Work is very highly recommended and informative reading for anyone charged with the responsibility of team leadership, membership, or management. ... Read more

Book Description

How did a pioneering company in the semiconductor industry not only survive but thrive in the face of the explosive change and upheavals that forced it to transform itself twice in the course of its thirty-year history? The answer lies in the quality of its strategy-making process, contends leading strategic management scholar Robert A. Burgelman in this extraordinary book based on an exhaustive twelve-year study he conducted inside Intel Corporation.

Granted the opportunity to track Intel's strategy-making through his close teaching collaboration with its chairman, Andy Grove, at Stanford Business School since 1988, Burgelman has written a definitive and far-reaching account of how highly educated top managers groped their way through strategic conundrums. His account of the evolution of key events in Intel's history is illustrated with extensive quotes from its cofounder Gordon Moore, Andy Grove, current CEO Craig Barrett, and dozens of other Intel executives. His study allows these leaders to speak for themselves in scores of highly rendered executive portraits.

Using thoroughly tested conceptual tools, Burgelman first documents the key role played by mid-level managers in transforming Intel from a memory company into a microprocessor company during the late 1970s and early 1980s, which led to the heartbreaking decision to abandon the business on which the company had been founded in 1968. He then makes readers eyewitnesses to the complex set of complementary strategic thrusts orc