reading list

B O O K S A N D A R T I C L E S I N B R I E F

by James W! Marcum, Christie J. Flynn, Kay E. Ketzenberger, Thomas E. Schaefer, John Theis, and Cathie H. Tinney

BOOKS

Norman R Augustine Augustine’s Travels: A World-Class Leader Looks at Life, Business and What I t Takes to Succeed at Both New York AMACOM, I998 262 pages; $24.95

Augustine, now professor of en- gineering at Princeton, is better known as CEO of the Lockheed-Martin Cor- poration and a world-class leader. Amid a travelogue sketching a trip around the world in eight days, the author reflects on a range of subjects from ethics to reenginwring, from cor- porate governance to volunteerism.

Lockheed-Martin, survivor in a much changed aerospace industry, ex- hibits how competitiveness in the global economy requires a paradoxical combination: the advantage of size and the ability to act as a small company. A major challenge to staying competitive-for Lockheed-Martin as well as American industry itself-is “not to price ourselves out of our markets.” With talented software engineers working in India for one-tenth what they are paid in the United States, cost reduction is a must, While we sympa- thize with the “downsized” multitude

losing jobs at home, consider the alternative. Only by “going on a diet” has America put herself in the best global competitive position in a generation. By failing to “diet,” Japan, top- ranked as recently as 1993, has fallen to fourth place and Germany to sixth.

The author is at his best when writing on “the education Olympics.” Many American graduates are not just unprepared for the 21st century economy, “they are also blind to its implications.” In a time of feel-good education, Augustine’s emphasis on the need to define and apply solid stan- duds is welcome. --TES

Joseph L Badaracco, Jr. Defining Moments: When Managen Must Choose between Right and Wrong Boston: Harvard Business School Press, I997 I76 pages: $19.95

The problem, actually defined from the beginning in this book, is the dilemma of right vs. right. The author is honest and open about the conflicts that managers must address, particu- larly when they realize that no matter what their decision, it will result in pain and criticism.

Two themes guide the analysis. Specific examples of three different

managers with right vs. right dilemmas are introduced early and carried as par- allel threads through the book, making every chapter as realistic as possible. The second theme is a series of questions managers can use to arrive at a process for making decisions. Respon- sibilities to self, to others, and to organizations as part of society are included. The fact that decisions define and re- veal managerial character and careers is a key point, well made. --CHT

Charles D. Brennan, jr. Proactive Customer Service: Transfonning Your Customer Service Department into a Profit Center New York AMACOM, I 997 2 I2 pages; $22.95

Here is a mid-management work- book for advanced sales training. But if you’re expecting a broad and deep discussion of how to use customer service activities as tools in the strategic development of the organization, you will be disappointed. Sales management instructors, however, may find this book useful as a supplement to relate service issues to sales courses. It is consistent with a great deal of the basic literature in that area and offers easy reading. - C H T

I * * James W. Marcum, Ph.D., is a director of library services at the J. Conrad Dunagan Library at the Universrty ofTexas of the Permian Basin (UTPB) in Odessa. Christie J. Flynn, MLS, is public service librarian at Dunagan Library (UTPB); Kay E. Ketzenberger, Ph.D., is assistant professor of psychology at UTPB Thomas E. Schaefer, Ph.D., is a professor in the John Ben Shepperd Public Leadership Institute at UTPB; John Theis, J.D., Ph.D., is assistant professor of finance at UTPB Cathie H. Tinney, Ph.D., is associate professor of marketing and director of graduate studies and research at UTPB.

NATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY R N I N / Spring I998 01 998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

93 CCC 0277-8556J981I702093-06

94 James W Marcum, Christie J. Flynn, Kay E. Ketzenberger, Thomas E. Schaefer, John Theis, and Cathie H. T h e y

Stuart Crainer The Ultimate Business Library: 50 Books hot Shaped Management Thinking New York AMACOM, I997 324 pages; $24.95

The title is overblown; this is a handbook of influential treatises on management beliefs and assumptions. With commentary by Gary Hamel, British writer Crainer serves up pithy descriptions of the importance of key ideas from 50 books that have shaped current management thinking, from Sun Tzu to Adam Smith to Max We- ber to Dale Carnegie to Alvin Toffler.

Probably of greatest value to people thrust into management respon- sibility without business-school training, the book guides the reader through several large themes, notably leadership, complexity, strategy, the future, and fun. No topic is treated defini- tively, but two- to three-page summa- ries serve as excellent reminders of the importance of various writers and can either stimulate, or deflect, further interest. -JwM

Thomas H. Davenport Information Ecology: Mastering the Information and Knowledge Environment NewYorlc oxford Unkrslty Press, 1997 265 pages; $29.95

This is an important book, a very useful book, and yet it disappoints. Davenport stands as a leading figure in the field of information management, and he has contributed signifi- cantly to the growing dialogue on knowledge management (KM). Here he stays within the information management domain, venturing only too briefly into KM.

The main message is that busi- nesses must escape their technology- bounded model and focus on people and the myriad uses and sources of information that the computer cannot adequately encompass. To that end he

proposes an “information ecologist” model for the new information special- ist. This new professional should prop- erly view information as not easily stored on computers, as capable of multiple varying meanings within a single organization, as something that cannot be captured with even the most complex model, and as something re- quiring an environment that technology can distort even though it requires a technological infrastructure.

Attributes of Davenport’s information ecology model include the in- tegration of diverse types of information, the recognition of evolutionary change, an emphasis on observation and description, and a focus on the information behaviors of people. He de- velops his model through chapters on information: strategy, politics (something too often ignored), behaviors and cultures, staff, information management processes, and, finally, information architecture. -m

Surnantra Ghoshal and Christopher A. Bartlett The lndividualized Corporation: A Fundamentally New Approach to Management New Yo& HarperBusiness, I997 365 pages; $26

Cynics will question the argument presented here, but this team of presti- gious professors (Harvard Business and London School of Economics) cum consultants support its case with examples from some of today’s most successfully adapting global firms. The bottom line: Management practices must change drastically and quickly.

A corporation, the authors argue, has the purpose of adding value-since it controls much of the wealth and knowledge of the society-rather than producing goods and services. From preoccupations with strategy, structure, and systems, managers must focus on purpose, processes, and people. Those people, if they are to best contribute, must enjoy high employability; other-

wise, they are trampled by the path- ologies of constraint, control, and compliance.

Sound like a fairy tale? Follow the authors through their visits to GE, IKEA, ABB, Intel, and Japan’s Kao Corporation for evidence of compelling persuasion. Fads and such hot top- ics as knowledge management are skillfully woven into this readable and compelling text. The “individualized corporation” they describe is one dedi- cated to the support and development of creative, productive, committed people. -m leremy Hope and Tony Hope Competing in the Third Wave: The Ten Key Management Issues of the Information Age Boston: Harvard Business School Press, I997 250 pages; $27.95

This book will serve as an “executive summary” for many contemporary management issues and problems; the authors serve up chapter-length treat- ments of many of the foremost issues and books engaging management literature today.

The messages are simple, powerful, and difficult to implement: Strat- egy should focus on renewal, not re- trenchment (Michael Porter); knowledge management involves proper treatment of knowledge workers as much as managing information; hier- archy must give way to networks; market value-added and economic value- added factors are the better measures for management effectiveness; and productivity is adding value (not cut- ting costs).

The difficulties resulting from traditional accounting methods lie at the root of much of the resistance of second-wave (industrial) management to a shift to third-wave (information-age) management. This view might be expected from the authors of a book cri- tiquing traditional accounting methods, Transforming the Bottom Line (Harvard, 1996). They argue here that

NATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY REVIEW / Spring I998

Reading List 95

budgetary controls should be con- signed to the scrapheap since they produce so much counterproductive activity and gamesmanship.

One might quibble with the overdependence of the authors on pub- lications of the Harvard Business School and the citation of many ephemeral Web pages that are no longer available, but this is a well writ- ten book that will be valued by many busy managers. -m Bernard Homk Strategic Planning in Health Care: Building a Quality-Based Plan Step by Step NewYork Quality Resources, I997 19 I pages: $42.50

The title is an appealing one for anyone interested in strategic planning to improve a healthcare organization’s (HCO) financial health while at the same time improving the caliber and value of services. Unfortunately, the ideas offered are oversimplified and abstract, but are presented with enough business jargon to make them sound intellectual and complex at first. The remainder of the book does not fulfill that promise.

Chapter 1 focuses on selling the idea that quality principles in strategic planning are necessary but too often overlooked or dismissed components to effective and healthy HCOs, which is a reasonable enough idea. Chapters 2 through 5 then cover the standard organizational development model of planning of assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation, with statements about quality intentions thrown in. But the information in these chapters, which should be the essence of the book, is neither new nor suffi- ciently detailed to be useful, especially to anyone less than expert in organizational planning.

A particular disappointment is that the author approaches quality-based strategic planning in healthcare organizations no differently than he

might for any business producing some kind of widgets. Though a chapter on current issues is included and mentions managed care, downsizing, and merg- ers and acquisitions as particular con- cerns to the healthcare industry, their treatment is superficial and at times na- ive. Though a brief acknowledgment is made of how different groups of HCO stakeholders (trustees, third-party pay- ers, patients, medicaVprofessional s@, and employees) frequently have con- flicting values and needs, there is no discussion of the basic issues involved in those conflicts, nor of how such dis- parities might be best prioritized or re- solved. Relatedly, no attention is paid to the inherent tension between short- and long-term organizational needs and perspectives. -KEK

Rosabeth Moss Kanter Rosabeth Moss Kanter on the Frontien ofManagement Boston: Harvard ksiness School Press, I997 320 pages; $29.95

This volume pulls together various articles and editorial pieces by Kanter published in Harvard Business Review over a 15-year span. Organized around the themes of innovation and transformation, managing people, col- laborating across boundaries, and meaning and values, the book provides a handy resource of management wis- dom. If there is a pervasive theme it might be that “powerlessness cor- rupts,” and that the key job for managers is to provide the tools and conditions that empower people to use their skills and knowledge to make a difference.

As wise and articulate as the author is, no one can stand on several frontiers at once. Her treatment of “motivation” is mundane and consid- erations of knowledge management quite limited. The complete absence of full citations for the writings, or any semblance of a bibliography, diminishes the value and utility of the book. Nonetheless, Kanter’s place as a

foremost champion of organizational transformation is secure. -JWM

jon R Katzenbach Teams at the Top: Unleashing the Potential of6oth Teams and lndividual Leaders Boston: Harvard Business School Press, I997 226 pages: $24.95

Katzenbach considers why teams work more effortlessly at lower levels but also describes ways in which groups at the top can achieve high performance standards. His research shows that, for several reasons, few of the highly touted “top teams” really function as teams. First of all, strong individual leadership has been most common and most highly rewarded among CEOs and top executives. In addition, top executives and employees have multiple tasks and responsi- bilities; in short, it can be counterproductive to force an ongoing team structure upon top executives.

This is not to say that teams can’t exist at the top. Team opportunities exist at the executive level, and leaders must learn to recognize them. --CJF

1. Philip Kirby and David Hughes Thoughtware: Change the Thinking and the Organization Will Change ltself Portland: Productivty Press, I997 289 pages: $35

“Thoughtware” appears to encompass mental models and assumptions, the information system, the strategy, the management code, and the intellectual capital of a company. Un- fortunately, the authors don’t spell out the concept very precisely, and that is a shame because it is an intriguing idea.

The consultants-authors propose moving from “old thinking,” such as division of labor, departmentalization, limited span of control, and concen- trated authority, to a new, collective model encompassing knowledge of the whole, measurement of what matters, a focus on time to action, and

NATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY REVIEW / Spring I998

96 James U! Marcum, Christie J. Flynn, Kay E. Ketzenberger, Thomas E. Schaefer, John Theis, and Cathie H. T h e y

allowment (empowerment). They write well and clearly and share useful insights from their consulting experience.

The work disappoints, however. The book amounts to a general management guide to organizational change, with “thoughtware” frequently invoked but rarely developed adequately. It is a handsome volume and a stimulating and useful read-though the absence of an index diminishes its value. Expectations, however, of a powerful new concept based on the utilization of “thoughtware” will not be fulfilled. -m

George Labovitz and Victor Rosansky The Power of Alignment How Great Companies Stay Centered and Accomplish Extraordinary Things NewYork John Wiley I997 26 I pages; $24.95

The title suggests something mundane and ordinary, but the book delivers a deceptively simple but po- tentially powerful model for achieving what both TQM and reengineering promised but failed to deliver: getting a company up to speed on the essen- tials of “keeping the main thing the main thing.”

The model utilizes a vertical spectrum of aligning people with strategy, and a horizontal spectrum aligning processes with customers. A simple 16- item questionnaire provides a quick explanation-and visual model-of where the ideal balance of the two agendas is out of kilter. Using the controls for landing an aircraft (indicating air speed, rate of descent, pitch, and yaw) is the effective illustration for integrating and aligning an organization with its various challenges.

The authors are consultants, but their presentation is complete and might be easily adopted and adapted by a strategic leadership team. The book is a quick read with sound advice and pithy examples from excellent company practice. -m

lames R Lucas Fatal Illusions: Shredding a Dozen Unrealities That Can Keep Your Organizotion from Success New Y o k AMACOM, I997 228 pages; $24.95

This is an easily readable, articulate presentation of the ways in which both organizations and individuals work to avoid painful truths about their companies and careers.

In identifying the most essential element of success, Lucas makes his position crystal clear on the very first page: ‘The main thing we need is truth” and “The enemy of truth is illusion.” Though it is not staggering news that most people can fool themselves into believing things are going well when, in fact, disaster may be just around the comer, this book does a commendable job of specifying and discussing adozen of the most destructive illusions pervad- ing workplaces today.

The author offers a forthright discussion of what illusions are, how they work, and why we buy into them so often, and distinguishes between rela- tively harmless versus hurtful and fatal illusions. Finally, he offers sugges- tions for replacing misperceptions based on illusions with reality-based perceptions.

Business students, new managers, and anyone wanting an interesting read on how to stay connected with the real world in the workplace will find this book a worthwhile use of their time. -KEK

Chuck Martin The Digital Estate: Strategies for Competing, Surviving, and Thriving in the Internetworked World New York McGraw-Hill, I997 253 pages; $24.95

This is a must read for anyone re- sponsible for company strategy. Sel- dom has such a powerful case been made for the revolutionary impact of the Internet.

For the doubters, consider this: Where can a spare-room start-up “ag- gregate” the services and offerings of several large corporations at one swoop? It can happen-no, it is happpening-on the Net with World Wide Web technology. Where have “launch and learn” strategies displaced “get the bugs out before launching” thinking? On the Net.

Martin, who reports on this technology for Financial News Network, provides case after case of the revolutionary power of the Net. The Net over- turns many traditional assumptions: ‘‘pull” outperforms “push,” mass ad- vertising, and even target marketing. The context of information is critical, not just content. Strategies for adding context include creating atmosphere and community rather than simply of- fering service and products.

The Internet as the circulatory system for the new digital economy: the case is made powerfully here. -JWM

Morgan W: MCCalf, jr. High Flyers: Developing the Next Generation of leaden Boston: Harvard Business School Press, I998 254 pages; $27.95

McCall’s latest book builds on his well-received Lessons of Experience (1988) . The research of Lessons, showing “that significant change is not a matter of New Year’s resolutions,” undergirds the emphasis in this new book on “taking charge of your own development.” Given that effective learning is experience-based and that formal development programs are sel- dom what they’re cracked up to be, the next generation of leaders will be those who “make their breaks”-that is, seek and seize opportunities conducive to their growth.

What has elsewhere been called “The Icarus Paradox”-success spawning arrogance and downfall- constantly threatens those in high places and McCall does well to counsel vigilance against it. But before

NATIONAL PRODUCTIVIlY REVIEW I Spring I998

Readina List 97

arriving at the pinnacle where “know thyself’ must be the watchword, taking charge of your development also requires testing yourself. Only a willingness to leave one’s “comfort zone,” to improve one’s value over the long haul through risking new experiences, generates the strategic vision required of leadership.

Organizations must recognize the importance of moving talent into experiences conducive to strategic per- spective. If people cannot be moved across boundaries, “perhaps the boundaries can be moved.” However it is done, organizations must create vehicles for those willing to “go for” the broad experiences required of leaders. Here, the distinction between “performance now” and growth is critical. Whereas maximizing performance often involves the repetition of what one has already learned to do well, “maximizing growth may mean doing things one has never done and learning how to do them better.” This is a book for aspiring top guns. -TES

Gerard0 R Ungson, Richard M. Steers, and Seung-Ho Park Korean Enterprise: The Quest for Globalization Boston: Harvard Business School Press, I997 270 pages; $35

This concise history of South Ko- rean economic growth and incisive description of current conditions has been made even more timely by recent Asian market troubles. South Korea grew into one of the “four dragons” or “Asian Tigers” since it came out of the Korean War in 1953. Hard work, gov- ernmental support, and the willingness to take risks characterize the Korean economic miracle of the 1970s and 1980s. With prosperity came a reduced ability to compete in world markets due to increased labor costs, limited access to foreign technology, and com- petition from other Asian countries.

Large conglomerates, or chaebols

-much like the Japanese Kaisha- dominate the South Korean business landscape. The government supported this conglomerate structure with laws and financing intended to provide safe markets at home and assistance in ex- port trade. This conglomerate structure cannot prevail. The authors discuss seven imperatives that must be met for South Korea to achieve its goal of greater economic prosperity. Overall the book provides an excellent view of recent economic history with diag- nostics for future development. Will the South Korean economic miracle continue? Only time and an Interna- tional Monetary Fund emergency loan will tell. -JT

Robert € Wayland and Paul M. Cole Customer Connections: New Strategies for Growth Boston: Harvad Business School Press, I997 267 pages; $29.95

Everyone agrees that customer knowledge is important and that customer knowledge influences business. But whom do you need to know and how much must you know? Do you work to gain a broader customer base, or do you work to strengthen the loyalty of the customers you already have? How does a company utilize the customer statistics that have been gath- ered and analyzed, and which statistics are most useful and to whom? How does a company determine its own value, the customer’s value, and that of the product? These are only a few of the questions answered by Wayland and Cole in their discussion of customer connections.

The authors focus on the link between relationship strategy and business design through customer-based strategies. This book takes a deeper look at getting to know customers by determining how to use and interpret the value of customer information. The most effective way for one com-

pany to respond to data about its customers may be disastrous for another company; it may be more advanta- geous for one company to get to know its customers individually while another company will succeed by study- ing the market.

The authors use several case studies to emphasize the customer connec- tion, including UPS, Inc. magazine, MCI, Tyson Foods, and Harley Davidson-companies that have got- ten the maximum return on the customer relationship and have turned customer knowledge into profits. And they introduce an effective tool, the value compass, which demonstrates how to use the customer portfolio effectively. This is a good choice for the professional as well as the student reader. -CJF

Noboru Yoshimurn and Philip Anderson Inside the Kaisho: Demystifjling japanese Business Behavior Boston: Harvad Business School Press, I997 259 pages; $24.95

Many books advocate changing U.S. business practices to more closely emulate the Japanese. Democracy, consensual decision making, lack of conflict, and large degrees of trust all are given as reasons for adopting the Japanese managerial styles. Yoshi- mura’s personal salaryman experience in a Japanese Kaisha, along with Anderson and Yoshimura’s interviews of over 50 Japanese salarymen, locates the differences between U.S. and Japa- nese firms in the cultural differences between the two nations.

The book presents a refreshing view of Japanese firms, indicating that outside perceptions are different from realities experienced on the inside. It also provides advice on doing business with the Japanese on a micro-level. Though general in nature, it could be valuable in dealing with the men of the Kaisha. -JT

NATIONAL PRODUCTIVIN REVIEW I Spring I998

98 .lames W! Marcum. Christie J. Flynn, Kay E. Kefienberger, Thomas E. Schaefer, John Theis, and Cathie H. Tinney

ARlf CLES

Stan Davis and Christopher Meyer “An Economy Turned on its Head: Why You Must Be ‘Knowledge-Based’ to Compete in Today’s World (and What that Means),” Strategy and leadership, 25:6 (NovembedDecember 1997), 16- I9

There’s a great deal of interest today in the role of knowledge, but most of the focus has been on assessing knowledge within the organization rather than looking at knowledge- based business and what that means.

According to the authors, three forces today are combining to create “blur” (the title of their forthcoming book): speed, intangibles, and connec- tivity. Each is important and can determine success or failure of a business or product. Together they create entirely new business conditions.

Efforts to “get hold” of the problem will be served by knowledge- based strategy, products, processes, culture, incentives, and infrastructure. For example, strategy for today should seek to establish universal standards and “lock in” the customer and other stakeholders; such efforts require part- ners rather than stand-alone, compre- hensive efforts. What is a knowledge- based product? Ask (actually, get a group together and brainstorm) “what does this product need to know?’ and “is it capable of learning?’

The article is one of several ad- dressing “strategies for the new economy” in this issue of the journal. An article by Dan Tapscott (pages 8-14) is also useful and thought- provoking. -m

William E. Halal, Michael D. Kull, and Ann Leffman “Emerging Technologies: What’s Ahead for 200 1-2030,” The Futurist 3 1 :6 (NovembedDecember I997), 20-28

This is a report on the fourth it- eration of Halal’s George Washington

University-sponsored “Forecasts of Emerging Technologies,” drawing on 45 scholars, technicians, and futurists to schedule likely dates for a given technology to achieve significant use or impact.

Four of the categories studied per- tain to information technology (hard- ware, software, communications, and information services); others look at such categories as energy, food, manufacturing, and medicine. The authors claim that to date their predictions are falling within three years of the fact, giv- ing the skeptic at least momentary pause.

Don’t look for hydrogen energy and fission power before 2020; autos will have ceramic engines and half their components will be recyclable by 2014, by which time electric cars will have been common for a few years. By 2010 manufacturing will be using “green” methods and a significant amount of energy will come from re- newable sources. High-speed railways and automated highways will connect major cities in 20 years.

Predictions are a very risky business, but with technological change accelerating, the price of ignorance can be very steep. -JWM

Barbara Moses “Building a Life-Friendly Organization,” lvey Business Quarterlv, 62: I (Autumn 1997) 44-49

There is little that is really new in this article, but the author makes her point well: In these difficult times it is worthwhile to try to provide work conditions that make people comfortable and make it easier for them to work effectively.

For example, managers often get wound up presenting the potential of some portending change without con- sidering that their very words could be adding stress and anxiety to the lis- tener. Many people overrate the gap between the skills that they have mastered and those that will be required-an emphasis on continuity that minimizes the expected stress

can counter that perception. In addition to the “make change

safe” guideline offered here, others include: don’t make promises you can’t keep; inspire loyalty; appreciate the individual; provide portfolio-building, career-development opportunities; and don’t impose your own values.

Managers must become coaches and career-developers, but many are so insecure themselves that they in- stinctively hesitate to promote possible successors. They will require the same kind of consideration and support that they are expected to provide others. -JWM

Daniel H. Pink “The Free Agent Nation,” Fost Company, 12 (Decembedjanuary I998), I 3 I - I 37ff

Consider the numbers: 14 million self-employed, 8.3 million independent contractors, 2.3 million seeking work through temporary agencies. The IRS will send out 74 million copies of form 1099-MISC, used by “free agents.” What do you have? Some 25 million free agents, or 16 percent of the workforce that are independent knowledge workers (generally) making their own way.

Five of the six “free agents” spot- lighted in this article are women. They got tired of working for people they didn’t respect, or couldn’t learn from, doing work they didn’t want to do. So they went out on their own. Some are getting by, others are doing very well. But generally they feel more secure, working for several clients rather than depending on one company to remain viable so that they can keep their jobs.

The author works the notion of declaring a “bill of rights” and the emergence of an independent nation, but the theme is less persuasive than the sheer power of his numbers and examples. A financial adviser, an executive recruiter, and a consumer- union organizer highlight the work being developed effectively by the subjects of the article. -JWM

NATIONAL PRODUCTIVIN REVIEW / Spnng I998

reading list

Documents