Authors: Randel S. Carlock. John Ward.
Hardcover, 256 pages
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Publication Date: 2001-04-21


Reviews :

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Authors: James E. Austin.
Hardcover, 272 pages
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
Publication Date: 2000-04
Edition: 1

Reviews :

    Presented by The Drucker Foundation

"Austin has uncovered the common elements and key strategies that make for effective collaborations.... In The Collaboration Challenge, he illuminates these key lessons for all leaders, and makes it possible for each of us to meet the collaboration challenge."
--Frances Hesselbein, chairman of the board of governors, The Drucker Foundation, and John C. Whitehead, founder, The John C. Whitehead Fund for Not-for-Profit Management, Harvard Business School

"Austin has performed a valuable service for nonprofit organizations and their corporate partners by illuminating the dynamics of successful relationships. His useful book deserves to be widely read by leaders in both sectors concerned about increasing the effectiveness of their social action agenda."
--Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business School, author of World Class and Rosabeth Moss Kanter on the Frontiers of Management

"The entire nonprofit sector has been searching for the expertise and tools this book provides. Nothing else like it exists."
--Bill Shore, executive director of Share-Our-Strength and author of The Cathedral Within and Revolution of the Heart

In these complex times, when no organization can succeed alone, nonprofits and businesses are embracing collaboration for mutual benefits. Nonprofits are partnering with businesses to further their missions, develop resources, strengthen programs, and thrive in the competitive world. Companies are also discovering that alliances with nonprofits generate significant rewards: increased customer preference, improved employee morale, greater brand identity, stronger corporate culture, and higher innovation.

In this timely and insightful book, James E. Austin provides a practical framework for understanding how traditional philanthropic relationships can be transformed into powerful strategic alliances. He offers advice and lessons drawn from the experiences of numerous collaborations, including Timberland and City Year; Starbucks and CARE; Georgia-Pacific and The Nature Conservancy; MCI WorldCom and The National Geographic Society; Reebok and Amnesty International; and Hewlett-Packard and the National Science Resource Center. Readers will learn how to:
* Find and connect with high-potential partners
* Ensure strategic fit with the partner's mission and values
* Generate greater value for each partner and society
* Manage the partnering relationship effectively

Click here to read Chapter 8, Guidelines for Collaborating Successfully....

Authors: Thomas H. Davenport. Laurence Prusak.
Paperback, 240 pages
Publisher: Harvard Business School Press
Publication Date: 2000-05
Edition: 2nd

Reviews :

    The definitive overview of knowledge management, now available in paperback. This influential book establishes the enduring vocabulary and concepts in the burgeoning field of knowledge management. It serves as the hands-on resource of choice for companies that recognize knowledge as the only sustainable source of competitive advantage going forward. Drawing from their work with more than 30 knowledge-rich firms, Davenport and Prusak - experienced consultants with a track record of success - examine how all types of companies can effectively understand, analyze, measure, and manage their intellectual assets, turning corporate wisdom into market value.They categorize knowledge work into four sequential activities - accessing, generating, embedding, and transferring - and look at the key skills, techniques, and processes of each. While they present a practical approach to cataloging and storing knowledge so that employees can easily leverage it throughout the firm, the authors caution readers on the limits of communications and information technology in managing intellectual capital....

    When new-car developers at Ford Motor Company wanted to learn why the original Taurus design team was so successful, no one could tell them. No one remembered or had recorded what made that effort so special; the knowledge gained in the Taurus project was lost forever. Indeed, the most valuable asset in any company is probably also its most elusive and difficult to manage: knowledge. Authors Thomas H. Davenport and Laurence Prusak assert that learning how to identify, manage, and foster knowledge is vital for companies who hope to compete in today's fast-moving global economy.

Working Knowledge examines how knowledge can be nurtured in organizations. Building trust throughout a company is the key to creating a knowledge-oriented corporate culture, a positive environment in which employees are encouraged to make decisions that are efficient, productive, and innovative. The book includes numerous examples of successful knowledge projects at companies such as British Petroleum, 3M, Mobil Oil, and Hewlett-Packard. Concise and clearly written, Working Knowledge is an excellent resource for managers who want to better harness the experience and wisdom within their organizations....

Authors: Steve Kaplan.
Paperback, 188 pages
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company
Publication Date: 2008-03-04


Reviews :

    Now available in paperback, Steve Kaplan's Bag the Elephant, is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Business Week bestseller that has received praise from around the business community: "Steve Kaplan's elephant strategy is right on the money, as long as you're willing to roll up your sleeves and go to work."—Daniel M. Snyder, Owner, Chairman of the Board, The Washington Redskins. "Kaplan shows you how to think BIG, act BIG, and win BIG."—Jeffrey Gitomer, author of The Little Red Book of Selling. "A terrific read! From now on, when I think about building business and sales, there's no way I'll ever forget the Elephant."—Harvey Mackay, author of Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive.

Bag the Elephant is all about how smart businesspeople can woo and keep those all-important elephants—the big, make-or-break customers. Like its companion, the New York Times bestseller Be the Elephant, it is filled with dynamic advice and real-life examples, delivered in an energetic, straight-shooting fashion that gets right to the core of its powerful idea—how to land the account that will put you over the top. Here are six keys to achieving the elephant mindset and understanding the big customer. How to map and use a big company's red tape to your advantage. Why the elephant needs you as much as you need it. Preparing yourself and your pitch. How to negotiate with elephants without losing your profit margins. And how to avoid the five killer mistakes, from mismanaging client expectations to losing sight of the numbers.

For small business owners, entrepreneurs, executives, and sales people, stalking and landing an elephant can be the most profitable adventure of your life, and Kaplan explains everything you need to know....

Authors: Chet Richards.
Paperback, 188 pages
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Publication Date: 2004-06-24


Reviews :

    Advance reviews of Certain to Win

Certain to Win [Sun Tzu´s prognosis for generals who follow his advice] develops the strategy of the late US Air Force Colonel John R. Boyd for the world of business. Robert Coram's monumental biography, Boyd, the Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War, rekindled interest in this obscure pilot and documented his influence on military matters ranging from the design of the F-15 and F-16 fighters to the planning for Operation Desert Storm to the execution of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Unfortunately Boyd's written legacy, consisting of a single paper and a four-set cycle of briefings, addresses strategy only in war. [All Boyd´s briefings are available on Defense and the National Interest.]

Boyd and Business

Boyd did study business. He read everything he could find on the Toyota Production System and came to consider it as an implementation of ideas similar to his own. He took business into account when he formulated the final version of his "OODA loop" and in his last major briefing, Conceptual Spiral, on science and technology. He read and commented on early versions of this manuscript, but he never wrote on how business could operate more profitably by using his ideas.

Other writers and business strategists have taken up the challenge, introducing Boyd's concepts and suggesting applications to business. Keith Hammonds, in the magazine Fast Company, George Stalk and Tom Hout in Competing Against Time, and Tom Peters most recently in Re-imagine! have described the OODA loop and its effects on competitors.

They made significan...

Authors: Mark J. Power. Kevin Desouza. Carlo Bonifazi.
Hardcover, 222 pages
Publisher: Kogan Page
Publication Date: 2006-02-28


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Authors: Boye Lafayette De Mente.
Paperback, 160 pages
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Publication Date: 2008-11-15
Edition: Revised

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Authors: Louis V. Gerstner Jr..
Hardcover, 384 pages
Publisher: Collins
Publication Date: 2002-11-01


Reviews :

   

In 1990, IBM had its most profitable year ever. By 1993, the computer industry had changed so rapidly the company was on its way to losing $16 billion and IBM was on a watch list for extinction -- victimized by its own lumbering size, an insular corporate culture, and the PC era IBM had itself helped invent.

Then Lou Gerstner was brought in to run IBM. Almost everyone watching the rapid demise of this American icon presumed Gerstner had joined IBM to preside over its continued dissolution into a confederation of autonomous business units. This strategy, well underway when he arrived, would have effectively eliminated the corporation that had invented many of the industry's most important technologies.

Instead, Gerstner took hold of the company and demanded the managers work together to re-establish IBM's mission as a customer-focused provider of computing solutions. Moving ahead of his critics, Gerstner made the hold decision to keep the company together, slash prices on his core product to keep the company competitive, and almost defiantly announced, "The last thing IBM needs right now is a vision."

Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? tells the story of IBM's competitive and cultural transformation. In his own words, Gerstner offers a blow-by-blow account of his arrival at the company and his campaign to rebuild the leadership team and give the workforce a renewed sense of purpose. In the process, Gerstner defined a strategy for the computing giant and remade the ossified culture bred by the company's own success.

The first-hand story of an extraordinary turnaround, a unique case study in managing a crisis, and a thoughtful reflection on the computer industry and the principles of leadership, Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? sums up Lou Gerstner's historic business achievement. Taking readers deep into the world of IBM's CEO, Gerstner recounts the high-level meetings and explains the pressure-filled, no-turning-back decisions that had to be made. He also offers his hard-won conclusions about the essence of what makes a great company run.

In the history of modern business, many companies have gone from being industry leaders to the verge of extinction. Through the heroic efforts of a new management team, some of those companies have even succeeded in resuscitating themselves and living on in the shadow of their former stature. But only one company has been at the pinnacle of an industry, fallen to near collapse, and then, beyond anyone's expectations, returned to set the agenda. That company is IBM.

Lou Gerstener, Jr., served as chairman and chief executive officer of IBM from April 1993 to March 2002, when he retired as CEO. He remained chairman of the board through the end of 2002. Before joining IBM, Mr. Gerstner served for four years as chairman and CEO of RJR Nabisco, Inc. This was preceded by an eleven-year career at the American Express Company, where he was president of the parent company and chairman and CEO of its largest subsidiary. Prior to that, Mr. Gerstner was a director of the management consulting firm of McKinsey & Co., Inc. He received a bachelor's degree in engineering from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

...

Authors: Arie De Geus.
Paperback, 240 pages
Publisher: Harvard Business School Press
Publication Date: 2002-06-04
Edition: 1st

Reviews :

    Most companies do not survive the upheavals of change and competition over the long haul. But there are a few remarkable firms that have withstood the test of several centuries. What hidden lessons do they hold for the rest of us? Arie de Geus, the man who introduced the revolutionary concept of the learning organization, reveals the key to managing for a long and prosperous organizational life. "The Living Company" speaks not just to aspiring leaders, but to anyone trying to adapt to a turbulent business environment. Only those steeped in the habits of a living company will survive. 'This profound and uplifting book is for the leaders in all of us. Arie de Geus challenges most of the conventional wisdom in management thinking today' - Dr. James F. Moore, author of "The Death of Competition".'Arie de Geus gives leaders of the future an indispensable guidebook in which commitment to values, people, learning, and innovation defines the living company. It's in my book bag' - Frances Hesselbein, President and CEO, The Drucker Foundation. Author Bio: Arie de Geus worked for Royal Dutch/Shell for thirty-eight years and is widely credited with originating the concept of the learning organization. Since his retirement, he has advised many government and private institutions and has lectured throughout the world....

    The average life span of a Fortune 500 company is less than half a century, yet there also are corporations around the world that have been in business for 200, 500, even 700 years. Arie de Geus, a retired Royal Dutch/Shell Group executive, maintains after studying both extremes that the most enduring treat their companies as "living work communities" rather than pure economic machines. The Living Company: Habits for Survival in a Turbulent Business Environment persuasively outlines his resultant prescription for organizational longevity....

Authors: Fred Crawford. Ryan Mathews.
Paperback, 272 pages
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Publication Date: 2003-05-27


Reviews :

    Ex•cel•lence (n.) 1. The clearly false and destructive theory that a company ought to be great at everything it does. 2. A mistaken goal in which the predictable outcome is that the company ends up world-class at nothing—not well-differentiated and therefore not thought of by consumers at the moment of need.

Based on exhaustive research, The Myth of Excellence provides conclusive evidence of the futility of trying to be excellent in all aspects of a commercial transaction—price, product, access, experience, and service. Instead, the strategy for your products and services should be to dominate on one element, differentiate on a second, and be at industry par (i.e., average) on the rest. Yes, it is okay to be average as long as your customers know specifically where and how you are superior and world-class....