Book Description
The most comprehensive survey of major theories and research on leadership and managerial effectiveness in organizations with practical suggestions for improving skills. Balancing theory and research with applications, the book addresses controversies and differing viewpoints about leadership effectiveness with a focus on the question of what makes a person an effective leader. Covering charismatic and transformational leadership as well as influence processes, it asks readers to identify effective and ineffective behavior by managers and to suggest ways to handle the situation. The fourth edition of Leadership in Organizations has been revised to reflect the progress that has been made in understanding leadership since the first edition. It provides more guidelines and recommendations for improving effectiveness without prescribing how a manager must behave. And, it covers "hot" topics, such as charismatic and transformational leadership, influence processes, leading teams, and leading change. An essential reference on management and leadership for every professional manager.
Customer Reviews:
Lots of great info..........2007-05-08
...but reads like a VCR manual. This was required reading for a management course at my college. Whenever there was a way around reading, I took it. I'm certain that my fellow students felt similarly. Sorry Mr. Yukl.
Good for everyone.......2006-03-04
I consider that this book was very helpful in the real life. It shows examples for all the theory that involves in each chapter. I am sure that professionals in organizations will learn very much from this reading.
Good Amazoner!.......2003-01-30
Didn't respond to email but did send the book and I'm very happy with the book! I would definitely recommend! Thank you!
weLEAD Book Review ..........2002-02-13
Yukl uses his expertise and credibility to write an outstanding book focusing on managerial leadership rather than social or parliamentary leadership. He attempts to include information on both the theory and practice of leadership in modern organizations. This valuable text also includes many recommendations and guidelines for improving the effectiveness of managers and leaders. The book includes a number of cases in an attempt to help the reader understand real world organizational problems and applications. This is a book that is primarily written and mostly reads like a college text book and is indeed used by a number of universities in their managerial or leadership programs. However, it is easy to read and does an excellent job of including the most informative and relative literature, studies and theories available today. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the study of organizational leadership, leading teams, leading change or studying follower-based approaches toward leadership.
Marc! Au Contrare!.......2001-07-18
Not worth curling up to a fire with? ...
For me, after a year or more I still read some portion or another of this book nearly every week for the rich survey of ideas and theories it provides, often finding something that fits what I'm concerned about, and then springboarding into buying another book or digging out original research articles and papers to dig deeper.
If you want to be widely informed about the full continuum of theory and research in leadership and organizations, this book will become a familiar resource, and a top choice for curling up to a fire one evening when alone and just paging through and finding something new or old you just have to read and think about some more.
Okay, perhaps Marc is more of a fun guy than me, but everything about leadership, and this book is full and pressed down overflowing with the material, interests me deeply.
Book Description
Comprehensive Classroom Management presents practical methods for creating a positive learning environment, working with behavior problems, and other challenges in the classroom.
This text uses real-life examples to help pre-service and in-service teachers understand and apply the principles of classroom management in their own classroom situations. Through numerous case studies, examples, and descriptions of specific strategies based on solid research and classroom experience, Comprehensive Classroom Management features classrooms ranging from kindergarten through twelfth grade. The book's approach is to focus on creating positive learning environments, and it provides extensive, practical materials on both problem-solving and building individual behavior change plans for students with behavioral problems.
For pre-service and in-service teachers of elementary or secondary education, curriculum & instruction, educational psychology, or special education.
Customer Reviews:
Comprehensive Classroom Management.......2006-02-26
I had to buy and read this book for a classroom management class. It is a great book for comparing the most recent research available. However, you usually need to read five to ten pages of what could have been stated in a paragraph. I do feel that I really understand the material by the time I finish reading the book. I have also used many of the ideas in my classroom to try and improve my classroom management in my student teaching experience.
required class reading.......2005-02-22
I was required to purchase this book for a class I am currently taking. While the content of the book could be useful, the manner in which it is written is laden with ridiculous run-on ideas that could be communicated much more clearly. Here is an example from page 28:
"Regardless of the extent to which teachers decide to adapt to the norms and parenting styles of their student's culture or systematically assists students in learning to adapt while maintaining their cultural values, the point is that as educators we are willing to examine our own beliefs and way of working with students in light of the contextual variables existing in the classroom, school and community."
To students who may be required to read this text: Good luck. Perhaps you can change classes before it is too late.
To professors who may add this book to their required reading list: Please, please, please pass on this text and choose something more relevant and tangible for your students.
To educators who may choose this book to answer questions or add to their professional library: choose something else. This book is useless. My advice is your time will be better spent going to talk to teachers who have been in the field rather than reading this book.
Book Description
"This book should be in the library of everyone who serves--or aspires to serve--on the governing board of any organization, large or small, nonprofit or corporate. Better than any other available resource, it tells what the roles of board members are and what they must and shouldn't do. An indispensable guidebook to leadership excellence."
--George Weber, secretary general, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Geneva
"John Carver's Boards That Make a Difference was required reading for board members of the Calgary Philharmonic Society. It provided a clear and concise road map with which we carried out significant governance restructuring of the society."
James M. Stanford, president & CEO,, Petro-Canada, and past chairman of the Calgary Philharmonic Society, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
John Carver's groundbreaking Policy Governance model has influenced the way public and nonprofit boards operate around the world. Now, as widespread experience with the model continues to grow, Carver enriches his definitive exposition with updated policy samples, a new chapter on the process of policy development, and additional resources for various types of boards. He debunks the entrenched beliefs about board roles and functions that hamper dedicated board members. With creative insight and commonsense practicality, Carver presents a bold new approach to board job design, board-staff relationships, the chief executive role, performance monitoring, and virtually every aspect of the board-management relationship. In their stead, he offers a board model designed to produce policies that make a difference, missions that are clearly articulated, standards that are ethical and prudent, meetings, officers, and committees that work; and leadership that supports the fulfillment of long-term goals.
Customer Reviews:
Very Helpful.......2003-04-01
The world is full of experts at what is wrong with the things that we do. Dr. Carver has a rock-solid, well thought out suggestion concerning how to do it right. One reviewer complained that Dr. Carver's suggestions are not realistic. Right is not often realistic, but right is always right. It's far better to start with an ideal and compromise from that point than to capitulate from the outset. Boards that Make a Difference is well worth reading.
Idealistic.......1999-06-27
The carver style of governance is a tad idealistic and perhaps overly optimistic. I have read everything Dr Carver has written concerning this field and enjoy this material at an academic level. But when it comes to operationalizing this model in boardrooms I've seen it fail time and time again. Not to say that the model is flawed because in fact the model is normative and conceptually complete. However it doesn't capture that element of reality from which, in my experience, the model requires - practicality and real-world application. Dr Carver's notion that Boards can do without Finance and Audit Committees is very naive. Most consultants from the chartered accountant genre are saying the complete opposite. In fact most government policy initiatives are moving toward more control of financial affairs of organizations for boards from charts of accounts to fiscal policy. So I don't think the elimination of Finance and Audit Committees is realistic nor is it a terribly bright suggestion. I guess my only crticism is that the carver model is far to idealistic and philosophical for a practical application in the form Dr Carver suggests. Sorry but a hybrid model of traditional Board governance and the carver model may work given the commitment required from directors to follow-though on everything suggested in that system of governance,
A must-have for not-for-profits!.......1999-03-29
This book was the core piece of a radical change in our board room. It led us down the path we knew we wanted to go but didn't know how to get there. His model for board room organization could revolutionize boards of companies in transition, like those of the rural electric program in America. It's a road map for where you already know in your heart that you want to go.
Essential for public boards seeking to lead strategically.......1999-01-27
After 5 years on a local Board of Education I finally found a book that describes everything I know is wrong with board management practices in schools and nonprofit organizations. But that is the easy part. Carver offers sound alternatives to current practices that put the responsibility and the capability for strategic leadership right where it belongs--on the board.
I winced as I read Carver's description of reactive boards trapped in the "approval syndrome" in which boards rely on staff to bring issues and recommendations to them for approval. This pervasive practice not only takes board members out of the driver's seat, but it confuses the lines of accountability between the board and the CEO for the organization.
Carver offers a framework for changing all that by forcing the board to rethink all of its policy with an eye toward board-determined policies that operate at the highest level possible. In Carver's approach only four types of policies need to be set by the board: 1) "Ends" policies (board expectations), 2) Executive Limitations (the "don'ts" for the organization), 3) Board process policies and 4) Board-CEO relationship policies. *Everything* you need to be involved in can be fit into one of these four categories.
Want to learn how to stop working at the staff level and how to help your organization find a true sense of direction? Carver's book offers practical and straightforward ways of getting there.
Accessible, Codified Common Sense.......1999-01-24
Mr. Carver presents a very readable way of looking at how governing boards should work. His theories are logical and his arguments pursuasive. He offers board members an intellectual framework to consider how their organizations are running. The book is prescriptive, but not preachy. I was very surprised to find it sensible after hearing so much hype from "converts" to his method.
Amazon.com
Every year, companies spend billions of dollars on training programs and management consultants, searching for ways to improve. But it's mostly all talk and no action, according to Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton, authors of The Knowing-Doing Gap. "Did you ever wonder why so much education and training, management consultation, organizational research and so many books and articles produce so few changes in actual management practice?" ask Stanford University professors Pfeffer and Sutton. "We wondered, too, and so we embarked on a quest to explore one of the great mysteries in organizational management: why knowledge of what needs to be done frequently fails to result in action or behavior consistent with that knowledge." The authors describe the most common obstacles to action---such as fear and inertia---and profile successful companies that overcome them.
Among the companies that Pfeffer and Sutton say do it right: General Electric, the Men's Wearhouse, SAS Institute, Southwest Airlines, Toyota, and British Petroleum. The book, based on four years of research, is broken into chapters with titles such as "When Talk Substitutes for Action," "When Fear Prevents Acting on Knowledge," "When Internal Competition Turns Friends into Enemies," and "Turning Knowledge into Action." Each chapter contains tips on what to do and what to avoid, and provides examples of how a lethargic company culture can be transformed. The Knowing-Doing Gap is a useful how-to guide for managers looking to make changes. Yet, as Pfeffer and Sutton point out, it takes more than reading their book or discussing their recommendations. It takes action. --Dan Ring
Book Description
The market for business knowledge is booming, as companies looking to improve their performance pour billions of dollars into training programs, consultants, and executive education. Why, then, are there so many gaps between what firms know they should do and what they actually do? Why do so many companies fail to implement the experience and insight they've worked so hard to acquire?
The Knowing-Doing Gap is the first book to confront the challenge of turning knowledge about how to improve performance into actions that produce measurable results.
Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton, well-known authors and teachers, identify the causes of the knowing-doing gap and explain how to close it. The message is clear-firms that turn knowledge into action avoid the "smart talk trap." Executives must use plans, analysis, meetings, and presentations to inspire deeds, not as substitutes for action. Companies that act on their knowledge also eliminate fear, abolish destructive internal competition, measure what matters, and promote leaders who understand the work people do in their firms. The authors use examples from dozens of firms that show how some overcome the knowing-doing gap, why others try but fail, and how still others avoid the gap in the first place.
The Knowing-Doing Gap is sure to resonate with executives everywhere who struggle daily to make their firms both know and do what they know. It is a refreshingly candid, useful, and realistic guide for improving performance in today's business.
Download Description
Why are there so many gaps between what firms know they should do and what they actually do? Why do so many companies fail to implement the experience and insight they've worked so hard to acquire? The Knowing-Doing Gap is the first book to confront the challenge of turning knowledge about how to improve performance into actions that produce measurable results. Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton, well-known authors and teachers, identify the causes of the knowing-doing gap and explain how to close it. The message is clear--firms that turn knowledge into action avoid the "smart talk trap." Executives must use plans, analysis, meetings, and presentations to inspire deeds, not as substitutes for action. Companies that act on their knowledge also eliminate fear, abolish destructive internal competition, measure what matters, and promote leaders who understand the work people do in their firms. The authors use examples from dozens of firms that show how some overcome the knowing-doing gap, why others try but fail, and how still others avoid the gap in the first place. The Knowing-Doing Gap is sure to resonate with executives everywhere who struggle daily to make their firms both know and do what they know. It is a refreshingly candid, useful, and realistic guide for improving performance in today's business.
Customer Reviews:
This book Is The Best of The Best!.......2007-07-26
This book hits the nail on the head. It's straight forward, easy to read format makes it a must read for every business leader who wants to get out from under knowing what to do and move to DOING the things that need to be done to move their organization forward!
Effectiveness, honesty, simplicity.......2006-10-24
Certainly in modern hi-tech work people need to be skilled, and know how to do their work well. But with all that knowledge, and people and systems concerned with knowledge management (and management in general), one may wonder at times why more work doesn't get done sooner. The authors of The Knowing-Doing Gap address this question. If you see parts of yourself or your work environment in these examples, it may be time to discuss it with others so you can get more work done with what you know already.
Overcoming Inertia - Uniting New Knowledge with Action.......2005-11-08
Two stellar professors use their experience and research to address the problem of organizational inertia in spite of our wide-spread and prevailing knowledge.
The premise is that a gap exists between our knowledge and the application of that knowledge in business... and that it can be closed. It cites that every year 1,700 business books are published, 60 billion dollars spent on training, 443 billion dollars spent on consulting and 80,000 new MBAs hit the business landscape... and still businesses are failing to apply the latest well-known and most viable principles and practices.
The authors break down the causes of this gap into five main reasons. After backing-up each reason with facts and examples, direct solutions are given to its remedy. Eight guidelines for action are then presented to fix this problem in your company. Case studies of business that have made huge turn-arounds using this appoach really amplify the authors' message.
This book is a great guide and loaded with ideas to getting the ball rolling in your business, non-profit organization... and dare I stretch to say your personal affairs. Knowing what to do, by itself is not enough... in businesses, churches or homes.
Application of this book's guidelines will make all of your other books, training, consulting, and manpower pay off. The tendency to just 'intellectualize' this information will be offset by your exposure to the real reasons knowledge hasn't lead to action in your experience. At least, that is the goal!
Five Stars
Packed with Knowledge!.......2005-06-20
Comedian Bill Cosby once sang a metaphorical ditty about a man who sat on the railroad tracks each day, only to be hit by a train. He knew when the train was coming, but he just couldn't apply that knowledge to get out of the way. That circumstance will sound hauntingly familiar to corporate consultants. Consider the experience of two consultants conducting deregulation research for a Latin American utility company. They stumbled over an excellent 500-page report completed years previously by a prior consultant. The document had all the information and analysis the company was seeking, but it had never been utilized. Authors Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton expose the alarming gap between what senior managers know and what they actually implement. After four years of intensive research into this issue, they uncover valuable lessons on how to make sure your organization doesn't talk itself to death. Today's companies are struggling to overcome inertia and become more nimble. That's why we strongly recommend this book for managers at every level; if nothing else, you'll know what you ought to be doing.
Knowledge alone is a watseful Investment .......2004-10-10
The only book on the very important subject I know off. The authors share their views on the their a well researched topic.
The key issues in Knowing Doing gap are 1. Top management 2. The culture 3. Aura of being knowledgable 4. Focus on sounding great with less emphasis on performance 5. Faulty Measurements 6. Fear.
They also cite exeample of companies that have less of this gap by focussing on simplicity, communcation that is imlementation oriented, simple plans that work rather than complex issues such as balance score cards. They indirectly bring out the fact that Top management gap in understanding of the ground realities, has a direct bearing on knowing doing gap.
Going by their own emphasis to help readers in reducing the knowing doing gap, they could have reduced the descriptive nature of the book. They could have inserted an overview chart, showing the various symptoms of knowing doing gap in one column, ccauses, remedies, good co examples in another column. Subsequesnt revisions of this book may consider this feedback.
Book Description
From Shanghai to San Francisco, IT is playing an increasingly vital role in helping organizations gain the competitive advantage around the globe. That's why the Fifth Edition of Information Technology for Management offers a global perspective on how IT is transforming business.
In this comprehensive, up-to-date Fifth Edition, Efraim Turban, Ephraim McLean, James Wetherbe, and new coauthor Dorothy Leidner present late-breaking developments in the field, as well as a new chapter on Global Interorganizational Systems.
IT's About Transformation: The text focuses on how organizations operate and compete in the digital economy, and how IT can assist this transformation. The new edition also features increased strategy coverage.
IT's Current: The Fifth Edition introduces new research, current examples and case studies, and updated reference materials.
IT's Managerial: The text's strong managerial orientation makes IT relevant and interesting to business students. Technological topics are conveniently covered in six technology guides at the end of the text.
Customer Reviews:
Cumbersome reading.......2005-10-19
The book suffers from an over-abundance of references. Let me be clear that I can appreciate it when an author cites references, but when this is done too frequently and directly in the text, it breaks up the flow and makes the reading more tedious and un-interesting. So that you understand what I am talking about, consider that the author often cites independent studies. Sounds good, but I would be happy enough to hear about the results of the study rather than be forced to read detailed information about its authors, co-authors and dates of the study directly in-line with the text. This is how the text SHOULD read: "A recent study concluded that bla, bla, bla." The study could be referenced with a numbered footnote. Instead, this author might use: "In a study conducted by Anderson et al.(2002); Smith and Rupp, 2002; and Zhu and Kraemer, 2002; (see also Appendix 2A in this book) it was shown that bla, bla, bla." After reading the first 10 chapters, I actually began to count these endless references and taking chapter 10 as an example, there are approximately 114 instances of another author being referenced by name and publication date directly in the flow of the text! I am not kidding. The reader begins to get the feeling that nothing in the book actually came from its author(s) but from the other 114 dutifully cited references. Although this is certainly not the case, I cannot overstate the degree to which this becomes distracting and makes the text read somewhat like a legal brief! Most authors use a small superscripted number to refer to either a footnote or a bibliography, but that is not this author's style and the book is definitely the worse for it. An additional un-numbered reference section, typically spanning several pages, is also found at the end of each chapter! ENOUGH with the references!
My next specific fault with the book has to do with examples. Yes, examples. I once thought that you couldn't have too many examples, but the author borders on the ridiculous with perhaps as many as 10 examples of relatively minor points! This adds an element of redundancy that bores the reader.
The text also contain minor technical errors. As an electrical engineer with actual design experience of microprocessors on the circuit-level, I only notice those that fall into my area such as the mix up of mega-bytes and giga-bytes, and technical details of systems such as RFID. More errors would likely be noticed by other readers. In fairness to the author(s), these mistakes are minor and do not detract from the point being made, but they should be corrected by the 5th edition. Are my expectations too high?
Finally, the web-site for a book is an important consideration and holds the potential to significantly enhance the learning experience. The associated website for this book contains many things but is well below average.
Overall, I would not have given the book any stars, but the rating system wouldn't let me. While up-to-date, it is expensive, full of distractions and not of the caliber to which I am accustomed. It did not meet my expectations. Other readers with whom I am familiar seem to agree that the text seems to be written more as a display of the author's undeniable academic prowess than as a vehicle for learning. Sorry, NO STARS for that!
Nothing Great.......2001-12-05
I bought this book as requirement for an MIS class. The book has good graphics, but the authors have tried to cram in a lot of information. As a result, things have'nt been explained systematically. One has to move to a later chapter to look for things discussed earlier. The quality of writing leaves much to be desired. In a nutshell, the book is only ordinary. It is much like a glossy story book for children, certainly not worth the price.
Full of Information on Information System.......2001-08-19
If you want make a decision whether you apply a new Information System or not to your organization, buy this book. There are lots of real world examples and reasons to go to IT. It is an excellent book for all those who are in the any level of management position with little or no IT background. If you are going to develop a software product and be a multimillionaire, buy one. It will inspire you. It is also a marvelous book for IT professionals who want to know real world of business and its relationships with what they are doing. As usual, every good thing has it own short falls. This book is not organized well enough to balance with the weight of subjects it discusses. For example, Chapter 2.1 INFORMATION SYSTEMS: CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS does not have any concepts and definitions of IS. Rather, you can find them in Chapter 1 (page 17). It also contains same concepts in different places and repeat similar explanations.
One of the best textbook!.......2001-08-09
This is one of the best book in IT Management (for upper level undergraduage or graduate level course). I have found that the book has been very updated in the pace of the current trend, and is providing one of the best and balanced treatment (for very broad field, but with fairly in-depth coverages in each critical area of IS and IT management) with the solid managerial and profound organizational groundwork. Some of the chapters that I enjoy reading is Ch.3 (Strategic Information Systems), Ch.4 (Business Process Reengineering and Information Technology), Ch.6 (Electronic Commerce), and especially Ch.12 and Ch.13 (Planning for Information Technology and Systems, Information Technology Economics) for Managing IT. My appraisal about this book is its well-balanced and insightful critiques (to rescue and enpower many of the simple and naive, or stubborn, from many of the crafty propaganda, illustions and deceptions of today's "rise-and-die-quick" empty promises and sales pictchs in this field). This is one of the main reason that I have adopted this book for my students.
Book Description
The Power of Appreciative Inquiry describes a new strategy that inspires people and brings about a higher performance level in any organization. This method encourages people to study, discuss, learn from, and build on what works well when they are at their best, rather than focusing on what's going wrong.
The theory, practice, and spirit of this approach to organizational change is described in plain language. The authors provide guidelines for defining the change agenda, initiative, or project; forming the "steering team"; and launching an organization-wide kick off. Case histories demonstrate how organizations can attain sustained positive change by studying their strengths.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book describing important new planning tool.......2007-10-17
The book, written by Appreciative Inquiry (AI) pioneers and current thought leaders who continue to fine-tune this approach, provides an excellent overview of the AI philosophy and is accompanied by concrete examples that show its value and application.
A Life-Changer for Me.......2006-12-12
Appreciative Inquiry is a process that I feel is one of the most powerful there is for - as the subtitle of this book says - offering a practical tool to create positive change. It's easy to talk in abstract terms about change and improving the world, but it isn't often we come across a way to actually make it happen in concrete terms. AI is one of those tools. This book offers a very thorough guide to the history, mindset, methodology and diverse potential use of this powerful process. In addition, it was instrumental in the startup and methods that I now use in my own coaching, consulting and training firm. It was both an inspiration and a way of approaching the world that has helped me grow tremendously.
The right balance of principles and methodology.......2006-11-03
As an OD professional, I own a dozen different books on AI. This book is the one I most frequently buy for my business leader clients because it offers a great balance between principles and methodology. The clear writing, ongoing case examples and useful tips make "The Power of Appreciative Inquiry" a powerful resource for consultants and managers interested in putting AI into immediate practice.
Appreciative Inquiry.......2006-09-28
This is an excellent book. It is very readable while it explains the theory and foundations of AI. There are examples of its use in the for profit and non profit world. I have been involved in strategic planning for several year with non profits and this is one process that folks get excited about. I would highly recommend this book and "The Appreciative Inquiry Summit" to get a practical outline on how the process can be put into practice with groups and organziations.
Inspiring and Practical.......2006-05-03
As a professional organization development consultant for over 20 years, I have found The Power of Appreciative Inquiry extremely helpful, not only in change consultation but in many other aspects of working with human systems. I recommend it highly.
Book Description
Now in Paperback
"This remarkable set of essays defines the role of imagination in general education, arts education, aesthetics, literature, and the social and multicultural context.... The author argues for schools to be restructured as places where students reach out for meanings and where the previously silenced or unheard may have a voice. She invites readers to develop processes to enhance and cultivate their own visions through the application of imagination and the arts. Releasing the Imagination should be required reading for all educators, particularly those in teacher education, and for general and academic readers."
--Choice
"Maxine Greene, with her customary eloquence, makes an impassioned argument for using the arts as a tool for opening minds and for breaking down the barriers to imagining the realities of worlds other than our own familiar cultures.... There is a strong rhythm to the thoughts, the arguments, and the entire sequence of essays presented here."
--American Journal of Education
Customer Reviews:
Pedagogically provoking but also repetitive.......2007-08-23
This was a required text for a literacy studies graduate class. The context was pedagogically provoking along the threads of progressive modern education standards that are taught to budding teachers. Some repetition was present as it is a lengthy text with a primary focus and one author. My classmates and I were a bit disappointed with the lack of example and proposals for the curriculum/pedagogy changes being presented. This is a text to be read for establishing perspective not for quick tips or golden ticket ideas.
One of the most important books I've ever read.......2004-01-08
Maxine Greene defends the role of the arts as social medicine and advancement. She brilliantly argues for maintaining art in curriculum. Art often requires of us to imagine things which do not exist in reality. This excercise is vital in creating social change. In order to create a new and better world, we must first imagine it. We must encourage our children (and adults for that matter) to imagine. That's the first step and I feel society becoming less imaginative and more homogenized. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK!!! AND BUY A COPY FOR A TEACHER.
Amazon.com
What do the Honda Supercub, Intel's 8088 processor, and hydraulic excavators have in common? They are all examples of disruptive technologies that helped to redefine the competitive landscape of their respective markets. These products did not come about as the result of successful companies carrying out sound business practices in established markets. In The Innovator's Dilemma, author Clayton M. Christensen shows how these and other products cut into the low end of the marketplace and eventually evolved to displace high-end competitors and their reigning technologies.
At the heart of The Innovator's Dilemma is how a successful company with established products keeps from being pushed aside by newer, cheaper products that will, over time, get better and become a serious threat. Christensen writes that even the best-managed companies, in spite of their attention to customers and continual investment in new technology, are susceptible to failure no matter what the industry, be it hard drives or consumer retailing. Succinct and clearly written, The Innovator's Dilemma is an important book that belongs on every manager's bookshelf. Highly recommended. --Harry C. Edwards
Book Description
The Innovator's Dilemma demonstrates why outstanding companies that had their competitive antennae up, listened astutely to customers, and invested aggressively in new technologies still lost their market dominance. Drawing on patterns of innovation in a variety of industries, the author argues that good business practices can, nevertheless, weaken a great firm. He shows how truly important, breakthrough innovations are often initially rejected by customers that cannot currently use them, leading firms to allow their most important innovations to languish. Many companies now face the innovator's dilemma. Keeping close to customers is critical for current success. But long-term growth and profits depend upon a very different managerial formula. This book will help managers see the changes that may be coming their way and will show them how to respond for success. The Management of Innovation and Change Series.
Download Description
Revised, updated, and with a new chapter, this book continues to take the radical position that great companies can fail precisely because they do everything right. It demonstrates why outstanding companies lose their market leadership when confronted with disruptive technology--and it explains how to avoid a similar fate. Drawing on insights from a number of industries--such as the computer and disk drive industries, discount retailing, minimills, pharmaceuticals, and the automobile industry--Christensen shows why good management often turns out to be all wrong--and what to do about it.
Customer Reviews:
No Dilemma Here.......2007-08-18
It is the typical manager's nightmare. A startup with a powerful idea wipes out all the dominance your large ogranisation had. It can happen overnite and without warning.
How do you stop this nightmare from happening? Well, the answer could lie in The Innovator's Dilemma.
Kishore Dharmarajan
Author of Eightstorm: 8-Step Brainstorming for Innovative Managers
A disruptive view on innovation.......2007-08-09
Professor Clayton Christensen introduced the term "disruptive innovation" as a management buzzword, the whole book spins around this concept and offers very perturbing views on why being a star performer is a major threat to pass the next opportunity.
First, a definition: disruptive innovations are those that offer "less" in the critical performance parameters of current customers. As a consequence disruptive innovators have to look for different customers than the ones that established companies already have.
To make the point a deep analysis of the hard disk drive industry is made. More than 100 innovations are analysed and only 5 are claimed as being disruptive: the progressive reduction of size from 14", to 8", to 5 1/4", etc. All follow the same pattern: the innovation had lower performance on capacity which was the critical parameter for existing customers and innovators had to find new customers, eg for the 8" drive the mini-computer manufacturers instead of mainframe manufacturers. In fact innovations were so disruptive that almost none of the established companies was able to be successful in the new market. Although current players where by and large able to bring forward the other 100 sustaining inovations without major troubles.
The second part of the book recommends how to make disruptive innovations work, with supporting evidence from examples. This are:
-Create a new organization to deal with the innovation
-Match organization and opportunity size
-Allow the organization to fail rapidly and inexpensively and move on
-Leverage some of the existing resources but not the values and processes of the main organization
-Spend time looking for the right customers rather than the right technology.
The surprising learning is that what impedes that good companies cannot profit from disruptive innovations are that they are good at what they do in their main business not that htey are bad. The hot topic is still when a disruptive innovation is comming how can we spot and capitalise on it, and put ourselves in the dilemma of chosing the best option.
A well laid out, thought provoking and seminal work on innovation.
Repetitive.......2007-06-23
It was a hassle getting through this book, but overall it was worth it. A lot of good lessons learned, but he says the same things over and over again. Read the first and last chapters and you'll be fine.
Business calssic.......2007-06-17
The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen is a must read book for any person interested in keeping their business moving forward or for any person starting a business. Christensen clearly exposes the traps that cause successful companies to stop innovating and succumb to innovative new firms. The material is presented as a series of fascinating case studies with commentary.
just great book.......2007-05-12
Just great book for those considering start their own business.
Would be helpful for bean counters in large corporations too.
Book Description
Successful management depends on the ability to quickly and effectively manage conflicts. Conflict Resolution includes hands-on information for effectively communicating with employees, disciplining and even terminating employees, understanding and using organizational politics, and more.
Download Description
Successful management depends on the ability to quickly and effectively manage conflicts. Conflict Resolution includes hands-on information for effectively communicating with employees, disciplining and even terminating employees, understanding and using organizational politics, and more.
Customer Reviews:
A Must Read for Managing Workplace Conflict.......2007-06-15
Daniel Dana, aka the "conflict doctor", is an established authority on workplace conflict management and resolution. In this book, he helps readers to understand the nature and cost of conflict within the workplace and offers a toolkit for managing and resolving such conflicts by advancing a concept for employees and managers to acquire skills for resolving conflicts between oneself and another and as a third part between others.
A unique feature of the publication is the author's introduction of a tool for calculating the monetary cost of conflict within any organization that should get the attention of those responsible for monitoring the corporate bottom line. It uses practical cases to illustrate important concepts and offers alternatives to the universal and innate human 'fight or flight' response to conflict, while sharing insights on why it is important to understand the structure of conflict in order to know how to resolve it successfully.
As a certified trainer of Managing Workplace Conflict and subject matter expert with Mediation Training Institute (MTI), an international organization founded by the author, I have found this publication and a companion volume by the same author, "Managing Differences" to be an invaluable training resource for understanding the nature, cost, management and resolution of workplace conflict.
This insightful, comprehensive and well written self-help volume is a must read for employees and managers in any organizational setting and a priceless resource for the student of conflict management and workplace dispute resolution.
Great resource.......2007-05-09
I've trained through MTI with Daniel Dana and his approach to conflict is easy to understand and implement within personal and professsional organizations. This book offers practical principles in an easy to read format.
Looking for the basics in CR, this is your book!!!.......2005-08-02
This is a great intro to the skills of a mediator, or just a human being in this day and age. Daniel Dana is a leading teacher in this area. Anyone who is looking to attain this skill will be greatly served by reading this book.
Handy book for resolving conflicts........2001-12-12
This book gives the main points in simple language that anyone can understand. Further all the points and key terms a mediator needs to remember are hightlighted and enclosed in boxes on the relevant pages.
All points are explained with examples and simple cases.
I recommend this book for all who prepare for examination. This is a good book for quick reference.
Usable information.......2001-05-22
I found this book to be of tremendous value. Conflict Resolution is an easy to read resource that is full of practical information that can be applied immediately on the job. It is not only a must-have for managers and supervisors, but also an essential resource for anyone who would like to have more effective relationships and live a conflict free life. Daniel Dana writes with a friendly and often humorus style and it is clear that he has a vast knowledge of this topic. He has a great ability to take a complex subject and make it simple and easy to use with specific "how-to" steps, and that really makes this book valuable to me. I have now successfully used the resolution approaches outlined in this book both in my profession as a consultant and trainer, and in a family conflict situation that was causing a lot of pain. Additionally, the ideas in this book have worked for me in both one-on-one conflicts and group conflicts. The bottom line - this works.
Average customer rating:
- Delightful excursion in thinking about how to think
- A great primer and reference to fall back on
- Interesting & valuable, though philosophical > statistical
- not for the technically minded
- Great treatise on critical thinking and organization
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Turning Numbers into Knowledge: Mastering the Art of Problem Solving
Jonathan G. Koomey
Manufacturer: Analytics Press
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Beautiful Evidence
ASIN: 0970601905 |
Book Description
Mastering the art of problem solving takes more than proficiency with basic calculations; it requires understanding how people use information, recognizing the importance of ideology, learning the art of storytelling, and acknowledging the important distinction between facts and values. Intended for professors, managers, entrepreneurs, and students, this guide addresses these and other essential skills. With clear prose, quotations, and exercises for solving problems in the real world, this book serves as an ideal training manual for those who are new to or intimidated by quantitative analysis and an excellent refresher for those who have more experience but want to improve the quality of their data, the clarity of their graphics, and the cogency of their arguments.
Customer Reviews:
Delightful excursion in thinking about how to think.......2007-04-20
It is different from, and for many purposes, better than a science textbook. More than enough science books have been written, but TNIK is better because it teaches readers how to think about the data on which science is built. Its fresh approach to understanding the natural world as well as human-made systems is a noteworthy improvement over the plug-in, grind-out perspective that academic classes typically offer and that turns off students.
A great primer and reference to fall back on.......2005-11-04
While no doubt I've heard many of nuggets contained in the book over the course of my high school and college days, I found Koomey's book a pleasurable read and useful synthesis of approaches and tips for completing quality research and analyses. Internalizing Koomey's advice is going to help most readers be more discriminating consumers of published research and better authors of their own research. It's a reference source I've already gone back to myself in just a few weeks and a great training resource for new consultants my company hires.
Interesting & valuable, though philosophical > statistical .......2005-02-01
I expected the author to talk much about statistical analysis and related "technical stuff". I had been very wrong. In fact, the book can be regarded as a warning to common people about the "irrelevancy" and "inaccuracy" of data or information we encounter or process so that we can perform better analysis of on our own. As from pg 197, "of primary importance from this book are the following lessons:-"
- Don't be intimidated by anyone (esp those know-it-alls)
- Be a critical thinker
- Don't confuse what's countable with what really counts
- Get organized
- Question authority
- Dig into the numbers
- Focus on the essential
- Document, document, document
- Use the internet
- Remember that others don't care as much about your work as you do
- Synthesis follows analysis
In short, a good read. Dont miss it.
p.s. I like the following quotes from the book very much. (The author did use over 31 quotes with at least one for each chapter)
Just because I use a study to refute another study does not mean my study is right. It just means I believe it. Caveat Emptor. - Cynthia Crossen
Whether or not someone else knows it all isn't really relevant; the only thing that's relevant is what you know and what you do. - Robert Ringer
not for the technically minded.......2003-01-18
This is an entertaining and well written book on some of the do's and don'ts of data analysis. To quote from Dr. Beers review below, "The main emphasis is on the art of data interpretation." Indeed there are useful tools here for performing sanity checks and for asking critical questions about all sorts of data collections. ... The examples are, at best, sketchy and few in number. The anectodes are amusing but not terribly informative. I would have much preferred more concrete examples and further discussion on some technical matters. ....
Great treatise on critical thinking and organization.......2002-12-18
"Turning Numbers Into Knowledge: Mastering the Art of Problem Solving" should be required reading for anyone engaged in producing, reading, or analysing information. Based on the title one might assume that I mean numerical information, but that is not the case at all. The basic principles, such as how to sift through information and the importance of documentation of sources, are important parts of any information product. In fact, except for the sections on graphs, tables, normalizing data and a few others, the rest of the book (fully at least three quarters of it) is dedicated to determining what constitutes good information, good techniques, good analysis, good documentation, etc. This is a book on problem solving techniques and analysis of the information products of others.
Filled with useful tools and tips for problem solving under real-life situations it is one of the most useful books available. "Turning Numbers Into Knowledge: Mastering the Art of Problem Solving" is a masterful work in the area of critical analysis and a highly recommended read for anyone involved in creating or using information of any kind.
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