Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.
After the business plan, the first step for any new company is choosing a name-a seemingly simple activity which can be extremely challenging. The next and equally challenging step is designing a logo that is eye catching, appropriate, and reflective of the chosen name of the business. Even for the seasoned designer, this is a remarkably difficult task.
Logo Savvy will help readers understand how to define the right approach and achieve an innovative and unique solution for both the name and the logo design. Chapters showcase companies whose identities have evolved visually through the introduction of a great name, as well as companies which have developed a visual identity in tandem with a name. Case studies, corresponding side bars, and tips provide designers with the inspiration and tools they need to find the right approach for their own clients.
Will Your Organization Still Be Here in Ten Years?
It's a familiar story: A company rises to become an industry leader. Competitors try to emulate it. Analysts rave about it. The CEO's picture is splashed across magazine covers. Then the company stumbles, profits erode, and the stock plummets. How does this happen? Why do good companies so often go bad? More important, what can you do to prevent it from happening to your company?
In Revival of the Fittest, Donald N. Sull takes a provocative look at corporate failure and proposes a practical new model for effecting change that can vastly increase your organization's lifespan. Ironically, argues Sull, leaders sow the seeds of failure during a company's most successful times, when they make a set of commitments-whether to a core strategy, a key customer, or an innovative manufacturing method-that constitute the company's success formula. Managers become so married to the formula that they can't divorce themselves from it when the competitive situation changes. They respond to the future by doing more of what worked in the past-a phenomenon Sull calls "active inertia."
Based on extensive global research into successful and failed transformations across many industries, Revival of the Fittest introduces a three-step model for making transforming commitments-actions that prevent managers from reinforcing old behaviors in the face of change. Sull identifies five areas in which transforming commitments can be anchored-strategic frames, processes, relationships, resources, and values-and provides diagnostic tests, hands-on tools, and real company examples to show how managers can:
In an unpredictable marketplace, commitments can make and break a company. But Sull shows that corporate demise is not inevitable. Through transforming commitments, revival of the fittest is possible-and managers can make the difference.
Donald N. Sull is Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Entrepreneurial Management area at Harvard Business School.
Customer Reviews:
the leadership commitment dilemma.......2005-07-03
Donald Sull is Associate Professor of Management at London Business School.
Leadership is about making commitments and seeing them through.
There are two dangers with commitment making. The first danger is that the commitments fail. Sull argues that the second danger is that the commitment succeeds. A series of successful commitments can be bundled up in what Sull calls a company's success formula. In an every changing world, leaders must guard against being prisoners of their own success formulas.
The most interesting part of this book is his creative pairing of similar companies in similar industries who took different paths of either honoring or destroying their success formulas. The stories of Firestone versus Goodyear in the tire industry have extraordinary value for us today and are well worth reading.
What does this mean for those who serve on Boards of Directors?
BOARDS WANT TO HIRE CHAMPIONS
Boards want to hire champions. Champions are bred to be decisive and self-confident. They love making commitments and seeing them through.
As Donald Sull argues, when champions make commitments you have a double edge problem. It is predictable that champions will have difficulty admitting that their commitments no longer fit the times. Indeed this trait is so predictable I called it the LBJ Effect in honor of the American President who escalated commitment to a failing war once it became clear that the war could not be won.
LESSONS FOR REVIVAL OF THE FITTEST FOR BOARDS OF DIRECTORS.
1. Good CEOs are champions. Champions believe in themselves and their commitments.
2. In the absence of a strong countervailing force, some CEO Champions will rigidly hold on to what Sull calls the success formula when it ought to be thrown away. We even take the more extreme position that in the absence of a strong countervailing force, champions will pour more resources into an inappropriate success formula.
3. This strong countervailing force is called the Board of Directors.
SETTING THE RIGHT CULTURAL TONE
At a cultural level, the LBJ Effect can be fought by the board insisting on a culture where it is acceptable to fail, to learn from mistakes, and to try again. It is a culture where "mid course correction" is not necessarily a sin and "stick-to-itness" is not necessarily a virtue.
Perhaps the most famous example of a corporate culture that supports this notion is Johnson & Johnson. On the desks of most executives within the J&J organization is a framed one-page document called, "Our Credo."
The J&J Credo is a series of principles that govern management decisions:
When there was a concern that a batch of Tylenol had been poisoned, a division manager unilaterally ordered all bottles of Tylenol off the U.S. market. That action was taken without consulting corporate headquarters. It was justified to management on the basis of the credo. Senior management at J&J backed the local manager and the employees were enormously proud of it.
This use of a corporate values statement is not unique at J&J. We have consulted at other companies with credos. And some of these companies had problems as severe as the Tylenol crisis. But in no other company would a middle level manager make a major decision based on an esoteric company principle. With respect to failure, the J&J Credo states:
"Employees must feel free to make suggestions and complaints....We must experiment with new ideas. Research must be carried on, innovative programs developed, and mistakes paid for."
In other words, failure is not "bad." It is part of the necessary price for being innovative.
Board Influencing Tactics
Boards seeking to influence CEOs to make mid-course corrections have a semantic problem. Leaders must be convinced that mid-course corrections will not be labeled as "indecisive" or "waffling." Such negative words are inconsistent with a positive sense of self. On the other hand, adaptability in the face of changing circumstances is consistent with a positive self-concept.
Some CEOs deride Sarbanes Oxley as an example of legislative overkill. They say that it will move the board/CEO relationship into an adversarial stance. Such a stance will only harm shareholders and waste resources. Sull's perspective is powerful people are only too human. And they are all too human in predictable ways.
A valid checks and balances system should keeps the LBJ Effect from getting out of hand and help companies decide when it is time to destroy their own success formula before competition does it for them. Maryanne Peabody and Laurence J. Stybel,Ed.D. are co-founders of Board Options, Inc. Its mission is to increase Board effectiveness through the application of practical behavioral Science.
Successful Second Acts.......2004-01-26
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in 1940 that there are no second acts in American Lives. Professor Sull's witty, crystalline prose in Revival of the Fittest offers a rebuttal. Sull's case-studies of corporate rebounds and managerial reinventions provides a global array of second acts.
Contrary to the following review, Sull's wise reflections, his acute hindsight, on what separates mid-course corporate successes from failures is full of insights, though not quick-fixes or one-size-fits-all makeovers.
Rather, Sull provides an array of diagnostic tools for managers, helping them isolate the "active inertia"--a term he has coined and that is gaining currency among business theorists--and sift through the vast horizon of possibilities and risks managers in crisis must face.
A multi-disciplinary work with a global perspective, Revival of the Fittest is both informative and potentially transforming.
Disappointing - lots of hindsight with no insight.......2004-01-22
Not very impressed.
This book is based upon many interviews and observations with over 2 dozen companies around the world. However its all observation based upon hindsight of 'what' happened, with no real revelations into 'why'.
The selections are not convincing.
There's plenty of reference to Asahi Breweries in Japan who literally bet the whole Company on one idea about creating a market for Dry Beer. It paid off, but such a venture was very dangerous. Other Companies are studied that also bet everything yet didn't pay off; but there's no real insight into why the outcomes were different.
The index is poor; many Companies mentioned in the text don't appear in the Index. Compaq appears indexed under both 'failed transformations' and 'successful transformations' - so I re-read the relevant pages. It's the same anecdote, simply saying that what they did was a success 1991-98, but then caused their failing post-98? So what should they have done? If following the same action is deemed a 'fail' over 10 years, is it appropriate to still call it a 'success' over 8 years?
It's a history lesson, but with no real tools & techniques to take away for the future.
The strong shall become weak, and the weak strong again.......2003-11-27
At some point in a great battle between good and evil, at least as portrayed in pop culture, we can expect the villain to gloatingly assert: "It is your very goodness that will make you weak and fail." Professor Donald Sull is no super-villain but makes a similar, though rather more developed, claim about the best businesses. Rather than blaming the failure of a previously excellent company on incompetence, corruption, laziness, or lack of imagination, Sull locates the problem of stumbling giants in active inertia: the tendency of management to respond to disruptive changes by accelerating activities that succeeded in the past. In Revival of the Fittest, Sull analyzes this barrier and helps managers tackle the demanding task of overcoming it.
To overcome active inertia, Sull recommends neither evolutionary nor revolutionary change typically prescribed for faltering champions. Instead he explains the power of transforming commitments. Commitments matters, he explains, in that they both enable effective management and can disable it when they no longer fit what is needed. Managers select, make, honor, and less often remake commitments or binding actions by investing capital, making personnel decisions, exiting a business, making public promises, making public promises, forging relationships with resource providers, writing contracts, or by manipulating information. Commitments are a powerful tool for creating the desired future but they also become cognitive, cultural, and structural shackles that prevent a company from changing - even when the need to change is clear to all.
Companies take shape at the beginning of the "life cycle of commitments" through defining commitments consisting of strategic frames, resources, processes, relationships, and values. The character of the organization hardens over time as managers make reinforcing commitments large and small. The best companies develop a "success formula" that becomes the envy of competitors and the source of best practices for writers and consultants. This story takes a tragic turn when, eventually and inevitably, a gap opens and widens between the nature of the company and the business environment. The only way out - if one exists at all - is through transforming commitments that require boldness, prudence, and tenacity.
Sull uses pairs of companies to show how some have spiraled down while others successfully made and kept their transforming commitments. IBM's justly famous transformation under Gerstner exemplifies the latter, though this is only one of a wide range of illuminating examples in the book. Sull casts light on the active inertia trap which can arise from the basis of any of the original defining commitments. He follows this with eight risk factors to check for and some diagnostic tests to administer. If transforming commitments fit your situation, you must then choose the right anchor. This may be a new strategic frame but may also be new resources, processes, relationships, or values. The right anchor needs to be worked on by the right person who gives the transforming commitments traction by making commitments credible, clear, and courageous.
Since commitments are powerful tools, Sull's cautious advice includes an unflinching look at seven common mistakes that can lead transformation efforts off-track. Neither does Sull allow managers to anticipate the benefits without also appreciating the personal costs. The book does not try to delve deeply into every relevant aspect of each stage, allow the book to convey vital points while remaining slim enough for busy executives to actually read.
Refreshing look at the rise, fall, rebound of companies.......2003-11-20
This is an excellent, pragmatic, and thoroughly engaging book on how successful companies can find themselves at risk for failure due to what Sull coins as "active inertia". This concept is illustrated with a great set of corporate examples which are different from the ones used in many other business texts -- and this is a key feature which sets the book apart from its competitors. Sull walks the reader through some very useable steps for how companies can transform themselves and avert obsolescence. A great book, greatly written.
Book Description
Strategies for clear communication in today's muddled corporate environment
Corporate communication involves much more than just motivating employees and dispensing good PR. It represents a tool to be leveragedand a process to be mastered. The Power of Corporate Communication shows managers and executives how to communicate effectively with fellow employees from the mailroom to the boardroom, and even between organizations and across industries. Fully accessible and refreshingly nonacademic, it creates an easy-to-follow map of the world of corporate communication, with workplace-tested approaches for addressing common challenges. Written by two leaders in today's corporate communication fieldPaul Argenti is the author of 1994's groundbreaking Corporate CommunicationThe Power of Corporate Communication is replete with careful analyses and real-world examples and case studies from leading organizations including Sony, Coca-Cola, and GE.
Customer Reviews:
excellent.......2004-01-21
This book can be termed as the bible for people who study the corporate communication and importance of public relations in the corporate world. The book also provides insights regarding reputation management by companies with live examples. a great one
Entertaining & Useful but, in some parts, slow........2003-08-28
This book is an excellent tool for any person interested in corporate communications. It lines out the basics and even gives entertaining examples of everything the authors (Argenti and Forman) explain.
This book is also very useful for any person whose job has something to do with corporate communications because of the many examples given; For example, in chapter 3, it explains the communication strategy used by Jack Welch during the years he spent as CEO of GE.
Chapter 2 was a little boring because it gives a general overview of the history of PR emphasizing on the professional lives of Ivy Ledbetter Lee and Edward L. Bernays whom some say were the fathers of PR.
On the other hand, chapter 10 (Managing Communications in a Crisis) is most entertaining because it mentions what a communication crisis is, how to create and implement a strategy; Along with this general explanation it also mentions certain examples like the Johnson & Johnson Tylenol Recall, Merril Lynch, etc.
Either for those in the business or in the business, this book is a reliable tool to learning the basics of corporate communication.
Entertaining & Useful but, in some parts, slow........2003-08-28
This book is an excellent tool for any person interested in corporate communications. It lines out the basics and even gives entertaining examples of everything the authors (Argenti and Forman) explain.
This book is also very useful for any person whose job has something to do with corporate communications because of the many examples given; For example, in chapter 3, it explains the communication strategy used by Jack Welch during the years he spent as CEO of GE.
Chapter 2 was a little boring because it gives a general overview of the history of PR emphasizing on the professional lives of Ivy Ledbetter Lee and Edward L. Bernays whom some say were the fathers of PR.
On the other hand, chapter 10 (Managing Communications in a Crisis) is most entertaining because it mentions what a communication crisis is, how to create and implement a strategy; Along with this general explanation it also mentions certain examples like the Johnson & Johnson Tylenol Recall, Merril Lynch, etc.
Either for those in the business or in the business, this book is a reliable tool to learning the basics of corporate communication.
Entertaining & Useful but, in some parts, slow........2003-08-28
This book is an excellent tool for any person interested in corporate communications. It lines out the basics and even gives entertaining examples of everything the authors (Argenti and Forman) explain.
This book is also very useful for any person whose job has something to do with corporate communications because of the many examples given; For example, in chapter 3, it explains the communication strategy used by Jack Welch during the years he spent as CEO of GE.
Chapter 2 was a little boring because it gives a general overview of the history of PR emphasizing on the professional lives of Ivy Ledbetter Lee and Edward L. Bernays whom some say were the fathers of PR.
On the other hand, chapter 10 (Managing Communications in a Crisis) is most entertaining because it mentions what a communication crisis is, how to create and implement a strategy; Along with this general explanation it also mentions certain examples like the Johnson & Johnson Tylenol Recall, Merril Lynch, etc.
Either for those in the business or in the business, this book is a reliable tool to learning the basics of corporate communication.
Informative Fast Read For Busy Professionals.......2003-01-07
Let's face it, the people who most need the information in this book are probably too busy putting out communications fires to sit down with most of the tomes that are available on the subject. Argenti and Forman have written an informative, accessible and most importantly, action oriented text that covers the entire communications function. In particular, the Crisis Communication section is strong and details what steps to take when an organization needs to communicate quickly. If you are a busy professional struggling with communications -- this is the book for you.
Amazon.com
Laurence Ackerman is a consultant who specializes in "corporate identity." While this concept has been around for 50 years, he notes, these days it often encompasses little more than names, symbols, and slogans. Ackerman believes a deeper meaning, one more akin to that defining human identity, should instead be applied in order to tap its true potential. This, he argues, will result in crafting a positive "governing force" that completely shapes an organization and determines the relationship it enjoys with stakeholders. Identity Is Destiny primarily consists of eight "laws" that Ackerman suggests a company must understand before uncovering its true identity and implementing a total operational philosophy that is based upon it. To illustrate these key principles (i.e., organizations are alive, unique, and constant, but growing; true direction and natural drive must be determined before successful strategies can be formulated), he mixes details from his own life with examples from companies with which he has worked (including Upjohn, Maytag, and Korn/Ferry International). Not everyone will agree, or see how it can be applied to his or her own businesses. But those who do will find ideas that could enhance their leadership efforts. --Howard Rothman
Book Description
Brand names, logos, and slogans are the identifying marks of corporations, but in the turbulent environment of the business world, these markers have little effect on the success of a company. Instead, it is an organization's underlying identity that contains the key to creating value, which, in turn, drives the success of the corporation.
This enterprising book reveals how organizations can adapt successfully to the fast-paced marketplace when decisions are based on the bedrock of identity. The author's "laws of identity" will help managers be authentic leaders, recruit employees who will flourish in the corporate environment, and develop a product mix that both meets customer needs and highlights the talents of the organization.
Customer Reviews:
Essential for a Vision.......2007-09-21
For the CEO of any size organization, this is an excellent guide to "planning to succeed" by understanding the true nature of the corporate being.
Identity Is Destiny: Leadership and the Roots of Value Creation
Highly Recommended!.......2006-01-26
Written for Business Executives, this book will help you understand the dynamics between corporate identity and value creation in business. Lawrence D. Ackerman believes that the true strength of an organization is reflected in its identity, and its ability to use its identity to drive the creation of products and services that provide value to customers. Ackerman posits that there should be a cycle between the identity of the company and the profit it generates. The wealth produced by the identity of the organization should feed back into the identity that creates it. The author has outlined a set of guidelines to identify value for the organization. Ackerman calls them the Laws of Identity. For example:
1. The Law of Being: "Any organization composed of one or more human beings is alive in its own right, exhibiting distinct physical, mental and emotional capacities that derive from, but do not transcend, the individuals who make up that organization."
2. The Law of Individuality: "An organization's human capacities invariably fuse into a discernible identity that makes that organization unique."
3. The Law of Constancy: "Identity is fixed, transcending time and place, while its manifestations are constantly changing."
A Good Read!.......2001-03-26
Business consultant and writer Laurence D. Ackerman has written a deeply felt and poetically-crafted book that explores eight universal laws relating to identity and leadership. He uses examples from his personal life as well as from his many interactions with business clients to illustrate each of the laws of identity. These laws reflect the values and understandings that govern the productivity and personality of organizations. We [...] recommend this book to anyone interested in leadership philosophy or personal growth.
Identity Is the Root of Business Strategy.......2001-02-09
This book is an important contribution to the discussion of brand strategy. Many have written about the notion of "internal branding." But something was missing from that conversation without this book. What Ackerman so eloquently clarifies is that groups, like individuals, crave a sense of identity and purpose. And we want to know how our individual and collective outputs (the value we create) align with that identity and purpose. A clear, shared sense of identity is the most important factor in energizing a company to achieve its objectives. Ackerman argues this premise very effectively.
What he does not do is address implementation thoroughly. I would love to read more about his notion of "identity-based management" in practice - case studies, for example, relating to organizational development, brand strategy, and marketing communications. That said, I loved the book and hope to read more from Mr. Ackerman in the future.
The Essence of Being ( For an individual or organization)).......2000-10-17
As a desinger, I've always searched for the essence of my client's being. How they speak about themselves, what their mission is and how that vision should drive the image, logo, identity program that I help them to create. Ackerman's awareness of the essence of this process, and in fact the depth to which it is important, for each of us, as well as each organization has never been delineated in such an articulate way. Brilliant, and personal. Worth reading and rereading.
Book Description
The public environment in which companies operate has changed significantly since the 1970s. Communities, in response to elected officials and community groups, are demanding that companies observe new norms of behavior. They expect companies to respect the environment, respond to the concerns of the community residents, and contribute to the support of community institutions. As Burke illustrates, a company's community reputation also affects the behavior of consumers and employees. Consumers prefer to buy products from companies that are involved in the community. Employees are attracted to companies that have a good community reputation. Just as successful companies need to be a supplier of choice, an employer of choice, and an investor of choice, they now have to become a neighbor of choice. They have to behave in ways that build a legacy of trust in order to be positioned positively in the community. As Burke shows, to be a neighbor of choice a company has to pursue three strategies: build sustainable and ongoing relationships with key community individuals, groups, and organizations; institute procedures that anticipate and respond to community expectations, concerns, needs, and issues; and focus the company's community programs on ways that promote and strengthen the community's quality of life and which also support the business goals of the company. The strategies developed by Burke will be of great use to community and public affairs managers and general managers of corporations as well as CEOs and other executive officers. Students in courses on corporate strategy and general management will find the book of value, as will students in courses on non-profit management.
Customer Reviews:
Great tool for PR professionals.......2001-10-19
This is an excellent book that will help companies focus there business on strong relationship with the community they live in. The one weakness I see is an over emphasis on philanthropy. I am not so sure that throwing money at the community will really buy a good relationship. This book should be read by anyone who is involved in the management of a manufacturing facility.
Books:
- 13 Proven Ways to Get Your Message Across: The Essential Reference for Teachers, Trainers, Presenters, and Speakers
- A Grief Observed
- A Virtuous Circle: Political Communications in Postindustrial Societies (Communication, Society and Politics)
- Administrative Assistant's and Secretary's Handbook
- An Introduction to Systems Biology: Design Principles of Biological Circuits (C&H/CRC Mathematical & Computational Biology Series)
- Applied Strategic Planning: How to Develop a Plan That Really Works
- Artificial Intelligence: Structures and Strategies for Complex Problem Solving (5th Edition)
- Baseball America 2007 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the Definitive Source on Prospects (Baseball America Prospect Handbook)
- Better Than Good: Creating a Life You Can't Wait to Live
- Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Parlay Your IRA into a Family Fortune: 3 EASY STEPS for creating a lifetime supply of tax-deferred,
- Bad Men Do What Good Men Dream: A Forensic Psychiatrist Illuminates the Darker Side of Human Behavio
- Sophia Loren: A Biography
- The Bluest Eye
- Total Television: Revised Edition
- Building Wealth One House at a Time: Making it Big on Little Deals
- Yosemite and the High Sierra
- Power Up Your Profits : 31 Days to Better Selling
- The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power
- The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
The Brand Gap: Expanded Edition
BrandSimple: How the Best Brands Keep it Simple and Succeed
Designing Brand Identity: A Complete Guide to Creating, Building, and Maintaining Strong Brands
The Dictionary of Brand
Juicing the Orange: How to Turn Creativity into a Powerful Business Advantage
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
