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Improving performance: How to manage the white space in the organization chart (2nd edition)
86
J PROD INNOV 1996;13:81-86
BOOK
MANAG
beled “Reflections.” The term, indeed, does capture the flavor of the author’s remarks here. The author starts each section with a brief summation of his own research findings. He then goes on to compare these to the results obtained by other researchers. Discrepancies are explained in terms that the different data and research designs used. He concludes each section with some speculations as to the significance of these findings for future research and their implications for public policy. Consider the section on Competition and Innovation, for example. The author’s research reveals a strong negative relationship between market concentration and major innovation, whereas most of the other work that has been done by others has revealed a positive, if moderate, correlation between the two. Statistically, he states, this arises from the technique used to correct for variations in “technological opportunity.” This persists even when the positive indirect effects of monopoly power on expected postinnovation returns are taken into account. He goes into further detail but eventually concludes that concentrated industries are innovative largely because “industries with rich ‘technological opportunity’ tend to be more highly concentrated . . . [They] . . . are more innovative despite-and not because of-the fact that they are highly concentrated.” A host of other reasons are also offered in support of the thesis of a negative relationship between competitive concentration and major innovation. This discussion is most thought-provoking. It helps immeasurably that the author makes his points here in plain English, without an excessive reliance on academic jargon or econometric formulae. JPIM readers who chance upon this book stand to benefit from its perusal in two main ways. First, they should gain a deeper appreciation of the challenges associated with doing empirical research on the subject of innovation. This knowledge can be of signifi-
REVIEWS
cant value when it comes down to evaluating research proposals or research results in their own fields of endeavor. The second class of benefits associated with reading this book has to do with its findings of substance. The economics literature or innovation has strongly influenced public policy in this sector. Examples include industrial subsidies and incentives, disincentives, regulation and legislation, and even judicial decisions. The innovation professional has much to gain from a deeper understanding of the assumptive underpinnings of public policy in this regard. Readers should be encouraged by 10 pages of well-chosen, up-to-date reference materials and a particularly comprehensive index in this book. Robert R. Rothberg Rutgers Graduate School of Management
Brief Note Improving Per$ormance: How to Manage the White Space in the Organization Chart (2nd edition), by
Gear-y A. Rummler and Alan P. Brache. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995. 226 + xxv pages. $29.95. The second edition of this popular and influential book, like the original, is primarily concerned with improving organizational performance in general. As such it is largely tangential to the development of products and services spec&ally. However, Figures 4.3 (p. 38) and 14.4 (p. 189) lucidly illustrate important relationships between product development, other corporate functions (marketing, manufacturing, field operations, finance, and human relations), vendors, other outside sources, and the market. Those figures and what they incorporate deserve careful attention. Milton D. Rosenau, Jr. CMC Rosenau Consulting Company
J PROD INNOV 1996;13:81-86
BOOK
MANAG
beled “Reflections.” The term, indeed, does capture the flavor of the author’s remarks here. The author starts each section with a brief summation of his own research findings. He then goes on to compare these to the results obtained by other researchers. Discrepancies are explained in terms that the different data and research designs used. He concludes each section with some speculations as to the significance of these findings for future research and their implications for public policy. Consider the section on Competition and Innovation, for example. The author’s research reveals a strong negative relationship between market concentration and major innovation, whereas most of the other work that has been done by others has revealed a positive, if moderate, correlation between the two. Statistically, he states, this arises from the technique used to correct for variations in “technological opportunity.” This persists even when the positive indirect effects of monopoly power on expected postinnovation returns are taken into account. He goes into further detail but eventually concludes that concentrated industries are innovative largely because “industries with rich ‘technological opportunity’ tend to be more highly concentrated . . . [They] . . . are more innovative despite-and not because of-the fact that they are highly concentrated.” A host of other reasons are also offered in support of the thesis of a negative relationship between competitive concentration and major innovation. This discussion is most thought-provoking. It helps immeasurably that the author makes his points here in plain English, without an excessive reliance on academic jargon or econometric formulae. JPIM readers who chance upon this book stand to benefit from its perusal in two main ways. First, they should gain a deeper appreciation of the challenges associated with doing empirical research on the subject of innovation. This knowledge can be of signifi-
REVIEWS
cant value when it comes down to evaluating research proposals or research results in their own fields of endeavor. The second class of benefits associated with reading this book has to do with its findings of substance. The economics literature or innovation has strongly influenced public policy in this sector. Examples include industrial subsidies and incentives, disincentives, regulation and legislation, and even judicial decisions. The innovation professional has much to gain from a deeper understanding of the assumptive underpinnings of public policy in this regard. Readers should be encouraged by 10 pages of well-chosen, up-to-date reference materials and a particularly comprehensive index in this book. Robert R. Rothberg Rutgers Graduate School of Management
Brief Note Improving Per$ormance: How to Manage the White Space in the Organization Chart (2nd edition), by
Gear-y A. Rummler and Alan P. Brache. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995. 226 + xxv pages. $29.95. The second edition of this popular and influential book, like the original, is primarily concerned with improving organizational performance in general. As such it is largely tangential to the development of products and services spec&ally. However, Figures 4.3 (p. 38) and 14.4 (p. 189) lucidly illustrate important relationships between product development, other corporate functions (marketing, manufacturing, field operations, finance, and human relations), vendors, other outside sources, and the market. Those figures and what they incorporate deserve careful attention. Milton D. Rosenau, Jr. CMC Rosenau Consulting Company