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Management of information system technology
Book account of the post-war rise ofJapan. Useful background, but not aimed at the managerial market. A similar comment can be made about another angle provided by Japan and the North East ofEngland: From 1862 to the Present Day, MARIE CONTE-HELM, Athlone Press (1989), 203 pp., ,I;ZO.OO.
Measure Up! Yardsticks for Continuous Improvement, RICHARD L. LYNCH and KELVIN F. CROSS, Basil Blackwell (1991), 213 pp., R30.00. A valuable combination of theory and practice that shows managers how to use performance yardsticks both effectively and competitively. The main elements are: Measure what is important to customers; Motivate the organization to improve continually against customer expectations; Identify and eliminate waste, both of time and resources; Accelerate organizational learning and build consensus for change. Sounds simple and obvious, but rarely achieved in practice.
Management of Information Systems Technology, JANICE BURN and EVELINE CALDWELL, Alfred Wailer (1990). 262 pp., A20.00. .Emphasizes the identification and development of the most effective type of information system for a particular organization. Reviews the nature of information and the role of computers, before going on to examine different classifications of organization according to size, product, structure, age and ownership. Uses case studies to help identify both the information requirements for the various classifications and the various types of computer system. Excellent introduction to a complex, expensive, subject. Exactly how expensive mistakes can be is shown in Regaining Control of IT Investments: A Handbook for Senior U.K. Management, BEAT HOCHSTRASSER and CATHERINE GRIFFITHS, Kobler Unit Imperial College (1990), 188 pp., El80.00. Essential reading for anyone involved with significant investments in this area. (Issues apply world-wide, not just in the U.K.) A directory of terms and concepts is provided by Fast Track: Everything the High-flying Executive Ought to Know About Information Technology, DENIS JARRET~,McGraw-Hill (1988), 283 pp., E25.00. A new edition is probably needed every couple of years.
Global Companies and Public Policy: The Growing Challenge of Foreign Direct Investment, DEANNE JULIUS, Pincer Publications (1990), 126 pp., Q9.50. The growth of direct investment flows among the advanced countries has far outstripped that of world trade. This book explores the new types ofinternational economic linkages that both inward and outward flows are creating projects their future development and identifies the policy constraints and new business opportunities that these cross-border activities are generating. Their conclusions are that economic growth and integration will be enhanced by demoting the role of the exchange rate and the current account balance in international policy discussions and promoting the importance of agreed rules for trade, investment and competition in one another’s markets. Only for economists with a special interest in the subject.
Reviews
107
h&de Job: The Looting of America’s Savings and Loans, STEPHEN Przzo, MARY FRICKER and PAUL Muoro, McGraw-Hill (1989), 443 pp., 619.95. An amazing and horrifing story. The price of deregulation in a wildly entrepreneurial environment. ‘Big-Bang’ was never that bad; or was it? Is it the more open U.S. system that just makes writing about it easier? Should be widely read if the lessons are to be learned. Eastern Europe is walking a tightrope in a different dimension. No socialist economy has ever moved from a centralized, bureaucratic structure to a market system. Another revealing inside story (of the RJR/Nabisco saga) is Barbarians at tke Gate, BRYAN BURROUCH and JOHN HELYAR, Arrow Books (1990), 650 pp., L5.99. The authors concluded the rules were simple: ‘Never pay in cash; Never tell the truth; and Never play by the rules’.
In The Road to a Free Economy: Shtftingfrom a Socialist System, The Example of Hungary, JANOS KORNAI, W. W. Norton (1990), 224 pp., Al 1.95. The author, who splits his time between Harvard where he holds a full professorship in the economics department and Budapest where he heads the research department at the Institute of Economics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, argues that such a transition will only be accomplished successfully with a sensitive combination of a firm, but humane, hand and a minimum of disruption and pain. No mean task, as the Soviet Union and others are finding out to their cost. It is to be hoped that those involved with the difficult decisions at least have access to studies of this kind.
Teaching Business Ethics in the U.K., Europe and the U.S.A.: A Comparative Study,JAcK MAHONEY, The Athlone Press (1990), 204 pp., A25.00. Describes how the ethical conduct of business has become a topic of major interest in the U.S.A. and a subject for serious study in American universities and business schools. In Europe, including Britain, public concern is increasing about the moral aspects of business behaviour. The author shows how this growing concern is reflected in the programme of business studies offered by various European universities and business schools.
Presenting your Case to Europe, PETERDANTONDE ROUFFIGNAC, Mercury (1990), 246 pp., E25.00. Increasingly companies and organizations are finding a need to present their case more effectively to the various Community institutions. This study examines how national governments monitor Community legislation, and provides a number of case studies showing how powerful organizations representing employers, trade unions or special interests carry out their lobbying role.
Business Success: Strategic Unit Comprehensive Computer-based Expert Support System, ELI SEGEV and PAUL GRAY, PrenticeHall (1990), 443 pp., L42.80. Takes 53 strategies
specific
to business
units and molds
them
Measure Up! Yardsticks for Continuous Improvement, RICHARD L. LYNCH and KELVIN F. CROSS, Basil Blackwell (1991), 213 pp., R30.00. A valuable combination of theory and practice that shows managers how to use performance yardsticks both effectively and competitively. The main elements are: Measure what is important to customers; Motivate the organization to improve continually against customer expectations; Identify and eliminate waste, both of time and resources; Accelerate organizational learning and build consensus for change. Sounds simple and obvious, but rarely achieved in practice.
Management of Information Systems Technology, JANICE BURN and EVELINE CALDWELL, Alfred Wailer (1990). 262 pp., A20.00. .Emphasizes the identification and development of the most effective type of information system for a particular organization. Reviews the nature of information and the role of computers, before going on to examine different classifications of organization according to size, product, structure, age and ownership. Uses case studies to help identify both the information requirements for the various classifications and the various types of computer system. Excellent introduction to a complex, expensive, subject. Exactly how expensive mistakes can be is shown in Regaining Control of IT Investments: A Handbook for Senior U.K. Management, BEAT HOCHSTRASSER and CATHERINE GRIFFITHS, Kobler Unit Imperial College (1990), 188 pp., El80.00. Essential reading for anyone involved with significant investments in this area. (Issues apply world-wide, not just in the U.K.) A directory of terms and concepts is provided by Fast Track: Everything the High-flying Executive Ought to Know About Information Technology, DENIS JARRET~,McGraw-Hill (1988), 283 pp., E25.00. A new edition is probably needed every couple of years.
Global Companies and Public Policy: The Growing Challenge of Foreign Direct Investment, DEANNE JULIUS, Pincer Publications (1990), 126 pp., Q9.50. The growth of direct investment flows among the advanced countries has far outstripped that of world trade. This book explores the new types ofinternational economic linkages that both inward and outward flows are creating projects their future development and identifies the policy constraints and new business opportunities that these cross-border activities are generating. Their conclusions are that economic growth and integration will be enhanced by demoting the role of the exchange rate and the current account balance in international policy discussions and promoting the importance of agreed rules for trade, investment and competition in one another’s markets. Only for economists with a special interest in the subject.
Reviews
107
h&de Job: The Looting of America’s Savings and Loans, STEPHEN Przzo, MARY FRICKER and PAUL Muoro, McGraw-Hill (1989), 443 pp., 619.95. An amazing and horrifing story. The price of deregulation in a wildly entrepreneurial environment. ‘Big-Bang’ was never that bad; or was it? Is it the more open U.S. system that just makes writing about it easier? Should be widely read if the lessons are to be learned. Eastern Europe is walking a tightrope in a different dimension. No socialist economy has ever moved from a centralized, bureaucratic structure to a market system. Another revealing inside story (of the RJR/Nabisco saga) is Barbarians at tke Gate, BRYAN BURROUCH and JOHN HELYAR, Arrow Books (1990), 650 pp., L5.99. The authors concluded the rules were simple: ‘Never pay in cash; Never tell the truth; and Never play by the rules’.
In The Road to a Free Economy: Shtftingfrom a Socialist System, The Example of Hungary, JANOS KORNAI, W. W. Norton (1990), 224 pp., Al 1.95. The author, who splits his time between Harvard where he holds a full professorship in the economics department and Budapest where he heads the research department at the Institute of Economics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, argues that such a transition will only be accomplished successfully with a sensitive combination of a firm, but humane, hand and a minimum of disruption and pain. No mean task, as the Soviet Union and others are finding out to their cost. It is to be hoped that those involved with the difficult decisions at least have access to studies of this kind.
Teaching Business Ethics in the U.K., Europe and the U.S.A.: A Comparative Study,JAcK MAHONEY, The Athlone Press (1990), 204 pp., A25.00. Describes how the ethical conduct of business has become a topic of major interest in the U.S.A. and a subject for serious study in American universities and business schools. In Europe, including Britain, public concern is increasing about the moral aspects of business behaviour. The author shows how this growing concern is reflected in the programme of business studies offered by various European universities and business schools.
Presenting your Case to Europe, PETERDANTONDE ROUFFIGNAC, Mercury (1990), 246 pp., E25.00. Increasingly companies and organizations are finding a need to present their case more effectively to the various Community institutions. This study examines how national governments monitor Community legislation, and provides a number of case studies showing how powerful organizations representing employers, trade unions or special interests carry out their lobbying role.
Business Success: Strategic Unit Comprehensive Computer-based Expert Support System, ELI SEGEV and PAUL GRAY, PrenticeHall (1990), 443 pp., L42.80. Takes 53 strategies
specific
to business
units and molds
them