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Initiating, managing and sustaining strategic change: Learning from the best
Around themes such as: Anticipating competitors’ responses; Planning for multiple rounds of competition; and Understanding how changes in technology and public policy impacts on both competitive advantage and strategy. An invaluable framework for serious students of strategy, who are concerned with leading edge thinking. Also relevant is Strategic Change, Edited by COLIN A. CARNALL, Butterworth-Heinemann (1997), 275 pp., El9.99. A valuable collection of 17 key articles by leading authorities such as Senge, Handy, Argyris, Prahalad and Doz, covering leading-edge strategy issues.
The Light and the Shadow: How Breakthrough Innovation is Shaping EurOTTO KALTHOFF, opean Business, IKUJIRO NONAKA and PEDRO NUENO, Capstone (1997), 224 pp., E19.99. Shows that there are many ways to innovative effectively. Based on 13 world class innovators. Also relevant is WINNERS! How Today’s Successful Companies Innovate by Design, JOHN THACKARA, Gower (1997), 477 pp., E18.95. Incorporates lessons from the European Design Prize and based on case studies of the 64 small businesses that use design to innovate. How Japan has achieved success in the area of design is revealed in Japanese Design and Development, NOBUOKI OHTANI, SUZANNEDUKE and SHIGENOBUOHTANI, Gower (1997), 192 pp., E32.50 (includes detailed cases of Toyota, Rover/ Honda, Canon, NEC, Sharp and Okamoto). Another dimension to innovation is thoroughly covered by Benchmarking for Best Practice: Continuous learning through sustainable innovation, MOHAMED ZAIRI, Butterworth-Heinemann (1997), 496 pp., E30.00. But thinking in this area needs to be more integrated with the whole concept of Knowledge Management. Benchmarking is about Knowledge Management, if it is about anything.
Initiating, Strategic
Managing and Sustaining Change: Learning from the
Best, MAGNE Y. ORGLAND, Macmillan Business (1997), 299 pp., E45.00. The ability of an organization to change quickly and effectively has always been a critical source of competitive advantage. In fact many would argue that was the key role for both strategists and management. The author is Norwegian, now works for McKinsey, and the book is based on his doctorial dissertation at the University of St Gallen, Switzerland. The contents of the book include a valuable literature review and in-depth case study of a major change initiative in a multinational corporation. The author argues that successful change requires leveraging three forces for change: top-down direction setting, horizontal process redesign and bottom-up performance improvement. Sound advice and a serious read. Another excellent read on the causes of success and failure is Fit, Failure and the Hall of Fame: How Companies Succeed or Fail, RAYMOND E. MILES and CHARLES C. SNOW, The Free Press (1994), 214 pp., E19.99. Describes in detail the path to misfit and what pitfalls to avoid to stay on the right track. Looking to the future, the authors examine the new shapes organizations will take, including various types of “networks”, such as a new form they call the “spherical” organization. New ways of working and their organizational implications are at the core of Changing the Way We Work, R. MEREDITH BELBIN, Butterworth Heinemann (1997), 116 pp., g25.00. The latest thoughts from “the father figure” of team role theory.
Competitive and Corporate Strategy, CLIFF BOWMAN and DAVID FAULKNER, Irwin (1997), 296 pp., E18.95. Recognises the link between competitive (business) strategy and corporate strategy and provides a useful analysis for the role of the corporate centre. Useful for strategy related courses, at both MBA and undergraduate levels. Other useful reviews of recent strategic thinking are contained in Business Success:A Way of Thinking About Strategy, Critical Supply Chain Assets and Operational Best Practice, ANDREW Cox, Earlsgate Press (1997), 327 pp., E45.00 (pity no index). Ten papers that provide an invaluable dis-
cussion of the contribution of probably the leading strategy thinker in the past twenty years are contained in Perspectives on Strategy: Contributions of Michael E. Porter, Editors F. A. J. VAN DEN BOSCH and A. P. DE MAN, Kluwer Academic (1997), 107 pp., E46.25. Also the eleven papers in The Innovation Challenge, Edited by DAVID HUSSEY, Wiley (1997), 225 pp., E29.95. Relevant issues are also covered in Meeting Customer Needs, IAN SMITH ButterworthHeinemann (1997), 2nd edition, 231 pp., E15.99.
Business Driven: Human Resource Management, DAVID HUSSEY, Wiley (1997), 264 pp., E24.95. Provides a practical guide to integrating HR thinking and practice into an overall strategic approach that is designed to get the best out of an organisation. Sound and sensible advice by a leading authority on the subject. Aspects of the stakeholder debate continue in A Piece of the Action: employee ownership, equity pay and the rise of the knowledge economy, CHARLES LEADBEATER, Demos (1997),75 pp., E14.95. And How to Pay For The Fu ture: Building a Stakeholders’ Welfare, FRANKFIELD, Institute of Community Studies (1997), fXO.00.
World Economic and Social Survey 1996: Trends and Policies in the World Economy, United Nations (1997), 353 pp., $55.00. Prepared at the request of the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations to provide background information and analysis for debates on the world economic and social situation. Full of fascinating facts and figures, including chapters on: How much do we know about urban growth in the late twentieth century? How the developing world gets its electricity? And should we worry about water? Some of the detailed issues behind the global economy are discussed in The Rules of the Games in the Global Economy: Policy Regimes for International Business, LEE E. PRESTON and DUANE WINDSOR, Kluwer Academic Publishers (1997), 259 pp., $125.00. Also at the core of Striking a Balance: A Guide to Enhanc-
Long Range Planning Vol. 31
February 1998
The Light and the Shadow: How Breakthrough Innovation is Shaping EurOTTO KALTHOFF, opean Business, IKUJIRO NONAKA and PEDRO NUENO, Capstone (1997), 224 pp., E19.99. Shows that there are many ways to innovative effectively. Based on 13 world class innovators. Also relevant is WINNERS! How Today’s Successful Companies Innovate by Design, JOHN THACKARA, Gower (1997), 477 pp., E18.95. Incorporates lessons from the European Design Prize and based on case studies of the 64 small businesses that use design to innovate. How Japan has achieved success in the area of design is revealed in Japanese Design and Development, NOBUOKI OHTANI, SUZANNEDUKE and SHIGENOBUOHTANI, Gower (1997), 192 pp., E32.50 (includes detailed cases of Toyota, Rover/ Honda, Canon, NEC, Sharp and Okamoto). Another dimension to innovation is thoroughly covered by Benchmarking for Best Practice: Continuous learning through sustainable innovation, MOHAMED ZAIRI, Butterworth-Heinemann (1997), 496 pp., E30.00. But thinking in this area needs to be more integrated with the whole concept of Knowledge Management. Benchmarking is about Knowledge Management, if it is about anything.
Initiating, Strategic
Managing and Sustaining Change: Learning from the
Best, MAGNE Y. ORGLAND, Macmillan Business (1997), 299 pp., E45.00. The ability of an organization to change quickly and effectively has always been a critical source of competitive advantage. In fact many would argue that was the key role for both strategists and management. The author is Norwegian, now works for McKinsey, and the book is based on his doctorial dissertation at the University of St Gallen, Switzerland. The contents of the book include a valuable literature review and in-depth case study of a major change initiative in a multinational corporation. The author argues that successful change requires leveraging three forces for change: top-down direction setting, horizontal process redesign and bottom-up performance improvement. Sound advice and a serious read. Another excellent read on the causes of success and failure is Fit, Failure and the Hall of Fame: How Companies Succeed or Fail, RAYMOND E. MILES and CHARLES C. SNOW, The Free Press (1994), 214 pp., E19.99. Describes in detail the path to misfit and what pitfalls to avoid to stay on the right track. Looking to the future, the authors examine the new shapes organizations will take, including various types of “networks”, such as a new form they call the “spherical” organization. New ways of working and their organizational implications are at the core of Changing the Way We Work, R. MEREDITH BELBIN, Butterworth Heinemann (1997), 116 pp., g25.00. The latest thoughts from “the father figure” of team role theory.
Competitive and Corporate Strategy, CLIFF BOWMAN and DAVID FAULKNER, Irwin (1997), 296 pp., E18.95. Recognises the link between competitive (business) strategy and corporate strategy and provides a useful analysis for the role of the corporate centre. Useful for strategy related courses, at both MBA and undergraduate levels. Other useful reviews of recent strategic thinking are contained in Business Success:A Way of Thinking About Strategy, Critical Supply Chain Assets and Operational Best Practice, ANDREW Cox, Earlsgate Press (1997), 327 pp., E45.00 (pity no index). Ten papers that provide an invaluable dis-
cussion of the contribution of probably the leading strategy thinker in the past twenty years are contained in Perspectives on Strategy: Contributions of Michael E. Porter, Editors F. A. J. VAN DEN BOSCH and A. P. DE MAN, Kluwer Academic (1997), 107 pp., E46.25. Also the eleven papers in The Innovation Challenge, Edited by DAVID HUSSEY, Wiley (1997), 225 pp., E29.95. Relevant issues are also covered in Meeting Customer Needs, IAN SMITH ButterworthHeinemann (1997), 2nd edition, 231 pp., E15.99.
Business Driven: Human Resource Management, DAVID HUSSEY, Wiley (1997), 264 pp., E24.95. Provides a practical guide to integrating HR thinking and practice into an overall strategic approach that is designed to get the best out of an organisation. Sound and sensible advice by a leading authority on the subject. Aspects of the stakeholder debate continue in A Piece of the Action: employee ownership, equity pay and the rise of the knowledge economy, CHARLES LEADBEATER, Demos (1997),75 pp., E14.95. And How to Pay For The Fu ture: Building a Stakeholders’ Welfare, FRANKFIELD, Institute of Community Studies (1997), fXO.00.
World Economic and Social Survey 1996: Trends and Policies in the World Economy, United Nations (1997), 353 pp., $55.00. Prepared at the request of the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations to provide background information and analysis for debates on the world economic and social situation. Full of fascinating facts and figures, including chapters on: How much do we know about urban growth in the late twentieth century? How the developing world gets its electricity? And should we worry about water? Some of the detailed issues behind the global economy are discussed in The Rules of the Games in the Global Economy: Policy Regimes for International Business, LEE E. PRESTON and DUANE WINDSOR, Kluwer Academic Publishers (1997), 259 pp., $125.00. Also at the core of Striking a Balance: A Guide to Enhanc-
Long Range Planning Vol. 31
February 1998