- Email: [email protected]
Review briefs
REVIEW
PII: SOO24-6301(98)00110-1 Perspectives on Strategy from The Boston Consulting Group, Edited by CARL W. STERN and GEORGESTALK, Jr, Wiley (1998), 319 pp., E19.99. A selection of Perspectives articles started by Bruce Henderson, BCG’s founder, who began writing them in 1968. Over 400 have been published in six languages since then. Valuable insights that cover a wide spectrum of strategy related issues, including concepts such as ‘cash-cow’ and ‘experience curve’, which have become widely known through past Perspectives.
Blur: The Speed of Change in the Connected Economy, STAN DAVIS and CHRISTOPHERMEYER, Capstone (1998), 265 pp., E16.99. Predicts that the lines of demarcation between buyer and seller, product and service, employer, employee and entrepreneur are all rapidly changing, if not actually disappearing. All these changes are creating a blue that is forcing businesses to adapt more rapidly than ever before. The approach taken by the authors (both heavily involved in the Ernst and Young Center for Business Innovation) challenges the reader to question every assumption held about how business is conducted and how you can rethink what is really going on and what you need to do in order to be successful in this new environment. This blurring occurs in the division between work and home; it occurs in a greater emphasis on sharing knowledge and it requires the effective exploitation of the opportunities presented by the Web. You will need Speed, Connectivity and to master a range of Intangibles.
Strategic Management and Business Policy: Entering 21st Century Global
BRIEFS
Review Briefs are not detailed reviews. They are mainly brief notes and descriptions of books received for review to enlighten the reader on their general intention and approach. The expectation is that more books can be described to readers than has proved possible by publishing only critical reviews. The descriptive information should enable interest in the books to be raised beyond that induced by just listing the titles. However, it is recognized that a critical review can be far more informative about a book than is attempted with Review Briefs and, accordingly, offers to review any books are solicited. Having been described in Review Briefs, a review should critically examine the contents of a publication as an assessment of whether its stated intentions have been met and whether the way it achieves these intentions is attractive to the reader. It is expected that each review will require IOOO1500 words and will be fully attributed. The reviewer keeps the book but Long Range Planning makes no payment. As an alternative, it may be apparent that either a single ‘milestone’class publication or several books on a single topic could constitute a wider perspective Essay Review. This would be expected to comprise an article of some 3000-4000 words and would have a written introduction by the Review Editor. The Journal would make its usual article contribution payments to the author of an Essay Review. Readers interested to review any book in Review Briefs should be prepared to offer a copy deadline some 5 months ahead which can be relied on in planning the Journal. As a matter of readership policy, reviewer preference will be given to practising managers, or planners. Your interest should be expressed as a specific request to review a book from Review Briefs, preferably giving some intimation of why you think your review would be of interest to readers, addressed to: Bruce Lloyd, Book Review Editor, 48 Aberdare Gardens, London NW6 3QA, UK. Wherever possible, both Reviews and Review Essays should be supplied in hard copy and in electronic form on floppy disk-see Notes for Contributors on the inside back cover.
Society, THOMAS L. WHEELEN and J. DAVID HUNGER, Addison Wesley (1998), 6th Edition, 344 pp., (+several hundred pages of cases), E26.99. A widely used and respected teaching text. One important addition (among many) is in the first chapter, which now has a section that conceptualizies the firm as a learning organization. But surprisingly no mention of knowledge management in the extensive index. A major challenge for the next edition is to integrate these recent ideas and developments into mainstream strategic thinking and practice. Substantial additional teaching support material is also available.
Navigating Uncharted Waters: The 1997 Report from the Chatham House Forum. Royal Institute of International AffairsKhatham House (1998), 156 pp., g75.00. An exercise that is not intended as a prescription for successful strategic planning. The objective is to provide signposts and highlight some dilemmas which may provide greater understanding of how to develop a more systematic approach to understanding and managing the complexities of the future. Moves beyond the previous report Unsettled Times: Three Stony Paths to 2015 (144 pp., f50.00) reviewed in the first chapter and in LRP (Vol 30, no 4, ~633). Other chapters include a discussion of Changes in
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working practices; the Social context; more Adaptive business; People and the civic environment; achieving coevolution and a final chapter that draws together the threads. The text contains no reference to other studies in the challenging areas covered (although many of the diagrams do have general references) and it is a pity there is no index. Another exercise that is specifically concerned with exploring the technology future is The Future in Focus: A summary of national fores&h t programmes, Office of Science and Technology (1998), 115 pp., no charge.
Competing on Value: Bridging the Gap Between Brand and Customer Value, SIMON KNOX and STAN MAKLAN, Financial Times/Pitman Publishing (1998), 235 pp., E24.99. Argues that there has been a fundamental change in the purchasing, motivation and behaviour of both customers and the methods by which companies meet these new customer expectations. Based on the LJOVP (Unique organisation value proposition) is the new methodology which integrates an organization’s valueadding processes into a powerful combination of reputation, performance, customer and product portfolio and a network of third-party relationships.
Strategic Brand Management: Creating and Sustaining Brand Equity Long Term, JEAN-NOEL KAPFERER, Kogan Page (1998), 443 pp., f22.50. Rewritten and thoroughly revised version of the well received edition published in 1992. Deals with the concept and practice of brand management in its totality. Three new chapters concentrate on the life span of brands by looking at: the sources of the challenges to brand equity: factors which dictate a brand’s life expectancy and the revitalization strategies for declining brands. More attention is also given to multi-brand strategies and there is a new chapter on the growing practices of merging brands. The author has written extensively on the subject and is an internationally recognised authority on brands and brand management, as well Book Reviews and Review Briefs
as being a professor of marketing strategy at HEC School of Management in France. His reputation is well deserved.
Business Connect: A Brief Guide to ESRC Business Research, ESRC (1998), 154 pp., E30.00. Provides the reader with a selection of ESRC research that is potentially relevant to the business community. Includes a summary of findings from projects which are completed, information on those that are ongoing, as well as contact details for the relevant researchers. There is scope for a more definitative database of UK researchincluding that which is funded by organisations other than the ESRC? Perhaps a useful ESRC project would be to make all this information available on the Internet? Reports of two specific projects from the Institute of Work Psychology at the University of Sheffield are: The Use and Effectiveness of Modern Manufacturing Practices in the United Kingdom, (1997), 45 pp., E15.00 and The Performance of Information Technology and the role of human and organizational factors, (1996),36 pp., El5.00. But, although there has been considerable movement in the right direction over the past decade, there still is plenty of scope for further progress in making these reports more relevant to the managerial audience (users?).
Leisure Forescasts 1998-2002: Leisure in the home, (64 pp.,): Leisure away from home, (60 pp.,) Leisure Industries Research Centre in co-operation with Leisure Consultants (1998), E150.00 individually, E220.00 combined. The first report focuses on the digital revolution and the changes that this is bringing to many markets. In a companion volume, the global business in sports events is covered. The authors argue that lottery money may be being used to create a new herd of white elephants in the attractions market. After 16 pioneering years this is the last issue that involves Bill Martin and Sandra Mason. Editorial and production responsibility is now being taken over by the New Leisure Industries Research
Centre, a joint venture between the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University. Essential reading for anyone concerned with these increasingly important sectors. But is leisure all it seems? Not according to Britain on the Couch: Treating a Low Serotonin Society, OLIVER JAMES, Century (1997), 402 pp., E16.99. Shows how the rise in aspirations has spawned depression, violence and an epidemic of compulsions like drug abuse, gambling and eating disorders, essentially generated by an ever more desperate search for meaning and identity. How do we encourage every member of society to reach for the sky and yet avoid selfishness and disappointment when they fall to earth? By operating an effective learning organisation and learning society? Easier to say than to do but a pity these ideas were not discussed in more detail. Certainly more so-called leisure, of itself, is not the answer. Satisfying, creative leisure perhaps? A paperback version of ‘. . . on the Couch’ would make the ideal holiday read for the sunbed? Sport, in general, is becoming a major global industry, and football (soccer) is one of the major subsets of this industry. The business and management aspects of these industries are beginning to get the journalistic and academic attention they deserve. This includes: Moving the Goalposts: Football’s Exploitation, E.D. HORTON,Mainstream 189 pp., E14.99 (1997X (Criticises new priorities of football, which is too interested in making profits and not sufficiently concerned with the traditions of the game or its intrinsic social worth.) And The Football Business: Fair game in the Ws?, DAVID CONN, Mainstream (1997), 302 pp., E14.99. (More background that examines the change in the game of football today and in the years ahead.) Another dimension is considered in Ethics and Sport, Edited by M. J. MCNAMEEand S.J. PERRY, E & FN Spon/Routledge (1998), 277 pp., E22.99. Fifteen articles that provide insights into a subject, and an industry, that are both of growing importance.
Information Space: A Framework for Learning in Organizations, Institutions and Culture, MAX H. BOISOT, Routledge (1995), 550 pp., E26.99. Proposes a radical shift in the way that
we approach the emerging information age and the implications it holds for and indisocieties, organisations viduals. One of the most serious studies available on the frontier of knowledge and its effective use.
The Power of Learning: A guide to gaining competitive advantage, ANDREW MAYO and ELIZABETHLANK, Institute of Personnel and Development (1997, reprinted), 268 pp., E9.95. One of the most important and useful books on the subject of learning. First published in 1994 and much has happened since then, including the growth of the whole knowledge management industry. Scope for a new edition if the publication wishes to maintain its position as the publication at this critical leading edge. Several publications from The National Organisation for Adult Learning also emphasizes the critical importance of the whole subject of learning; these include: Learners on the Superhigh way? Access to Learning via Electronic Communications, KEITH YEOMANS, (1996), 103 pp., E6.50 (A Winston Churchill Fellowship Report); Through the Joy of Learning: Diary of 2,000 Adult Learners, Edited by PAM COARE and ALISTAIR THOMSON, (1996), 212 pp., El4,99 (A selection of 28 whole diaries from the project); Working People and Lifelong Learning: A study of the impact of an Employee DeveJopment Scheme, ANDY BEATTIE, (1997), 42 pp., ~fZ6.00;Lifelong Learning in England and Wales: An Overview and Guide to issues arising from The European Year of Lifelong Learning, ALAN TUCKETT, (1997), 34 pp., E6.00; The Learning Divide: A study of participation in adult learning in the United Kingdom, (1997), 127 pp., E.20.00 (Highlights the scale of the challenge which the UK faces in involving all the population in the learning society, especially as the report also shows that the gap between the learning-rich and the learning-poor is growing.)
Exploring Techniques in Analysis and Evaluation in Strategic Management, VERONIQUEAMBOSINIwith GERRY JOHN-
SON and KEVAN SCHOLES, Prentice Hall (1998), 284 pp., E11.95. Seventeen articles that review the subject area within four subheadings: Organisational Resources and Capabilities; The Business Environment; Organisational Cultures and Stakeholders and Evaluating and Choosing Strategic Options. Useful as far as it goes, but no explicit mention of Learning of Knowledge Management in any of the titles of the articles chosen or in the index!
Scenario Thinking: How to Navigate the Uncertainties of Unknown Futures. MIRIAM GALT, NELA
GARY CHICOINE-PIPER,
ter. What make this challenge even more problematic is that many of these new products will compete against their historic portfolio. The larger you are the more challenging this becomes. Chapter headings include: Knowledge: The Motherhood of Value; The LooseTight World of Innovation; The Collective Power of Passion, with ‘Values: the invisible Valley glue’, quoting the H-P Way and The Spirit of SGI. (but are they exceptions or the rule?) and ‘Measuring Your Measurement System’ (quoting Jack Welch, CEO, General Electric, “Simplicity applies to measurements also. Too often we measure everything and understand nothing.” Too true. And there is much to be learned from those at the leading edge in Silicon Valley.
CHICOINE-PIPER and
HODGSON, Idon (1997),
ANTHONY 145 pp., E21.00.
Not just a book on the theory of scenarios, the authors outline methods with a track record of application in both public and private sector organisations globally. Key features include: a stepby-step Process Guide in scenario creation for individuals or groups; actual examples; well-researched methodology; advice on how to set up scenario projects and facilitation. Useful material for anyone concerned with working with scenarios.
Relentless Growth: How Silicon Valley Innovation Strategies can work in your Business, CHRISTOPHERMEYER, Simon & Schuster (1998), 224 pp., E18.99. “The Achilles heel of every company is creating growth through new products and services-a herculean challenge that must be met continuously, relentlessly, year in and year out.” The authors outline a five part model for the effective management for integrating innovation operations, comand prising: (1) the role of leadership in creating an organisational attitude for growth; (2) a framework for strategic alignment: (3) the innovation process and development paradigm; (4) the application predictive and balanced approach, and (5) the people, who are the most important ingredient in any innovation process. In competitive industries with short life cycles the challenge of re-invention is even grea-
Driving Change: How the Best Companies are preparing for the 21st Century, JERRYYORAM WIND and JEREMY MAIN, Kogan Page (1998), 360 pp., fX7.99. Based on eight years’ work with 53 leading executives ‘about equally divided between North America, Asia and Europe’ to determine what strategies their companies are using and evolving to establish and maintain competitive advantage into the next century. Around six quantum changes: goaldirected to vision-directed; productdriven to customer-driven; machinebased to information-based; financeorientated to speed-orientated; rigid & committed to flexible & learning; and local, regional, national to global. Essential reading for anyone concerned with keeping up with how the latest strategic thinking is being applied in practice. Another approach is taken in Groundbreakers: The Key 100 Growth Companies in the UK, Edited by KAY REYNOLDS, Wiley (1998), 438 pp., iZ19.99. Contains 100 brief case studies that attempt to analyse the key elements of success of a range of significant UK enterprises. (“Some 90 per cent of our choice do not make anything. They either design, create, consult, sell or provide services.“!) A useful starting point but much more depth (and critical analysis) is needed-especially about the people issues-before we begin to get under the surface and really
Long Range Planning Vol. 31
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1998
understand what works and what doesn’t. Index by sector but not by key issue. The approach of the first book in this paragraph would help to understand the issues.
The Seven Deadly Sins of Business: Freeing the Corporate Mind from Doom-loop Thinking, EILEEN C. SHAPIRO, Capstone (1998), 270 pp., E14.99. Discusses the three Sins of Strategy (Trusting in your terrific plans . . .; Reinvesting in your outstanding products . . .; Focusing on playing to win.. .); two Sins of Organization (Assuming a team of turbo-charged employees . . .; Focusing on workplace sizzle . . .) and two Sins of Information (Taking pride in being a learning organization . . .; Investing in sophisticated forward intelligence.) Full of plenty of provocative and readable good advice. The author also wrote the widely acclaimed Fad Surfing in the Boardroom. The changing nature of Boardroom issues (US based) is tracked in Board Meeting in Session: 24th Annual Board of Directors Study, KornlFeryy International (1997), 36 pp., $100.00. (Pity not more long term time-series data in the results.)
Management: Leadership in Action, DONALDC. MOSLEY, PAUL H. PIERI and LEON C. MEGGINSON, Harper Collins (1996), 589 pp., E24.50. New edition of a widely used, and respected, teaching text. But more of the latest thinking on strategy/ management and leadership issues needs to be included in the next edition. For example no mention of learning organisation, knowledge management, servant leadership or core competences in the extensive index. A readable personal journey, with important general messages, is described in Unstoppable People: How Ordinary People Achieve Extraordinary Things, ADRIAN GILPIN, Century Business (1998), Developing leadership for the ~1st century, The Economist Intelligence written in co-operation with Kern/Ferry International (1996), 27 pp., E65.00. And Thought Leaders: Book Reviews and Review Briefs
Insights on the Future of Business, Editor JOEL KURTZMAN, Jossey-Bass/ Booz-Allen & Hamilton (1998), 167 pp., El4.95. A collection of interviews and profiles of twelve of the world’s most innovative and influential strategic thinkers (including C.K. Prahalad, Charles Handy, Gary Hamel and Warren Bennis, as well as Miroru Makihara and Paul Romer). The author is editorin-chief of Strategy and Business,-a journal that ought to be read regularly by any serious student of strategy. Another journey through the stony path of leadership is Business Heroes: Making corporate Renewal Your Personal Crusade, SANDY DUNLOP, Capstone (1997), 169 pp., E12.99. This volume attempts to use the framework of the ancient, universal, study of ‘The Hero’s Journey’. These tales have certainly stood the test of time and can reveal wisdom that is eternal.
Systems of Innovation: Technologies, Institutions and Organizations, Edited by CHARLESEDQUIST, Pinter (1997), 432 pp., fZ24.95. Seventeen chapters written by academics from various parts of Europe. Important issues, but pity the material does not have a greater managerial focus, with more input from strategic thinkers.
Growing Middle Market Companies, JULIET COTTINGHAM, JILL HUSSEY and ROGER HUSSEY, Bristol Business School/Lloyds Bank Commercial Service (1997), 32 pp., E35.00. Considers the ownership and management of 533 UK based companies. Covers the way in which they are currently managed and the composition of the board of directors, as well as the objectives and strategies pursued over the past three years and the factors that aided or constrained the achievement of these objectives. The final section is concerned with areas where respondents believed performance could be improved and the factors which aided or constrained performance improvement.
Managing Technology for Competitive Advantage, Edited by JOE ANDERSON, ROBIN FEARS and BERNARDTAYLOR, FT Healthcare/Cartermill (1998), 455 pp., E55.00. Aims to provide a comprehensive and authoratative guide to managing technology for competitive advantage for managers in business, as well as for administrators in public service, analysts of innovation in academia and strategic-thinkers and policy-makers in general. Twenty four chapters by leading practioners and analysts in the field around three themes: achieving competitive advantage through public research; the corporate view of technology as a tool for competitive advantage and planning and organising technological innovation. Full of stimulating, well presented material, for anyone involved in this expensive, and high risk, area. One global dimension of these issues is explored in Japanese Technology and Innovation Management: From know-how to know-who, SLGVALD HARRTSON, EDWARD ELGAR (1998), 255 pp., E49.95. Argues that the innovation process is no longer limited to know-how’ (internal specialization) but depends on ‘know-why’ (learning through relationships). Includes three in-depth case studies from Canon, Sony and Toyota. Specialist areas are covered in reports such as: Assessing the impact of advanced telecommunications on work-related travel, Led by THE HOME OFFICE PARTNERSHIP (1997), 72 pp., E95.00. (A report prepared under Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions Seedcorn Programme.); The Future of European Capitals: Knowledge Based Development BerlinLondon-Paris, JUDITH RYSER, GoetheInstitut (1994), 136 pp., npq.
The Strategic Decision Challenge, Edited by DAVIDHUSSEY, Wiley (1998), 251 pp., f29.95. Provides insights into the importance of successful business strategy and aims to build bridges to other sources of information. Brings together 13 articles, by leading international authorities that are relevant to improving strategic decisions in this critical area,
Kong. A brief sample of some of the other figures: 66% of respondents believe PCs, the Internet and information in general could become addictive to some people in the future; 53% of managers ‘crave’ information; if Groupware: Collaborative Strategies for Corporate LANs and Intranets, DAVID information was classified as a drug, 47% of respondents claim to know peoCOLEMAN,Prentice Hall (1997), 699 pp., ple who could be described as E26.95. addicted; 60% consider leisure time has been reduced as a result of working Starts with an introduction to eleclate, having to deal with vast amounts tronic collaboration, then moves on to of information (compared to 49% in an overview of the technologies and 1996); 71% believe reduced job sattheir benefits (and issues) before examisfaction and tension with other colining some of the leading products in leagues result from the stress of dealing the field. Finally a useful chapter on with the quantity of information (com‘Groupware, Knowledge Creation and pared to 66% in 1996) and so on. Plenty Competitive Advantage’. But, in the of fascinating and challenging statistics end, it is people issues that will deterto stimulate discussion on an increasmine both the degree and speed of sucingly important subject. But questions cess. New technology users also need can be asked about some aspects of the to address the general issues raised in methodology and hence the reliability Effective Communication for Manof the answers. To start with it was suragers: Getting Your Message Across, prising to find that 38% of the responCHRISTINE SIMONS BELINDA and dents were female! A useful NAYLOR-STAPLES, Cassell (1998), 303 introduction to the key issues of knowlpp., E14.99. And the fundamental quesedge and its effective management is tions raised in Dialogue-Rediscover
plus a (30 page) glossary of techniques
nificant extent) achieved by The Digital
used in strategic analysis.
Economy: Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence, DON
the Transforming Power of Conversation: Creating and Sustaining Collaborative Partnerships at Work, LINDA ELLINOR and GLENNA GERARD, Wiley (1998), 366 pp., E24.99. (“Shows how to tap into the collective wisdom is essential to high functioning work environments.” Much more to do with how people relate to each other than the technology they use.) Those seriously concerned with developing a deeper theoretical understanding of knowledge assets (which should be us all!) must not miss Knowledge Assets: Sec-
The Power of Knowledge: A Business Guide to Knowledge Management, KPMG (1998), 12 pp. no charge. But they too need to recognise the risk of ‘overload’ and how that can be managed explicitly.
Net Gain: Expanding Markets Through Virtual Communities, JOHN HAGEL III and ARTHUR G. ARMSTRONG, McGrawHill (1997), 238 pp., El7.99.
Oxford University Press (1998), 284 pp., E25.00. The author develops a conceptual framework, the Information Space of I-Space, for exploring the way knowledge flows within and between organizations. But, again, the people issues cannot be over-emphasised. Approaching some of these issues from a very different direction is Glued to
A strategic road map for competing in electronic markets, where creativity and the ability to leverage customer added value will dictate whether you win or lose. Issues that apply to both start-ups or the Fortune 500. But surprising that it is not more closely integrated with knowledge management thinking. A readable journalistic review of the general issues (from a UK perspective) is provided by The Weigh-
the Screen: An Znvestigation into Znformation Addiction Worldwide, Reuters
tless World: Strategies for Managing the Digital Economy, DIANE COYLE, Cap-
(1997), 48 pp., E45.00. Explores important questions relating to the new and growing pressures that are arising in relation to what is generally known as ‘information overload’. Based on 1000 confidential telephone interviews with company executives across the UK, US, Germany, Ireland, Singapore and Hong
stone (1998), 250 pp., El8.99. But phrases like ‘we are not necessarily heading for twenty-first century economic apocalypse’ (on the final page) lack rigor and are of little real use. What is needed is to integrate these ideas with the latest strategic and futures thinking, which is (at least to a sig-
uring Competitive Advantage in the Information Economy, MAX H. BOISOT,
TAPSCOTT, McGraw-Hill (1996), slO.99 paperback. Uses a combination of studies, data and predictions, to extend and refocus the author’s previous work Paradigm Shift. Valuable combination of technology and people issues which should be essential reading for strategists and futurists. Another publication in this area is The Intelligence
Edge: How to Profit in the Information Age, GEORGE FRIEDMAN,MEREDITH FRIEDMAN, COLIN CHAPMAN and JOHN S. BAKER, Jr, Crown Publishers (1997), 276 pp., $25.00. This volume provides tools and techniques distilled from experience that should enable organizations to improve the way they find, collect, prioritize and analyse data. Contains much relevant and practical advice.
Tomorrow’s People, AMIN RAJAN with PENNYvan EUPEN, Create (1998), 95 pp., E49.50. A valuable analysis of the changing nature of the workplace as we move into a more knowledge driven era. Important issues for both individuals and employers, as well as the external learning industry-all major educational providers ought to be discussing the implications of these issues on their portfolios. Also relevant is the output of The Future of Work study undertaken by the Royal Society of Arts (1998). And studies such as Work
Experience: Expanding opportunities for undergraduates, LEE HARVEY, VICKI GEALL and SUE MOON, with JANE ASTON, LINDSEY BOWES and ALISON BLACKWELL, Centre for Research into Quality/University of Central England (1998), 102 pp., npq. But under 10% of the over 100 individuals involved in interviews or feedback came from outside the educational sector. More links with those involved in the other studies mentioned earlier in this section will be increasingly important in the future. Also it is worth mentioning biographical insights that arise from books such as I’d like the World to buy a
COKE: The Life and Leadership of Roberta Goizueta, DAVID GRIESING, Wiley (1998), 334 pp., f16.99 and Only the Paranoid Survive: How to exploit the Crisis Points that Challenge every Company and Career, ANDREW S. GROVE,
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1998
(President and GE0 of Intel Corporation) Harper Collins Business (1998) 210 pp., E9.99.
Business Process Engineering: Reference Models for Industrial Enterprises, A.-W. SCHEER, Springer-Verlag
and RICCARDOPECCEI, Involvement and Participation Association (IPA) (1998), 44 pp., ElO.00.
(1998), 757 pp., $49.95.
From Sage to Artisan: The Nine Roles of the Value-Driven Leader, STUART WELLS, Davies-Black Publishing (1998), 280 pp., $26.95. Argues that leadership opportunities do not just belong to top executives, they can be (and are) exhibited by every individual no matter how large or small. Emphasises the vital role of core values for success in any context. Leadership qualities are discussed around three key elements: creating order; inspiring action and improving performance. And nine roles: sage (design strategy); visionary (embraces the future); magician (orchestrates change); globalist (promotes diversity); mentor (motivates employees]; ally (helps individuals work together); sovereign (exercises authority): guide (sets clear goals) and artisan (pursues excellence). Contains useful self-assessment tools and skill building exercises that encourage the development of abilities in each role. Could be read together with the challenging ideas in Need, Greed or
Freedom: Business Changes and Personal Choices, JOHN WHITMORE, Element (1997), 213 pp., El2.99. But a pity this book was not available at half the price so it could reach a wider group of general readers.
Learning through Shared Experience: The Roffey Park Management Agenda, LINDA HOLBECHEand CAROLINEGLYNN, Roffey Park Management Institute (1998), 46 pp., E25.00. Based on the results of 161 completed questionnaires (800 sent out). Reviews issues relating to growth, delayering, managing change, feedback, stress, investors in people, careers, and flexible working. Some useful general research results but more depth and time series information would add to its long term value. (In view of the sample size it is certainly not justified to quote decimal points in the statistical analysis!)
The structure follows the business processes of logistics, product development, information and coordination, and offers detailed examples of how organizational structures can be reengineered. The approach is embedded in the “Architecture of Integrated Information Systems” (ARIS) approach. This first study edition is based on the second hardcover edition and is aimed at producing a budget-price edition for students.
The Feminization of Nature: Our Future at Risk, DEBORAHCADBURY,Penguin Books (1998), (hard), E6.99 (soft).
303
pp.,
U7.99
Argues that scientists all over the world have been uncovering disturbing evidence of adverse changes in human and animal reproduction and health. A compelling and disturbing book, which needs to be widely read and argued about-then acted on? A more general review of the way we perceive risk and how we integrate change into our lives is explored in The Politics of Risk Society, Edited by JANE FRANKLIN,Polity Press/IPPR (1998), 138 pp., El2.95. But primarily a socio-political perspective and a pity it did not include more systematic strategic thinking. Another view of risk is contained in
Seeing Tomorrow: Rewriting the Rules of Risk, RON S. DEMBO and ANDREW FREEMAN, Wiley (1998), 260 pp., f19.99. Offers a framework designed to enhance our ability to make important decisions and how we manage our investments. Includes exploring the roles and significance of such fundamentals as time horizons, risk measures, benchmarks and scenarios. Important related issues (for a specialist market) are considered in Time Dis-
counting and Future Generations: The Harmful Effects of an Untrue Economic Theory, ERHUN KULA, Quoram Books (1997), 199 pp., E47.95.
The Partnership Company: Benchmarks for the Future, DAVID E. GUEST Book Reviews and Review Briefs
The report of the IPA survey on principles, practice and performance which examined what is happening in this area. Explored possible answers to key questions such as: How do companies and their employees build a shared sense of commitment and mutual obligations? How do companies set about creating the right context for partnerships? How do partnerships operate on the ground and which practices are most commonly found in partnership companies? In addition: How are trade unions facing up to the challenge of operating in different ways within companies? The answers are benchmarked around six key areas: Commitment to business success; Employment security; Employee voice; Sharing the success of the organisation with all employees; Encouraging training and development and, finally, Growing flexibility in job design and direct participation. Another argument for more participation is contained in A Piece of
the Action: Employee Ownership, Equity Pay and the Rise of the Knowledge Economy, CHARLES LEADBEATER, Demos (1998), 75 pp., El4.95.
Liberating Leadership: Releasing Leadership Potential Throughout the Organisation, MAHENTAMPOE, The Industrial Society (1998), 103 pp., E175.00. A research report that explores answers to questions such as: What style of leadership really brings out the best in staff, encouraging responsibility, accountability and initiative at all levels? What has been shown to work in practice, not just theory? A useful study of the nature of effective leadership. Answers emphasise the need for people to believe in their own abilities, strengths and vision, as well as those they ‘lead’; in addition there is fairness in their dealing with the followers and the need to engage the followers at the emotional level by their enthusiasm for the causes they are espousing. Finally there is an ability to play different roles to meet the needs of their followers and the situation. Plenty of sound advice but surprising that values and the ideas of servant leadership, reflected in the work of the Greenleaf Centre, are not
per year but free to Society members.)
How can an organization or group regain trust once it is lost? Also includes assessment surveys. A valuable book about a vitally important subject but, although the role of ‘fairness’ is mentioned, its role justifies a higher priority than that given.
UK and Society,
Web-Weaving: Intranets, Extranets and Strategic Alliances, Edited by PETER
given greater attention. Other useful material from the Industrial Society includes their monthly Management Best Practice, (f425.00 per year) and their bimonthly Training Trends:
Training Providers 6 Methods,
Japan:
Government
(~U5.00
and
CATHERINE Edited by RUBINSTEIN,The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation (1997), 145 pp., no charge. Ten chapters that explore various aspects of Japanese Society, under such headings as Human Rights Issues; The Pension Time Bomb; Comparisons and Cooperation-British and Japanese Voluntary Sectors; Managing Public Spending; and How Different are the Lives of British and Japanese women? Another area is discussed in The British
Research
of
Japanese
Companies,
LOUIS TURNER, DAVID RAY and TONY HAYWARD,Insight Japan (1997)64 pp., f20.00.
The
Dictionary
of
Global
Culture,
KWANE ANTHONY APPIAH and HENRY LOUIS GATES Jr, (1996), 717 pp., f25.00. Provides more than 1200 entries on writers, musicians, deities, rulers, philosophies and literary forms, from every part of the world. An invaluable reference point for those who are concerned with exploring (or managing?) the cultural roots of our increasingly global world.
Trust in the Balance: Building Successful Organizations on Results, Integrityand Concern, ROBERT BRUCE SHAW, Prentice Hall Europe (1997), 242 pp., E17.95. Argues strongly (and rightly) that trust is a critical factor in effective leadership. Explores some important questions, such as: How is trust related to bottom-line results? What does a hightrust organization or group look like? How do I determine the level of trust in my organization or group? What key factors promote trust or distrust? What are the consequences of ‘blind’ trust?
LLOYD and PA~JLA BOYLE, Butterworth Heinemann (1998), 374 pp., E19.99. Evaluates the webs of relationships inside organizations (intranets), outside (extranets) and between organizations (strategic alliances). But there is often a wide gap between what is theoretically possible in the field of collaborative technology and what actually happens in practice. This book provides a useful, readable balance between theory and practice but greater attention to people issues would help even further to address the all-toofrequent problems mentioned in the previous sentence. Could usefully be read in conjunction with Motivating People in Lean Organizations, LINDA HOLBECHE, Butterworth Heinemann (1998), 299 pp., f16.99.
age effectively in a multicultural environment is likely to become increasingly important in the years ahead, which reinforces the arguments for the subject getting a higher priority. Interesting to note this tissue was not discussed in Tomorrow’s People, (see earlier mention in this section). Surprising that the specific ethnic minority issues were not given a greater priority in the general discussion of Inequality in the UK, ALISSA GOODMAN, PAUL JOHNSON and STEVEN WEBB, Oxford University Press (1998), 297 pp., 05.99. But ‘The FES data simply contain no information on this.’
French Management:
Elitism in Action,
JEAN-LOUIS BARSOUX and PETER LAWRENCE, Cassell (1997), 195 pp., E18.99. A revised and up-dated successor to the authors’ earlier volume, Management in France, which provides some unique insights into a business culture that is not widely understood. How effective will European integration be without harmonisation in these particularly challenging areas?
International Investment: Value CreManaging Change with Business Proation and Appraisal: A Real Options cess Simulation, DAVID PROFOZICH, Approach, ADRIAN BUCKLEY, CopenPrentice Hall (19981, 199 pp., E24.50. hagen Business School Press (1998), Introduces the basic concepts of business process simulation and shows (with case studies) how the value of business process simulation can be used to produce a positive return on investment.
The Black and Ethnic Minority Woman Manager: Cracking the Concrete Ceiling, MARILYN J. DAVIDSON and Paul Chapman (1997), 136 pp., f16.95. Explores the experiences, problems and pressures faced by black and ethnic minority women managers in the UK. These need to be more widely recognised and more urgently addressed, especially in the less enlightened, power driven, cultures still found in many organisations. The ability to man-
321 pp., $48.00. Explores the impact of real operating options on international capital investment and appraisal, and attempts to integrate this analysis into a theory of foreign investment. For serious (academic) students on the subject.
Benchmarking for Best Practice: Continuous Learning Through Sustainable Innovation, MOHAMED ZAIRI, Butterworth Heinemann
(1998), pp., f19.99.
Paperback version of 1996 volume. Although the word learning is important enough to mention in the title it is not mentioned in the index! The next edition will need to recognise that benchmarking is best understood in
Long Range Planning Vol. 31
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1998
terms of knowledge management learning organisation concepts.
and
Management in Further Education: Theory and Practice, HARRIET HARPER David Fulton Publishers (1997), 100 pp., f13.99. Provides lecturers who are moving into management roles in Further Education with a basic understanding of management theory applied specially to further Education Colleges (in the UK). Based on consideration of the interrelated topics of people, operations, resources and information, badly needed. But pity greater emphasis was not given to ensuring that a learning organisation approach was the integrating factor for the topics considered.
Jack Welsh Speaks: Wisdom from the World’s Greatest Business Leader, JANE LOWE, Wiley (1998), 232 pp., E12.99. One of the most praised (and feared?) CEO’s in America. Sixteen years at the top of his profession involved in developing and implementing radical change to cope with new demands driven by a combination of globalisation and high technology. The words, insights, visions, passions and persuasions of a legendary leader.
Beyond the Dependency Culture: People, Power and Responsibility, JAMES ROBERTSON, Adamantine Press (1998), 217 pp., E27.50 (hard); E14.50
(paper). The distilled wisdom of one of the leading original thinkers on the future of business and society, including coverage of almost all aspects of politics, work, welfare, health, money, family life and local/global neighbourhoods. Full of provocative ideas but the occasional use of over-emotive language reflects a frustration that can get in the way of a sensible discussion of some of the ideas. (see comments on Nuclear Power ~170). Also the ideas of Robertson need to be reconciled with those in The Entrepreneurial Society, Book Reviews and Review Briefs
ROBERT GAVRON, MARC COWLING,GERALD HOLTHAM and ANDREA WESTALL, IPPR (1998), 148 pp., E9.95. Aimed at all involved in supporting new enterprises (in the UK). Particularly focused on how to make ‘The Creation of the Entrepreneurial Society’ more effective. Plenty of sound advice, but pity no index. Also a critical factor is how to ensure that the entrepreneurialism is responsibility driven-hence the link with the book above. Useful background on one particularly entrepreneurially driven sector, the management buy-out industry, continues to be produced by the Quarterly Reviews from the Centre for Management Buy-out Research at the University of Nottingham. The Spring 1998 edition (100 pp., ElOO.00)contains articles on Buy-outs and Buy-in in the Regions; New Developments in European Buy-outs and High Tech Buyouts.
Forecasting with Judgement, Edited by GEORGE WRIGHT and PETER GOODWIN, Wiley (1998), 297 pp., E45.00. Brings together some of the latest research on the role of judgement in forecasting in ten papers. Considers questions such as: How good is human judgement? Do judgemental forecasters use information efficiently? What techniques are available to help groups of people to produce better forecasts? What reasoning processes are employed by people when they make judgements about uncertainty? Important (technical) issues but, perhaps, the people dimension could have been given a higher priority. No mention of values, yet it is frequently the case that ‘values’ play a critical role in judgement.
Leading Edge Internal Auditing, JEFFREY RIDLEY and ANDREW CHAMBERS, ICSA Publishing/Prentice Hall (1998), 398 pp., E29.95. Excellent technical coverage of a subject for anyone specifically concerned with this important, but too often ignored, area. Almost at the other extreme (yet there is probably more overlap than might appear) is The
World of Superservice: Creating Profit Through a Passion for Customer Service, KEN IRONS, Addison-Wesley (1997), 246 pp., g15.95. Invaluable practical material for anyone (us all?) concerned with using the concept of service as a critical factor in their offering.
A Guide to Strategic Thinking: Building Your Planning Foundation (119 pp.,); A Guide to Long Range Planning: Creating Your Strategic Journey (109 pp.,); A Guide to Tactical Planning: Producing Your Short-Term Results (115 pp.,) GEORGE L. MORRISEY, Jossey Bass (1996), El8.75 each. Three volumes in a Morrisey on Planning series that provide the tools needed to uncover the critical strategic issues facing organisations today in order to identify their future positions in areas such as markets and customers, products and services, and competencies and technology. Useful, but new editions are needed that integrate the latest ideas on learning organisation and knowledge management.
The Elusive Human Subject: A Psychoanalytic Theory of Subject Relations, ROGER KENNEDY, Free Association Books (1998), 226 pp., f15.95. Marshalls the theory and ideas from psychoanalysis, philosophy and the social sciences in an attempt to undertake a major re-evaluation of how we describe the Self and what that means for psychoanalysis. For serious soul searchers!
Post-Socialist Political Economy: Selected Essays, JAMES M. BUCHANAN, Edward Elgar (1997), 285 pp., f49.95. Provides a critical assessment of the political and social order in the postrevolutionary decade of the 1990’s in both the transitional economies and Western welfare states as they confront fiscal crises. Written by the 1986 Nobel Prize winner for Economic Sciences. For economists. Another niche market is Environment and Technology in the
Former USSR: The Case of Acid Rain and Power Generation, MALCOLM R. HILL, Edward Elgar (1997), 261 pp., E49.95. Considers the consequences of acid rain emissions for neighbouring the technological/ countries and commercial factors which influence these levels of pollution. More general issues are covered in The International
Yearbook of Environmental and Resource Economics 1997/l 998: A Survey of Current Issues, Edited by HENK FOLMER and
TOM TIETENBERG,Edward Elgar (1997), 255 pp., E59.95. Seven, articles that essentially academic, attempt to provide a new state-of-theart survey of current issues in environmental and resource economics, written by leading academics in the field for a very niche market. A similar approach is taken to a slightly different niche in the ten papers in International
Competitiveness Policies, Edited
and
Environmental
by TERRY BARKER and Edward Elgar (1997) 284 pp., E55.00. The general subject of the environment is also considered in Pollution and the Firm, ROBERTE. KOHN, Edward Elgar (1998), 251 pp., E59.95. Focuses on three main concepts: substitutions in consumption, emission abatement and exposure avoidance. But a highly theoretical/ academic combination of the theories of the firm with a welfare economics approach to pollution control. And
JONATHAN
KOHLER,
evance for these countries of reform measures undertaken in OECD states. Combines a historical perspective with current problems, in country case studies. Social Policy in Hong Kong, Edited by PAUL WILDING, AHMED SHALFIQUL HUQ~JE and TAO LAI PO-WAH, JULIA, Edward Elgar (1997). 178 pp., fZ45.00. Nine papers that argue Hong Kong is far from being a simple free market economy, as it has many areas where there are highly developed social policies which make a major contribution to the quality of life of its citizens. A similar analysis in five years time should prove to be particularly interesting. Population Ageing, Migration
and Social RADO and
Expenditure,
JOSE ALVA-
JOHN CREEDY, Edward
Elgar (1998) 191 pp., E45.00. Studies the important effects of population ageing on social expenditure and public finance. A particular emphasis is placed on the Australian economy, reflecting the background of the authors. Modelling Global Change: The
Art of Integrated Assessment Modelling, MARCO JANSSEN, Edward Elgar (1998), 262 pp., 649.95. Presents a general (academic/theoretical) discussion of the methodological principals of a multidisciplinary integrated modelling approach.
Handbook on the Globalization of the World Economy, Edited by AMNON
ANDREW TYLECOTE and
748 pp., E125.00.
LEVY-LIVERMORE,Edward
Elgar (1998),
STRAATEN, Edward
Elgar (1997) 254 pp., f49.95. Twelve articles that bring together a variety of views that maintain the protection of the environment and economic growth is not necessarily incompatible with full employment. The solution is to give an ‘eco-friendly’ direction to technology and growth. Other specialist markets are covered by: Innovations in Public Management:
Perspectives from East and West Europe, Edited by TONY VERHEIJENand DAVID COOMBES, Edward
Elgar (1998), 432 pp,, E55.00. Twenty-two papers that determine the main problems facing public administrations in transitional countries and provides a comparative evaluation of the rel-
Development in a Developing World: Integrating Socio-economic Appraisal and EnvironmentalAssessment, Edited by
COLIN KIRKPATRICK and
Twenty six papers that provide a detailed analysis of the important issues relating to the globalization of the international economy. Particular areas covered include: global growth; regionalization and globalization of trade; transition to market economies; internationalization and integration of markets, and global environmental and resource problems. Other aspects of globalization and issues relating to development are covered in: Measuring
Sustainable Development: Macroeconomics and the Environment, GILES ATKINSON, HAMILTON,
RICHARD DUB~URG, MOHAN
DAVID PEARCE and
KIRK
MUNASHINGHE, CARLOS YOUNG,
NORMAN
LEE, Edward
Elgar (1997), 261 pp., E55.00. Fourteen papers that examine the different ways in which integration might be achieved in practice using a variety of country case studies. Based on an evaluation of the evolution of three main forms of project appraisalenvironmental impact assessment, social impact assessment and economic appraisal-in development policy making over the past 25 years.
Transition to a Sustainable Society: A Backcasting Approach to Modelling Energy and Ecology, HENK A. J. MULDER and WOUTER BIESIOT, Edward Elgar (19981, 287 pp., fZ55.00. A backcasting approach based on energy flows is used to evaluate the physical constraints on sustainable development. Concludes with some reflections on the institutional and socio-psychological aspects of a transition to sustainability, and recommends a goal-oriented policy to implement this change. Towards
Sustainable
Environment, Technology and Economic Growth: The Challenge to Sustainable Development, Edited by JAN VER DER
Edward Elgar (1997), 252 pp., E49.95. Focuses on the theory and practice of economic development viewed from the perspective of sustainability, together with the implications for development policy. Sustainable
Project
Development,
Edited by FRANK A. WILSON, Edward Elgar (1997), 257 pp., E55.00. Fifteen papers that address the sustainability of development projects from an environmental as well as from a human resources perspective. Some of the recent realities of development in a critical part of the world are explored in Asia Meltdown: The End of the Miracle?, LEO GOLJGH, Capstone (1998), 137 pp., E12.99. Anyone with a serious interest in stock market investment either corporately or individually should seriously explore the possibility of subscribing monthly !Z675 p/a), or quarterly (275 p/a) to Company REFS (Really Essential Financial Statistics) service, Hemmington Scott (1998). Devised by Jim Slater and the underlying credibility is backed by much detailed research. Internet site-http:// www.hemscott.com
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1998
PII: SOO24-6301(98)00110-1 Perspectives on Strategy from The Boston Consulting Group, Edited by CARL W. STERN and GEORGESTALK, Jr, Wiley (1998), 319 pp., E19.99. A selection of Perspectives articles started by Bruce Henderson, BCG’s founder, who began writing them in 1968. Over 400 have been published in six languages since then. Valuable insights that cover a wide spectrum of strategy related issues, including concepts such as ‘cash-cow’ and ‘experience curve’, which have become widely known through past Perspectives.
Blur: The Speed of Change in the Connected Economy, STAN DAVIS and CHRISTOPHERMEYER, Capstone (1998), 265 pp., E16.99. Predicts that the lines of demarcation between buyer and seller, product and service, employer, employee and entrepreneur are all rapidly changing, if not actually disappearing. All these changes are creating a blue that is forcing businesses to adapt more rapidly than ever before. The approach taken by the authors (both heavily involved in the Ernst and Young Center for Business Innovation) challenges the reader to question every assumption held about how business is conducted and how you can rethink what is really going on and what you need to do in order to be successful in this new environment. This blurring occurs in the division between work and home; it occurs in a greater emphasis on sharing knowledge and it requires the effective exploitation of the opportunities presented by the Web. You will need Speed, Connectivity and to master a range of Intangibles.
Strategic Management and Business Policy: Entering 21st Century Global
BRIEFS
Review Briefs are not detailed reviews. They are mainly brief notes and descriptions of books received for review to enlighten the reader on their general intention and approach. The expectation is that more books can be described to readers than has proved possible by publishing only critical reviews. The descriptive information should enable interest in the books to be raised beyond that induced by just listing the titles. However, it is recognized that a critical review can be far more informative about a book than is attempted with Review Briefs and, accordingly, offers to review any books are solicited. Having been described in Review Briefs, a review should critically examine the contents of a publication as an assessment of whether its stated intentions have been met and whether the way it achieves these intentions is attractive to the reader. It is expected that each review will require IOOO1500 words and will be fully attributed. The reviewer keeps the book but Long Range Planning makes no payment. As an alternative, it may be apparent that either a single ‘milestone’class publication or several books on a single topic could constitute a wider perspective Essay Review. This would be expected to comprise an article of some 3000-4000 words and would have a written introduction by the Review Editor. The Journal would make its usual article contribution payments to the author of an Essay Review. Readers interested to review any book in Review Briefs should be prepared to offer a copy deadline some 5 months ahead which can be relied on in planning the Journal. As a matter of readership policy, reviewer preference will be given to practising managers, or planners. Your interest should be expressed as a specific request to review a book from Review Briefs, preferably giving some intimation of why you think your review would be of interest to readers, addressed to: Bruce Lloyd, Book Review Editor, 48 Aberdare Gardens, London NW6 3QA, UK. Wherever possible, both Reviews and Review Essays should be supplied in hard copy and in electronic form on floppy disk-see Notes for Contributors on the inside back cover.
Society, THOMAS L. WHEELEN and J. DAVID HUNGER, Addison Wesley (1998), 6th Edition, 344 pp., (+several hundred pages of cases), E26.99. A widely used and respected teaching text. One important addition (among many) is in the first chapter, which now has a section that conceptualizies the firm as a learning organization. But surprisingly no mention of knowledge management in the extensive index. A major challenge for the next edition is to integrate these recent ideas and developments into mainstream strategic thinking and practice. Substantial additional teaching support material is also available.
Navigating Uncharted Waters: The 1997 Report from the Chatham House Forum. Royal Institute of International AffairsKhatham House (1998), 156 pp., g75.00. An exercise that is not intended as a prescription for successful strategic planning. The objective is to provide signposts and highlight some dilemmas which may provide greater understanding of how to develop a more systematic approach to understanding and managing the complexities of the future. Moves beyond the previous report Unsettled Times: Three Stony Paths to 2015 (144 pp., f50.00) reviewed in the first chapter and in LRP (Vol 30, no 4, ~633). Other chapters include a discussion of Changes in
Long Range Planning
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working practices; the Social context; more Adaptive business; People and the civic environment; achieving coevolution and a final chapter that draws together the threads. The text contains no reference to other studies in the challenging areas covered (although many of the diagrams do have general references) and it is a pity there is no index. Another exercise that is specifically concerned with exploring the technology future is The Future in Focus: A summary of national fores&h t programmes, Office of Science and Technology (1998), 115 pp., no charge.
Competing on Value: Bridging the Gap Between Brand and Customer Value, SIMON KNOX and STAN MAKLAN, Financial Times/Pitman Publishing (1998), 235 pp., E24.99. Argues that there has been a fundamental change in the purchasing, motivation and behaviour of both customers and the methods by which companies meet these new customer expectations. Based on the LJOVP (Unique organisation value proposition) is the new methodology which integrates an organization’s valueadding processes into a powerful combination of reputation, performance, customer and product portfolio and a network of third-party relationships.
Strategic Brand Management: Creating and Sustaining Brand Equity Long Term, JEAN-NOEL KAPFERER, Kogan Page (1998), 443 pp., f22.50. Rewritten and thoroughly revised version of the well received edition published in 1992. Deals with the concept and practice of brand management in its totality. Three new chapters concentrate on the life span of brands by looking at: the sources of the challenges to brand equity: factors which dictate a brand’s life expectancy and the revitalization strategies for declining brands. More attention is also given to multi-brand strategies and there is a new chapter on the growing practices of merging brands. The author has written extensively on the subject and is an internationally recognised authority on brands and brand management, as well Book Reviews and Review Briefs
as being a professor of marketing strategy at HEC School of Management in France. His reputation is well deserved.
Business Connect: A Brief Guide to ESRC Business Research, ESRC (1998), 154 pp., E30.00. Provides the reader with a selection of ESRC research that is potentially relevant to the business community. Includes a summary of findings from projects which are completed, information on those that are ongoing, as well as contact details for the relevant researchers. There is scope for a more definitative database of UK researchincluding that which is funded by organisations other than the ESRC? Perhaps a useful ESRC project would be to make all this information available on the Internet? Reports of two specific projects from the Institute of Work Psychology at the University of Sheffield are: The Use and Effectiveness of Modern Manufacturing Practices in the United Kingdom, (1997), 45 pp., E15.00 and The Performance of Information Technology and the role of human and organizational factors, (1996),36 pp., El5.00. But, although there has been considerable movement in the right direction over the past decade, there still is plenty of scope for further progress in making these reports more relevant to the managerial audience (users?).
Leisure Forescasts 1998-2002: Leisure in the home, (64 pp.,): Leisure away from home, (60 pp.,) Leisure Industries Research Centre in co-operation with Leisure Consultants (1998), E150.00 individually, E220.00 combined. The first report focuses on the digital revolution and the changes that this is bringing to many markets. In a companion volume, the global business in sports events is covered. The authors argue that lottery money may be being used to create a new herd of white elephants in the attractions market. After 16 pioneering years this is the last issue that involves Bill Martin and Sandra Mason. Editorial and production responsibility is now being taken over by the New Leisure Industries Research
Centre, a joint venture between the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University. Essential reading for anyone concerned with these increasingly important sectors. But is leisure all it seems? Not according to Britain on the Couch: Treating a Low Serotonin Society, OLIVER JAMES, Century (1997), 402 pp., E16.99. Shows how the rise in aspirations has spawned depression, violence and an epidemic of compulsions like drug abuse, gambling and eating disorders, essentially generated by an ever more desperate search for meaning and identity. How do we encourage every member of society to reach for the sky and yet avoid selfishness and disappointment when they fall to earth? By operating an effective learning organisation and learning society? Easier to say than to do but a pity these ideas were not discussed in more detail. Certainly more so-called leisure, of itself, is not the answer. Satisfying, creative leisure perhaps? A paperback version of ‘. . . on the Couch’ would make the ideal holiday read for the sunbed? Sport, in general, is becoming a major global industry, and football (soccer) is one of the major subsets of this industry. The business and management aspects of these industries are beginning to get the journalistic and academic attention they deserve. This includes: Moving the Goalposts: Football’s Exploitation, E.D. HORTON,Mainstream 189 pp., E14.99 (1997X (Criticises new priorities of football, which is too interested in making profits and not sufficiently concerned with the traditions of the game or its intrinsic social worth.) And The Football Business: Fair game in the Ws?, DAVID CONN, Mainstream (1997), 302 pp., E14.99. (More background that examines the change in the game of football today and in the years ahead.) Another dimension is considered in Ethics and Sport, Edited by M. J. MCNAMEEand S.J. PERRY, E & FN Spon/Routledge (1998), 277 pp., E22.99. Fifteen articles that provide insights into a subject, and an industry, that are both of growing importance.
Information Space: A Framework for Learning in Organizations, Institutions and Culture, MAX H. BOISOT, Routledge (1995), 550 pp., E26.99. Proposes a radical shift in the way that
we approach the emerging information age and the implications it holds for and indisocieties, organisations viduals. One of the most serious studies available on the frontier of knowledge and its effective use.
The Power of Learning: A guide to gaining competitive advantage, ANDREW MAYO and ELIZABETHLANK, Institute of Personnel and Development (1997, reprinted), 268 pp., E9.95. One of the most important and useful books on the subject of learning. First published in 1994 and much has happened since then, including the growth of the whole knowledge management industry. Scope for a new edition if the publication wishes to maintain its position as the publication at this critical leading edge. Several publications from The National Organisation for Adult Learning also emphasizes the critical importance of the whole subject of learning; these include: Learners on the Superhigh way? Access to Learning via Electronic Communications, KEITH YEOMANS, (1996), 103 pp., E6.50 (A Winston Churchill Fellowship Report); Through the Joy of Learning: Diary of 2,000 Adult Learners, Edited by PAM COARE and ALISTAIR THOMSON, (1996), 212 pp., El4,99 (A selection of 28 whole diaries from the project); Working People and Lifelong Learning: A study of the impact of an Employee DeveJopment Scheme, ANDY BEATTIE, (1997), 42 pp., ~fZ6.00;Lifelong Learning in England and Wales: An Overview and Guide to issues arising from The European Year of Lifelong Learning, ALAN TUCKETT, (1997), 34 pp., E6.00; The Learning Divide: A study of participation in adult learning in the United Kingdom, (1997), 127 pp., E.20.00 (Highlights the scale of the challenge which the UK faces in involving all the population in the learning society, especially as the report also shows that the gap between the learning-rich and the learning-poor is growing.)
Exploring Techniques in Analysis and Evaluation in Strategic Management, VERONIQUEAMBOSINIwith GERRY JOHN-
SON and KEVAN SCHOLES, Prentice Hall (1998), 284 pp., E11.95. Seventeen articles that review the subject area within four subheadings: Organisational Resources and Capabilities; The Business Environment; Organisational Cultures and Stakeholders and Evaluating and Choosing Strategic Options. Useful as far as it goes, but no explicit mention of Learning of Knowledge Management in any of the titles of the articles chosen or in the index!
Scenario Thinking: How to Navigate the Uncertainties of Unknown Futures. MIRIAM GALT, NELA
GARY CHICOINE-PIPER,
ter. What make this challenge even more problematic is that many of these new products will compete against their historic portfolio. The larger you are the more challenging this becomes. Chapter headings include: Knowledge: The Motherhood of Value; The LooseTight World of Innovation; The Collective Power of Passion, with ‘Values: the invisible Valley glue’, quoting the H-P Way and The Spirit of SGI. (but are they exceptions or the rule?) and ‘Measuring Your Measurement System’ (quoting Jack Welch, CEO, General Electric, “Simplicity applies to measurements also. Too often we measure everything and understand nothing.” Too true. And there is much to be learned from those at the leading edge in Silicon Valley.
CHICOINE-PIPER and
HODGSON, Idon (1997),
ANTHONY 145 pp., E21.00.
Not just a book on the theory of scenarios, the authors outline methods with a track record of application in both public and private sector organisations globally. Key features include: a stepby-step Process Guide in scenario creation for individuals or groups; actual examples; well-researched methodology; advice on how to set up scenario projects and facilitation. Useful material for anyone concerned with working with scenarios.
Relentless Growth: How Silicon Valley Innovation Strategies can work in your Business, CHRISTOPHERMEYER, Simon & Schuster (1998), 224 pp., E18.99. “The Achilles heel of every company is creating growth through new products and services-a herculean challenge that must be met continuously, relentlessly, year in and year out.” The authors outline a five part model for the effective management for integrating innovation operations, comand prising: (1) the role of leadership in creating an organisational attitude for growth; (2) a framework for strategic alignment: (3) the innovation process and development paradigm; (4) the application predictive and balanced approach, and (5) the people, who are the most important ingredient in any innovation process. In competitive industries with short life cycles the challenge of re-invention is even grea-
Driving Change: How the Best Companies are preparing for the 21st Century, JERRYYORAM WIND and JEREMY MAIN, Kogan Page (1998), 360 pp., fX7.99. Based on eight years’ work with 53 leading executives ‘about equally divided between North America, Asia and Europe’ to determine what strategies their companies are using and evolving to establish and maintain competitive advantage into the next century. Around six quantum changes: goaldirected to vision-directed; productdriven to customer-driven; machinebased to information-based; financeorientated to speed-orientated; rigid & committed to flexible & learning; and local, regional, national to global. Essential reading for anyone concerned with keeping up with how the latest strategic thinking is being applied in practice. Another approach is taken in Groundbreakers: The Key 100 Growth Companies in the UK, Edited by KAY REYNOLDS, Wiley (1998), 438 pp., iZ19.99. Contains 100 brief case studies that attempt to analyse the key elements of success of a range of significant UK enterprises. (“Some 90 per cent of our choice do not make anything. They either design, create, consult, sell or provide services.“!) A useful starting point but much more depth (and critical analysis) is needed-especially about the people issues-before we begin to get under the surface and really
Long Range Planning Vol. 31
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1998
understand what works and what doesn’t. Index by sector but not by key issue. The approach of the first book in this paragraph would help to understand the issues.
The Seven Deadly Sins of Business: Freeing the Corporate Mind from Doom-loop Thinking, EILEEN C. SHAPIRO, Capstone (1998), 270 pp., E14.99. Discusses the three Sins of Strategy (Trusting in your terrific plans . . .; Reinvesting in your outstanding products . . .; Focusing on playing to win.. .); two Sins of Organization (Assuming a team of turbo-charged employees . . .; Focusing on workplace sizzle . . .) and two Sins of Information (Taking pride in being a learning organization . . .; Investing in sophisticated forward intelligence.) Full of plenty of provocative and readable good advice. The author also wrote the widely acclaimed Fad Surfing in the Boardroom. The changing nature of Boardroom issues (US based) is tracked in Board Meeting in Session: 24th Annual Board of Directors Study, KornlFeryy International (1997), 36 pp., $100.00. (Pity not more long term time-series data in the results.)
Management: Leadership in Action, DONALDC. MOSLEY, PAUL H. PIERI and LEON C. MEGGINSON, Harper Collins (1996), 589 pp., E24.50. New edition of a widely used, and respected, teaching text. But more of the latest thinking on strategy/ management and leadership issues needs to be included in the next edition. For example no mention of learning organisation, knowledge management, servant leadership or core competences in the extensive index. A readable personal journey, with important general messages, is described in Unstoppable People: How Ordinary People Achieve Extraordinary Things, ADRIAN GILPIN, Century Business (1998), Developing leadership for the ~1st century, The Economist Intelligence written in co-operation with Kern/Ferry International (1996), 27 pp., E65.00. And Thought Leaders: Book Reviews and Review Briefs
Insights on the Future of Business, Editor JOEL KURTZMAN, Jossey-Bass/ Booz-Allen & Hamilton (1998), 167 pp., El4.95. A collection of interviews and profiles of twelve of the world’s most innovative and influential strategic thinkers (including C.K. Prahalad, Charles Handy, Gary Hamel and Warren Bennis, as well as Miroru Makihara and Paul Romer). The author is editorin-chief of Strategy and Business,-a journal that ought to be read regularly by any serious student of strategy. Another journey through the stony path of leadership is Business Heroes: Making corporate Renewal Your Personal Crusade, SANDY DUNLOP, Capstone (1997), 169 pp., E12.99. This volume attempts to use the framework of the ancient, universal, study of ‘The Hero’s Journey’. These tales have certainly stood the test of time and can reveal wisdom that is eternal.
Systems of Innovation: Technologies, Institutions and Organizations, Edited by CHARLESEDQUIST, Pinter (1997), 432 pp., fZ24.95. Seventeen chapters written by academics from various parts of Europe. Important issues, but pity the material does not have a greater managerial focus, with more input from strategic thinkers.
Growing Middle Market Companies, JULIET COTTINGHAM, JILL HUSSEY and ROGER HUSSEY, Bristol Business School/Lloyds Bank Commercial Service (1997), 32 pp., E35.00. Considers the ownership and management of 533 UK based companies. Covers the way in which they are currently managed and the composition of the board of directors, as well as the objectives and strategies pursued over the past three years and the factors that aided or constrained the achievement of these objectives. The final section is concerned with areas where respondents believed performance could be improved and the factors which aided or constrained performance improvement.
Managing Technology for Competitive Advantage, Edited by JOE ANDERSON, ROBIN FEARS and BERNARDTAYLOR, FT Healthcare/Cartermill (1998), 455 pp., E55.00. Aims to provide a comprehensive and authoratative guide to managing technology for competitive advantage for managers in business, as well as for administrators in public service, analysts of innovation in academia and strategic-thinkers and policy-makers in general. Twenty four chapters by leading practioners and analysts in the field around three themes: achieving competitive advantage through public research; the corporate view of technology as a tool for competitive advantage and planning and organising technological innovation. Full of stimulating, well presented material, for anyone involved in this expensive, and high risk, area. One global dimension of these issues is explored in Japanese Technology and Innovation Management: From know-how to know-who, SLGVALD HARRTSON, EDWARD ELGAR (1998), 255 pp., E49.95. Argues that the innovation process is no longer limited to know-how’ (internal specialization) but depends on ‘know-why’ (learning through relationships). Includes three in-depth case studies from Canon, Sony and Toyota. Specialist areas are covered in reports such as: Assessing the impact of advanced telecommunications on work-related travel, Led by THE HOME OFFICE PARTNERSHIP (1997), 72 pp., E95.00. (A report prepared under Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions Seedcorn Programme.); The Future of European Capitals: Knowledge Based Development BerlinLondon-Paris, JUDITH RYSER, GoetheInstitut (1994), 136 pp., npq.
The Strategic Decision Challenge, Edited by DAVIDHUSSEY, Wiley (1998), 251 pp., f29.95. Provides insights into the importance of successful business strategy and aims to build bridges to other sources of information. Brings together 13 articles, by leading international authorities that are relevant to improving strategic decisions in this critical area,
Kong. A brief sample of some of the other figures: 66% of respondents believe PCs, the Internet and information in general could become addictive to some people in the future; 53% of managers ‘crave’ information; if Groupware: Collaborative Strategies for Corporate LANs and Intranets, DAVID information was classified as a drug, 47% of respondents claim to know peoCOLEMAN,Prentice Hall (1997), 699 pp., ple who could be described as E26.95. addicted; 60% consider leisure time has been reduced as a result of working Starts with an introduction to eleclate, having to deal with vast amounts tronic collaboration, then moves on to of information (compared to 49% in an overview of the technologies and 1996); 71% believe reduced job sattheir benefits (and issues) before examisfaction and tension with other colining some of the leading products in leagues result from the stress of dealing the field. Finally a useful chapter on with the quantity of information (com‘Groupware, Knowledge Creation and pared to 66% in 1996) and so on. Plenty Competitive Advantage’. But, in the of fascinating and challenging statistics end, it is people issues that will deterto stimulate discussion on an increasmine both the degree and speed of sucingly important subject. But questions cess. New technology users also need can be asked about some aspects of the to address the general issues raised in methodology and hence the reliability Effective Communication for Manof the answers. To start with it was suragers: Getting Your Message Across, prising to find that 38% of the responCHRISTINE SIMONS BELINDA and dents were female! A useful NAYLOR-STAPLES, Cassell (1998), 303 introduction to the key issues of knowlpp., E14.99. And the fundamental quesedge and its effective management is tions raised in Dialogue-Rediscover
plus a (30 page) glossary of techniques
nificant extent) achieved by The Digital
used in strategic analysis.
Economy: Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence, DON
the Transforming Power of Conversation: Creating and Sustaining Collaborative Partnerships at Work, LINDA ELLINOR and GLENNA GERARD, Wiley (1998), 366 pp., E24.99. (“Shows how to tap into the collective wisdom is essential to high functioning work environments.” Much more to do with how people relate to each other than the technology they use.) Those seriously concerned with developing a deeper theoretical understanding of knowledge assets (which should be us all!) must not miss Knowledge Assets: Sec-
The Power of Knowledge: A Business Guide to Knowledge Management, KPMG (1998), 12 pp. no charge. But they too need to recognise the risk of ‘overload’ and how that can be managed explicitly.
Net Gain: Expanding Markets Through Virtual Communities, JOHN HAGEL III and ARTHUR G. ARMSTRONG, McGrawHill (1997), 238 pp., El7.99.
Oxford University Press (1998), 284 pp., E25.00. The author develops a conceptual framework, the Information Space of I-Space, for exploring the way knowledge flows within and between organizations. But, again, the people issues cannot be over-emphasised. Approaching some of these issues from a very different direction is Glued to
A strategic road map for competing in electronic markets, where creativity and the ability to leverage customer added value will dictate whether you win or lose. Issues that apply to both start-ups or the Fortune 500. But surprising that it is not more closely integrated with knowledge management thinking. A readable journalistic review of the general issues (from a UK perspective) is provided by The Weigh-
the Screen: An Znvestigation into Znformation Addiction Worldwide, Reuters
tless World: Strategies for Managing the Digital Economy, DIANE COYLE, Cap-
(1997), 48 pp., E45.00. Explores important questions relating to the new and growing pressures that are arising in relation to what is generally known as ‘information overload’. Based on 1000 confidential telephone interviews with company executives across the UK, US, Germany, Ireland, Singapore and Hong
stone (1998), 250 pp., El8.99. But phrases like ‘we are not necessarily heading for twenty-first century economic apocalypse’ (on the final page) lack rigor and are of little real use. What is needed is to integrate these ideas with the latest strategic and futures thinking, which is (at least to a sig-
uring Competitive Advantage in the Information Economy, MAX H. BOISOT,
TAPSCOTT, McGraw-Hill (1996), slO.99 paperback. Uses a combination of studies, data and predictions, to extend and refocus the author’s previous work Paradigm Shift. Valuable combination of technology and people issues which should be essential reading for strategists and futurists. Another publication in this area is The Intelligence
Edge: How to Profit in the Information Age, GEORGE FRIEDMAN,MEREDITH FRIEDMAN, COLIN CHAPMAN and JOHN S. BAKER, Jr, Crown Publishers (1997), 276 pp., $25.00. This volume provides tools and techniques distilled from experience that should enable organizations to improve the way they find, collect, prioritize and analyse data. Contains much relevant and practical advice.
Tomorrow’s People, AMIN RAJAN with PENNYvan EUPEN, Create (1998), 95 pp., E49.50. A valuable analysis of the changing nature of the workplace as we move into a more knowledge driven era. Important issues for both individuals and employers, as well as the external learning industry-all major educational providers ought to be discussing the implications of these issues on their portfolios. Also relevant is the output of The Future of Work study undertaken by the Royal Society of Arts (1998). And studies such as Work
Experience: Expanding opportunities for undergraduates, LEE HARVEY, VICKI GEALL and SUE MOON, with JANE ASTON, LINDSEY BOWES and ALISON BLACKWELL, Centre for Research into Quality/University of Central England (1998), 102 pp., npq. But under 10% of the over 100 individuals involved in interviews or feedback came from outside the educational sector. More links with those involved in the other studies mentioned earlier in this section will be increasingly important in the future. Also it is worth mentioning biographical insights that arise from books such as I’d like the World to buy a
COKE: The Life and Leadership of Roberta Goizueta, DAVID GRIESING, Wiley (1998), 334 pp., f16.99 and Only the Paranoid Survive: How to exploit the Crisis Points that Challenge every Company and Career, ANDREW S. GROVE,
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December
1998
(President and GE0 of Intel Corporation) Harper Collins Business (1998) 210 pp., E9.99.
Business Process Engineering: Reference Models for Industrial Enterprises, A.-W. SCHEER, Springer-Verlag
and RICCARDOPECCEI, Involvement and Participation Association (IPA) (1998), 44 pp., ElO.00.
(1998), 757 pp., $49.95.
From Sage to Artisan: The Nine Roles of the Value-Driven Leader, STUART WELLS, Davies-Black Publishing (1998), 280 pp., $26.95. Argues that leadership opportunities do not just belong to top executives, they can be (and are) exhibited by every individual no matter how large or small. Emphasises the vital role of core values for success in any context. Leadership qualities are discussed around three key elements: creating order; inspiring action and improving performance. And nine roles: sage (design strategy); visionary (embraces the future); magician (orchestrates change); globalist (promotes diversity); mentor (motivates employees]; ally (helps individuals work together); sovereign (exercises authority): guide (sets clear goals) and artisan (pursues excellence). Contains useful self-assessment tools and skill building exercises that encourage the development of abilities in each role. Could be read together with the challenging ideas in Need, Greed or
Freedom: Business Changes and Personal Choices, JOHN WHITMORE, Element (1997), 213 pp., El2.99. But a pity this book was not available at half the price so it could reach a wider group of general readers.
Learning through Shared Experience: The Roffey Park Management Agenda, LINDA HOLBECHEand CAROLINEGLYNN, Roffey Park Management Institute (1998), 46 pp., E25.00. Based on the results of 161 completed questionnaires (800 sent out). Reviews issues relating to growth, delayering, managing change, feedback, stress, investors in people, careers, and flexible working. Some useful general research results but more depth and time series information would add to its long term value. (In view of the sample size it is certainly not justified to quote decimal points in the statistical analysis!)
The structure follows the business processes of logistics, product development, information and coordination, and offers detailed examples of how organizational structures can be reengineered. The approach is embedded in the “Architecture of Integrated Information Systems” (ARIS) approach. This first study edition is based on the second hardcover edition and is aimed at producing a budget-price edition for students.
The Feminization of Nature: Our Future at Risk, DEBORAHCADBURY,Penguin Books (1998), (hard), E6.99 (soft).
303
pp.,
U7.99
Argues that scientists all over the world have been uncovering disturbing evidence of adverse changes in human and animal reproduction and health. A compelling and disturbing book, which needs to be widely read and argued about-then acted on? A more general review of the way we perceive risk and how we integrate change into our lives is explored in The Politics of Risk Society, Edited by JANE FRANKLIN,Polity Press/IPPR (1998), 138 pp., El2.95. But primarily a socio-political perspective and a pity it did not include more systematic strategic thinking. Another view of risk is contained in
Seeing Tomorrow: Rewriting the Rules of Risk, RON S. DEMBO and ANDREW FREEMAN, Wiley (1998), 260 pp., f19.99. Offers a framework designed to enhance our ability to make important decisions and how we manage our investments. Includes exploring the roles and significance of such fundamentals as time horizons, risk measures, benchmarks and scenarios. Important related issues (for a specialist market) are considered in Time Dis-
counting and Future Generations: The Harmful Effects of an Untrue Economic Theory, ERHUN KULA, Quoram Books (1997), 199 pp., E47.95.
The Partnership Company: Benchmarks for the Future, DAVID E. GUEST Book Reviews and Review Briefs
The report of the IPA survey on principles, practice and performance which examined what is happening in this area. Explored possible answers to key questions such as: How do companies and their employees build a shared sense of commitment and mutual obligations? How do companies set about creating the right context for partnerships? How do partnerships operate on the ground and which practices are most commonly found in partnership companies? In addition: How are trade unions facing up to the challenge of operating in different ways within companies? The answers are benchmarked around six key areas: Commitment to business success; Employment security; Employee voice; Sharing the success of the organisation with all employees; Encouraging training and development and, finally, Growing flexibility in job design and direct participation. Another argument for more participation is contained in A Piece of
the Action: Employee Ownership, Equity Pay and the Rise of the Knowledge Economy, CHARLES LEADBEATER, Demos (1998), 75 pp., El4.95.
Liberating Leadership: Releasing Leadership Potential Throughout the Organisation, MAHENTAMPOE, The Industrial Society (1998), 103 pp., E175.00. A research report that explores answers to questions such as: What style of leadership really brings out the best in staff, encouraging responsibility, accountability and initiative at all levels? What has been shown to work in practice, not just theory? A useful study of the nature of effective leadership. Answers emphasise the need for people to believe in their own abilities, strengths and vision, as well as those they ‘lead’; in addition there is fairness in their dealing with the followers and the need to engage the followers at the emotional level by their enthusiasm for the causes they are espousing. Finally there is an ability to play different roles to meet the needs of their followers and the situation. Plenty of sound advice but surprising that values and the ideas of servant leadership, reflected in the work of the Greenleaf Centre, are not
per year but free to Society members.)
How can an organization or group regain trust once it is lost? Also includes assessment surveys. A valuable book about a vitally important subject but, although the role of ‘fairness’ is mentioned, its role justifies a higher priority than that given.
UK and Society,
Web-Weaving: Intranets, Extranets and Strategic Alliances, Edited by PETER
given greater attention. Other useful material from the Industrial Society includes their monthly Management Best Practice, (f425.00 per year) and their bimonthly Training Trends:
Training Providers 6 Methods,
Japan:
Government
(~U5.00
and
CATHERINE Edited by RUBINSTEIN,The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation (1997), 145 pp., no charge. Ten chapters that explore various aspects of Japanese Society, under such headings as Human Rights Issues; The Pension Time Bomb; Comparisons and Cooperation-British and Japanese Voluntary Sectors; Managing Public Spending; and How Different are the Lives of British and Japanese women? Another area is discussed in The British
Research
of
Japanese
Companies,
LOUIS TURNER, DAVID RAY and TONY HAYWARD,Insight Japan (1997)64 pp., f20.00.
The
Dictionary
of
Global
Culture,
KWANE ANTHONY APPIAH and HENRY LOUIS GATES Jr, (1996), 717 pp., f25.00. Provides more than 1200 entries on writers, musicians, deities, rulers, philosophies and literary forms, from every part of the world. An invaluable reference point for those who are concerned with exploring (or managing?) the cultural roots of our increasingly global world.
Trust in the Balance: Building Successful Organizations on Results, Integrityand Concern, ROBERT BRUCE SHAW, Prentice Hall Europe (1997), 242 pp., E17.95. Argues strongly (and rightly) that trust is a critical factor in effective leadership. Explores some important questions, such as: How is trust related to bottom-line results? What does a hightrust organization or group look like? How do I determine the level of trust in my organization or group? What key factors promote trust or distrust? What are the consequences of ‘blind’ trust?
LLOYD and PA~JLA BOYLE, Butterworth Heinemann (1998), 374 pp., E19.99. Evaluates the webs of relationships inside organizations (intranets), outside (extranets) and between organizations (strategic alliances). But there is often a wide gap between what is theoretically possible in the field of collaborative technology and what actually happens in practice. This book provides a useful, readable balance between theory and practice but greater attention to people issues would help even further to address the all-toofrequent problems mentioned in the previous sentence. Could usefully be read in conjunction with Motivating People in Lean Organizations, LINDA HOLBECHE, Butterworth Heinemann (1998), 299 pp., f16.99.
age effectively in a multicultural environment is likely to become increasingly important in the years ahead, which reinforces the arguments for the subject getting a higher priority. Interesting to note this tissue was not discussed in Tomorrow’s People, (see earlier mention in this section). Surprising that the specific ethnic minority issues were not given a greater priority in the general discussion of Inequality in the UK, ALISSA GOODMAN, PAUL JOHNSON and STEVEN WEBB, Oxford University Press (1998), 297 pp., 05.99. But ‘The FES data simply contain no information on this.’
French Management:
Elitism in Action,
JEAN-LOUIS BARSOUX and PETER LAWRENCE, Cassell (1997), 195 pp., E18.99. A revised and up-dated successor to the authors’ earlier volume, Management in France, which provides some unique insights into a business culture that is not widely understood. How effective will European integration be without harmonisation in these particularly challenging areas?
International Investment: Value CreManaging Change with Business Proation and Appraisal: A Real Options cess Simulation, DAVID PROFOZICH, Approach, ADRIAN BUCKLEY, CopenPrentice Hall (19981, 199 pp., E24.50. hagen Business School Press (1998), Introduces the basic concepts of business process simulation and shows (with case studies) how the value of business process simulation can be used to produce a positive return on investment.
The Black and Ethnic Minority Woman Manager: Cracking the Concrete Ceiling, MARILYN J. DAVIDSON and Paul Chapman (1997), 136 pp., f16.95. Explores the experiences, problems and pressures faced by black and ethnic minority women managers in the UK. These need to be more widely recognised and more urgently addressed, especially in the less enlightened, power driven, cultures still found in many organisations. The ability to man-
321 pp., $48.00. Explores the impact of real operating options on international capital investment and appraisal, and attempts to integrate this analysis into a theory of foreign investment. For serious (academic) students on the subject.
Benchmarking for Best Practice: Continuous Learning Through Sustainable Innovation, MOHAMED ZAIRI, Butterworth Heinemann
(1998), pp., f19.99.
Paperback version of 1996 volume. Although the word learning is important enough to mention in the title it is not mentioned in the index! The next edition will need to recognise that benchmarking is best understood in
Long Range Planning Vol. 31
December
1998
terms of knowledge management learning organisation concepts.
and
Management in Further Education: Theory and Practice, HARRIET HARPER David Fulton Publishers (1997), 100 pp., f13.99. Provides lecturers who are moving into management roles in Further Education with a basic understanding of management theory applied specially to further Education Colleges (in the UK). Based on consideration of the interrelated topics of people, operations, resources and information, badly needed. But pity greater emphasis was not given to ensuring that a learning organisation approach was the integrating factor for the topics considered.
Jack Welsh Speaks: Wisdom from the World’s Greatest Business Leader, JANE LOWE, Wiley (1998), 232 pp., E12.99. One of the most praised (and feared?) CEO’s in America. Sixteen years at the top of his profession involved in developing and implementing radical change to cope with new demands driven by a combination of globalisation and high technology. The words, insights, visions, passions and persuasions of a legendary leader.
Beyond the Dependency Culture: People, Power and Responsibility, JAMES ROBERTSON, Adamantine Press (1998), 217 pp., E27.50 (hard); E14.50
(paper). The distilled wisdom of one of the leading original thinkers on the future of business and society, including coverage of almost all aspects of politics, work, welfare, health, money, family life and local/global neighbourhoods. Full of provocative ideas but the occasional use of over-emotive language reflects a frustration that can get in the way of a sensible discussion of some of the ideas. (see comments on Nuclear Power ~170). Also the ideas of Robertson need to be reconciled with those in The Entrepreneurial Society, Book Reviews and Review Briefs
ROBERT GAVRON, MARC COWLING,GERALD HOLTHAM and ANDREA WESTALL, IPPR (1998), 148 pp., E9.95. Aimed at all involved in supporting new enterprises (in the UK). Particularly focused on how to make ‘The Creation of the Entrepreneurial Society’ more effective. Plenty of sound advice, but pity no index. Also a critical factor is how to ensure that the entrepreneurialism is responsibility driven-hence the link with the book above. Useful background on one particularly entrepreneurially driven sector, the management buy-out industry, continues to be produced by the Quarterly Reviews from the Centre for Management Buy-out Research at the University of Nottingham. The Spring 1998 edition (100 pp., ElOO.00)contains articles on Buy-outs and Buy-in in the Regions; New Developments in European Buy-outs and High Tech Buyouts.
Forecasting with Judgement, Edited by GEORGE WRIGHT and PETER GOODWIN, Wiley (1998), 297 pp., E45.00. Brings together some of the latest research on the role of judgement in forecasting in ten papers. Considers questions such as: How good is human judgement? Do judgemental forecasters use information efficiently? What techniques are available to help groups of people to produce better forecasts? What reasoning processes are employed by people when they make judgements about uncertainty? Important (technical) issues but, perhaps, the people dimension could have been given a higher priority. No mention of values, yet it is frequently the case that ‘values’ play a critical role in judgement.
Leading Edge Internal Auditing, JEFFREY RIDLEY and ANDREW CHAMBERS, ICSA Publishing/Prentice Hall (1998), 398 pp., E29.95. Excellent technical coverage of a subject for anyone specifically concerned with this important, but too often ignored, area. Almost at the other extreme (yet there is probably more overlap than might appear) is The
World of Superservice: Creating Profit Through a Passion for Customer Service, KEN IRONS, Addison-Wesley (1997), 246 pp., g15.95. Invaluable practical material for anyone (us all?) concerned with using the concept of service as a critical factor in their offering.
A Guide to Strategic Thinking: Building Your Planning Foundation (119 pp.,); A Guide to Long Range Planning: Creating Your Strategic Journey (109 pp.,); A Guide to Tactical Planning: Producing Your Short-Term Results (115 pp.,) GEORGE L. MORRISEY, Jossey Bass (1996), El8.75 each. Three volumes in a Morrisey on Planning series that provide the tools needed to uncover the critical strategic issues facing organisations today in order to identify their future positions in areas such as markets and customers, products and services, and competencies and technology. Useful, but new editions are needed that integrate the latest ideas on learning organisation and knowledge management.
The Elusive Human Subject: A Psychoanalytic Theory of Subject Relations, ROGER KENNEDY, Free Association Books (1998), 226 pp., f15.95. Marshalls the theory and ideas from psychoanalysis, philosophy and the social sciences in an attempt to undertake a major re-evaluation of how we describe the Self and what that means for psychoanalysis. For serious soul searchers!
Post-Socialist Political Economy: Selected Essays, JAMES M. BUCHANAN, Edward Elgar (1997), 285 pp., f49.95. Provides a critical assessment of the political and social order in the postrevolutionary decade of the 1990’s in both the transitional economies and Western welfare states as they confront fiscal crises. Written by the 1986 Nobel Prize winner for Economic Sciences. For economists. Another niche market is Environment and Technology in the
Former USSR: The Case of Acid Rain and Power Generation, MALCOLM R. HILL, Edward Elgar (1997), 261 pp., E49.95. Considers the consequences of acid rain emissions for neighbouring the technological/ countries and commercial factors which influence these levels of pollution. More general issues are covered in The International
Yearbook of Environmental and Resource Economics 1997/l 998: A Survey of Current Issues, Edited by HENK FOLMER and
TOM TIETENBERG,Edward Elgar (1997), 255 pp., E59.95. Seven, articles that essentially academic, attempt to provide a new state-of-theart survey of current issues in environmental and resource economics, written by leading academics in the field for a very niche market. A similar approach is taken to a slightly different niche in the ten papers in International
Competitiveness Policies, Edited
and
Environmental
by TERRY BARKER and Edward Elgar (1997) 284 pp., E55.00. The general subject of the environment is also considered in Pollution and the Firm, ROBERTE. KOHN, Edward Elgar (1998), 251 pp., E59.95. Focuses on three main concepts: substitutions in consumption, emission abatement and exposure avoidance. But a highly theoretical/ academic combination of the theories of the firm with a welfare economics approach to pollution control. And
JONATHAN
KOHLER,
evance for these countries of reform measures undertaken in OECD states. Combines a historical perspective with current problems, in country case studies. Social Policy in Hong Kong, Edited by PAUL WILDING, AHMED SHALFIQUL HUQ~JE and TAO LAI PO-WAH, JULIA, Edward Elgar (1997). 178 pp., fZ45.00. Nine papers that argue Hong Kong is far from being a simple free market economy, as it has many areas where there are highly developed social policies which make a major contribution to the quality of life of its citizens. A similar analysis in five years time should prove to be particularly interesting. Population Ageing, Migration
and Social RADO and
Expenditure,
JOSE ALVA-
JOHN CREEDY, Edward
Elgar (1998) 191 pp., E45.00. Studies the important effects of population ageing on social expenditure and public finance. A particular emphasis is placed on the Australian economy, reflecting the background of the authors. Modelling Global Change: The
Art of Integrated Assessment Modelling, MARCO JANSSEN, Edward Elgar (1998), 262 pp., 649.95. Presents a general (academic/theoretical) discussion of the methodological principals of a multidisciplinary integrated modelling approach.
Handbook on the Globalization of the World Economy, Edited by AMNON
ANDREW TYLECOTE and
748 pp., E125.00.
LEVY-LIVERMORE,Edward
Elgar (1998),
STRAATEN, Edward
Elgar (1997) 254 pp., f49.95. Twelve articles that bring together a variety of views that maintain the protection of the environment and economic growth is not necessarily incompatible with full employment. The solution is to give an ‘eco-friendly’ direction to technology and growth. Other specialist markets are covered by: Innovations in Public Management:
Perspectives from East and West Europe, Edited by TONY VERHEIJENand DAVID COOMBES, Edward
Elgar (1998), 432 pp,, E55.00. Twenty-two papers that determine the main problems facing public administrations in transitional countries and provides a comparative evaluation of the rel-
Development in a Developing World: Integrating Socio-economic Appraisal and EnvironmentalAssessment, Edited by
COLIN KIRKPATRICK and
Twenty six papers that provide a detailed analysis of the important issues relating to the globalization of the international economy. Particular areas covered include: global growth; regionalization and globalization of trade; transition to market economies; internationalization and integration of markets, and global environmental and resource problems. Other aspects of globalization and issues relating to development are covered in: Measuring
Sustainable Development: Macroeconomics and the Environment, GILES ATKINSON, HAMILTON,
RICHARD DUB~URG, MOHAN
DAVID PEARCE and
KIRK
MUNASHINGHE, CARLOS YOUNG,
NORMAN
LEE, Edward
Elgar (1997), 261 pp., E55.00. Fourteen papers that examine the different ways in which integration might be achieved in practice using a variety of country case studies. Based on an evaluation of the evolution of three main forms of project appraisalenvironmental impact assessment, social impact assessment and economic appraisal-in development policy making over the past 25 years.
Transition to a Sustainable Society: A Backcasting Approach to Modelling Energy and Ecology, HENK A. J. MULDER and WOUTER BIESIOT, Edward Elgar (19981, 287 pp., fZ55.00. A backcasting approach based on energy flows is used to evaluate the physical constraints on sustainable development. Concludes with some reflections on the institutional and socio-psychological aspects of a transition to sustainability, and recommends a goal-oriented policy to implement this change. Towards
Sustainable
Environment, Technology and Economic Growth: The Challenge to Sustainable Development, Edited by JAN VER DER
Edward Elgar (1997), 252 pp., E49.95. Focuses on the theory and practice of economic development viewed from the perspective of sustainability, together with the implications for development policy. Sustainable
Project
Development,
Edited by FRANK A. WILSON, Edward Elgar (1997), 257 pp., E55.00. Fifteen papers that address the sustainability of development projects from an environmental as well as from a human resources perspective. Some of the recent realities of development in a critical part of the world are explored in Asia Meltdown: The End of the Miracle?, LEO GOLJGH, Capstone (1998), 137 pp., E12.99. Anyone with a serious interest in stock market investment either corporately or individually should seriously explore the possibility of subscribing monthly !Z675 p/a), or quarterly (275 p/a) to Company REFS (Really Essential Financial Statistics) service, Hemmington Scott (1998). Devised by Jim Slater and the underlying credibility is backed by much detailed research. Internet site-http:// www.hemscott.com
Long Range Planning
Vol. 31
December
1998