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Thinkertoys: A handbook of business creativity for the 90s
Book Reviews The environment continues to be an important subject for management and strategic planners and this is reflected by the continued stream of publications in this area, such as Business Strategy and the Environment, European Research Press (Quarterly) A50.00 (individual), E95.00 (institutional); European Environment, European Research Press (six times per year) A25.00 (individual), A45.00 (institutional); Environmental Opportunities: Building Advantage out of Uncertainty, JONATHAN WILLIAMS, Centre for the Exploitation of Science and Technology (1992), 120.00 pp., A25.00; From Scarcity to Sustainability: Futures Studies and the Environment: the Role ofthe Club of Rome, PETER MOLL, Peter Lang (1991), 328 pp., ,&24.00. Another new Journal for European Research Press is European Business and Economic Development (six times a year) A40.00 (individual), A75.00 (institutional). A practical survey of the ethical state of British industry is contained in The Handbook of Good Business Practice: Corporate Codes of Conduct, WALTER W. MANLEY II, Routledge (1992), 308 pp., 619.99. Needs to be widely read but it would be interesting to see if the results are a function of the economic climate.
Ships Obsolescence and Scrapping: Problems and Perspectives in the 199Os, Drewry Shipping Consultants (1992), 134 pp., L295.00. Essential background for anyone concerned with this specialist it might have helped the authors industry. However, understand the present situation and the future scenarios if they had more extensive knowledge of strategic techniques and thinking. A similar general comment could be applied to other industry studies such as: The World’s Pharmaceutical Industries: An Znternational Perspective on Innovation, competition andpolicy, ROBERT BALLANCE, JANOS POGANY and HELMUT FORSTNER, Edward Elgar/UNIDO, 275 pp., A45.00; and Leisure Futures, Henley Centre (Quartely), ~1050.00 per annum. In the latter case I find the male activity rates for Knitting (p. 26) extraordinary! All full of useful and/or fascinating facts and figures (assuming you can believe them) but macroeconomics, surveys and models all have their limitations when it comes to understanding what is really going on within an industry, an organization, or society as a whole. In future this service might also consider including a section that reviewed its previous projections; identifying the main changes in expectations from its earlier figures.
Strategic Management in the Social University (1991), 410 pp., L39.95.
Economy,
ICOM/Open
A useful ring bound package of training materials primarily for U.K. based co-operatives, community businesses, voluntary organizations and other bodies with social as well as economic objectives. Other publications that contribute to the social market debate include: Fighting Leviathan: Building Social Markets that Work, HOWARD DAVIES, 57 pp., L6.00 and Deeper Share Ownership, MA~EW GAVED and ANTHONY GOODMAN, 78 pp., A6.00. Both published by The Social Market Foundation. The former has the added attraction that the author is currently Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry.
141
Cost Management in the New Manufacturing Age: Innovations in the Japanese Automotive Industry, YASUHIRO MONDEN, Productivity Press (1992), 176 pp., A28.00. Powerful insights into how cost information can support a manufacturer’s business process; based on actual, largely Japanese, case material. Management accounting is different in Japan and it is important these differences are understood; also interesting to compare the approach with the increasing importance of Activity Based Costing and Value-Added Analysis. Another valuable study based on Japanese experience (and translated from the Japanese) is HOSHIN KANRI: Policy Deployment for Successful TQM, YOJI AKAO, (Ed.), Productivity Press (1991), 207 pp., L34.95. Two ‘popular’ guides to quality issues is Z Want You to Cheat! The Unreasonable Guide to Service and Quality in Organizations, JOHN SEDDON, Vanguard Press (1992), 160 pp., A7.50; and The Essence of Total Quality Management,JoHN BANK, Prentice Hall (1992), 203 pp., A9.95. Two other books that provide useful detailed discussion of TQM issues are Total Quality and Human Resources, BARRIE DALE and CARY COOPER, Blackwell (1992), 288 pp., Al9.95 and Managing for Total Quality: From Deming to Taguchi and SPC, A. LOGOTHETIS, Prentice Hall (1992) 447 pp., A24.95. While a specialist dimension to the search for quality is contained in Statistical Methods for Quality Improvement, HITOSHI KUME, Chapman & Hall (1992), 231 pp., A24.95.
Journal of Economics G Management Strategy, MIT (1992), Vol 1 no I, Quarterly 233 pp., $35.00 (individual), $80.00 (institution). The Editor maintains this new Journal will focus on the application of economic analysis to the study of the competitive strategies and the organizational design of firms. But the contents of the first issue are very theoretical and it is unlikely to be widely read by strategic planners/operating managers.
Client-Centred Consulting: A Practical Guidefor Internal Advisers and Trainers, PETER COCKMAN, BILL ECANS and PETER REYNOLDS, McGraw-Hill (1992), 203 pp., Al9.95. Usefully shows the path to becoming a consultant, building co-operative relationships, diagnosing the problems and successfully implementing strategies. Contains plenty of commonsense that would be of value to strategic planners.
Value-Added Marketing: Marketing Management for Superior Results, TORS~ED H. NILSON, McGraw-Hill (1992), 189 pp., E19.95. Introduces the concept of value-added marketing which challenges established marketing theories and practices. Ideas that need to be part of the 1990’s corporate strategic thinking.
Networked Business Solutions: A Management Approach, HINTON, McGraw-Hill (1992), 248 pp., A22.95. A practical approach business systems. Eleven international perspective,
NIGEL
to implementing computer based papers that usefully explore, from an some ofthe issues associated with the
142
Long Range Planning Vol. 26
June 1993
balance between technology, people and the organization are contained in Technology and the Future of Work, PAUL S. ADLER (Ed.), Oxford University Press (1992), 336 pp., A30.00.
Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Business Creativity for the 9Os, MICHAEL MICHALKO, Ten Speed Press (1992), 335 pp., 612.95. Over 30 techniques, and hundreds of hints to turn people into more creative thinkers. A basic book but few people/companies would not benefit from digesting this well presented material. Another basic introduction to this subject is Creative Decision Making: Using Positive Uncertainty, H. B. GELAFF, Kogan Page (1991), 97 pp., A5.99. Complementing this technique driven approach is Management Gurus: What makes them and how to become one, ANDREZEJ A. HUCZYNSKI, Routledge (1993), 331 pp., A19.99, which addresses itself to the issue of the sociology of management knowlege application, as well as acting as a warning to managers as consumers of management ideas; it might also be useful for those aspiring to guru status!
Competitive Opportunity: How to Achieve Successful Business Pevformance in Hard Times, RUPERT HART, Kogan Page (1992), 192 pp., A13.95. How to survive in hard times? By reducing costs; using improved marketing techniques and by acquiring assets onthe-cheap. For many companies the advice, unfortunately, comes too late and for many others is proves much more difficult in practice; they await the sequel . How to survive bankruptcy. Other useful recent studies of various aspects of the small business/entrepreneurial sector include: Gambling on Growth: How to Manage the Small High-Tech Firm, STUART SLAYER, John Wiley (1992), 319 pp., A24.95; The New Entrepreneurs: Self-Employment and Small Business in Europe, PATRICIA LEIGHTON and ALAN FELSTEAD (Eds), Kogan Page (1992), 368 pp., A35.00; and The Roles of Investors in Entrepreneurial Companies: A Comparison of Informal Investors and Venture Capitalists, RICHARD HARRISON and COLIN MASON, Small Business Research Programme, Urban Policy Research Unit, University of Southampton (1992), L6.50.
Decision-Making and Leadership, FRANK HELLER (Ed.), bridge University Press (1992), 247 pp., $49.95.
Cam-
Twelve contributions that consider the issues at various levels of social reality, from global problems of foreign policy, via analyses of what happens in business organizations, to research findings and theories that operate at the level ofindividuals and small social groups. A book that contains much of value but it is more likely to be of interest to scholars than practitioners. A much more relevant and readable introduction to this important subject is Taking Charge: Strategic Leadership in the Middle Game, STEPHEN A. STUMPF and THOMAS P. MULLEN, Prentice Hall (1992), 232 pp., A23.45. Leadership issues are also usefully discussed within a specific context in Leading the SewManaging School, BRIAN J. CALDWELL andJIM M. SPINKS, The Falmer Press (1992), 231 pp., kl2.95 (soft), A36.00 (hard).
Business Forecasting, JOHN E. HANKE and ARTHUR G. REITSCH, Allyn and Bacon (1992), Fourth Edition, 532 pp., A20.95. An excellent, readable, presentation of basic statistical techniques that would assist in the preparation of individual business forecasts and long-range plans. Another specialized book is Sunk Costs and Market Structure: Price Competition, Advertising, and the Evolution of Concentration, JOHN SUTTON, The MIT Press (1992), 577 pp., L22.50.
Management, Prentice-Hall
JAMES A. F. STONER and R. EDWARD FREEMAN, (1992), 734 pp., A22.95.
A classical U.S. based textbook on the subject. First published in 1978, it has become the most widely used and all-time bestseller in the Principles of Management field. This reputation is well justified. Excellent value. An interesting comparision with the more traditional U.K. approach in Making Management Work: A Practical Approach, KENNETH STOTI and ALLAN WALKER, Prentice Hall (1992), 763 pp., Ll7.95, which has no mention of Mintzberg, Michael Porter, or Competences in the index, the latter omission was surprising as the publicity mentioned that it was . . ‘Especially relevant to the MCI (Management Charter Initiative) approach to management development.’ Practical ways of improving managerial performance are usefully discussed in Problem Management: A Guidefor Producers and Players,JIM BRYANT,John Wiley (1989), 340 pp., LIB.95 and Project Management: How to Make it Work in your Organisation, CELIA BURTON and NORMA MICHAEL, Kogan Page (1992), 152 pp., Al4.95. Or for a more specialized market 12 papers in Managing Projects in Hospitality Organizations, RICHARD TEARE, DEBRA ADAMS and SALLY MESSENGER (Eds), Cassell (1992), 325 pp., 435.00. (hard), 415.99 (soft). While a number of special, and often overlooked, management issues are considered in Interim Management: A New Dimension in Corporate Performance, GODFREY GOLZEN, Kogan Page (1992), 160 pp., 14.95.
A Handbook of Practical Business Finance, RAY FITZGERALD, Kogan Page (1992) Second Edition, 443 pp., Al9.95. Gives detailed (U.K. based) practical advice on all aspects of financial planning, control and decision-making. Essential for any strategic planner not financially literate. Another practical book that should be widely read by strategic planners is Strategies for Human Resource Management: A Total Business Approach, MICHAEL ARMSTRONG(Ed.), Kogan Page/Coopers & Lybrand (1992), 271 pp., L25.00. Thirteen papers written by a team of experienced consultants. Developments in British post war industrial relations are discussed in Markets, Firms and the Management of Labour in Modern Britain, HOWARD F. GOSPEL, Cambridge University Press (1992), 256 pp., A30.00. But 56 pages of notes and references does not compensate for the lack of managerial understanding, particularly in the context of the issues associated with effectively managing change. Some of the changes expected in the United States workplace and workforce in the decades ahead, and their implications, are considered in Turbulence in the American Workplace, PETER B. DOERINGER, Oxford University Press (1991), 256 pp., A22.50. Other (academicaly driven) views on some of the issues are contained in the nine papers in Information Technology and Workplace Democracy, MARTIN BEIRNE and HARVIE RAMSAY, Routledge (1992), 274 pp., A40.00. Another approach to
Ships Obsolescence and Scrapping: Problems and Perspectives in the 199Os, Drewry Shipping Consultants (1992), 134 pp., L295.00. Essential background for anyone concerned with this specialist it might have helped the authors industry. However, understand the present situation and the future scenarios if they had more extensive knowledge of strategic techniques and thinking. A similar general comment could be applied to other industry studies such as: The World’s Pharmaceutical Industries: An Znternational Perspective on Innovation, competition andpolicy, ROBERT BALLANCE, JANOS POGANY and HELMUT FORSTNER, Edward Elgar/UNIDO, 275 pp., A45.00; and Leisure Futures, Henley Centre (Quartely), ~1050.00 per annum. In the latter case I find the male activity rates for Knitting (p. 26) extraordinary! All full of useful and/or fascinating facts and figures (assuming you can believe them) but macroeconomics, surveys and models all have their limitations when it comes to understanding what is really going on within an industry, an organization, or society as a whole. In future this service might also consider including a section that reviewed its previous projections; identifying the main changes in expectations from its earlier figures.
Strategic Management in the Social University (1991), 410 pp., L39.95.
Economy,
ICOM/Open
A useful ring bound package of training materials primarily for U.K. based co-operatives, community businesses, voluntary organizations and other bodies with social as well as economic objectives. Other publications that contribute to the social market debate include: Fighting Leviathan: Building Social Markets that Work, HOWARD DAVIES, 57 pp., L6.00 and Deeper Share Ownership, MA~EW GAVED and ANTHONY GOODMAN, 78 pp., A6.00. Both published by The Social Market Foundation. The former has the added attraction that the author is currently Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry.
141
Cost Management in the New Manufacturing Age: Innovations in the Japanese Automotive Industry, YASUHIRO MONDEN, Productivity Press (1992), 176 pp., A28.00. Powerful insights into how cost information can support a manufacturer’s business process; based on actual, largely Japanese, case material. Management accounting is different in Japan and it is important these differences are understood; also interesting to compare the approach with the increasing importance of Activity Based Costing and Value-Added Analysis. Another valuable study based on Japanese experience (and translated from the Japanese) is HOSHIN KANRI: Policy Deployment for Successful TQM, YOJI AKAO, (Ed.), Productivity Press (1991), 207 pp., L34.95. Two ‘popular’ guides to quality issues is Z Want You to Cheat! The Unreasonable Guide to Service and Quality in Organizations, JOHN SEDDON, Vanguard Press (1992), 160 pp., A7.50; and The Essence of Total Quality Management,JoHN BANK, Prentice Hall (1992), 203 pp., A9.95. Two other books that provide useful detailed discussion of TQM issues are Total Quality and Human Resources, BARRIE DALE and CARY COOPER, Blackwell (1992), 288 pp., Al9.95 and Managing for Total Quality: From Deming to Taguchi and SPC, A. LOGOTHETIS, Prentice Hall (1992) 447 pp., A24.95. While a specialist dimension to the search for quality is contained in Statistical Methods for Quality Improvement, HITOSHI KUME, Chapman & Hall (1992), 231 pp., A24.95.
Journal of Economics G Management Strategy, MIT (1992), Vol 1 no I, Quarterly 233 pp., $35.00 (individual), $80.00 (institution). The Editor maintains this new Journal will focus on the application of economic analysis to the study of the competitive strategies and the organizational design of firms. But the contents of the first issue are very theoretical and it is unlikely to be widely read by strategic planners/operating managers.
Client-Centred Consulting: A Practical Guidefor Internal Advisers and Trainers, PETER COCKMAN, BILL ECANS and PETER REYNOLDS, McGraw-Hill (1992), 203 pp., Al9.95. Usefully shows the path to becoming a consultant, building co-operative relationships, diagnosing the problems and successfully implementing strategies. Contains plenty of commonsense that would be of value to strategic planners.
Value-Added Marketing: Marketing Management for Superior Results, TORS~ED H. NILSON, McGraw-Hill (1992), 189 pp., E19.95. Introduces the concept of value-added marketing which challenges established marketing theories and practices. Ideas that need to be part of the 1990’s corporate strategic thinking.
Networked Business Solutions: A Management Approach, HINTON, McGraw-Hill (1992), 248 pp., A22.95. A practical approach business systems. Eleven international perspective,
NIGEL
to implementing computer based papers that usefully explore, from an some ofthe issues associated with the
142
Long Range Planning Vol. 26
June 1993
balance between technology, people and the organization are contained in Technology and the Future of Work, PAUL S. ADLER (Ed.), Oxford University Press (1992), 336 pp., A30.00.
Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Business Creativity for the 9Os, MICHAEL MICHALKO, Ten Speed Press (1992), 335 pp., 612.95. Over 30 techniques, and hundreds of hints to turn people into more creative thinkers. A basic book but few people/companies would not benefit from digesting this well presented material. Another basic introduction to this subject is Creative Decision Making: Using Positive Uncertainty, H. B. GELAFF, Kogan Page (1991), 97 pp., A5.99. Complementing this technique driven approach is Management Gurus: What makes them and how to become one, ANDREZEJ A. HUCZYNSKI, Routledge (1993), 331 pp., A19.99, which addresses itself to the issue of the sociology of management knowlege application, as well as acting as a warning to managers as consumers of management ideas; it might also be useful for those aspiring to guru status!
Competitive Opportunity: How to Achieve Successful Business Pevformance in Hard Times, RUPERT HART, Kogan Page (1992), 192 pp., A13.95. How to survive in hard times? By reducing costs; using improved marketing techniques and by acquiring assets onthe-cheap. For many companies the advice, unfortunately, comes too late and for many others is proves much more difficult in practice; they await the sequel . How to survive bankruptcy. Other useful recent studies of various aspects of the small business/entrepreneurial sector include: Gambling on Growth: How to Manage the Small High-Tech Firm, STUART SLAYER, John Wiley (1992), 319 pp., A24.95; The New Entrepreneurs: Self-Employment and Small Business in Europe, PATRICIA LEIGHTON and ALAN FELSTEAD (Eds), Kogan Page (1992), 368 pp., A35.00; and The Roles of Investors in Entrepreneurial Companies: A Comparison of Informal Investors and Venture Capitalists, RICHARD HARRISON and COLIN MASON, Small Business Research Programme, Urban Policy Research Unit, University of Southampton (1992), L6.50.
Decision-Making and Leadership, FRANK HELLER (Ed.), bridge University Press (1992), 247 pp., $49.95.
Cam-
Twelve contributions that consider the issues at various levels of social reality, from global problems of foreign policy, via analyses of what happens in business organizations, to research findings and theories that operate at the level ofindividuals and small social groups. A book that contains much of value but it is more likely to be of interest to scholars than practitioners. A much more relevant and readable introduction to this important subject is Taking Charge: Strategic Leadership in the Middle Game, STEPHEN A. STUMPF and THOMAS P. MULLEN, Prentice Hall (1992), 232 pp., A23.45. Leadership issues are also usefully discussed within a specific context in Leading the SewManaging School, BRIAN J. CALDWELL andJIM M. SPINKS, The Falmer Press (1992), 231 pp., kl2.95 (soft), A36.00 (hard).
Business Forecasting, JOHN E. HANKE and ARTHUR G. REITSCH, Allyn and Bacon (1992), Fourth Edition, 532 pp., A20.95. An excellent, readable, presentation of basic statistical techniques that would assist in the preparation of individual business forecasts and long-range plans. Another specialized book is Sunk Costs and Market Structure: Price Competition, Advertising, and the Evolution of Concentration, JOHN SUTTON, The MIT Press (1992), 577 pp., L22.50.
Management, Prentice-Hall
JAMES A. F. STONER and R. EDWARD FREEMAN, (1992), 734 pp., A22.95.
A classical U.S. based textbook on the subject. First published in 1978, it has become the most widely used and all-time bestseller in the Principles of Management field. This reputation is well justified. Excellent value. An interesting comparision with the more traditional U.K. approach in Making Management Work: A Practical Approach, KENNETH STOTI and ALLAN WALKER, Prentice Hall (1992), 763 pp., Ll7.95, which has no mention of Mintzberg, Michael Porter, or Competences in the index, the latter omission was surprising as the publicity mentioned that it was . . ‘Especially relevant to the MCI (Management Charter Initiative) approach to management development.’ Practical ways of improving managerial performance are usefully discussed in Problem Management: A Guidefor Producers and Players,JIM BRYANT,John Wiley (1989), 340 pp., LIB.95 and Project Management: How to Make it Work in your Organisation, CELIA BURTON and NORMA MICHAEL, Kogan Page (1992), 152 pp., Al4.95. Or for a more specialized market 12 papers in Managing Projects in Hospitality Organizations, RICHARD TEARE, DEBRA ADAMS and SALLY MESSENGER (Eds), Cassell (1992), 325 pp., 435.00. (hard), 415.99 (soft). While a number of special, and often overlooked, management issues are considered in Interim Management: A New Dimension in Corporate Performance, GODFREY GOLZEN, Kogan Page (1992), 160 pp., 14.95.
A Handbook of Practical Business Finance, RAY FITZGERALD, Kogan Page (1992) Second Edition, 443 pp., Al9.95. Gives detailed (U.K. based) practical advice on all aspects of financial planning, control and decision-making. Essential for any strategic planner not financially literate. Another practical book that should be widely read by strategic planners is Strategies for Human Resource Management: A Total Business Approach, MICHAEL ARMSTRONG(Ed.), Kogan Page/Coopers & Lybrand (1992), 271 pp., L25.00. Thirteen papers written by a team of experienced consultants. Developments in British post war industrial relations are discussed in Markets, Firms and the Management of Labour in Modern Britain, HOWARD F. GOSPEL, Cambridge University Press (1992), 256 pp., A30.00. But 56 pages of notes and references does not compensate for the lack of managerial understanding, particularly in the context of the issues associated with effectively managing change. Some of the changes expected in the United States workplace and workforce in the decades ahead, and their implications, are considered in Turbulence in the American Workplace, PETER B. DOERINGER, Oxford University Press (1991), 256 pp., A22.50. Other (academicaly driven) views on some of the issues are contained in the nine papers in Information Technology and Workplace Democracy, MARTIN BEIRNE and HARVIE RAMSAY, Routledge (1992), 274 pp., A40.00. Another approach to