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Total global strategy: Managing for worldwide competitive advantage
Book F. HUDA, 61 pp., Quality
425.00;
Managing
and
Improving
Service
arid Delivery,
L. RANDALL and M. SENIOR, 73 pp., A25.00; TQM Training, K. LEWIS, 53 pp., A25.00 and Communication in Successful TQM, P. M. PRIGENT, 48 pp., A27.00. A similar approach is taken in the The Quality Toolkit, J. MARSH, IFS Ltd. (1993), 124 pp., A29.95, which discusses 28 TQM tools and techniques. Other recent quality books include The Quality Movement, HELGA DRUMMOND, Kogan Page (1992), 160 pp., L9.95 (a basic introduction-U.K. approach); Total Quality: A Manager’s Guide &r the l99Os, Ernst & Young Quality Improvement Consulting Group, Kogan Page (1992), 248 pp., Al9.95 (another basic introduction-U.S. approach); Kaizenfor Europe, R. HANNAM, IFS Ltd. (1993), 144 pp., E24.95 (which looks at the problems manufacturers in Europe face when adopting Japanese techniques like Quality circles, Quality Function Deployment and continuous improvement); SPC and Business Improvement, M. OWEN, IFS Ltd. (1993), 320 pp., L45.00 (mixes case studies with analysis of Statistical Process Control techniques to show how and where to start, what you can achieve, and how); and Training&r Total Quality Management, DAVID R. JEFFRIES,BILL EVANS and PETER REYNOLDS, Kogan Page (1992), 160 pp., A9.95 (an often forgotten but key part of the overall TQM process).
Total
Global
Advantage,
Strategy:
Managing
for
GEORGE S. YIP, Prentice
Worldwide
Hall
Competitive
(1992),
318 pp.,
A21.70. Based on a 5-year research programme in which the author interviewed over 50 senior executives from the world’s largest American, European and Japanese multinational companies; combined with his 20 years of involvement with multinationals as a manager, consultant and educator. An excellent introduction but, perhaps, underestimating the problems involved in managing change, particularly in the rapidly changing high-tech industries. Anyone who would like a thoroughly documented survey of the international dimensions of business would find it in the volumes published under the umbrella of The United Nations Library on Transnational Corporations under the general editorship of John H. Dunning, the first four of the volumes (68 papers) being The Theory of Transnational Corporations, Edited by JOHN H. DUNNING, 454 pp.; Transnational Corporations: A Historical Perspective. Edited by GEOFFREYJONES, 450 pp.; Transnational Corporations and Economic Development, Edited by SANJAYA LALL, 428 pp.; and Transnational Corporations and Business Strategy, Edited by DONALD J. LECRAW and ALLEN J. MORRISON, 402 pp., Routledge (1993). Total cost L350.00. Another collection of papers (11) on a similar theme is contained in Advances in Global High-Technology Management: Human Resource Strategy in High Technology, Editors LUIS R. GOMEZ-MEJIA and MICHAEL W. LAWLESS, JAI Press (1992), 242 pp., A43.00. The latter focusing more on management and people issues; but although both contain a wealth of useful information they were written more for the academic audience. A much more managerially focused approach is taken in Collaborating to Compete: Using Strategic Alliances and Acquisitions in the Global Marketplace, Editors JOEL BLEEKE and DAVID ERNST, John Wiley (1993), 284 pp., k19.95. A book that needs to be widely read by all those involved in the Global Marketplace. But success in this very difficult area tends to be the exception rather than the rule and a chapter on ‘The Lessons of Failure’ would, perhaps, have helped highlight the risks.
The Growth
of Credit Information:
plc, C. MCNEIL GREIG, Blackwell
Reviews
A History
of UAPT-lnfolink
(1992), 354 pp., A45.00.
A corporate history of the United Kingdom’s oldest credit information organization, whose origins can be found in the Trade Protection Movement in the nineteenth century; written by its Chief Executive from 1958-1981 and Vice President until its demutualization in 1987. Full of detail that is only likely to appeal to the specialist reader.
Leadership continues to bc the focus of much writing and research and thcrc are few more authoritive centres for this work than the Center for Creative Leadership, who have produced a number of publications that deserve wider circulation including: Leadership Education: A Source Book 1992/1993, FRANK H. FREEMAN and SARA KING, 652 pp., $59.95; Inklings: Collected Columns on Leadership and Creativity, DAVID P. CAMPBELL, 161 pp., $15.00; Readings in Innovation, Edited by STANLEY S. GRYSKIEWICZ and DAVID A. HILLS, 257 pp., $20.00; Developing Diversity in Organizations: A Digest of Selected Literature, ANN M. MORRISON and KRISTEN M. CRABTREE, 138 pp., $20.00 and Impact of Leadership, Edited by KENNETH E. CLARK, MARIAM B. CLARK and DAVID P. CAMPBELL, 559 pp., $59.50. Other recent books on this important topic include: Leadership When the Heat’s On, DANNY Cox and JOHN HOOVER, McGraw-Hill (1992), 200 pp., L16.95. Reveals seven key management skills and ends with ‘The better we are as people, the better WC arc as leaders. And the better we are as leaders, the better will be the people whom we lead.’ A very readable and relevant book. Similar comments can be made about The Leadership Way: Management for the Nineties: How to Get TOP Results in Managing and Supervising People, JOHN D. PAYTON, Davidson Manors (1991), 253 pp., $24.95. A more academic approach to the issues is taken by Leadership Theory and Research: Perspectives and Directions, Edited by MARTIN M. CHEMERS and ROYA AYMAN, Academic Press (1993), 347 pp., $49.95. A tribute to Fred Fielder who, it is claimed, was responsible for the realization that leadership effectiveness depended on the interaction of qualities of the leader with the demands of the situation in which the leader functions, which made the simplistic ‘one best way’ approaches of earlier eras obsolete. But the search goes on; reflected in the final chapter ‘Directions for Leadership Research.’ It is noticeable that in the recent Dictionary of Business Management, (JERRY M. ROSENBERG,John Wiley (1993), 374 pp., L9.95), there were (of course) specific entries for power and leadership, among the 7500 included, but not for responsibility. It would make all the difference if power was seen as: ‘the responsibility that arises from . . the ability to control others. .‘! Governance is another word for the next edition.
The Essential
Anatomy
SAMPSON, Hodder
of Britain:
& Stoughton
Democracy
in Crisis, ANTHONY (1992), 172 pp., L9.99.
A personal survey of the current power-structure of Britain; revealing a worrying and wide-spread trend-the national centralization of power under a single party, made more serious by the demoralization of the old estates and lack of accountability in many areas of business. The net effect is a growing inequality and alienation at the bottom of society. A strong case for the need for radical change, but little on Electoral Reform. The background on the recent economic and political reforms of Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Egypt, Ghana,
425.00;
Managing
and
Improving
Service
arid Delivery,
L. RANDALL and M. SENIOR, 73 pp., A25.00; TQM Training, K. LEWIS, 53 pp., A25.00 and Communication in Successful TQM, P. M. PRIGENT, 48 pp., A27.00. A similar approach is taken in the The Quality Toolkit, J. MARSH, IFS Ltd. (1993), 124 pp., A29.95, which discusses 28 TQM tools and techniques. Other recent quality books include The Quality Movement, HELGA DRUMMOND, Kogan Page (1992), 160 pp., L9.95 (a basic introduction-U.K. approach); Total Quality: A Manager’s Guide &r the l99Os, Ernst & Young Quality Improvement Consulting Group, Kogan Page (1992), 248 pp., Al9.95 (another basic introduction-U.S. approach); Kaizenfor Europe, R. HANNAM, IFS Ltd. (1993), 144 pp., E24.95 (which looks at the problems manufacturers in Europe face when adopting Japanese techniques like Quality circles, Quality Function Deployment and continuous improvement); SPC and Business Improvement, M. OWEN, IFS Ltd. (1993), 320 pp., L45.00 (mixes case studies with analysis of Statistical Process Control techniques to show how and where to start, what you can achieve, and how); and Training&r Total Quality Management, DAVID R. JEFFRIES,BILL EVANS and PETER REYNOLDS, Kogan Page (1992), 160 pp., A9.95 (an often forgotten but key part of the overall TQM process).
Total
Global
Advantage,
Strategy:
Managing
for
GEORGE S. YIP, Prentice
Worldwide
Hall
Competitive
(1992),
318 pp.,
A21.70. Based on a 5-year research programme in which the author interviewed over 50 senior executives from the world’s largest American, European and Japanese multinational companies; combined with his 20 years of involvement with multinationals as a manager, consultant and educator. An excellent introduction but, perhaps, underestimating the problems involved in managing change, particularly in the rapidly changing high-tech industries. Anyone who would like a thoroughly documented survey of the international dimensions of business would find it in the volumes published under the umbrella of The United Nations Library on Transnational Corporations under the general editorship of John H. Dunning, the first four of the volumes (68 papers) being The Theory of Transnational Corporations, Edited by JOHN H. DUNNING, 454 pp.; Transnational Corporations: A Historical Perspective. Edited by GEOFFREYJONES, 450 pp.; Transnational Corporations and Economic Development, Edited by SANJAYA LALL, 428 pp.; and Transnational Corporations and Business Strategy, Edited by DONALD J. LECRAW and ALLEN J. MORRISON, 402 pp., Routledge (1993). Total cost L350.00. Another collection of papers (11) on a similar theme is contained in Advances in Global High-Technology Management: Human Resource Strategy in High Technology, Editors LUIS R. GOMEZ-MEJIA and MICHAEL W. LAWLESS, JAI Press (1992), 242 pp., A43.00. The latter focusing more on management and people issues; but although both contain a wealth of useful information they were written more for the academic audience. A much more managerially focused approach is taken in Collaborating to Compete: Using Strategic Alliances and Acquisitions in the Global Marketplace, Editors JOEL BLEEKE and DAVID ERNST, John Wiley (1993), 284 pp., k19.95. A book that needs to be widely read by all those involved in the Global Marketplace. But success in this very difficult area tends to be the exception rather than the rule and a chapter on ‘The Lessons of Failure’ would, perhaps, have helped highlight the risks.
The Growth
of Credit Information:
plc, C. MCNEIL GREIG, Blackwell
Reviews
A History
of UAPT-lnfolink
(1992), 354 pp., A45.00.
A corporate history of the United Kingdom’s oldest credit information organization, whose origins can be found in the Trade Protection Movement in the nineteenth century; written by its Chief Executive from 1958-1981 and Vice President until its demutualization in 1987. Full of detail that is only likely to appeal to the specialist reader.
Leadership continues to bc the focus of much writing and research and thcrc are few more authoritive centres for this work than the Center for Creative Leadership, who have produced a number of publications that deserve wider circulation including: Leadership Education: A Source Book 1992/1993, FRANK H. FREEMAN and SARA KING, 652 pp., $59.95; Inklings: Collected Columns on Leadership and Creativity, DAVID P. CAMPBELL, 161 pp., $15.00; Readings in Innovation, Edited by STANLEY S. GRYSKIEWICZ and DAVID A. HILLS, 257 pp., $20.00; Developing Diversity in Organizations: A Digest of Selected Literature, ANN M. MORRISON and KRISTEN M. CRABTREE, 138 pp., $20.00 and Impact of Leadership, Edited by KENNETH E. CLARK, MARIAM B. CLARK and DAVID P. CAMPBELL, 559 pp., $59.50. Other recent books on this important topic include: Leadership When the Heat’s On, DANNY Cox and JOHN HOOVER, McGraw-Hill (1992), 200 pp., L16.95. Reveals seven key management skills and ends with ‘The better we are as people, the better WC arc as leaders. And the better we are as leaders, the better will be the people whom we lead.’ A very readable and relevant book. Similar comments can be made about The Leadership Way: Management for the Nineties: How to Get TOP Results in Managing and Supervising People, JOHN D. PAYTON, Davidson Manors (1991), 253 pp., $24.95. A more academic approach to the issues is taken by Leadership Theory and Research: Perspectives and Directions, Edited by MARTIN M. CHEMERS and ROYA AYMAN, Academic Press (1993), 347 pp., $49.95. A tribute to Fred Fielder who, it is claimed, was responsible for the realization that leadership effectiveness depended on the interaction of qualities of the leader with the demands of the situation in which the leader functions, which made the simplistic ‘one best way’ approaches of earlier eras obsolete. But the search goes on; reflected in the final chapter ‘Directions for Leadership Research.’ It is noticeable that in the recent Dictionary of Business Management, (JERRY M. ROSENBERG,John Wiley (1993), 374 pp., L9.95), there were (of course) specific entries for power and leadership, among the 7500 included, but not for responsibility. It would make all the difference if power was seen as: ‘the responsibility that arises from . . the ability to control others. .‘! Governance is another word for the next edition.
The Essential
Anatomy
SAMPSON, Hodder
of Britain:
& Stoughton
Democracy
in Crisis, ANTHONY (1992), 172 pp., L9.99.
A personal survey of the current power-structure of Britain; revealing a worrying and wide-spread trend-the national centralization of power under a single party, made more serious by the demoralization of the old estates and lack of accountability in many areas of business. The net effect is a growing inequality and alienation at the bottom of society. A strong case for the need for radical change, but little on Electoral Reform. The background on the recent economic and political reforms of Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Egypt, Ghana,