The Individualized Corporation: A Fundamentally New Approach to Management
Author: Sumantra Ghoshal
Based on six years of research and hundreds of interviews with managers at every level of companies such as Intel, ABB, Canon, 3M, and McKinsey, The Individualized Corporation explores the collapse of an outmoded corporate form and reveals the emergence of a fundamentally different management philosophy--one that forces on the power of the individual as the driver of value creation in the company and the importance of individuality in management.
The image of the "Organization Man" as a cog in a corporate machine has become both dated and dangerous. Rather than try to force employees into a homogeneous corporate mold based on a company's strategy, structure, and system, world-renowned scholars and consultants Sumantra Ghoshal and Christopher Bartlett argue that managers must embrace a philosophy based on purpose, process, and people that focuses on developing and leveraging the individual's unique talents and skills--a company's most important source of competitive advantage.
Without proposing a universal solution or a quick-fix prescription, this important book provides an indispensable guide for those who must lead their companies into the next century.
Publishers Weekly
Both authors hold chairs at prestigious business schools, Ghoshal at London and Bartlett at Harvard. Together they have written extensively about their new vision of the modern corporation. For them, "Great companies are defined by purpose, process, and people." They argue that success has caused many companies to fail, noting that commitment to strategies that brought past achievement prevented them from renewing themselves. The authors have studied a variety of firms worldwide, including McKinsey and 3M in the U.S., IKEA in Sweden, Kao in Japan and Philips in the Netherlands. They claim that all these enterprises have concluded that people are the key, and every aspect of human resource development is critical. The authors have devised a simple model classifying the competencies needed at different managerial levels. This alone makes the book worth reading. A fine addition to university and corporate shelves. (Oct.)
Booknews
Provides managers with an overview of an emerging model called the individualized corporation, in which management has a fundamental faith in its employees, builds an integrated process of organizational learning, and possesses the ability to continuously renew itself. The authors exemplify the model by describing actual cases of management in such companies as 3M, Skandia, Philips, General Electric, and the Unipart group of companies in the UK. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
What People Are Saying
Warren Bennis
"Marvelous...Free of the usual doctrine, jargon, and cant, Ghoshal and Bartlett have written a thoroughly original, thought-provoking, and powerful book about the nature of the new corporation."
Sloan Management Review
"[Ghoshal and Bartlett] have made a very powerful contribution by coalescing the history, experience, and management concepts that are needed for our new competitive era...Superbly readable and useful."
Book review: 1000 Italian Recipes or The Holford Low GL Diet
Gender and Work in Today's World: A Reader
Author: Nancy Sacks
Nancy Sacks and Catherine Marrone have collected the classic and current readings that reflect the changing realities of gender and work in modern society. Promoting gender equality through balanced analysis of the sexes, Gender and Work in Today's World: A Reader explores the experiences of both men and women in the work force. The editors present a well-balanced blend of academic articles on gender and work topics and provide students with brief but pedagogically useful introductions to each section in the text. Special sections include: gender-non-traditional jobs (i.e. men as nurses and women in the police force), non-traditional work structures (i.e. part-time, temporary, and odd-hour work), work over the life course, and sexual harassment.
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