Books and articles in brief

Books and Articles in Brief

James W. Marcum, Jerome M. Hatcher, and Rachael Green

James W. Maram, Ph.D., is director of libraly services at Centenary College ofLozlisiana in Shreveport. 3.mme M. Hatcher, Ph. D., is associate professor of management and director of advanced manufacturing service at LSU- Shreveport. Racbael G r e w is a reference librarian at the Noel Memorial Library, LSU-Shreveport.

BOOKS Creating Quality in the Classroom by J d c e Arcam. Delray Beach, FL: St.LuciePress, 1995.147pages; $29.95.

There has been a lot of talk about applying total quality management (TQM) to the classroom, but for the teacher wondering what to do on Monday morning, there is not a lot of help. This workbook is designed to meet that need.

Arcaro teaches special education classes in New Hampshire, and is associated with the Galileo Quality Institute (which is not identified). She has been using quality tools and techniques in the classroom for several years and offers many lessons and examples that can be used in many classrooms. The purposes of Deming and TQM are applied here-mixed with a cup of Stephen Covey and a dash of Peter Senge-to good effect. Team learning and learning how to learn effectively are as important as the course content. The customers are students and society. Arcaro gets the students involved in the process from planning to presentation to evaluation.

Our schools are in trouble. Qual- ity methods could provide a large measure of the solution. This book is a good start. Tragically, despite its large format and quality production, it is sufficiently overpriced as to limit its use.-JWM

The Baldrige Award for Educa- tion. How to Measure and Docu- ment Quality Improvement by Jerome S . Arcaro. Delray Beach, FL: St. Lucie Press, 1995.160 pages; $39.95.

The application of Baldrige Award criteria to education is scheduled to begin in 1995. If the impact on education can be compared to the impact the award has had on industry in recent years, then there may be hope for the educational system. This book provides a guide to translating the criteria-designed for industry-to public, or general, education. There is great need for books of this sort. The effective adaptation of total quality management (TQM) processes to give them credibility within the educational profession will determine the success of the endeavor.

Both strengths and glaring weak- nesses are apparent in this book. Chapter four asks why schools should implement the Baldrige criteria. Prop- erly developed, this should have been a lead-off chapter; unfortunately, the answers are superficial. The chapter on analysis of existing conditions runs 75 pages and is the most useful section of the book. A 40-page case study of a quality effort by a school system is extremely useful. However, the other chapters need work.

CCC 02 77-8556/95/1404139- 12 0 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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James W; Marcum, Jerome M. Hatcher, and Rachael Green

The author is an experienced consultant in applying quality methods to school systems; this book will help affirm his credentials. Unfortunately, it appears that the publisher made a “rush to press” decision that results in a book that does not fulfill its potential, and therefore will not satisfy many customers.-JWM

Business Process Benchmarking: Finding and Implementing Best Practices by Robert C . Camp. White Plains, NY: Quality Re- sources, 1995.485 pages; $35.

This thorough work is a compan- ion to and a further elaboration of benchmarking by the author of one of the standard works on the process. The focus this time around is on business processes and finding best practices. The first section of the book explores the process: What and whom to bench- mark, collecting the data, and analyzing the performance gap are explored and discussed thoroughly.

The second section focuses on leadership and managing the process. The person in charge of the benchmarking effort must have library and research skills as well as knowledge of management, measurement, problem solving, training, and facilitating projects. The final section of the work offers case studies ranging from housekeeping system cycle time at Ritz-Carlton hotels to managing customer satisfaction at IBM-Rochester .

Camp is plowing a narrow field, but he plows it deep and well. This is a specialized book for specialists.- J W M

5 Pillars of tbe Visual Workplace: The Sourcebook for 5s Implemen- tation by Hiropki Hirano. Port-

land, OR: Productivity Press, 1995. 376 pages; $85.

Sometimes translations work better in one situation than in another. Kuizen can be translated easily and can become a part of the language, as it has in quality circles in the U.S. The 5 Ss fare less well; these are Japanese words for organization, orderliness, cleanliness, standardized cleanup, and discipline, fused into a comprehensive approach to bringing order to the workplace.

The translation problem is unfor- tunate, for this is a very useful guide to getting organized. The author is a recognized Japanese authority on just- in-time techniques.

Starting with a red tag system to get rid of anythmg that is not being used, the 5s system depicted here persuasively shows the power of order, cleanliness, and a visual workplace where color and signage speak clearly to purpose and simplicity. This approach can be as useful in an office as on the line or the shop floor. One major benefit of the approach is that it gets all workers involved in improvement .at the spot where they work and where their expertise and insight are most useful.

This approach is much simpler to implement than a Comprehensive total quality management (TQM) effort, but it could have a comparable impact on an organization that has grown a bit lax in its operations. Many managers, supervisors, and workers respon- sible for efficiency and reducing waste will find this book very helpful, and probably worth the price.-JWM

Tbelinprovement Engine: Creativ- ity and Innovation through Em- ployee Involvement (Tbe Kaizen

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Teian Approach) edited by the Japan Human Relations Associa- tion. Portland, OR: Productivity Press, 1995.195 pages; $40.

Kaizen teian simply means continuous improvement through employee suggestions. But that does not mean that the approach is simplistic. In contrast to the suggestion box method common in this country, the Japanese have developed employee suggestion systems into a fine art that serves constantly to polish and refine the operation of the organization. Whereas American firms usually seek such input through teams or other techniques, kaizen teian, if done well, can elicit employee commitment and input that is so critical for organizational adaptation and vitality. A good book showing how that can be done effectively would be welcome and beneficial. This book is helpful, but doesn’t quite snag the brass ring.

The work is a translation of a 1990 Japanese edition. It is well done. But something is lost in the translation of the cultural context. The forms, fig- ures, and tone just do not have the power and impact they should carry. Furthermore, the context is strictly manufacturing and does not seem to convert clearly to other contexts as one works through the book. Kaizen Teian 2, from the same source and publisher, is more useful.--JWM

Tbe World in 2020: Power, Cul- ture, and Prosperity by H a d & McRae. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1995. 320 pages; $24.95.

Most books predicting the future have an agenda, prophesying either

doom or a rosy scenario, usually to promote some purpose or person. McRae takes another route, probing hard through the wisdom of long experience as a British news writer to muse about the relative prosperity and influence of North America, Eu- rope, and East Asia. This is a book about growth, but even more, it is a statement about the quality of life of the various societies rather than some misleading economic statistics.

Much of what the author says is not new, but rarely does someone put so much good information together so clearly as to cause the reader to think seriously about what is likely to happen in the first quarter of the coming century. Following a survey of current social and economic conditions in three regions, he treats those forces of change most likely to challenge the well-being of the leading industrial societies: demography, resources and the environment, trade and finance, and technology. Larger social and governmental forces are also summarized. There are many predictions: China will become the largest economy and challenge for leadership of East Asia and Europe will be an association, not a super- state.

The great challenges to creating the good life in North America are largely social in nature: the costs of crime (including additional public and private security, rising insurance rates, and social breakdown), the burden of healthcare (consuming more of our gross national product and delivering services to too few), or the lack of discipline that produces illiterate high school graduates. But some are politi- cal: the propensity for litigation or the allowance of interest groups to ex-


-7ames W. Marcum, -7.mme M. Hatcher, and Rachael Green

tract costly concessions from the body politic. Economic conditions pose less danger in the author’s eyes. The apparent relative decline, seen in the balance of trade and the shift to a debtor status, is attributed in part to the fact that America has moved from a manufacturing to a service economy first; our competitors still face the costs and strains of that process.

There is no simple message here. The next generation will have major problems to solve. McRae helps iden- tdy some of those and offers some available options for our consider- ation. His book is definitely worth a read.-JWM

Improving Service Quality: Achieo- ing High Performance in the Pub- lic and Private Sectors by Michael E. Milakovich. Delray Beach, FL: St. Lucie Press, 1995. 278 pages; $39.95.

This work purports to be a text promoting the adoption of total quality service (TQS) to the public and private sectors that have been slow to embrace the movement. It accom- plishes this goal, offering clear explanations of the background and process, complete with charts, illus- trations, and a good bibliography. It is not a “how to” book for the practi- tioner, but it does provide a good selection of basic information, from Deming’s 14 points to a list of Malcolm Baldrige winners through 1994.

There are chapters on applying TQS concepts to the public sector and to healthcare. One useful chapter stresses the importance of participation and training in developing the level of quality in human resources that is required. In all, h s is a useful textbook.-JWM

Creative Destruction: A Six-Stage Process f o r Transforming Orga- nizations by Richard L Nolan and David C. Croson. Boston Harvard Business School Press, 1995. 272 pages; $29.95

On occasion, it is possible to hate a book and love it at the same time; this is one of those occasions. The headlines about this work focus on its advocacy of a 50 percent downsizing of the organization. Little discussion is offered of the risks and costs of such a program. The manager who reads that far and no further will get into big trouble. The remainder of the book finds little evidence of actual steps and processes of carrying out such drastic downsizing.

The book has real value, which may be overlooked in the controversy that will be generated by the downsizing issue. On one level, this is a book about ending hierarchy. It offers a 20-point set of management principles for the information age to replace the 13 management principles of the industrial age. These are scat- tered across chapters detailing the authors’ six-stage transformation process: downsize, distribute the surplus to achieve strategic balance, develop a market-access strategy, become customer-driven, develop a market fore- closure strategy, and seek a global scope.

The real message of the book is the role and importance of information, and the proper building of the organization’s information infrastruc- ture. Information, and its development into organizational knowledge, are crucial in each of the six stages of the transformation process. An interesting appendix offers a theory and

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simulation of determining the appro- priate right size for an organization.- J W M

TotalQuality in Managing Human Resources by Joseph k Petrick and Diana S. Furr. Delray Beach, FL: St. Lucie Press, 1995.300 pages; $44.95.

Part of the St. Lucie Press series on total quality (TQ), the focus of this book is on managing the difference TQ makes in human resources. Whereas the traditional role of most human resource professionals has been that of staff support geared to administrative compliance, the TQ approach offered here reveals the keys to developing and sustaining commitment to excellence.

The book’s layout purposefully addresses the need to apply quality principles in a systematic way, beginning with a review of the knowledge base for practitioners and students alike, and introduces the framework of what the authors refer to as the “house of total quality.”

The four central chapters focus on the four pillars of the house of total quality: customer satisfaction, continuous improvement, speaking with facts, and human resource activities. These chapters provide an easily un- derstandable framework, enhanced by a generous supply of exercises, tables, and charts. Each of the chapters concludes with review and discussion questions.

The authors conclude with a detailed, integrated plan for managing human resources along total quality lines, plus a case study of a company that successfully implemented TQ human resource management. An

appendix of four minicases with discussion questions and action steps completes the volume.-RG

Manufacturing Renaissance edited by Gary P. Pisano and Robert H. Hayes. Boston Harvard Busi- ness SchoolPress, 1995.384 pages; $29.95.

This is a collection of 20 influen- tial articles on manufacturing strategy and practice from the Hamard Busi- ness Review. The articles were selected for their relevance in presenting the history of U.S. manufacturing, the present global forces that are shaping manufacturing practice, and the need for a reassessment of organizational goals to achieve strategic flexibility.

The articles are organized into five parts, each dealing with a differ- ent aspect of manufacturing operations. The first part presents various approaches for expanding the view of senior managers to see the capability of manufacturing strategy for creating a competitive advantage for the firm. The second part of the book presents articles that counter three American manufacturing trends that were preva- lent through the 1980s: economics of scale thinking (bigger is better), ex- tensive automation, and movement of production facilities to low-wage en- vironments (often abroad). The third part focuses on the issues of competitive strategies of productivity, quality, and responsiveness, which support the overall need for manufacturing flexibility and speed. The fourth collection of papers highlights the need for fundamental changes in the control systems and management phi- losophies of the organization to

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James W. Marcum, 3ermtze M. Hatcher, and Rachael Green

support new approaches to manufacturing. The final part of the book involves the challenges of selecting and exploiting the particular manufacturing capabilities that best provide a sustained competitive advantage.

The editors have done an excellent job in selecting and organizing the papers chosen for inclusion in the book. Manufacturing managers will find the time invested in reading this book well worthwhile.-JMH

The Edison Effect by Ron Ploof. Leawood, Ks: Cypress Publishing Group, 1995.262 pages; $22.95.

Ron Ploof has done an excellent job in presenting in a compact, easily readable format a novel that presents both the dilemma and some practical remedies for employees who are cop- ing with the rapid changes being experienced by much of America’s workforce. Ploof correctly points to the driver of much of this change- the Edison effect. When Thomas Edison was searching for the development of a reliable light bulb, he discovered a principle that scientists eventually used to create the vacuum tube. This development ultimately gave birth to the global technology explosion being experienced today. As the speed at which data are gathered, processed, and distributed has increased, the rate of change in business and industry has changed pro- portionately. Employees who fail to cope with this rapid change by learning how to learn will eventually find themselves at risk within the organizations where they work.

Ploof uses a hypothetical firm called Edu-Print to illustrate the think-

ing that must be incorporated into the makeup of an individual in order to survive. He does a good job of crest- ing a book that is interesting and can be read in an hour or two.

The glossary presents a collection of very useful lifelong learning tips. For example, Ploof suggests that the Pareto principle (80/20 rule) be applied to personal learning. He concludes that a person should focus on the 20 percent knowledge necessary to acquire 80 percent efficiency in meeting learning objectives-JMH

Winning the Service Game by Ben- jamin Schneider and David E. Bowen. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1995. 320 pages; $24.95.

This book trods the well-worn path of improving service quality. It is lively in presentation and offers some fresh insights. It is more serious than its frivolous name would suggest, but it does not make a major contribution to the field other than restating the case that a company’s customer service will be no better than its management practices.

The authors are academics. They offer 53 rules of the game spread out across nine chapters. The work em- phasizes the importance of human resource selection and training, rec- ognizing the extent of nonpersonal contacts, and the importance of mesh- ing the human contacts with the im- personal ones to achieve a seamless interface with the customer.

The final-and perhaps the best- chapter discusses the means to create a service culture. The idea is to manage through a culture rather than through managers. It is crucial that an



organization be true to its vision, that it walk its talk, if cultural schizophre- nia (behavior that contrasts sharply with expressed intentions) is to be avoided. Consistency is crucial, and too often one management step can disrupt the seamlessness of organizational processes and culture. Inten- sive coordination is a never-ending challenge. This is a useful book for managers working to improve their firm’s customer service.-JWM

Prof&s in Quality: Learning from tbe Masters by Louis E. Schultz. White Plains, NY: Quality Re- sources, 1994.268 pages; $29.95.

The history of the modern quality movement dates to the 1920s, when Walter Shewhart began to develop techniques of statistical quality control at Western Electric’s Hawthorne plant in Chicago. Since that time, many individuals have contributed to the development of the field. The author has pulled together in one volume a very interesting summary of the contributions of 13 leading quality champions-eight Americans (Shewhart, Deming, Juran, Sarasohn, Magensen, Feigenbaum, Crosby, and Tribus), and five Japanese (Ishikawa, Mizuno, Akao, Taguehi, and Karo).

The material presented about each individual has enough depth that information of significant substance is recorded, yet there is not too much information to read at a single sitting. For example, the chapter about Homer Sarasohn is only ten pages long, but it contains a wealth of background information as to the contributions made by this young product development engineer from MIT. General Douglas MacArthur requested his service in

Japan in 1945 to provide MacArthur’s forces with the capability of commu- nicating by radio with the Japanese people. The chapter tells not only how Sarasohn approached this siz- able task, but it also describes his work in creating The Fundamentals of Industrial Management course that was taught to emerging Japanese manufacturing leaders.

Profiles in Quality is a comprehensive text that provides insight into the thinkers and the theories that have shaped the quality movement. The book would be a useful addition to any quality library.-JMH

Quality Improvement Handbook: Team Guide to Tools and Tech- niques by Roger C . Swanson. Delray Beach, n: St. Lucie Press, 1995. 281 pages; $42.50.

The title is a bit awkward, but this useful book is a compendium of tools selected and arranged to support a team-based quality improvement effort. There are several good books on team development and an overabun- dance of books on total quality management (TQM), but combining the two purposes effectively is a worthy project.

The book presents an eight-step quality-improvement model to provide overall guidance and structure. Separate topical chapters present several tools each on idea generation, consensus building, process defini- tion, data collection, cause-effect analysis, organizing and presenting data, benchmarking, planning tools, and questionnaires. The material is current and well presented.

This is not a comprehensive treatment of TQM; it is a handbook de-

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James W, Marcum, Jerome M. Hatcher, and Rachael Green

signed for teams that are seriously engaged in substantial quality transformation projects. There is fairly comprehensive treatment of each tool, including a description and discussion of key points, typical applica- tions, examples, and a step-by-step guide for using the tool. Swanson is a consultant, but is associated with quality education efforts at UCLA; documentation is adequate. This handbook fulfills its purpose well and should be widely used for team efforts in many types of organizations.-- JMH

Introduction to Modern Statisti- cal Quality and Management by J. A. Swift. Delray Beach, n: St. Lucie PTess, 1995.350 pages; $49.95.

The author has pulled together under one cover a breadth of concepts, examples, case studies, and problems that present well the subject of total quality management.

The book is divided into four parts: basic introduction to quality concepts and principles and an overview of the teachings of four interna- tional quality leaders; information on three major quality awards; instruc- tions on the implementation and use of common quality improvement tools; and an overview of a second group of quality techniques.

The core section of the book, “Quality Tools and Methods,” consists of eight chapters. The material is an excellent presentation and summary of more than 20 improvement tools. A chapter on “problem identification tools” presents brainstorming, nomi- nal group technique, and multivoting. Another chapter presents construc- tion techniques and examples of the

seven basic quality tools. Three additional chapters present detailed information on various types of control charts. The quality improvement process is presented in a separate chapter, and an overview of the seven quality management tools is included as an aid to the reader in still another chapter.

The text is written from an appli- cations point of view, and a collection of problems is presented at the end of each chapter. The book would work well both in an industrial quality program and in a college classroom.- JMH

Deming: The Way We Knew Him by Frank VoehL Delray Beach, FL: St. Lucie Press, 1995. 176 pages; $39.95.

W. Edwards Deming died on De- cember 20, 1993, at 93 years of age. Throughout his life he was devoted to continuous learning and teaching. Seeking to reproduce his knowledge in the heart and soul of other individuals, he positively influenced mil- lions on the issues of quality and productivity. Voehl’s work is a collection of essays written by individuals who were close to Deming. All the contributors are viewed as quality pioneers or experts themselves. Each of Deming’s 14 points is developed in a chapter that simultaneously elabo- rates on one of the points and contains personal in-depth insights by the contributing author for that chapter. Many new insights and a wealth of information are contained in this fairly compact summary.

The last chapter of the book contains a most fitting requiem for Deming, given on December 29,1993, in Wash-



ington, DC, by the Reverend August Peters, Jr. An epilogue to the text contains an elaboration on “The Seven Deadly Diseases” that Deming con- sidered to be deeply entrenched U. s. business practices that seriously threaten long-term business success.

This book is an excellent discussion of Deming’s 14 points. Moreover, because each of the contributors knew Deming personally, they expose his character and personality in a way that tells a fascinating story about a fascinating person.-JMH

ARTICLES John P. Brennan and Beverly McKee, “‘Structureless’ S a l a r y Man- agement: A Successful Application of a Modest Proposal,” Compensa- tion G Benefits Review, 27:2 (MmWApfi 1995),56-62.

The authors report on a case study of the Visa company’s 1990 revamp- ing of its salary administration. In the beginning stages, company officials agreed that their new system would have to be consistent with the company’s wish to remain flexible and operate without defined salary ranges. The new plan would have to provide a high degree of manager responsibility and accountability, ensure that pay was competitive, and be easy for line managers to use and employees to understand. It would also need to reinforce the link be- tween pay and performance and be administratively efficient.

Steps one and two in the project were the development and administration of a job evaluation question- naire. While responses were being gathered, the human resources (HR) staff also began to study market data.

A job evaluation model was developed and market value ranges were assigned to all jobs.

To make the new system easy to use, the HR department gave managers a salary planning information worksheet for each job reporting to them. Coincidentally, a salary management software package was initi- ated. The results of Visa’s new system have proven favorable. It eliminates the haggling over levels that is found in traditional job evaluation systems. Managers still have control over employee salaries, but they also have the internal and external information necessary to make informed judgments about salary dollars.-RG

J. Thomas Buck, “The Rocky Road to Team-Based Management,” Training G Development, 49:4 (Apd 19951, 35-38.

Many aspects of team building and team management are especially vulnerable to conflict and dissension. The first area of conflict appears when first-line supervisors become team facilitators. Some supervisors may find team-based management threatening. The new role may be ambiguous; they may be concerned about their career paths. It is important to let team facilitators know how they fit into the new structure.

Another situation to look out for is how team members take ownership of an area of responsibility and make the necessary decisions. Management must empower teams to act and should clearly explain which decisions they authorize team members to make. They should also hold team members accountable for meeting team objectives.

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James W. Marcum, 3mme M. Hatcher, and Racbael Green

One other potential problem area is a failure on the part of the organization to analyze its policies, procedures, and systems to determine whether they’re compatible with the concept of team-based management. The procedures and policies that could work against teams need to be identified, modified, or eliminated. Most teams will make mistakes. Catastro- ‘phes can be averted by letting teams make only low-risk decisions at first. A team that makes decisions too slowly may need a little pressure to succeed. Teams that have reached a plateau in terms of performance may need new challenges or even new members. These pitfalls can be avoided, but management must decide how teams operate and how the organization will respond.-RG

Simon Caulkin, “Take Your Part- ners,” Management Today, (Feb- ruary 1995),26-30.

In downsized, delayered, and reengineered industries, managers are discovering what it’s like to be subject to discontinuous job changes, erratic earning patterns, and difficult returns to employment. The key to the transformation of both companies and managers lies in the cost-cutting ethos that dominated corporations in the 1980s. Loss of competitiveness and confidence led to the adoption of successive waves of management ini- tiatives that had just one outcome: head-count reduction.

Companies that breathed a sigh of relief at having managed their downsizing without overt mishap are now struggling with the realization that the survivors are the real problem. The way forward lies through

rebuilding some of the links broken in the 1980s through explicit contract- ing. Explicit contracts are not a return to the old deal but, instead, have a psychological element that goes be- yond what is written on paper. They assume a relationship in which both sides are dependent on the other, have legitimate interests to match and negotiate, and involve reciprocal promises.

Management for innovation requires initiative, commitment, and willingness to take risks on the part of the employee; trust, support, and tol- erance of mistakes from the employer. Winners in any industry will be companies that have faced up to the reality that the new conditions need a new deal-a new partnership, prop- erly negotiated, with obligations and rights on both sides.-RG

“The Manager as Trainer: Who Trains the Trainers?” Supewisory Management, 40:3 (March 19951, 1 and 16.

When employees are training new hires or teaching their coworkers a new skill or procedure, how does the manager ensure that they are doing the job effectively, not passing along bad or unsafe habits into which they have slipped over the years? In addition, a new hire is usually reluctant to admit that he or she doesn’t understand a procedure. Therefore, a manager may find that new employees will often fail to implement correctly everything they have learned in a training program unless they are moni- tored afterwards. These problems aren’t likely to be eliminated entirely, but they can be remedied with careful preparation.


Books and Am‘cks in Brief

This article suggests that if at all possible, the manager should step in and train the new hire. If the training must be delegated, however, a good idea is to have the prospective trainer train the manager on a procedure he or she already knows well.

This in turn will help the manager identify the person who is not suit- able as a trainer. People to avoid for important training assignments: know-it-alls, who disregard the man- ual; carefree types, who don’t see the importance of procedures; fast-mov- ers, who rush through the training; and shortcutters, who omit infonna- tion.

Gradually introducing new procedures is more effective than presenting a lot of change at once. By concentrating on one item at a time, it is possible to check in on the employee all the sooner to be sure that the learning process has taken place.- RG

RobertSimons, “ControlinanAge of Empowerment,” Hurvurd Busi- ness Review, 732 (MarcWApril 1995), 80-88.

An underlying problem facing managers today is how to exercise adequate control in organizations that demand flexibility, innovation, and creativity. Competitive businesses must rely on employee initiative to seek out opportunities and respond to customers’ needs.

In most organizations operating in highly competitive markets, managers cannot spend all their time and effort making sure that everyone is doing what is expected. Neither is it realistic to think that managers can achieve control by simply hiring good

people and hoping for the best. Today’s managers must encourage employees to initiate new ways of responding to customers’ needs-but in a controlled way.

Each of four control levers has a distinct purpose for managers attempt- ing to harness the creativity of employees. Diagnostic control systems allow managers to ensure that goals are being achieved efficiently. Beliefs systems empower individuals and encourage them to search for new opportunities. Boundary systems es- tablish the rules of the game and idenm pitfalls that employees must avoid. Interactive control systems enable top-level managers to focus on strategic uncertainties and respond proactively .

Collectively, these four levers of control set in motion strong forces that reinforce one another. By using them wisely, managers can be confi- dent that the benefits of innovation and creativity are not achieved at the expense of control.-RG

Donald H. Thain and David S.R. Leighton, “Why Boards Fail,” Business Quarterly Review, 59:s (Spfig 19951371-78.

The failure of corporate boards to protect and enhance shareholder value has been globally reported. The recent recession and increased interna- tional competition have exposed serious flaws in the systems by which companies around the world have been managed. Public attention is focusing on corporate governance, particularly on the role of boards of directors. Well-documented problems have fueled criticism of corporate boards as ineffectual, and have re-

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James W. Marcum, Jerome M. Hatcher, and Racbael Green

sulted in such drastic proposals as the scrapping of boards altogether.

Despite the general criticism of boards and their obvious failure in individual cases, not all boards fail. The existence of well-functioning boards proves that the system can work. The challenge is to understand why some boards fail while others succeed.

The authors iden* six success factors for boards. First, building and maintaining legitimacy and power re-

quires an understanding of the source and scope of authority and responsibii- ity. Second, the board needs a clear statement of its functions and tasks. Third, building a board culture means creating shared beliefs, attitudes, and expectations. Fourth, a board requires a balance of skills, beliefs, and experi- ences. Fifth, the tasks, hnctions, and processes of the board need to be managed. Sixth, the chairman should exhibit vision, foresight, creativity, and inspiration.-RG 0

I50 National Productivity Review/Autumn I995

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