Books and articles in brief

Books and Articles in Brief

James W. Marcum, Rachael Green, Thomas E. Schaefr, and Patrick W. Withen

James W. Maram, Ph.D., is director of library services at the 7. Conrad Dunagan Library, University of Texas of the Permian Basin (UTPB) in Odessa. Rachael Green, MLS, is reference librar- ian at Noel Memorial Library, Louisiana State University, Shreveport. Thomas E. Scbaefer, Pb. D., is professor of management at UTPB. Patrick W. Withen, Pb. D., is assistant professor of sociology at Clinch Valley College, Wise, Virginia.

BOOKS The Boundaryless Organization: Breaking the Chains of Organiza- tional Structureby Ron Ashkenas, Dave Ulrich, et al. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995. 396 pages; $28.50.

The notion of a boundaryless organization is not new; Jack Welch used the idea in remaking GE some years ago. Indeed, the four authors shared in that experience in some measure, though all now have since gone on to experience tests of the concept as consultants with other companies. But the idea of seeking to become “boundaryless” remains a powerful vision, especially as developed in this fine book.

The authors tear down “bound- aries” in all directions. Vertically they propose aligning and fine-tuning the hierarchy (not abolishing it), horizon- tally they suggest escaping turf battles to better serve the customer, exter- nally they propose partnering with stakeholders, and geographically they argue for globalism. Structural changes of this sort enable the new success factors of speed, flexibility, integra- tion, and innovation to supplant the traditional values of large size, role clarification (as in manager versus worker), specialization, and control.

The book is not a theoretical treatise, though it is solidly grounded in theory. It could serve as a work- book for practitioners, with real-life experiences as guides through the inevitable difficulties and sample ques- tionnaires and exercises provided at appropriate points. This is a useful, clearly presented aid for managers and leaders seeking to implement dramatic organizational restructur- ing.-JWM

QS-9000 Handbook: A Guide to Registration and Audit byJayanta K. Bandyopadhyay. Delray Beach, FL: St. LuciePress, 1996.256 pages; $59.95.

While most businesses are famil- iar with I S 0 9000 standards and procedures, QS-9000 is the result of a joint decision by the Big Three U.S. automakers to regularize the unique and extensive standards in their industry. The task was completed in 1994, and the standards are essentially in place. Any company wanting to do business with Chrysler, Ford, or GM will need to take these procedures to heart. The author, who is a professor at Central Michigan Univer- sity, provides step-by-step guidelines, sample formats, and extensive information on definitions, resources, ac-

CCC 0277-8556/96/1504115-10 0 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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James W. Marcum, Rachael Green, Thomas E. Schaefeer, and Patrick W. Withen

crediting agencies, and registrars. Anyone building a library on qual-

ity management will find the price of this little book appalling. Suppliers seeking to survive in the competitive automobile industry will buy the book by the crate for their staff and their suppliers .-JWM

Prentice Hall Quality Yearbook 1996/1997, edited by Richard Barrett Clements. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996.624 pages; $79.95.

The logic and purpose of this volume are elusive. Organized around themes like “in the news,” manufac- turing, service, software, problem solving, and the design of experi- ments, the collection purports to up- date trends in the quality movement. Most of the articles, however, date from 1994 and 1995 and come largely from various quality-related publish- ers, with occasional pieces from sources as varied as Byte, FDA Con- sumer, Progressive Grocer, and Risk Management, and an assortment of papers from conferences and reports.

From the title, one would antici- pate that this will become a series, but that is unlikely. Strong editing would have made the collection more useful by providing complete citations and comprehensive lists and cross-refer- ences. But the table of contents provides neither sources nor authors, and the index is not totally reliable.

The appendices provide some out- of-the-ordinary information. Colleges providing related course work are listed with contact persons, and lists of conferences scheduled for the year (1996) and Internet sources are inter- esting. But a web site, updated regu-

larly, would be a better means of providing access to this information.- JWM

Work Concepts for the Future: Managing Attentative Work Ar- rangements by Patricia Schiff Estess. Menlo Park, CA: Crisp Pub- lications, Inc., 1996. 138 pages; $12.95, paper.

For many managers and employees, the future is here now, bringing alternative work arrangements with it. Work Concepts for the Future is a usable guidebook for managers, employees, and owners who are involved in or considering such organizational innovations as flextime, telecommuting, job sharing, com- pressed workweeks, or any combina- tion of alternative work arrangements.

The effectiveness of this book lies in Estess’s examination of each type of work arrangement from the point of view of the employee, the manager, and the owner. Such an analysis is useful for understanding the positive and negative effects of a work arrangement such as flextime or job sharing. Furthermore, it provides a venue for establishing the conditions under which alternative work arrangements might be beneficial for all the parties involved. The tone of the book is pro alternative work arrangement, with Estess addressing such questions as: Why are work arrangements beneficial for the company? How can alternative work arrangements be in- tegrated into my workplace? When should alternative work arrangements be used, and when shouldn’t they be used? How can I allow alternative work arrangements for one employee and not another? How can

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Books and Amkks in Brief

telecommuting employees be evaluated? There are also many useful forms and mini-surveys for analyzing your own firm’s opportunities and needs with respect to alternative work arrangements-PWW

The Age ofHeretics: Heroes, Out- laws, and the Forerunners of Cor- porate Change by Art Kleiner. New York: Currency/Doubleday, 1996. 320 pages; $29.95.

Readers will either love or despise this book, a history of the ideas and people who have shaped the contem- porary culture of corporate transfor- mation. It covers the 30 years follow- ing the end of World War 11, with Kleiner wrapping his story essentially in the mid-1970s.

In these pages the reader meets with the people-as well as their ideas and their work-who raised the issues that disrupted the closed men- tal maps of the leaders of corporate America. They include: Kurt Lewin, whose T-Groups led to the begin- nings of the National Training Lab; Doug McGregor, Carl Rogers, Edgar Schein, Chris Argyris, Warren Bennis, and the team of Blake and Mouton, all trailblazers in improving the workplace; outsiders and radicals like Ralph Nader and Saul Alinsky, and working managers who built an outstanding workplace at Topeka. The role of Herman Kahn and Pierre Wack in developing the scenario used so effectively by Shell in the mid-1970s is spelled out , as is the early work of the Stanford Research Institute.

People seeking a handbook for making organizational change hap- pen will find little of use here. But anyone interested in the background

and early thinking of this influential movement will have to own this book. Kleiner is a fine writer, and he serves up a most enjoyable portrait gallery of people who laid much of the founda- tion for modern management thinking and practice.-JWM

Playing for Keeps: How the World’s Most Aggressive and Ad- mired Companies Use Core Val- ues by Frederick G. Harmon. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1996.288 pages; $27.95.

The central theme: Any company can consciously accelerate its growth by values-driven leadership. Such leadership incorporates survival and market-driven leadership. The former, illustrated in the barbershop managed primarily for money, and the latter, illustrated in the mid-1970s Microsoft where customer service was “god,” should progress to a leadership asserting values as their priority. This last wider vision, we are assured, “contains more of the seeds of growth than either of the other two modes.”

The author’s insistence on individual action through which managerial moralisms (“pursue excellence,” “grow profitably”) are made real is persuasive. But few new ideas are added to the patrimony of our 1990s managerial philosophy. On the positive side, Harmon illustrates his points with good stories of effective companies, including Chrysler and Charles Schwab.-TES

m e Balanced Scorecard Trans- lating Strategy Into Action by Rob- ert s. Kaplan and David P. Norton. Boston Harvard Business School, 1996.330 pages; $29.95.

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There are some problem areas in business management where the best thinking and the best practice have little to offer. Some dramatic gaps in current issues include: the need to balance fiscal controls with more holistic mat- ters, such as intellectual property and customer satisfaction; the difficulty of linking strategy to everyday operations; and the need to link development practices-such as TQM or reengineering-with the vision and long-term strategy of the organization.

Kaplan and Norton have filled those gaps with this distinctive book. An elaboration of their two articles in Haruard Business Review, the authors have produced, and demonstrate here, a breakthrough in management practice.

The balanced scorecard is a method that encompasses customer value, process-hoth innovation and operations- and organizational learning to round out the usual financial controls and considerations. The limitations of an overemphasis on fiscal data are becom- ing well-documented. The drive for favorable quarterly reports can lead to the cannibalization of those projects and investments that are critical for long-term adaptation and survival.

The authors present not a theory but a strategic management method that guides better use of customer satisfaction indices, process improvements, and progress in individual, team, and organizational competence development. This book will take its place at once as probably the best management guide around for building healthy, effective, and long-last- ing organizations.-JWM

QuaLity Government: Designing, Developing, and Implementing

TQM by Jerry W. Koehler and Jo- seph M. Pankowski. Delray Beach, FL: St. Lucie Press, 996.295 pages; $39.95.

With government under attack from many fronts because of its bureaucracy, hierarchy, and lack of ac- countability, many agency heads are looking for guides to move toward the implementation ofTQM. This book can help. With backgrounds in aca- deme and governmental reform at the state level in Florida, the authors present a well-grounded yet practical handbook for implementing TQM in government agencies.

The book is essentially an over- view of TQM with examples drawn from the authors’ work with a few public agencies. The practices are very similar to the private sector, with “translation” into government work assumed rather than illuminated. A basic assumption of the authors is a reliance on rewards and recognition, with the payment of incentives to government employees for outstanding increases in productivity and quality a stated goal. But the difficulties of implementing such practices in the public sector are not explored in depth.

The authors and publisher are obviously seeking to dominate this topic by producing two other titles on the subject in the current year. Teams in Government: A Handbook for Team- Based Organizations (192 pages; $29.95, paper) promotes the use of teams, while the other, Continual Improvement in Government: Tools and Methods (160 pages; $29.95, paper), provides a toolbox for TQM practices. By and large, the material presented is widely available in other



proven resources; little truly original thinking is offered here.-JWM

Broken Promises: An Unconven- tional View of What Went Wrong at IBM by D. Quinn Mills and G. Bruce Friesen. Boston Harvard Business School Press, 1996. 211 pages; $22.95.

The authors of this unconven- tional analysis root their appraisal in first-hand contact with IBMers and company history. A persuasive case is made that neither size nor “technological mediocrity” as such caused Big Blue to falter. Rather, IBM’s loss of its former dominance must be put down to (1) a breach of faith with customers and (2) failure to honor its social contract with employees. First, it was not the shift from rental to sales of equipment that breached faith, but the shift in IBM’s customer relations. Rentals meant more than steady in- come to IBM: “Rentals were, in fact, risk leases-they placed the risk of changing technology with IBM, not its customers.” The old, confident IBM customer gave way (as niche players and IBM clones crowded the market) to a confused customer. Secondly, the broken promise to IBM’s employees occurred when, uncharacteristically, the firm laid off thousands of workers. The powerful spirit of a full employment policy was lost and, with it, a genuine source of morale. From those who survived the cuts, “IBM today expects performance without loyalty.”

By elucidating these two cracks in IBM’s armor, the authors, go deeper than the business media, where a strong body of opinion identifies IBM’s problems with technological and bu- reaucratic inertia. Crisp recounting of

the IBM story throws this popular diagnosis into question and supports that of the authors. A close look shows that IBM has moved through cycles in which innovation repeatedly gives way to bureaucracy. Only after the bottom of a cycle is reached, with bureaucracy at its peak, “does IBM shake itself awake.” Such awakening has happened four times in IBM’s past, each at the prodding of a new CEO. Thus, IBM’s current troubles are not unique. As IBM now passes through a fifth cycle, the traditional, culturally inbred executive must be bypassed in favor of the greater objec- tivity of an outsider-change agent. Lou Gerstner admirably fits this need, and this explains, in part, IBM’s recent rebound. Behind IBM’s improvements lie many things: recentralizing in the realization that IBM is truly a single business, not many; mode ing IBM’s corporate culture (though what IBM’s new culture should be is not yet clear); and relying less on consensus management to speed decisions.

IBM is not yet out of the woods, for making good on broken promises will not be easy. But the firm does have a future. How shall it move ahead? By regaining close customer relations, restoring employment security, reshaping itself into a better version of what it was before: a single- solution vendor of information technology. This admirable book, chock- full of penetrating analysis, closes with lessons for large corporations everywhere.-TES

Go For Growth! by Robert M. Tomasko. NewYork: John Wiley& Sons, Inc., 1996.302 pages; $24.95.

This user-friendly book, free of

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distracting jargon, depends heavily on the research of others, which the author forthrightly admits. Meant for the business practitioner, it integrates several leading theories of competitive strategy to address the perennial question, How shall I grow my business? Growth-meaning better, not necessarily bigger-is now mandated by global competition. But, so accus- tomed are we to downsizing that revenue enhancement is on the back burner. Serious cost-cutting was needed after the fat years of U S . dominance and subsequent emer- gence of powerful European and Asian competitors. Now that great efficien- cies are achieved, U.S. firms must step up to a growth mentality.

Tomasko lists five “growth paths.” Proper choice of a path depends on your competencies, market, and stage in your life cycle. Should you be a “Rule Breaker,” innovating against established practice? Or a “Game Player,” seeking advantage through differentiation and second-mover tactics? Is the third path, “Rule Maker,” for you? This strategy for dominant firms contrasts with “The Specialist” or niche player. Finally, “Im- provising” is available when no other growth paths are open.

The author illustrates good and bad choices: Pizza Hut played the game well when it waited for Domi- nos to perfect the idea of a nationwide pizza delivery franchise and then imi- tated it. The very first hand-held cal- culator company, Bowmar, played poorly as late-comers thrived. Microsoft and Intel are rule makers whose growth paths made them mega- winners, but the triple threat of market shifts, adaptive predators, and self-inflicted wounds can destroy even such giants.-TES

Customer Intimacy: Pick Your Partner, Shape Your Culture, Win Together by Fred Wiersema. Santa Monica, CA: Knowledge Exchange, 1996. 225 pages; $22.95.

“Customer intimacy” is basically another way of partnering with the customer. But while the basic problem addressed here is not new, the presentation is excellent.

Should a provider of a commodity send teams of specialists to its customers to show them how to use less of the product? Should a tool manu- facturer send top execs into basement workshops to watch amateur handymen at work? The former practice helped GE Plastics become an industry leader; the second tactic enabled Black and Decker to develop tools, like cordless drills, that American handymen wanted so the company could fend off major Japanese competitors. The difference could be de- scribed as accepting responsibility for the customer’s success rather than seeking to satisfy his or her needs. There is a world of difference, explored nicely here.

Customer satisfaction can be a trap, says Wiersema, and partial solu- tions like recognition programs and micromarketing likewise fall short of the mark of producing results for the customer. The author proposes proactive, imaginative commitment to fulfill customers’ next goal or solve their emerging new problems. Such practices require sufficient intimacy to help the customer articulate the real problem or to enable the custom production of the desired goods o r services. The author provides dozens of illustrative examples to nail his points.-JWM

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ARTICLES F. Raymond Angus, Alan L. Goodman, et al., “Reengineering for Revenue Growth,” Research- Technology Management, 39:2 (M~~h/April1996), 26-31.

To remain competitive in today’s global marketplace, many companies have turned to reengineering to re- vamp key business processes that are outdated and no longer efficient or economical. In the past, the majority of reengineering efforts have focused on cost cutting. The emphasis is now on inventing new and better work processes to reduce cycle times and yield better quality products and services at lower costs.

Three forces drive companies to reengineer outdated and inefficient business processes: customers, competition, and change. Customers de- mand to receive products and services customized to fit their needs. Competition is now on a global scale, and companies must compete for market share in a variety of innovative ways. Change has become both pervasive and persistent.

Research and development play a vital role in helping companies achieve reengineering goals. How- ever, achievement of these goals re- quires that both R&D and other business units integrate their expertise.

There are many different management methods in use today, but four steps seem basic to all: (1) recognize the need for change; (2) analyze the exist- ing high-level process structure; (3) redesign the process structure; and (4) implement the new design.-RG

Tom Dellecave, Jr., “Insecurity: Is Technology Putting Your Com-

pany’s Primary Asset-Its Infor- mation-At Risk?” Sales C Mar- keting Management, 148~4 (April 1996),38-50.

In a recent survey, nearly 90 per- cent of business security managers said the risk to their company’s pro- prietary information has increased over the last five years. Smaller, lighter, more universal technologies are the cause of this danger. The problem has become particularly acute in sales and marketing departments where customer lists, sales forecasts, and market plans may be at risk.

Facts and figures alone do not describe the scope of the information theft problem. Fearful of losing the loyalty of customers and stockhold- ers, companies are unwilling to speak openly about it. Most companies would agree, however, that negli- gence plays a big role in allowing security breaches.

Part of the problem rests in the pervasive belief among business managers that information security is primarily an information systems (IS) problem. Security experts, however, say it is a management issue. The burden rests on executives and de- partmental managers to establish poli- cies and procedures for dealing with company information.

There are some common denomi- nators to effective security: The first is that the company must identify what data it wants to protect. Then, the worth of each piece of information should be determined and contrasted to the expense of protecting it. Next, a high-level management policy should be developed. Finally, employees must be trained in the new policy’s implementation.-RG

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R o n A. DiBattista, “Forecasting Sabotage Events in the Workplace,” Public Personnel Management, 25:l (Spring 1996), 41-51.

Even though organizations have created ways to recognize and deter these events, acts of sabotage are on the increase. Therefore, organizations today need to learn how to forecast a sabotage event.

Research has shown that depend- ing on a manager’s readiness, a sabotage event may progress through four stages: The Prodromal (Precrisis) Stage is when small warning signs can sig- nal an impending disaster, for those who know where to look; the Acute Crisis Stage is when the event has occurred and only swift, sure management can minimize the damage; the Chronic Crisis Stage is a time when commendations are shared for a well-managed crisis, but a badly managed crisis destroys careers and even corporations; and the Crisis Resolution Stage is a return to nor- malcy.

The goal for management at the point of sensing a crisis is to manage the dilemma from the precrisis stage directly through to the resolution stage, so that fallout from the acute or chronic stage is avoided. One way for management to move swiftly is to forecast the impact of a potential event and to gauge the probability that it will occur.

Human resource professionals with support from managers at all levels need to develop a comprehensive sabotage intervention plan. In building the plan, management should continue to promote security aware- ness within its ernployer-employee relationships-RG

Leonard B. Kruk, “Measuring Pro- ductivity? Conduct a Feasibility Study,” Supervisory Management, 413 (March 1996), 8-9.

Having state-of-the-art computers and comprehensive training programs will not necessarily make employees more productive. Research finds that productivity often suffers because of procedural and reporting issues.

One tool for analyzing productivity bottlenecks is a feasibility study. It can be done in-house, o r by an out- side consultant. Either way, there are several points to consider. A positive commitment from the managers of the department being studied is vital to a successful study. Their ideas about issues and/or outcomes should be solicited.

The exact scope of the study should be clearly defined, as should the list of all personnel to be involved. These should be effectively communicated to the administrative staff. A good idea is to conduct orientation sessions to ex- plain all that is expected.

If done in-house, a study team of at least three people should be established to help design the study instru- ment, conduct the study, and analyze the findings. When designing the manager’s questionnaire, open-ended questions should be used to encour- age dialogue.

Both open- and closed-ended in- struments should be used for survey- ing the administrative support staff. The closed-ended questions should be task-related.

Once the study is done, the analysis should be presented to the management team, which should be urged to announce the results once they have been evaluated.-RG

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Jennifer J. Laabs, “Employing Society’s ‘Outcasts’,’’ Personnel Journal, 75:4 (April 19961, 106- 113.

Companies that employ individuals whom other companies consider unemployable-such as the home- less, former felons, or people with little formal education-are finding that the benefits far outweigh the risks, and that it is also the socially responsible thing to do. Three companies in particular, Coors, the DELSTAR Group, and Mini Maid, have made corporate commitments to giving people second chances.

Coors identifies potential hires for its program through local public agencies and nonprofit groups, and through parole officers who are famifiar with the program. DELSTAR contacts community-based organizations to identify minority and disadvantaged people to work in their stores. Mini Maid employs similar methods.

All agree that training and nurtur- ing are probably two of the most important considerations in employing individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. More than anything, these workers need framework and structure. Sometimes they must be counseled on skills or problems that are not particularly job-related, such as personal grooming, personal fi- nances, or child care. After receiving this kind of attention to problems, team leaders also learn how to help and nurture their subordinates.

For these three companies, a big motivation for employing the “unemployable” is the desire to give some- thing back to the community. Giving these workers a chance to succeed represents a conscious decision to

make a commitment not only to a group of individuals, but to all of society .-RG

Lorraine Parker, “Make the Most of Teleconferencing,” Training and Development, 50:2 (February 19961, 28-29.

When project members are in different locations, teleconferencing can be a cost-effective alternative to traditional meetings. For it to be successful, participants should follow certain practices to make teleconferencing fast, efficient, inclusive, and participative.

The first requirement of any teleconference is a purpose in which participants have a stake. The person convening it should speak before- hand with potential participants to discuss their ideas. It’s best to be inclusive when possible, but those attending should be willing to partici- pate, not just observe. It is also neces- sary to create a “broadcast code” so that e-mail can be transmitted to all participants. Before the conference, the leader should send out the agenda and any support materials at least three days in advance.

During the teleconference, the team leader is usually responsible for most of the mechanics. It should begin within five minutes of the agreed- upon start time. Conversely, ending the meeting ahead of time is likely to make participants feel especially efficient. The content should follow the agenda, varying only when participants agree to depart from it. There should be interaction among participants during the conference. The leader should not talk too much or allow one person to dominate. After-

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ward, the leader should follow u p on the actions that participants have agreed on.-RG

Leslie Wines, “Class of ’96: Prag- matic Courses for Trying Times,” Journal of Business Strategy, 17:2 (MarcNApriI 1996), 26-36.

The changing instructional needs of companies have led to a host of new trends in executive education: greater corporate control and involve- ment in course development, a large increase in customized classes, bigger enrollments of foreign participants in U S . programs, more programs out- side the United States, and a large increase in video-based “distance learning .”

Courses that help companies solve immediate problems typify the state of executive education in 1996; the best attended courses tend to be the tried-and-true staples like tax, finance, and marketing. Topics are not chang-

ing as fast as the learning process. The biggest changes are occurring in the style of presentation and the educa- tional atmosphere.

Executive education is enjoying an unprecedented growth spurt, thanks mainly to the shift in corporate learning priorities. The author forecasts that the largest growth area in the coming years will be the in-house learning program and predicts that leading business schools will continue to play a key role, particularly as providers of classes tailored to the needs of specific companies. A rising subindustry is made up of indepen- dent contractors who assemble staffs by contracting with faculty members.

Today’s courses must address the key business issues and challenges facing the company, help employees develop a shared vision and unity of purpose, communicate and implement strategy goals, and build team- work and in-company networks.- RG 0

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Books and articles in brief

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