Books and articles in brief

Books and Artz'chs in Brief

James W. Marcum

BOOKS Tbe Nortbbound Trailr. Pinding tbe Purpose, Setting tbe Dime- t jo lr , Sbaping tbe Destiny of Your organixation by Karl Albrecht. New Yosk AMACOM, 1994. 208 pages; $22.95.

Reengineering processes, building teams, or developing customer focus mean little unless done within the framework of articulating and implementing an effective organizational strategy. To illustrate, Ford selling more pickups than GM will not assure Ford's future if it is caught by a shockwave, such as a massive shift to electric-powered vehicles.

Such is the message of Karl Albrecht, author of Service America! In this powerful new book he brings the focus back to purpose and strategy for a changing (post-capitalist) world. Planning for certainty must give way to planning for uncertainty, and the author offers some guidelines. He proposes scanning; the environment, the organization, and threats/opportunities must all be sur- veyed for possibilities. Customer values models must be developed by listening to what the customer really wants. Vision (set by serious brain- storming. not word-crafting). mission,

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and business strategy must then be 3ames W. Mamnn, p b . ~ . , oflibram articulated and adopted by the entire ., services at Magak Library, Centenary CoIlege of Louisiana, in Sbreveport.

organization for change to occur. This is a well-done book that will

be important for anyone thinking

seriously about business strategy and future choices.

Tbe Leader's Winhw: Mastering tbe Four Styles of Leadership to BuW Higb-Performance Teams by John D.W. Beck and Neil M. Yeager. New York John Wiley, 1994. 256 pages; $34.95 ($14.95 paper).

Iacocca and co. missed the point with their "lead, follow, or get out of the way" slogan. Lead, follow, or get out of the way has always seemed better advice for the manager or team leader seeking to gain commitment from staff. Relying on one simplistic style for all situations is a recipe for ineffectiveness. Beck, Yeager, and their consulting group have precisely detailed a program for anyone with leadership responsibility. It might be stated simplistically as a "lead, delegate, listen, and intervene" cycle with individuals, or "direct, consult, direct, develop, delegate, and problem-solve again" when working with a team.

Solidly grounded in prior management and group theory from Hersey-Blanchard, Lewin, Vroom, Likert, and Blake-Mouton, this out- standing book could become compa- rably influential. Starting with useful self-analysis situations, the authors go on to develop the four leadership

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styles (directing, problem-solving, developing, and delegating) and show how each must be used in certain situations. Then, they apply those lessons to group situations. In this way, they show how effective directing or delegating can become ineffec- tive when carried to the extremes of dominating or abdicating. This book is a must for anyone with leadership chores.

Humor at Work by Esther Blumedeld and Lynne Alpern. At- lanta: Peachtree, 1994.255 pages; $14.95, paper.

There’s an old folk saying that laughter is the best medicine, and the old folks may have known something. Medical science is taking greater note of the role of humor in health and recovery. These authors offer no panaceas; they just know how to have a good time and are willing to share.

Humor that is used to criticize individuals or groups causes stress and hurts productivity; but humor properly used reduces anxiety and increases productivity. This book serves as an introduction to that process and shows that one need not be a stand-up comic to enjoy success with this approach. Many bosses feel they cannot afford to show a humor- ous side; that myth is swept away with examples of authority figures, from teachers to CEOs, establishing instant rapport and a more productive working relationship with a little self- dep- recating humor. Taking oneself too seriously is rarely effective behavior.

Special chapters on the use of humor by secretaries, teachers, and in communications and difficult situations provide a lot of food for thought.

Appendices of resources--from books to organizations and special courses- add to the value of this useful book.

Activity-Based Management for Service Idustdes, Government Entities, and Nonpmfl wanixa- tfons by James A. Brimson and Johnhtos. New York John Wiley, 1994.376 pages; $65.

Activity- based manage men t (ABM) is another term for business process analysis. This is a book for auditors needing better tools for analyzing activities and making better judgments about expenses and cost cutting. It applies methods used successfully in manufacturing to the service, public, and volunteer sectors. There are useful tools, procedures, and case studies to support the effort. A glossary of terms is appended.

In this work, the authors make ABM, an accounting tool, out to be a general management tool. The study could help cost-cutters spot wasteful activity, and one such achievement could justify the cost of the book many times over; careful reading should facilitate such an accomplish- ment. But it is a bit surprising that two consultants from the Dallas area would offer an authoritative book without a single reference to sources and expect it to sell well at $65.

HERO2 Emwwer Yourseg Your Coworkers, YourCompany bywit- liamC.ByhamandJeffCox.New York Harmony, 1994.214 pages; $18.

Fables or parables can make a point and have long-lasting impact. Such is the hope of the authors of this

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tale about castles, knights, dragons, and magic arrows. For the story is actually about employee involvement, commitment, and high-quality productivity.

Authors of the popular Zuppl 7be Lightening of Empowemrent, Byham and Cox offer this book to promote Byham’s personnel development consulting group. It is a quick, fun read and might work as general assign- ment reading in a corporate (or organizational) transformation endeavor. The price is reasonable for a hard- bound volume. But anyone interested in sources, documentation, and evi- dence of the major influences and assumptions of the authors will be disappointed.

Tbe Setwice/Qualrty Solutim Us- ing Service Management to Gain Competitive Advantage by David A. collier. Burr Ridge, IL: Irwin/ ASQC., 1994. 324 pages; $40.

The idea of using service for competitive advantage is not new, but the case for it is seldom made as persua- sively as it is here.

TQM focuses on the design, production, and delivery of goods. But goods are rarely delivered alone. Rather, they are but part of a package of goods and services, a customer benefit package (CBP) that the customer perceives quite differently from the product itself. An Ohio State professor, Collier argues that support services consume 50 to 90 percent of the cost of doing business and that 95 percent of the opportunities for improvement are in service processes.

The delivery of services is by far more difficult than providing goods. Services are intangible, perishable,

and are delivered heterogeneously. They cannot be inventoried, are time- independent, and involve human in- teraction with the customer. They are extremely difficult to manage well, but they are also extremely difficult for the competition to duplicate effectively.

CBPs and service delivery systems can be designed, adapted, and managed. Internal and external performance standards can be “interlinked.” Since almost no one sells products without a package of accompanying services, this approach should be embraced by many now wrestling with TQM.

Hypercom@etitiow Managing tbe Dynamics of Strategic Maneuver- ing by Richard A. D’Aveni with Robert Gunther. New Yo& Free Press, 1994.440 pages; $29.95.

Strategy and vision have been cornerstones for organizational improvement for many years. Long-term vision has been particularly valued in the literature. This book trashes most of the prevailing assumptions about strategic planning. Efforts to further a company’s competitive advantage could guarantee its early failure. In a time of hypercompetition, a company should systematically abandon its strongholds and move onto the next level of competition to avoid being left out of the next round.

A Dartmouth professor and consultant, D’Aveni shows four arenas of competition: price-quality, timing and know-how, stronghold creation-inva- sion, and “deep pockets.” In each of these arenas there can be a steady escalation of competitive strategies, as well as crossover between the

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arenas. Hypercompetitive f m s dis- rupt these advantages with superior stakeholder satisfaction, soothsaying, speed, surprise, shifting the rules, signaling intent, and simultaneous/ sequential offensives.

This is a very practical and thorough book, drawing lessons from dozens of industries. Business strate- gists will want to keep it handy for reference purposes.

Tbe Misunderstood Economy: Wbat Counts and How to Count It by Robert Eisner. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1994. 224 pages; $22.95.

Eisner is an influential economist who tackles head-on many of the most influential economic ideas (or myths) of our day. His target is not so much economists as it is the media and public policy-shaping voices of our time.

Eisner tries to keep things simple. The goal of the economy, he says, should be to provide the highest level of prosperity possible for today and tomorrow. To do that, a number of myths must be shattered and proper things counted.

The federal deficit is not bad if it is invested in education and infra- structure to benefit the next generation. Our national debt is owed mainly to ourselves and is an asset to all those holding the bonds. Paying social security is the way the present working generation takes care of their parents. The idea of a "natural level" of unem- ployment is absurd; deficit spending usually raises the rate of employment and thereby boosts production over- all. Tight money and credit hurt employment, production, and prosperity

without really influencing the rate of inflation, a little of which is actually needed anyway.

With arguments like these, Eisner may well reorient the national debate over the deficit, the trade balance, and many other items of "misunderstand- ing.'' This is an important book, stimu- lating even to the non-economist.

Managiqg Customer Value: Creat- ing QuuMiy and Service tbat Cus- tonrers Can See by Bradley T. GaLe withRobertChapmanWdNew York: Free Press, 1994.446 pages; $27.95.

The message of this important book is that careful and extensive analysis of customer-perceived value can help an organization guide its quality transformation, select appropriate markets, compete effectively, and succeed at the bottom line.

Gale is a Baldrige Award insider who helped shift the emphasis of the award from product to service. (A complete copy of the 1994 award criteria and guidelines is included as an appendix.) He brings a battery of tools for analyzing and managing customer-perceived value, making comparisons with the competition, and developing strategies for success.

Examples of Gale's message are selected primarily from Milliken, AT&T, and Parke-Davis. Consider- able discussion of how the Baldrige Award guidelines can be used to guide the process is included.

Gale's message is powerful and undoubtedly adaptable to many situations. It could well be that this focused approach is more manageable for many smaller or service-oriented firms and organizations than a tradi-

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Books and Articks in Britf

tional comprehensive TQM endeavor. The book is thorough, yet clearly written and easy to follow.

Companywfde QuuUty Manage- mentbyAlbertoGalgano.Portland, Oregon: Productivity, 1994. 480 pas-; $45.

What Galgano, a leading Italian quality consultant, means by companywide quality management (CWQM) might be thought of as a comprehensive approach. His overview puts specific components of quality, like process innovation, into proper perspective and emphasizes the completeness of the needed transformation.

The heart of this excellent work is eight chapters on CWQM strategies, starting with customer satisfaction, which he describes as “loving the monster.” He then goes on to sketch human resource management strategy, pamering with suppliers, process strategy, quality control in management, continuous improvement (kuizen), the internal promotion of quality, and the “new products fac- tory” strategy.

Another important section deals with executive management strategy, which he regards as essential. The entire narrative is based on the Japanese experience with quality, which he has studied intensively for years.

Sections on techniques and tools and the process of introducing CWQM into the workplace round out this fine contribution to the literature. An extensive bibliography through 1W (the date of the Italian edition) is included in this useful book for practitioners and academics.

PouHb Generation ManagemenC 2 2 ~ New Business ConsctoUsness by Brian L. Joiner. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994. 209 pages; $24.95.

The themes of this book include customer-focused dedication to quality, learning rapidly from data (using the plan-do-check-act cycle), and the importance of team thinking within and beyond the organization.

Joiner’s description of the three prior generations of management- management by doing, directing, and results-seems rather supeficial. His “fourth generation” proposal uses the model of the Joiner triangle (quality, scientific approach, and all one team).

A useful concluding chapter on performance appraisals suggests on- going feedback, organizational measurement, and an appropriate reward and compensation system as a pre- ferred alternative to traditional evaluations.

Joiner is an eminent figure in the quality movement, and his approach is still grounded in understanding and reducing variation, with numerous charts and statistics for illustration. He is a TQM traditionalist, in the Deming school. Those of like mind will find sound guidance here.

QuaIity Wars: Tbe Tdumpbs and &feats of American Business by Jeremy Main. New York: Free Press, 1994. 256 pages; $29.95.

With the quality movement spread- ing steadily to more organizations even as the debate builds over whether TQM is as effective as claimed, it would be nice to get an independent report by someone who has studied

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the trend and who can report on its strengths and failures.

Main, a seasoned Fortune journal- ist, does just that on commission from the Juran Institute, which backed the study (and therefore may bias its findings toward the favorable). He talked to a lot of people, from CEOs to project directors, with experience implementing TQM. He tracks the growth of the movement and devotes a chapter to the people, tools, and customers of TQM efforts. He devotes a chapter to U.S. automakers, attribut- ing the turnaround of each to the quality movement, even though each of the three followed very different routes to achieve their current im- proved prospects.

The experiences of several pace- setting companies are discussed, including Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, Xerox, and Intel. Another chapter covers cases where "fumblers" have abandoned TQM after some experience and frustration, including IBM, Florida Power 8 Light, and Caterpil- lar. He goes on to promote TQM as a means of improving services in the public sector. In all, this clearly written and very helpful book offers cau- tions and hope for TQM.

Tkhing Bombs: &@sing Violence in tbe Workplace by Michael Mantell with Steve Albrecht. Burr Ridge, IL: Irwin, 1994.287 pages; $25.

This is a timely book on a subject of recent and very great con- cern: How can a company protect itself and its workforce from violent retribution from discharged or dis- gruntled employees?

Mantell offers answers drawn from

many years of working with the problem as a psychologist; they all amount to a simple rule: Use great care. Some basic human courtesies will help a lot. Dismissal by one's supervisor or boss plays better than impersonal notices. No one likes to fue somebody, but it is important work and must be done properly.

A seven-step model for prevent- ing workplace violence begins with careful screening, alert and trained management, good employee rela- tions, education and training, coun- seling services, security measures, and violence aftermath training. The authors offer guidelines, checklists, and much practical advice. The data used come from personal interviews as well as extensive knowledge of many of the more notorious cases in workplace violence, including the post office murders in Edmond, Oklahoma. Properly used, this book could save lots of lives and grief.

&@are and tbe .sgUe Manufa- turer: Computer Systems and Workt Ccass Manufacturing by Brian €I. Maskell. Portland, Or- egon: Productivity, 1994. 424 pages; $49.95.

Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP 11) was supposed to be the information system for world-class manufacturing. But it generally does not support the constant change and adaptability required for today's "agile" manufacturer, and at times the information system can be part of the problem. '

Maskell explains why this is so and describes the required attributes of the agile software system to s u p port agile manufacturing, namely to-

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Boob and Articlcr in B&f

tal integration, simplicity, flexibility, openness, and accessibility. He describes the needed attributes for traditional functions, such as order entry, customer service (which must include electronic data interchange-EDI), procurement, accounting, performance measurement, and product design, as well as such newer con- cepts as cellular manufacturing, backflushing, and inventory pull.

The book is not written for techies; the language is clear and jargon-free. Descriptions of hardware and software options are brief and simple. Maskell does not expect a firm to install complete new systems, but neither is this activity peripheral. It is central and requires complete support from corporate leadership. This is a very useful guide to help managers tackle this issue. One problem solved or new perspective gained will immediately justify the price of this fine publication.

Tbe New Partnersbip by Tom Melohn. Essex Junction, VT: O ~ ~ / ~ l i v e r Wight, 1994. 265 pages; $22.

This is the success story of Tom Melohn, owner and “head sweeper” at North American Tool and Die (NATD), a lackluster company that became a winner under Melohn’s di- rection. A refugee from corporate America, Melohn adhered to prin- ciples of honesty, trust, plain talk, mutual respect, family, teamwork, and “hiring the eagles.”

Scrapping all vestiges of executive privilege, from reserved parking to locked rest rooms, Melohn appar- ently walked the talk and won the respect and commitment of the crew.

With his own wage base no more than eight times the entry-level worker, everyone prospered only when the company prospered.

The theme is partnering, but the closest he comes to spelling out what it means is when he talks about giving up efforts to control and spreads the power out to all. That means power over allocating resources, making decisions, gaining information, and having the latitude to act.

The author bets the farm on “good people who care,” a concept so important that he did most of the hiring at NATD himself. He found TQM specialists uniformly disappointing and uncomprehending of what he was doing-giving his people power and getting out of the way. Not many people can do what Melohn proposes. Those who can have the po- tential for building a powerful instru- ment for quality production and service.

mole System Arcbitecture. Be- y0ndReengineering:A Guidebook for Designing Work Processes and Human Systems for Higb Pwor- mance &pabi&ties by Lawrence M. Miller. Atlanta: Miller Consult- ing, 1994. 300 pages; $49.95, paper*

Miller offers “whole system archi- tecture” as a synthesis of experimen- tal and group psychology, TQM, systems theory, ToyotaAean production, and business process reengineering. It is a holistic approach to organizational desigdredesign that encom- passes many current trends in the quality movement.

This wire-bound notebook is full of charts, graphs, diagrams, and exer-

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cises for self-analysis that simplify many complex processes and con- cepts. The book is meant to comple- ment another Miller book, Team Man- agement, and is frankly self-promo- tional, but the quality of the production is excellent and the work is very usable in its own right by someone trained in quality processes or group/ team activity.

Themes developed in the guidebook include ”capability strategy,” en- vironmental scanning, and analyzing and designing both technical systems and social systems. The chapter on technical systems, for example, offers useful h e l p a s in worksheet-n work-flow analysis, variance analysis, and ideal process design. The book would be useful for team leaders and others having to lead quality efforts without a lot of professional guidance.

Tbe End of Bureaucracy and tbe Rise of tbe InteUgent Organixa- tion by Gifford and Elizabeth

Koehler, 1993.420 pages; $24.95. pinchot, Sari F ~ c ~ c o : B e -

This is an important, seminal book that is still not quite what it seems. Authors of the best-selling Intraprenacring, the Pinchots have written a book developing and ex- panding “intrapreneurship” as a business strategy. And, indeed, intrapreneuring does work to dis- place bureaucratic controls and procedures. But the “intelligent organization” part of the concept seems to be an add-on rather than a central focus of the work. That sort of thing hap- pens when a veneer is put on an old book to make it current and address a new hot topic.

An important theme of this work is to make intrapreneurship more “community minded,” by spelling out both the rights and responsibilities of an internal enterprise. Internal start- ups that rely solely on the goodwill of a specific manager can get trashed with the next promotion; a “bill of rights” for intrapreneurship is developed thoroughly. The authors equate intrapreneurship with the intelligent organization, but the latter concept is not systematically developed. At the end they identify both with “self orga- nizing systems” that encompass free markets, self rule, and effective community. Making the system demo- cratic is a significant theme. The book is not completely focused, but the Pinchots are somewhat original in their approach and sections of the work are highly thought-provoking and useful.

Tbe 10 Natural Laws on Success- @l Time and Life Management: h v e n Strategies for Increased Productivity and Inner Peace by Hyrum S . Smith. New York: Warner, 1994.219 pages; $21.95.

A book that is blatantly self-pro- motional, motivational, and promises to be good for you and make your life better steps up to this reviewer’s plate with several strikes against it. But this one gets a hit, and for extra bases at that.

Smith is CEO of Franklin Quest, a publicly traded company selling seminars and time management planners. This book demonstrates his ability to learn from his customers and provide guidance where people are asking for help. He offers ten laws, five for managing your time and the others

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for managing your life. In the first category are strictures to take control of your time and heed personal values to become more effective through better focus. In the latter category comes Smith’s insistence that behav- iors reflect a person’s true beliefs; the beliefs must be changed if the behavior is to be altered. Many individuals could benefit from this book.

Vistorr, Vahres and Courage: Lead- ersbip for Quality Management by Neil H. Snyder, James J. Dowd Jr., and Dianne Morse Houghton. New York Free Press, 1994. 270 pages; $29.95.

The message here is to put your money on leadership, characterized by vision (the development of commitment and the achievement of quality), values (customer focus, continuous improvement, and the empower- ment of employees), and the courage to take necessary risks to achieve global competitiveness. Sam Walton, Walt Disney, Ray Kroc, and Michael Eisner are profiled to demonstrate the power of the concept. There is little that is original in this book, but it might inspire a hesitant executive to take a quality initiative more seriously.

Re-Educating tbe Corporatiom Foundations for tbe Learning Or- ganixation by Daniel R. Tobin. Essex Junction, VT: OMNEO/ Oliver Wight, 1993.289 pages; $25.

With the growing popularity of the idea of the learning organization, there is a need for a comprehensive melding of learning theory, group learning, and organizational develop-

ment, as well as an articulation of the means to implement the same. This book doesn’t quite do that, but it will function well enough for now.

For Tobin, the learning organization is the way to escape the functional myopia that is blinding bureaucratic organizations. He proposes vis- ible leadership, building learning teams, transforming middle managers into enablers, and making serious investments in the organization’s people.

Functional literacy will no longer be sufficient in the future, even as it remains a serious problem today. “Thinking literacy” will be the new basic requirement. Another interest- ing idea is Tobin’s concept of the “virtual training organization,” since training specialists cannot keep pace with the rate of change.

Some checklist tests for measuring a company’s readiness for learning are included, along with suggestions for measuring progress in learning abilities. This is a useful book for anyone interested in the learning organization.

Mastering tbe Dynamks of Inno- uattocHow Companies CanSeixe Opportunities in tbe Face of Tecb- nobgical Cbange by James M. Utterback. Cambridge: Harvard Business School, 1994.256 pages; $24.95.

Wouldn’t it be nice if corporate leaders could spot innovations, domi- nant designs, and breakthroughs be- fore they overturn a market or a company’s production advantage?

There is a lot of advice out there about how to do this, but the task is a complex one. Utterback has been

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studying this process for decades and has published pieces of the puzzle over the years. In this masterful overview he traces the process of product development and innovation for several well-known products, beginning with the'typewriter. The first machine from Remington; the crowd of inno- vators; and the appearance of domi- nant designs by Underwood, IBM selectric, and the IBM PC are all discussed. At some stages, it is piece- meal innovation that carries the day; at other times, a breakthrough by someone outside the industry is deci- sive.

So it is with various industries, from electric lighting to refrigeration to automobiles. With these historical patterns set, Utterback is finally ready to offer some advice to those who would listen. Corporate renewal is vital, and it can be pursued by con- stantly renewing established products. Radical innovation must also be pursued or tracked and inherent organizational resistance to change must be overcome. This book delivers a powerful message.

ARTICLES Barbara Blumenthal and Philippe Haspeslagh. "Toward a DeUtion of Corporate Transformation," Sloan Management Review, 35:s (Spring 1994), 101-106.

Transformation is an overused term. What is it exactly, and how do we know that corporate transformation has successfully been accomplished?

The authors describe three types of transformations: the improvement of operations, often involving the reengineering of processes; strategic

transformation to redefine business objectives, develop a new vision, and improve competitiveness; and corporate self-renewal. Continuous improvement programs and learning organization development are strategies used for the third endeavor.

As for transformational success, the authors propose that the successful institutionalization of behavioral changes required for long-term finan- cial success should be the proper guideline. Still, permanence will be elusive. Ford's next Taurus and GEs jet engine breakthrough may not hap- pen, and may be less important. But a company capable of one transformation may have good prospects for a second one.

DellChamplinandPauletteOlsen. "Post-Industrial Metaphors: Un-

ing and the Economic Envfron- ment of the 1990s,"Jout.rral of &omn&Issues, 2 3 2 (June 1994), 449-459.

derstandingcorporateRestructur-

This essay concerns our overuse of the idea of change to nurture optimism, elect a president, or fan nationalism to adopt protectionist policies. The new global marketplace is not so much nationally competitive as it is competitive between multina- tional corporations delivering products manufactured in part in scores of nations. New technologies offer the promise of greater productivity even as they require greater flexibility/ interchangability among workers. La- bor-management cooperation sounds great, but does it mean participation in management or simply outflanking unions and diminishing worker lever- age?

The authors approach a Luddite stance of opposing change in general, but they do not cross over. Their point is that metaphors can mask reality as well as simplify it, and that making policy decisions based on popular metaphors can be dangerous. Under- standing reality is crucial, but the media frequently fail to help in this regard. This is a fine overview of the issue of change.

ThomasH.Davenpoit.uSavingI"'s

tion Management," Haruard Bus t S o d Human-centered Info=-

~ S S Re~tew, 72:2 (MarCh-Aprll 1994), 119-131.

When people have trouble understanding something, they tend to develop myths about the subject so that they can make a comment and avoid acknowledging ignorance. Informa- tion technology (1") is surrounded by many such myths, from "information overload" to the idea that enough information will lead to a simple solu- tion. There is a conviction among managers that once the system is built, it should be comprehensive and permanent, as well as an assumption that the information environment can be controlled.

Davenport lays these ideas to rest in this powerful article. He proposes humancentered IT systems, with assumptions of the transcience of solutions, multiple meanings of terms, point-specific structures (rather than comprehensive systems), and a very loose, human-eccentric environment.

Tools are just tools; technology alone does not change human behavior. A human-centered IT requires changing the corporate culture-a very difficult task. The goal here is to think

about how people use information, not how they use machines. Daven- port suggests group-ware, document delivery systems such as CD-ROM, and information guides as useful tools for building the human-centered IT environment.

Nepllle T. Duarte, et al. 'Effkcts of Dyadic Quality and Duration on Performance Appraisal," Tbe AcadentyofManagementJourl, 37:3 Uune 1994), 499-521.

The controversy regarding performance appraisals goes on, particularly with the Deming-based chal- lenge to their use at all. One issue is the role of the relationship of the appraiser to the worker under review; personal preference can affect out- comes substantially.

This little research study focuses on the quality and duration of the dyadic (supervisor/supervisee) relationship and how that influences the appraisal. The findings suggest that long-term employees get high marks regardless of the quality of their work or the quality of their relationship with their supervisor; new employees' evaluations reflect their perfor- mances more accurately.

There are other sides to these coins. High-quality supervisor-worker relationships do not necessarily guarantee high-quality performance, particularly for long-term employees. De- signing better appraisal forms may have little impact on the validity of the ratings, which are heavily influenced by social factors.

The bottom line is that performance appraisal is not a simple process and should not be done simplistically. The bibliography for this ar-

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ticle illustrates the extensiveness of the research on various issues relating to this important topic.

Beverly Geber. “Re-engineering the Trzintng Department,” Truin- i g , 31:s (May 1994),27-34.

Training is a process with critical time delays as seminars are prepared and logistical nightmares as employees are shipped to a central spot from all over the country or globe. Reengineering seeks to transform a process by cutting through functional divisions and making the process seamless and more effective.

The training process traditionally has centered on the classroom, but technology is making the classroom obsolete. Satellite telecasting, video recording for individual reuse, and networked communications allow for much more timely and effective training. The basic ingredients of time, place, content, and technology can be reworked to accomplish the same ends without flying scores of people somewhere (at an average of 25 hours’ traveling time) for two days of training (to justify the expense).

Such talk makes training depart- ments nervous; what role will be left for them? If their work is limited to classroom instruction, they should polish their resumes. Much greater involvement with the technology will be required, with more input from the people on the firing line. Performance technologists will replace instructional designers in this scenario. The corporate classroom will not disappear right away, for there is too much tradition and comfort associated with it. But its days may well be numbered.

Harry Levinson. “Why the Behe- moths Fell: PsychologicalRoots of Corporate Failwe,”American Psy- cbdogist, 49:5 (May 19941, 428- 436.

To all the explanations for failures among top corporations we can now add a psychological explanation. Ele- ments of the argument include organizational patterns that copy family patterns, in-group narcissism, diffi- culty in coping with change, and over-reliance on a leader.

Many companies resemble fami- lies, distinguishing between them- selves and all “others” and promot- ing from within. When layoffs are necessary, there can be enormous guilt. The very enormity of the organization becomes a source of security, causing great resistance to the decentralization and down-sizing required today.

Top executives have risen beyond supervision. Combined with enormous salaries and perks, self- confidence easily progresses to intol- erance, arrogance, and a sense of entitlement. In this mode, executives are incapable of perceiving the de- gree of complexity they must con- front. Psychological testing of an executive’s ability to handle complexity could help a company select a new leader, but most corpome execs would be offended by a requirement that they be tested and counseled.

Suggestions for possible solutions include bringing in outsiders at the vice-presidential level, courting abrasively creative people, and extensive listening to people at all levels of the organization.

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Lisa& Mainem. ‘On Breaking the Glass Cew The Polltical Sea- soning of powerful Women Ex- ecutives,nOrganfzationalDynum- ks, 22:4 (Spring 1994), 4-20.

Mainero, a professor at Fairfield University in Connecticut and a leading author on women’s issues in management, has cut through the conven- tional wisdom about female success in the corporate hierarchy by explain- ing her findings from interviewing 55 top women execs.

She offers four stages of “season- ing” in executive development. The first is political naivete, typified by candor and the learning of the corporate culture. The second stage is building credibility by overcoming stereo- types, working within the system, accepting risks, and building inter- personal alliances and networks. Then comes refining a style, which might encompass varieties of team building, delegating, persisting, demonstrating toughness, and using personal influ- ence. Finally comes the payoff of top- level responsibility. Now it is crucial to shoulder responsibility without los- ing the heart to mentor another likely prospect. Through it all one must balance work and a personal life.

These are wonderful lessons illus- trated with telling quotes from many interviewees. An underlying theme of the article is politics, which most successful women execs claim to avoid, but which in reality are un- avoidable. Mainero’s guidance is sound, for men as well as women.

Raymond L. Manganelli and Mark M. Klein. “A Framework for Reengineering,* Management Re- *, 836 (June 1994), 10-16.

This article is the first of three intended by the American Manage- ment Association (AMA) to highlight their endorsement of reengineering and their promotion of Manganelli, a consultant, as a leader of the movement, The AMA is offering seminars, videos, and a forthcoming Reengineering Handbook, all authored by Manganelli, on the subject.

The authors argue that reengineering is distinct from rightsizing, restructuring, TQM, or automation because of its fundamen- tal, mdical, process-oriented approach. A powerful illustration of the concept is the reported improvement of naval gun accuracy from about 1 percent in 1899 (good enough to defeat Spain) to virtual 100 percent accuracy by 1902 because of the work of a single officer, later admiral, William Sowden Sims.

Incremental change is not the goal here; breakthrough change is. And breakthroughs comparable to the navy gunnery example can, they say, be accomplished through reengineering.

This article is obviously designed to reach those top executives who can decide on and implement a comprehensive reengineering program for the organization. The AMA and its agents are available to help. 0

National Productivity RevieudAutumn 1994 621

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