Editorial Review

When new-car developers at Ford Motor Company wanted to learnwhy the original Taurus design team was so successful, no one could tellthem. No one remembered or had recorded what made that effort sospecial; the knowledge gained in the Taurus project was lost forever.Indeed, the most valuable asset in any company is probably also itsmost elusive and difficult to manage: knowledge. Authors Thomas H.Davenport and Laurence Prusak assert that learning how to identify,manage, and foster knowledge is vital for companies who hope to compete in today's fast-moving globaleconomy.Read more

Reviews (26)

Good Primer, Short on Technology and Case Studies
Thomas Davenport is a well know expert on the subject of Knowledge Management. His book, Working Knowledge, is a quick read excellent for passing time on an airplane or subway. Yet, it is a bit light on specific implementations of KM. In particular, it would have been nice to illustrate a case study or two. Given that his employer is Accenture, I would have expected a little more on the lifecycle of a KM implementation in a large corporation, even if it was at a high level.
A Classic on KM
This is an outstanding book written by two well-respected practitioners. Davenport is the Director of the Accenture Institute for Strategic Change; Prusak is the Executive Director of the IBM Institute for Knowledge Management.
If you need only one book on KM, this is it.
I feel the content in Chapter 3-5 is very helpful to a new reader in the field of KM. Although the authors said that these chapters (knowledge generation, codification, transfer) contain key activities in KM process, they might not always take place in sequence in reality. I think it is better to put them together under a chapter title of "Knowledge Management Strategy" so that the framework of choices in KM would be more clear. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Entrepreneurship    5. Information Management    6. Management - General    7. Organizational Behavior In Business    8. Management decision making    9. Personnel & human resources management    10. Knowledge Management   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (13)

The War For Talent Is About to Begin In Earnest
The War for Talent is a great book for the leaders of an organization to read.Why?They are the ones who can affect the culture of the organization.Most workers, even A Players, do not have the power to drive cultural change. A worthwhile read
Easy reading, entertaining, interesting and informative. Light on details but a very good general overview of the topic. Good theory but doesn't work in the real world.
This book is a good theory and in an ideal world it would all work out that way: the highly talented and highly skilled would get the promotions, good jobs, and plum assisgnments. But unfortunately, more often than not, the pie isn't divided so nicely. There are often other reasons, not work/talent related, that a person gets a promotion or a job. The classic example is the boss' son getting handed a top job in a company, which still happens today. Also how do you fit Affirmative Action into the equation? AA is not based upon talents, only gender & race. Personally I wish more management would read this book and use the basic idea but it probably won't happen. Companies keep talking about "needing good talent" but they don't walk the walk. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Employee motivation    5. Employee retention    6. Entrepreneurship    7. Executive ability    8. Human Resources & Personnel Management    9. Leadership    10. Personnel management    11. Personnel & human resources management   

Editorial Review

Readers seeking an atypical business book may like Read more

Reviews (1)

Another GREAT TAKE on Heifetz & Adaptive Leadership
Ron Heifetz is clearly one of the seminal leadership scholars, practitioners, and teachers in the field today. This superb volume, by Sharon Daloz Parks, takes off from where his two previous books ("Leadership Without Easy Answers" and "Leadership On the Line") leave off. "Leadership Can be Taught" takes its readers through Heifetz's Harvard Business School course "PAL 101--Exercising Leadership: Mobilizing Group Resources."
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business Executives    4. Business/Economics    5. Executive ability    6. Leadership    7. Leadership In Business    8. Management - General    9. Management decision making   

Reviews (10)

Thought Provoking Book
The introductory chapters to this book were very good and gave me some good insights.The ending was quite weak and the author didn't have a definite direction in the book.However, I still consider it an interesting read and enjoyed some of his perspectives about ethics.

Required Reading
Great choice for any manager or business administration student.

Tackling the Dilemmas of Ethical Choices
A few weeks ago a customer of mine asked my assistance to help his organisation to write an ethical code.I knew he had been "working" on this topic for the last 2 years and that he had been applying some of the principles I teach in my emotional intelligence classes.Apparently, this hadn't been enough to solve his problem, but it was enough to come back to me to seek my advice.This was one of the books I bought to document myself on the issue.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business Ethics    4. Business/Economics    5. Entrepreneurship    6. Ethics    7. Executive Management    8. Executives    9. Management - General    10. Professional ethics    11. Supervisors    12. Management decision making   

Reviews (7)

The value of being a people-centered organization
In a McKinsey & Company's study, "The War for Talent," McKinsey found that of 200 executives interviewed 58 responded that values and culture were absolutely essential in their decision to join, stay with, or leave an organization.The authors believe that by establishing the right value system and culture, companies can make all their employees perform as if they were in the top 10% of their field.The authors further state that companies must find new ways to tap the knowledge, experience, energy, and talents of employees. Very Interesting
Only on Chapter 5.Reading about the excellent practices of these companies makes me want to strive for the best for my employees, also!

The "Value" of this book is certainly "Hidden" from me......
This book is merely a compilation of case studies.There are few -- if any -- check lists, tables, charts, bullet points, or step-by-step methodologies to help you implement the concepts within your own company or organization.In fact, THERE ARE ONLY 21 PAGES not dedicated exclusively to either a case study and/or an analysis of the various case studies presented within the book.Save your money and purchase "The HR Scorecard", "The Talent Solution", or "Aligning Pay and Results" instead.Very disappointing... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Case studies    5. Economics - General    6. Human Resources & Personnel Management    7. Human capital    8. Industrial management    9. Management - General    10. Personnel And Human Resources Management    11. United States    12. Business strategy    13. Personnel & human resources management    14. Management    15. Human Resources   

Reviews (12)

Practical and Insightful
What is especially useful about this book is that it is practical. It gives advice for every stage of an adjacency expansion, from strategy development to execution, on how to increase the likelihood that it will be successful. The case studies are interesting and the analysis is insightful.
An Outstanding Growth Guide for Global Business Leaders
As a second year MBA student at the Kellogg School of Management and a future corporate strategist for a global financial services firm, I found reading Beyond the Core to be one of the best time investments that I've made over the last few years.Chris Zook seems to have a knack for writing great books that not only stand the test of time but that are also highly relevant to the current business and economic environments.Specifically, his first book, Profits from the Core, which focused on maximizing the value of the core business, was launched when businesses needed it most - during the economic downturn.Now, Beyond the Core is perfectly timed since, from what I and other MBA's are observing in the market, most businesses are remobilizing for growth. Questionable Choice of Examples and Lack of Definitions!
Many people who have been burned by going into new areas will grade this as five-stars for encouraging caution in expanding a company's scope.If that's all you want from a book, this is a five-star book.If you want to learn what the exact lesson is, and why that lesson is true, you'll have to look elsewhere however.If you want to learn how to beat the odds in this area, you will also have to look elsewhere.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Corporate profits    5. Corporations    6. Forecasting    7. Growth    8. Industrial management    9. Marketing - General    10. Strategic planning    11. Structural Adjustment    12. Business strategy   

Reviews (2)

Political Views Take Away from Good Information
Mr. Gerzon offers a lot of good information about leadership and how leaders deal with conflict.However, his political views are far too invasive and distract substantially from that otherwise valuable information.For that reason, I would recommend other books about leadership that tend to stick to the topic and not venture to express a certain perspective on an issue as controversial as the Iraqi War.

An outstanding presentation of the business leadership ideas of Mark Gerzon
Leading Through Conflict: How Successful Leaders Transform Differences Into Opportunities is an outstanding presentation of the business leadership ideas of Mark Gerzon (President of Mediators Foundation). Showcasing his experience-based approaches to creating a more productive and confluent environment throughout for corporate managers and administrators engaged in an organizational struggle or situational conflict, Leading Through Conflict offers an expert commentary on the three principle forms of leadership (demagogue, manager, mediator), and eight principle tools used in mediation for conflict resolution, Leading Through Conflict is very highly recommended as an expert study into handling conflict any business or any other type of organizational setting.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Conflict management    5. Leadership    6. Leadership In Business    7. Management - General    8. Organization Theory    9. Management & management techniques   

Reviews (11)

Written by a manger for managers
I was able to go cover to cover in about 5 minutes.If you manage people that use their brains to do their work and you have no idea how to understand, manage and motivate them then this book might help you out a bit.I found it to be off-topic for me as I was hoping that it was going to be written for the people who Think for a Living rather than their managers.

Insights on knowing your knowledge workers
This is a fine, occasionally frustrating book. It is frustrating for the same reason that it is so badly needed: business is just starting to figure out what it means to compete in a knowledge-based economy. Knowledge work is tremendously important, but only partially understood. This volume, which mixes practical advice with worksite studies, is a good stepping stone toward comprehending knowledge work and the people who accomplish it. Author Thomas H. Davenport is honest enough to admit what isn't known, however he delivers what is known clearly. He explains various organizational schema that are applicable, but not rigid. He provides examples, sharing personal and organizational stories that illustrate both success and failure in knowledge work. We warmly recommend this book to knowledge workers, those who manage knowledge workers and business leaders who are planning for the future.

Identifies four major categories of knowledge workers & provides a format for matching each category with management strategies
Knowledge workers are innovators and often driving forces of a company's product line and services: they are IT specialists and planners and you rely on them in your business: but are they delivering as much as they can? Knowledge management expert Thomas Davenport argues many companies don't maximize their productivity because they apply rigid management formulas to their workforce. His Thinking For A Living: How To Get Better Performance And Results From Knowledge Workers identifies four major categories of knowledge workers and provides a format for matching each category with management strategies which encourage optimum performance. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Human Resources & Personnel Management    5. Intellectual capital    6. Knowledge management    7. Knowledge workers    8. Management - General    9. Advice on careers & achieving success    10. Business & Management   

Reviews (5)

On Target - Bullseye - Should have seen it coming
Anyone who has worked for some sort of organization, government agency, business, university or whatever, will empathise with "Predictable Surprises" by Bazerman and Watkins. This book focuses on the early and late warning signs, the cover-ups, the denials, and the eventual consequences of failing to take action to avert disaster.I've been in far too many situations where I observed that the peple "in charge" (really??) were blindsided by their own limited vision to the realities of what was happening within their organizations.
Predictably bad
A major shortcoming of Bazerman and Watkins' book is the failure to provide adequate evidence to support their arguments about what they call "predictable surprises", which they define as "an event or series of events that take an individual or group by surprise, despite prior awareness of all of the information necessary to anticipate the events and their consequences." Bazerman and Watkins build their case substantially on just two examples: aviation security failures leading to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and auditor independence concerns leading to the collapse of Enron and Arthur Anderson. Several other examples are discussed in less depth throughout the text, however many of these are not actually predictable surprises under the definition provided. For example, global warming is discussed a number of times; however global warming has been in public discussion since the 1930s, and today a substantial majority of people believe not only the concept of global warming but that current warming is man-made. By 2050, this subject will have been under study for 120 years and popular consensus will have been achieved for 50-60 years. This is certainly predictable, but hardly a surprise. The United States' looming crisis in entitlement spending also falls in this category.
Predictably OK
In a world ruled by probability, all predictions eventually come true (no matter how impossible.) That said, ignoring the obvious can be disastrous, but the authors methods for prioritizing risk were disappointing. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Decision Making & Problem Solving    5. Disasters    6. Forecasting    7. Management - General    8. Prevention    9. Strategic Planning    10. Management decision making   

Reviews (3)

Best Decision I've ever made
Don't let the title mislead you, this book won't make decisions for you.I will however, give you the ability to make use of your most powerful business tool: a convincing guess.Many times I would stumble blindly through the veil of uncertainty, only to arrive on the otherside; lost, confused, naked, and too sore to sit down.But, now, after digesting these powerful articles, I can make my way through uncertain times; clothed in conviction and sitting on a soft pillow of apathy.

Effective Decisions
Being an effective manager requires being a good-decision maker too, having ability of using factual and quantitative information to analyze what is the most efficient decision to reach a well-defined objective. Making good decision by applied management science approach is the benefits that managers expect to learn combining with past experience to decide on what should be done.However, in the real-reality (as opposed to virtual reality, as a model), many decisions can be made under the highest-level conceptual understanding. In addition, a better understanding of decision making can be broken down into six sequential steps according to Drucker (pp. 2-19) Theory and Practice - advice from the leading minds.
There are several books from the Harvard Business Review that follow this simple format - essays on critical topics by the leading minds in the field compiled into a short book of around 200 pages. One of these critical topics is Decision Making. That topic is the focus of this book.

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Decision Making & Problem Solving    5. Decision making    6. Entrepreneurship    7. Advice on careers & achieving success    8. Management decision making    9. Working patterns & practices   

Reviews (7)

One of the Best
I've been in the entertainment public relations business for 30 years and this book is one of the best I've encountered.It's accurate, up to date, well-written and thorough.

Extraordinary Compendium
If you want to run an arts organization or run one now, or run part of one: have a long visit with this book.As an MBA who has interviewed many performing arts managers and worked as a performing arts funder and on various boards over decades, I commend this to all people in the business except my competitors. A worthwhile read
Kotler touches on many subjects from customer loyalty, changing audiences to data analysis. Theories are enhanced by using various arts companies as examples. Read more

Subjects:  1. Advertising & Promotion    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business Aspects    4. General    5. Marketing    6. Marketing - General    7. Performing Arts    8. Performing Arts (Specific Aspects)    9. Performing Arts/Dance    10. Sales & marketing   

Reviews (2)

A GEM OF A BOOK ON A QUINTESSENTIAL TOPIC FOR LEADERSHIP SUCCESS!
As management consultants in organization and compensation, as well as management book reviewers, we are all-too keenly aware that the achilles heal of leaders is very often, their inability to seek, get and properly use good advice.This book addresses this need, by presenting critical, to-the-point insights into this quintessential leadership subject. To do so, it offers a framework for advice taking and an understanding of the attributes of great advice taking.
Not an area you see covered in management books...
No one has all the answers when it comes to running a business, so it pays to have "experts" surrounding you to give you insight.There are plenty of books that cover the hows of giving advice, but there are far fewer (any?) titles that deal with how best to *take* that advice.Dan Ciampa covers an oft-neglected area in his book Taking Advice: How Leaders Get Good Counsel And Use It Wisely.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Decision Making & Problem Solving    5. Executive Management    6. Leadership    7. Leadership In Business    8. Management    9. Management - General    10. Organizational change    11. Management & management techniques   

Reviews (17)

Inspired OnDisruption
My eyes were opened when I read Clayton Christensen's books on disruptive innovation.
The Way the Technology Breaks
Seeing What's Next is one of the smartest books I've read.
Valuable analysis - but does it really help us see what's next?
This is the third book in a series on innovation, with Christensen as the lead author. The three books develop theories around the concepts of disruptive and sustaining innovation, and how to apply strategies based on these concepts and an understanding of the markets into which innovations are directed.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business Forecasting    4. Business planning    5. Business/Economics    6. Disruptive technologies    7. Economics - Theory    8. Forecasting    9. Management - General    10. Nanotechnology    11. Technological Innovations    12. Business & Management   

Reviews (1)

8essays that see corporate responsibility as an opportunity
Traditional corporate executives may shudder when they hear the term "corporate responsibility". In their view, the corporation's responsibility is to maximize shareholder value within the bounds of the law. That's a tall order as it is, so resistance to the thought of additional sources of responsibility and additional relevant "stakeholders" isn't surprising. The writers gathered in this collection of papers from HBR see corporate responsibility less as a burden and more as an opportunity. The opportunity lies in creating new markets, resolving age-old business problems, improving public perception, strengthening brands, and melding the best ideas for governments and nonprofit institutions for doing well while doing good.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Business/Economics    3. Corporations    4. Leadership    5. Social aspects    6. Social responsibility of busin    7. Social responsibility of business    8. United States    9. Management & management techniques   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Businesswomen    5. Labor & Industrial Relations - General    6. Management - General    7. Women In Management    8. Women executives    9. Women in the professions    10. Women's Studies - General    11. Business & Management    12. Economics, Finance, Business and Industry