186 books.
List by Date, Author or Rating.
Books
Patrick Hoverstadt (2008)
The world of management is in crisis – the old remedies no longer work and organizations are failing at an increasing rate. Although many talk of ‘joined up thinking’, few offer practical guidance on how to achieve this in organizations. The Fractal Organization sets down the practical implications of a well tested systemic approach to building organizations that are capable of surviving and flourishing in these turbulent times.
|
11 votes
|
Etienne Wenger, Nancy White, John D Smith (2009)
Technology has changed what it means for communities to 'be together.' Digital tools are now part of most communities' habitats. This book develops a new literacy and language to describe the practice of stewarding technology for communities. Whether you want to ground your technology stewardship in theory and deepen your practice, whether you are a community leader or sponsor who wants to understand how communities and technology intersect, or whether you just want practical advice, this is the book for you.
|
2 votes
|
Chris Potts (2010)
Simon is a seasoned Enterprise Architect who joins a corporation in New York as their first-ever Vice President of Enterprise Architecture. On his very first day, he meets the global Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who asks Simon What do you do? Simon's reply triggers the CEO to respond in a way that our hero least expects. What follows is a journey across continents and oceans in which Simon uncovers the true meaning of Enterprise Architecture, who is doing it, and how successful they are. On his travels, Simon teams up with senior executives around the world to integrate Enterprise Architecture into their strategies and business plans, and to innovate in the architecture of their enterprise. Everyone he meets has some wisdom to offer, and is looking for his in return. Finally, Simon has to make a choice between the kind of Enterprise Architect he used to be and the one he has become. Join the characters in this sequel to the highly-acclaimed business novel fruITion, as they contribute to Simon's journey and he makes his final choice. Share in his thoughts and experiences, and join the author in observing key messages along the journey.
|
9 votes
|
Karl E. Weick and Kathleen M. Sutcliffe (2007)
Since the first edition of Managing the Unexpected was published in 2001, the unexpected has become a growing part of our everyday lives. The unexpected is often dramatic, as with hurricanes or terrorist attacks. But the unexpected can also come in more subtle forms, such as a small organizational lapse that leads to a major blunder, or an unexamined assumption that costs lives in a crisis. Why are some organizations better able than others to maintain function and structure in the face of unanticipated change? Authors Karl Weick and Kathleen Sutcliffe answer this question by pointing to high reliability organizations (HROs), such as emergency rooms in hospitals, flight operations of aircraft carriers, and firefighting units, as models to follow. These organizations have developed ways of acting and styles of learning that enable them to manage the unexpected better than other organizations. Thoroughly revised and updated, the second edition of the groundbreaking book Managing the Unexpected uses HROs as a template for any institution that wants to better organize for high reliability.
|
4 votes
|
Gary Hamel (2007)
"Like many great inventions, management practices have a shelf life....Gary Hamel explains how to jettison the weak ones and embrace the ones that work. (Fortune) "There's much here that will resonate with forward-thinking managers." (BusinessWeek) Publisher's Summary: What really fuels long-term business success? Not operational excellence or new business models, but management innovation: new ways of mobilizing talent, allocating resources, and building strategies. Over the past century, breakthroughs in the "technology of management" have enabled a few companies, including General Electric, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, and Visa, to cross new performance thresholds and build long-term advantages. Yet most companies lack a disciplined process for radical management innovation. World renowned business sage Gary Hamel argues that organizations need bold management innovation now more than ever. The current management model, centered on control and efficiency, no longer suffices in a world where adaptability and creativity drive business success. In his most provocative book to date, Hamel takes aim at the legacy beliefs preventing 21st-century companies from surmounting new challenges. With incisive analysis and vivid illustrations, he explains how to turn your company into a serial management innovator, and reveals: The make-or-break challenges that will determine competitive success in an age of head-snapping change; The toxic effects of our legacy-management beliefs; The unconventional management practices generating breakthrough results in a handful of pioneering organizations; The new principles every company must weave into its management DNA; The Web's potential to obliterate smokestack management practices; The actions your company can take now to build its own management advantage. Get ready to throw off the shackles of yesterday's management dogma. Tomorrow's winners will be those companies that start inventing the future of management today.
|
5 votes
|
Mario Bunge (2009)
4th Edition: The causal problem has become topical once again. While we are no longer causalists or believers in the universal truth of the causal principle we continue to think of causes and effects, as well as of causal and noncausal relations among them. Instead of becoming indeterminists we have enlarged determinism to include noncausal categories. And we are still in the process of characterizing our basic concepts and principles concerning causes and effects with the help of exact tools. This is because we want to explain, not just describe, the ways of things. The causal principle is not the only means of understanding the world but it is one of them.The demand for a fourth edition of this distinguished book on the subject of causality is clear evidence that this principle continues to be an important and popular area of philosophic enquiry. Non-technical and clearly written, this book focuses on the ontological problem of causality, with specific emphasis on the place of the causal principle in modern science. Mario Bunge first defines the terminology employed and describes various formulations of the causal principle. He then examines the two primary critiques of causality, the empiricist and the romantic, as a prelude to the detailed explanation of the actual assertions of causal determinism.Bunge analyzes the function of the causal principle in science, touching on such subjects as scientific law, scientific explanation, and scientific prediction. In so doing, he offers an education to layman and specialist alike on the history of a concept and its opponents.
|
1 vote
|
Karl E. Weick (1995)
The teaching of organization theory and the conduct of organizational research have been dominated by a focus on decision-making and the concept of strategic rationality. However, the rational model ignores the inherent complexity and ambiguity of real-world organizations and their environments. In this landmark volume, Karl E Weick highlights how the 'sensemaking' process shapes organizational structure and behaviour. The process is seen as the creation of reality as an ongoing accomplishment that takes form when people make retrospective sense of the situations in which they find themselves.
|
3 votes
|
Karl E. Weick (2000)
This volume brings together the best–known and most influential articles on sensemaking by one of its most distinguished exponents, Karl Weick. Weick explores the process of how organizations discover that they face important decisions. Often organizations have discussions in order to see what they think, or act in order to see what they want – before they are even aware that a decision has to be made. The effective organization is one that understands this process of sensemaking and learns to manage it with wisdom. The ways in which people do that are demonstrated in chapters of this book. This important collection provides a valuable addition to the international literature on organization theory and will be welcomed by students and researchers alike.
|
3 votes
|
Elspeth J. Murray and Peter R. Richardson (2002)
In the age of rapidly changing technology, increased global opportunities and globalisation, and shareholder activity, executives all over the world are expected to use the right techniques in order to gain the highest level of success for their organization. These executives need the knowledge and tools that will allow them to continue to thrive and remain ahead of the competition in the business environment. This volume and its accompanying guide puts them on the right track. It offers a practical and proven framework for rapid implementation of strategic change that can be used by executives and their organisations. Complete with an collection of examples and checklists, the accompanying guides provide guidance on specific types of change initiatives such as the launch of a new strategic plan, deep cultural change, acquisitions, and new products.
|
1 vote
|
Sören Stamer and Willms Buhse (Eds) (2008)
The book contains articles by renowned international authors in the field such as Andrew McAfee, Don Tapscott, and David Weinberger, while also presenting selected case studies from Nokia, SAP, Vodafone, and others. The authors address the question of how Web 2.0 technologies can be usefully incorporated as tools within the enterprise. How can one best utilize the advantages and potential represented by Enterprise 2.0? How will an enterprise culture need to change in order to survive as an Enterprise 2.0 organization? Does management benefit from “letting go” and delegating its authority?
|
3 votes
|
Harold 'Bud' Lawson (2010)
Systems are everywhere and affect us daily in our private and professional lives. We all use the word system to describe something that is essential but often abstract, complex and even mysterious. However, learning to utilize system concepts as first class objects as well as methodologies for systems thinking and systems engineering provides a basis for removing the mystery and moving towards mastery even for complex systems. This journey through the Systems Landscape has been developed to promote learning to think and act in terms of systems. A unique aspect is the introduction of concrete system semantics provided as a "system survival kit" and based upon a limited number of concepts and principles as well as a mental model called the system-coupling diagram. This discipline independent presentation assists individuals and is essential for building a learning organization that can utilize a systems approach to achieving its enterprise goals. The eight chapters are presented as stops along a journey that successively build system knowledge. Each chapter terminates with a Knowledge Verification section that provides questions and exercises for individuals and groups. Case studies reflecting the utilization of the system related concepts, principles and methodologies are provided as chapter interludes.
|
4 votes
|
Gary Doucet, John Gøtze, Pallab Saha, Scott Bernard (2009)
The book introduces the idea of Coherency Management, and asserts that this is the primary outcome goal of an enterprise's architecture. With submissions from over 30 authors and co-authors, the book reinforces the idea that EA is being practiced in an ever-increasing variety of circumstances - from the tactical to the strategic, from the technical to the political, and with governance that ranges from sell to tell. The characteristics, usages, value statements, frameworks, rules, tools and countless other attributes of EA seem to be anything but orderly, definable, classifiable, and understandable as might be hoped given heritage of EA and the famous framework and seminal article on the subject by John Zachman over two decades ago. Notably, EA is viewed as an Enterprise Design and Management approach, adopted to build better enterprises, rather than a IT Design and Management approach limited to build better systems.
|
13 votes
|
Chris Potts (2008)
Called 'part entertaining novel and part enlightening textbook' by reviewers, FruITion is about Ian the CIO. How will Ian as the CIO react when the management team explores a very different relationship with IT? The strategy that emerges has major implications for the CIO and everyone in the IT department.
|
17 votes
|
John Gøtze, Christian Bering (2009)
The book State of the eUnion: Government 2.0 and Onwards was released at 00:00 CET on 18th November 2009. Edited by John Gøtze and Christian Bering Pedersen, and foreworded by Don Tapscott, the book is a cornucopia of ideas and experiences from thought-leaders on three continents.
|
5 votes
|
Sharon C Evans (2010)
This book will help you understand what is in store for you if you are a new or an aspiring EA. Step One will help you assess whether you are qualified to do the job. Steps Two and Three will help you learn the skills and abilities you need to excel in the role as well as help you define your future in the role. In these steps, you will read and learn information about deciding to pursue a career in enterprise architecture. Steps Four and Five will allow you to visualize and think like a master architect. They will provide a step-by-step approach to gaining the hard and soft skills you need to be in the top 10 percent of all enterprise and IT architects.
|
10 votes
|
Shelley Powers (2007)
Ajax can bring many advantages to an existing web application without forcing you to redo the whole thing. This book explains how you can add Ajax to enhance, rather than replace, the way your application works. For instance, if you have a traditional web application based on submitting a form to update a table, you can enhance it by adding the capability to update the table with changes to the form fields, without actually having to submit the form. That's just one example. Adding Ajax is for those of you more interested in extending existing applications than in creating Rich Internet Applications (RIA). You already know the business-side of applications-web forms, server-side driven pages, and static content-and now you want to make your web pages livelier, more fun, and much more interactive.
|
3 votes
|
John Seddon (2008)
With the UK's public sector in crisis, John Seddon's fiercely outspoken new book is already causing a stir. Wrong-headed, ill thought-out reform from a succession of monetarist governments has led to unwieldy systems of mass production that do little for the people they are supposed to serve. Hospitals, local authorities, schools, housing associations, taxation and benefits offices: all are victims of a dysfunctional regime created by a government-enforced culture of deliverology that puts targets and red tape before people. In Systems Thinking in the Public Sector, John Seddon argues powerfully for the government to forget sticking plasters like CRM and citizen empowerment and says don't tweak the system. Ditch it. Systems Thinking in the Public Sector gives example after example of exactly how the system fails from housing benefits and care for the elderly to call centres like Consumer Direct. Drawing on Seddon's extensive experience working as a consultant with UK public sector managers, this is a fiercely uncompromising, yet rigorous manifesto for change.
|
7 votes
|
Peter Senge (2006)
Peter Senge, founder and director of the Society for Organisational Learning and senior lecturer at MIT, has found the means of creating a 'learning organisation'. In The Fifth Discipline, he draws the blueprints for an organisation where people expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nutured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are contually learning together. The Fifth Discipline fuses these features together into a coherent body of theory and practice, making the whole of an organisation more effective than the sum of its parts.
|
2 votes
|
W. Chan Kim, Renée Mauborgne (2005)
Winning by not competing: a fresh approach to strategy Since the dawn of the industrial age, companies have engaged in head-to-head competition in search of sustained, profitable growth. They have fought for competitive advantage, battled over market share, and struggled for differentiation. Yet these hallmarks of competitive strategy are not the way to create profitable growth in the future. In a book that challenges everything you thought you knew about the requirements for strategic success, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne argue that cutthroat competition results in nothing but a bloody red ocean of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool. Based on a study of 150 strategic moves spanning more than a hundred years and thirty industries, the authors argue that lasting success comes not from battling competitors, but from creating “blue oceans”: untapped new market spaces ripe for growth. Such strategic moves—which the authors call “value innovation”—create powerful leaps in value that often render rivals obsolete for more than a decade. Blue Ocean Strategy presents a systematic approach to making the competition irrelevant and outlines principles and tools any company can use to create and capture blue oceans. A landmark work that upends traditional thinking about strategy, this book charts a bold new path to winning the future.
|
2 votes
|
Geoffrey Moore (2006)
Geoffrey Moore is one of the most respected and bestselling names in business books. In his widely quoted Crossing the Chasm, he identified and addressed the greatest challenge facing new ventures. Now he's back with a book for established businesses that need to learn how to adapt - or suffer the slow declines into marginalized performance that have characterized so many Fortune 500 icons in recent years. Deregulation, globalization, and e-commerce are exerting unprecedented pressures on company profits. In this new economic ecosystem, companies must dramatically differentiate from their direct competitors - or risk declining performance and eventual extinction. But how do companies choose the right innovation strategy? Or overcome internal inertia that resists the kind of radical commitments needed to truly set the company's offers apart? Illustrating his arguments with more than one hundred examples and a full-length case study based on his unprecedented access to Cisco Systems, Moore shows businesses how to meet today's Darwinian challenges, whether they're producing commodity products or customized services. For companies whose competitive differentiation to the marketplace is still effective, he demonstrates how innovations in execution can help boost productivity, whether a company is competing in a growth market, a mature market, or even a declining market. For companies in danger of succumbing to competitive pressures, he shows how to overcome inertia by engaging the entire corporate community in an unceasing commitment to innovate and evolve. For any business competing in today's eat-or-be-eaten economic jungle, this groundbreaking guide shows not only how to survive, but also thrive.
|
2 votes
|
Stafford Beer (1994)
This is the second edition of a book (originally published in 1972) which has already become a management 'standard' both in universities and on the bookshelves of managers and their advisers. Brain of the Firm develops an account of the firm based upon insights derived from the study of the human nervous system, and is a basic text from the author′s theory of viable systems. Despite the neurophysiology, the book is written for managers to understand.
|
2 votes
|
Henry Mintzberg, Bruce Ahlstrand, Joseph B. Lampel (2004)
SWOTed by strategy models? Crunched by analysis? Strategy doesn’t have to be this way. Strategy is really all about being different. Thinking about it shouldn't make you reach for the snooze button, but in the world of strategy everybody has become so serious. If that gets us better strategies, fine. But it doesn’t; we get worse ones—predictable, generic, uninspiring, dull. Strategy doesn’t only have to position; it also has to inspire. So an uninspiring strategy is really no strategy at all. The most interesting and most successful companies are not boring. They have novel, creative, inspiring, sometimes even playful strategies. By taking the whole strategy business less seriously, they end up with more serious results—and have some fun in the bargain. Strategy Bites Back invites you to encounter a diverse and unlikely set of voices with something sharp to say about strategy --- from Michael Porter and Peter Drucker to Coco Channel’s "little black dress". Taken together these perspectives will provide you with new and dramatically different angles from which to attack the world of strategy.
|
4 votes
|
Peter Weill, Jeanne Ross (2004)
Seventy percent of all IT projects fail - and scores of books have attempted to help firms measure and manage IT systems and processes better in order to turn this figure around. In this book, IT experts Peter D. Weill and Jeanne W. Ross argue that the real reason IT fails to deliver value is that companies have no formal system in place for guiding and monitoring IT decisions. Their research shows that firms with explicit IT governance systems have twice the profit of firms with poor governance, given the same strategic objectives. Just as corporate governance systems aim to ensure quality decisions about corporate assets, the authors show, companies need IT governance systems to ensure that IT investments are made wisely and effectively.
|
3 votes
|
Alexander Osterwalder (2010)
Business Model Generation is a handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers striving to defy outmoded business models and design tomorrow's enterprises. If your organization needs to adapt to harsh new realities, but you don′t yet have a strategy that will get you out in front of your competitors, you need Business Model Generation. Co–created by 470 Business Model Canvas practitioners from 45 countries, the book features a beautiful, highly visual, 4–color design that takes powerful strategic ideas and tools, and makes them easy to implement in your organization. It explains the most common Business Model patterns, based on concepts from leading business thinkers, and helps you reinterpret them for your own context. You will learn how to systematically understand, design, and implement a game–changing business model––or analyze and renovate an old one.
|
3 votes
|
Elspeth J. Murray and Peter R. Richardson (2003)
In an age of rapidly changing technology, shifting global opportunities, and activist shareholders, executives are expected to respond quickly. These executives are seeking tools that will allow them to keep a step ahead of changes in the business environment, because they are critically aware of the fact that slow change equals slow death.Organizational Change in 100 Days: A Fast Forward Guide is one such tool. Developed to be used as a companion to Fast Forward: Organizational Change in 100 Days, this book provides exercises and worksheets that will allow the reader to develop and implement a plan for organizational change. This guide's flexible format can be used either in groups or by individuals, and will be especially useful to facilitators, trainers, and consultants who work with companies on change strategies.
|
3 votes
|
