Ideas: Books
The Broadband Explosion
Leading Thinkers on the Promise of a Truly Interactive World
edited by Robert D. Austin and Stephen P. Bradley
(HBS Press)
Associate Professor Austin and Professor Bradley have collected a series of essays about cheap, abundant bandwidth and its effects: the potential of emerging technologies, new business models resulting from broadband deployment, security concerns, regulatory obstacles, and other subjects.
In Their Time
The Greatest Business Leaders of the Twentieth Century
by Anthony J. Mayo and Nitin Nohria
(HBS Press)
Mayo (MBA ’88), director of the HBS Leadership Initiative, and Professor Nohria present a series of profiles of great business leaders. Possessing “contextual intelligence” (an ability to understand the spirit of the times and harness it), these leaders built and strengthened businesses through entrepreneurial innovation, smart management, and transformational leadership.
Why Great Leaders Don’t Take Yes for an Answer
Managing for Conflict and Consensus
by Michael A. Roberto
(Wharton School Publishing)
Assistant Professor Roberto offers guidance to leaders who want to improve the way they make complex, high-stakes choices. He interviewed executives from the aerospace and defense industries, Fortune 500 presidents, general managers in the Boston area, and heads of nonbusiness organizations about their decision-making. Based on his interviews, Roberto concludes that leaders must encourage constructive skepticism and dissent to improve the level of critical and divergent thinking before decisions are made while simultaneously building consensus to help implement those decisions. Actual situations examined include tragedy atop Mt. Everest and the space shuttle disaster.
Levers of Organization Design
How Managers Use Accountability Systems for Greater Performance and Commitment
by Robert Simons
(HBS Press)
Professor Simons thinks leaders should regard the structure of an organization (the system of accountability that defines roles, rights, and responsibilities) not as a given but as another aspect of the firm to be adjusted for optimal results. He recommends that four core categories be considered when planning these adjustments: customer definition, critical performance variables, creative tension, and commitment to the mission.
