e-Leadership

by D. Quinn Mills (Cyber Classics, Inc. /BNI/ Publications)

In today's fast-changing, global, Internet-influenced economy, the successful corporate leader must bring a new set of skills to the job. In e-Leadership: Guiding Businesses to Success in the New Economy, Professor Quinn Mills proposes a mindset that will help executives to expand and grow their businesses in the new international economy and describes strategies that come to terms with the realities of globalization and technological change.

Mills, the Alfred J. Weatherhead, Jr., Professor of Business Administration at HBS, is a noted authority on leadership, strategy, organizations, and human resources. His new book is particularly relevant to leaders of nontraditional firms who may or may not be technology experts but who need to have the ability to identify and support those who are. Mills emphasizes that today's top executives must build organizations in which the new can constructively displace the old and where talented employees are encouraged to help formulate company strategy.

"Successful e-leaders focus on two things: a new approach to market development and a new approach to implementing strategy," notes Mills. To help managers fine-tune these techniques, the book offers guidance on developing global opportunities; changing the local corporate mindset to a global one (and filtering that way of thinking down to employees); developing skills to recognize and anticipate new business trends; and devising a new cooperation model, with less emphasis on competition and more on building working relationships within and between companies.

Mills writes that the book is about "how people, limited by misconceptions based on past experience, make errors in the new business environment. It is also about helping executives to get beyond these misconceptions by opening their eyes to new vistas."

e-Leadership is also available as an electronic version that can be downloaded and customized at the reader's discretion. More information on the electronic version can be found at www.e-managing.net or www.mindedge.com.

Performance Measurement & Control Systems for Implementing Strategy

by Robert L. Simons (Prentice Hall)

"This book is built around a number of tensions inherent in all business," declares HBS professor Robert Simons of his new work, Performance Measurement & Control Systems for Implementing Strategy. "There's the question of profit and growth versus control, for instance, or short-term results versus long-term capabilities. Managers today are involved in a very delicate balancing act."

A proponent of the "balanced scorecard" approach to performance measurement, Simons makes clear that innovative accounting and control tools are needed to implement strategy appropriate to the business dynamics of the 21st century. He offers important new techniques such as profit wheel analysis (integrating profit planning, cash flow, and ROE analysis with business strategy), strategic profitability analysis (strategic variances), and the risk-exposure calculator (a tool for analyzing strategic risk).

Simons begins his book by establishing foundations for implementing strategy, including identifying organizational tensions that need to be managed, examining the basics of successful strategy, organizing for performance, and using information for performance measurement and control. He then explains how to create performance-measurement systems by building a profit plan, evaluating strategic profit performance, designing asset-allocation systems, linking performance to markets, and creating a balanced scorecard. Finally, he demonstrates how to achieve profit-oriented goals and strategies by using diagnostic and interactive control systems, aligning performance goals and incentives, identifying and managing strategic risk, and using levers of control for implementing strategy.

The text of Performance Measurement & Control Systems for Implementing Strategy is supported by more than thirty new case studies, all of which have been taught in the HBS Executive Education and MBA Programs. (A text-only version of the book is also available.) Concludes Simons, "Anyone interested in running a business -- either experienced managers or students -- will benefit from understanding these new concepts and approaches to implementing strategy."

The Arc of Ambition

by James Champy and Nitin Nohria (Perseus Books)

"People have always felt ambivalent about ambition. We see it as dangerous yet essential. We disapprove of those who abuse it, but we dismiss those who lack it." So begins HBS professor Nitin Nohria and best-selling author James Champy's The Arc of Ambition: Defining the Leadership Journey, a thorough and thoughtful exploration of ambition and the role it plays in our lives. Rich with examples of current and historical failures and successes, The Arc of Ambition is a straightforward, practical guidebook that offers advice on how to develop a vision, recognize opportunity, and proceed with conviction.

Nohria and Champy define three stages of the arc of ambition. Using examples such as the Wright brothers' determination and Rosa Parks's courage, the authors label the first stage "ascending the arc." In this phase, a leader sees what others do not, follows a steadfast path, and seizes the moment. The second stage of the arc, dubbed "finding balance," includes tempering ambition, inspiring others with a greater purpose, and not violating values. The authors cite Mohandas Gandhi and Cesar Chavez as leaders who were able to motivate others and Andrew Grove and Diego Rivera as men who stood by their values. The third stage, called "passing the torch," is marked by the ability to surrender control, accept change, and make a graceful departure. Examples of success in this stage include the exit strategies of Peter Lynch and Andrew Carnegie.

While the authors acknowledge the importance of humility and encourage moderation, they conclude: "We believe the world needs more ambition, not less. It's our desire to inoculate as many people as possible with [the] confidence to use their talents."

HBS Press Books in Brief

Learning in Action: A Guide to Putting the Learning Organization to Work, by HBS professor David A. Garvin, helps managers make the leap from theory to practice. This book offers specific tools for implementing time-tested programs and processes in your company now -- without overhauling your strategy or turning the entire organization upside down.

Future Wealth, by Stan Davis and Christopher Meyer, provides an in-depth look at how individuals can capitalize on the new, equal-opportunity economy and all of its exciting possibilities. Davis and Meyer describe a world in the not-so-distant future in which we will trade everything of value -- including human capital, talent, and other intangibles -- in efficient markets.

eBrands: Building an Internet Business at Breakneck Speed, by Phil Carpenter, recounts the successes, failures, and fears of eBrand pioneers. It will help readers learn the essential strategies behind electronic brand-building and how it can distinguish your company from the rest of the Web pack.

The Monk and the Riddle: The Education of a Silicon Valley Entrepreneur, by Randy Komisar, details how one Silicon Valley insider has blazed a path of professional -- and personal -- success by playing the game by his own rules. The book imparts invaluable lessons about the differences between leadership and management and between passion and drive.

Digital Capital: Harnessing the Power of Business Webs, by Don Tapscott, David Ticoll, and Alex Lowy, explains the b-Web phenomenon and the forces behind its emergence. It offers an expert analysis of central, business-Web issues and the actions required to sustain a competitive edge in the demanding digital market.

Post a Comment