Book Description
At last-a proven system for developing the strategic innovations every company needs to compete and win
As everyone knows, today's unprecedented rate of business change demands new levels of strategic insight and adaptability. Reinventing Strategy is the first practical, systematic guide to creating an adaptive enterprise, showing how companies around the world are using the Strategic Learning approach to consistently out think, out maneuver, and out perform their competition. As Willie Pietersen explains, companies that aspire to long-term success must develop and implement strategy as part of a continuous four-step cycle-Learn, Focus, Align, Execute-and he offers dozens of provocative anecdotes and case studies, illustrating how to implement it at every level of an organization. Written with unusual clarity, frankness, and wit, Reinventing Strategy will change the way managers everywhere approach their greatest and most important challenge: the need to make strategy into a tool for ongoing corporate renewal.
Customer Reviews:
Great book.......2005-02-13
I am an executive coach and a former management consultant, so that business strategy is one of my interests. I have found this book by chance browsing on Amazon.
This is a book I have loved. It is an outstanding synthesis of what is business strategy nowdays. The author wonderfully combines a solid theoretical framework (he is a professor at Columbia University now) with a very practical approach (he has been running a company as CEO beforehand and it definitely shows!). It is very well structured, down to earth, straightforward and still accurate and full of in-depth reflections. It is a rare demonstration (especially in business literature) that a book can be essential and to the point, without boring repetitions (typical in business books). It shows there is a real understanding and mastery of the subject matter.
A serious business book written with both the head and the heart. Thank you Mr Pietersen!
Willie Pietersen gives us great strategy AND great practice.......2002-05-05
Willie Pietersen's Reinventing Strategy contains the basics of strategy, i.e., how to win, how to align the organization behind the chosen strategies, how to be sure that superior insights drive the strategic process. If that alone were his contribution, this book would be a significant contribution to the strategy literature.
But Pietersen goes much further than that. He shows us how, exactly, to develop these strategies, how he himself developed such strategies and what he learned about leadership in the process.
This book is about strategy, implementation and one man's journey as a leader and life-long learner. The result is an immensely human business book. The singular voice of the author comes through with clarity and humility. I know of no other business book that combines theory and practice with such a strongly personal view. Pietersen talks about the value of developing a leadership credo in his book. This book is, in essence, his own credo from a lifetime of leading and learning.
Every Manager Should Read This Book.......2002-04-20
I am VP at a large consumer products company in Ohio and I found this book very insightful in the areas of creating strategy and leadership. I read a lot of business books and most are very slight in what they have to offer -- a few thoughts, old stories or worn out sayings. However, "Reinventing Strategy" is a real how-to-book and goes through running a successful business step-by-step. This book will definitely help my division be more profitable! In fact, I would love to go and take one of Prof. Pietersen's courses at Columbia University.
A survival guide for business.......2002-04-18
Willie Pietersen has managed to pull together what's really important to achieve breakthrough performance. He's done this by telling clearly and convincingly the lessons learned from his years as a chief executive, but explained them from his new role as a Professor of the Practice of Management at the Columbia Business School. I've had the personal pleasure of watching Pietersen in action with business leaders from around the world who have participated in Columbia's Executive Education programs. The overriding comment from these executives is "this guy makes sense and has shown we how to face up to the challenges to my business' survival." Reinventing Strategy: Using Strategic Learning to Create and Sustain Breakthrough Performance is the next best thing to the live program.
If you want to move from Strategy theory to action and have your business survive in the process, read this book.
William M. Klepper, Ph.D.
Academic Director, Executive Education
Columbia Business School
Business strategy as it should be written.......2002-04-17
Here is book that takes a practical look at business strategy and helps the business person to streamline his/her thinking.
Written in Willie Pietersens highly readable style,it has heft as well as humor, theory as well as practical examples. Oh that our Business School text books had been written thus!
I would recommend this book to anyone who sells anything.
Read the introductory chapters,grasp Pietersen's premise then go to any of the rich chapters. Concepts are clearly tagged, each making for a delicious informational meal that forces reflection.
Amazon.com
From the time our ancestors lived in caves to that day in the late '80s when Chrysler sanctioned unofficial "tech clubs" to promote the flow of information between teams working on different vehicle platforms, bands of like-minded individuals had been gathering in a wide variety of settings to recount their experiences and share their expertise. Few paid much attention until a number of possible benefits to business were identified, but many are watching more closely now that definitive links have been established. In Cultivating Communities of Practice, consultants Etienne C. Wenger, Richard McDermott, and William Snyder take the concept to another level by describing how these groups might be purposely developed as a key driver of organizational performance in the knowledge age. Building on a 1998 book by Wenger that framed the theory for an academic audience, Cultivating Communities of Practice targets practitioners with pragmatic advice based on the accumulating track records of firms such as the World Bank, Shell Oil, and McKinsey & Company. Starting with a detailed explanation of what these groups really are and why they can prove so useful in managing knowledge within an organization, the authors discuss development from initial design through subsequent evolution. They also address the potential "dark side"--arrogance, cliquishness, rigidity, and fragmentation among participants, for example--as well as measurement issues and the challenges inherent in initiating these groups company-wide. --Howard Rothman
Book Description
Today's marketplace is fueled by knowledge. Yet organizing systematically to leverage knowledge remains a challenge. Leading companies have discovered that technology is not enough, and that cultivating communities of practice is the keystone of an effective knowledge strategy.
Communities of practice come together around common interests and expertise- whether they consist of first-line managers or customer service representatives, neurosurgeons or software programmers, city managers or home-improvement amateurs. They create, share, and apply knowledge within and across the boundaries of teams, business units, and even entire companies-providing a concrete path toward creating a true knowledge organization.
In Cultivating Communities of Practice, Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott, and William M. Snyder argue that while communities form naturally, organizations need to become more proactive and systematic about developing and integrating them into their strategy. This book provides practical models and methods for stewarding these communities to reach their full potential-without squelching the inner drive that makes them so valuable.
Through in-depth cases from firms such as DaimlerChrysler, McKinsey & Company, Shell, and the World Bank, the authors demonstrate how communities of practice can be leveraged to drive overall company strategy, generate new business opportunities, tie personal development to corporate goals, transfer best practices, and recruit and retain top talent. They define the unique features of these communities and outline principles for nurturing their essential elements. They provide guidelines to support communities of practice through their major stages of development, address the potential downsides of communities, and discuss the specific challenges of distributed communities. And they show how to recognize the value created by communities of practice and how to build a corporate knowledge strategy around them.
Essential reading for any leader in today's knowledge economy, this is the definitive guide to developing communities of practice for the benefit-and long-term success-of organizations and the individuals who work in them.
Etienne Wenger is a renowned expert and consultant on knowledge management and communities of practice in San Juan, California.
Richard McDermott is a leading expert of organization and community development in Boulder, Colorado.
William M. Snyder is a founding partner of Social Capital Group, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Customer Reviews:
Excelent Book.......2007-10-01
I have a project focused on communities, and this book seems right on what I needed. I haven't read it completely, so this is only a first sight review.
How to Thoughtfully Steward Knowledge for the Common Good.......2007-01-02
Cultivating Communities of Practice is a manual and guide created by a community of authors in order to help businesses and organizations more thoughtfully and intentionally steward the knowledge of the community for the benefit of the whole. They understand that energy and "aliveness" about any topic is not created or manufactured, but simply cultivated. Just like a farmer must cultivate the soil, plant the seeds, nurture the crop, and identify and deal with the weeds; the authors help us learn the in and outs of how to cultivate communities that learn to manage knowledge for the common good. In this guide they provide us with the three basic elements for communities of practice; the seven principles for cultivating these communities; the five developmental stages of these communities; the common disorders and treatments; and finally how to start communities of practice in such as way that these communities work for the benefit of the whole. This guide enables people to move from theory to practice.
The three fundamental elements of communities of practice.
While communities of practice have many forms - large and small, local and global, within or across organizational boundaries - they all have three common elements, each of which plays a vital role in the health and success of these communities. When one understands the three fundamentals of communities of practice - domain, community and practice - they are able to better help these groups evolve to their full potential.
* The domain is the specific sphere of knowledge or particular issues that identifies the heartfelt concern of this community. A well-defined domain gives focus and depth to the community and allows the community to be on the leading edge in a particular area of knowledge.
* The community is the people who embody and steward the knowledge in this particular domain. It is "a group of people who interact, learn together, build relationships, and in the process develop a sense of belonging and mutual commitment." (Pg. 34) While each community develops a unique ethos; trust and respect are key elements for any community.
* The Practice entails a shared set of practical resources, protocols, tools, frameworks and ideas that enable the community to perfect and develop their particular craft. "Whereas the domain denotes the topic the community focuses on, the practice is the specific knowledge the community develops, shares and maintains." (Pg. 29)
Because knowledge with human beings is a complex matter, the head (domain), the heart (community) and the hands (practice) each play a vital role in communities of practice.
This is a great book on how to thoughtfully steward knowledge for the common good.
Excellent seminal material.......2006-08-05
It is an esential book for organization leaders, since it points out the main issues that impact on performace, based on the true social knitting of communities.
It establishes clearly the structure of communities and discusses their stages of development, which by themselves are an excellent tip to develop communities within a company. The doughnut metaphor for the dynamics of performance and strategy is an excellent way of explaining the double fabric of relations in a company.
Making it happen.......2006-05-30
I have a great interest in how organizations, particularly those with Christian leadership, work and how they respond to change. This book is rich with the stuff that will help organizations develop in a globalized society. I asked many questions as I read the book. For example, "How does YWAM's Student Mobilization Centre, as a growing network of ministries internationally, develop community and create truly life changing learning spaces for students and leaders who participate in our ministries?"
How can I contextualize a Community of Practice within the framework of YWAM's ministries?
In recent years, our leadership has begun to weave our international conferences around points of passion, like water, women's issues, justice, and children at risk. Our mission has also begun to look at a new paradigm for global strategy called Project 4K wherein the map is divided into about 4000 geographic units highlighting those areas still requiring engagement. What is needed in YWAM is a new cross-platform, multi-disciplinary team focus to properly engage each of those geographic regions.
Our Student Mobilization Centre, a centre of the University of the Nation, needs to develop field leaders who can coordinate multi-disciplinary field project teams and who harmonize outreach teams to serve the long-term community development project goals with special emphasis on field based learning. The UofN operates with the same conclusion that Wenger, et al present in Communities of Practice; that is, useful knowledge is not a downloadable commodity. It requires participation. The best learning experiences are in the context of relationships, especially those experiences and relationships that at the same time unfamiliar and familiar. In my experience, students learn best when taken out of the familiar culture to serve and learn in a context that challenges their expectations and status quo learning experiences. They also learn best if put in a situation where they are challenged to work together with those who either share their skill set and academic training, or they share the same missionary goals.
The advantage to us if we follow this integrative field project model of ministry in the University of the Nations is that we will begin to share knowledge gained in the field. Wenger argues that we can "establish a common baseline" of curriculum for the training school outreaches of the UofN. We will also increase our ability and speed generating and implementing creative ideas for community development, evangelization, and training. These project teams will help us steward and share the knowledge gained. These long-term community development field projects could serve as "laboratories" for curriculum development as well as cross-disciplinary field project leadership development.
To accomplish this, we will need to form cross-platform, multi-disciplinary, communities of practice at field sites where school outreaches may be hosted and outreach staff leadership may be trained. The most essential element of this field-based learning community is the authentic cross-cultural ministry that must be the foundational intent and the fruit of the project. When these missionary communities of practice exist, the witness of the Kingdom of God will be evident in a much greater way, at that field site. These communities of learning and leadership equipping may in turn affect a change in the whole of our mission through an integrated development model of field ministry and leadership equipping.
How might I develop a Community of Practice in Madison, WI?
YWAM's campus ministry at the University of Wisconsin is going through a re-birth and re-generation since our recent inaugural School of University Ministries wherein key leaders in Madison have been given new insight, developed new international cooperation, and shared vision. I see now how the formation of a multi-faceted community of practice in Madison with strong links to field-based learning communities provides a context for a new model of Church engagement with the university community. This community of practice will be a new international study center at the University of Wisconsin.
This new community will not replace existing structures. It will build connections between these different structures including churches, families, professionals/professors, and student organizations. It will connect students, faculty, families, business and church leaders in the university community from many cultures and nations. For example, families have a reason for engaging the university students, because "God sets the lonely in families" and students need role models for marriage and family. However, families do not have much context or place from which to engage students. Therefore there is a need for this kind of community.
The key knowledge that may be shared in this context will come from the field-based learning communities; these communities will link problems and needs with solutions. The problems will always be relevant to today's global community. However, the solutions will not be presented from the ivory tower of the academy or from the expert in the field. Solutions will be discovered together in a multi-cultural, multi-discipline, cross-platform, international community of practice engaged in serving and learning at home and abroad. The challenge for us in YWAM is to "cultivate" this kind of community by removing barriers and encouraging participation. Wenger et al says, "You cannot cultivate this new community model in the same way you develop traditional organizational structures." Our aim will be to connect these pockets of people who have some interest in engaging students and issues relevant to today, especially in the cause of Christ. Our challenge is to create a space and coordinate these unconnected people at key events that will foster the development of a new community; we must cultivate a community of practice.
What can I do to develop our international network with the Communities of Practice paradigm?
The cross-platform project teams and field-based learning sites I have been referring to are the key to our international development in the Student Mobilization Centre. Internationally, we are equipping and releasing leaders to create network teams within their own context. A "common baseline" of terms and methods is forming as our new course, the School of University Ministries, begins to multiply internationally to equip this generation of YWAM campus ministry workers. What is missing is a field-based outreach practices training experience or a field assignment for the School of University Ministries. What must be done is the formation of field project teams at field sites to host, equip, and train outreach team leaders as they carryout the function of leading a student outreach team on an integrated development project.
I desire to see the practical outworking of this vision within the context of my own life and ministry. The challenge to me is to deliberately form communities of practice in my ministry context. This book give me the tools and the principles to make it happen.
A good book but not for everyone.......2006-04-04
The authors have done an impressive work collecting best practices from industries. The book is a good textbook for all KM and OD practitioners to consider in learning about CoP. However, as one of the reviewers have noted, it does not tell you the steps in nurturing a CoP since human behaviours differ among (as well as WITHIN) organisations. The book does however provide a clear definition of how a working CoP would look like.
Readers who are keen on KM should read other works on social network to complement the learning. At the heart of any CoP is social dynamics. Understanding that will help to create CoP that is sustainable and useful to the organisation.
Book Description
How can you build a successful community of practice that is integrally linked to your company's strategic vision? Learn from the first-hand experience of Hubert Saint-Onge, recognized by Fortune magazine as a leader in the field of knowledge capital, and co-author Debra Wallace, the people responsible for a recent project to establish a community of practice for independent agents at Clarica Life Insurance Company voted one of the most admired knowledge enterprises in the world by practitioners and researchers.
'Leveraging Communities of Practice for Strategic Advantage' combines theory and practice to outline a model for developing successful communities of practice and proposes a direction for establishing communities of practice as an integral part of the organizational structure. Saint-Onge and Wallace relate what worked, what didn't, and why as they tell the story from inception through implementation to assessment. Whether you're developing communities of practice or want to learn how to leverage existing communities for strategic gain, this book provides you with everything you need to launch successful communities of practice in your organization.
* Hubert Saint-Onge has been recognized by Fortune magazine as a leader in the area of leveraging knowledge capital
* Clarica has been voted one of the most admired knowledge enterprises in the world by practitioners and researchers
* Combines theory and practice to outline a model for developing successful communities of practice
Customer Reviews:
Excellent practical guidebook.......2005-12-31
While there are a number of books with marvellous content about the theory of communities of practice, this is the one that I go back to over and over again for practical, step-by-step guidance.
I have used and recommended this book often. It is the manual I employed when I created my first formal community of practice in early 2004 - and that community is still going strong and growing, even though I am no longer working with that organization!
thick clotted prose.......2005-03-27
This book is comprised of the kind of writing Sockel calls "thick clotted prose". After decades of reading the clear, unadorned, precise and excellent English of The Economist, I have become intolerant of pretentious layered jargon. What, for example, does this sentence say, which could not be said in simple words: "The organization's objectives, responses, and business models should be calibrated on the basis of its capabilities." Perhaps it could have been: "Organizations should do things they are good at." If this thick clotted prose had coagulated into high scholarship, I might have bothered to read on. Alas, that was not the case. The authors write, in a gesture alluding to scholarship: "Evidence shows that customers are demanding clearer information from their solution providers..." What evidence? It was not given, nor references to studies showing it. Read this book to find out how not to write.
Better still, get yourself a good book on this topic. See "Cultivating Communities of Practice" by Wenger at al., from Harvard Business School Press. Here you shall find lucid expression, good English, thorough endnoting and source documentation, and a comprehensive treatement of the topic.
Very practical indeed.......2003-09-26
This book has proved very practical indeed with the developing of CoPs in our environment.
A useful practical model.......2003-02-19
The book describes the introduction of a virtual community of practice, the Agents Network, at Clarica Life Insurance, Canada's first and oldest mutual insurance company. The book offers a practical and detailed example of the establishment, implementation and evaluation of the virtual community, with examples of the tools used by the project team at Clarica.
The authors introduce the notion of communities of practice as a new strategy to leverage knowledge capital to create sustainable competitive advantage. By valuing communities of practice, by recognising the contribution of community members, and giving support for time and commitment) and providing an infrastructure (e.g. giving them a communication platform, active facilitation and information resources), the authors suggest that organizations can increase the speed of innovation and knowledge sharing.
The Community Development Process Model (p.137) provides an excellent 'roadmap' to the approach they undertook that is readily understood. Practical suggestions and tools about evaluating the value of the community are also provided. There is a good combination of theory and practice and, therefore, something for anyone interested in this topic. It has a balance between high-level strategic models, and detailed and practical examples.
The approach taken at Clarica was systematic and project-managed, with the organization playing a very active role in facilitating the conceptualisation, establishment, growth and expansion of the community. The organization obviously provided significant resources to undertake the project. Virtual communities of practice, like the one described in the book, clearly require strong organisational support and resources due to the technological infrastructure they require to be effective.
The authors do not purport to provide a recipe - rather, they tell a story about the introduction of a virtual community of practice in one organization - as such, the book offers an in-depth view of the process. The questions asked at the end of each chapter are intended to challenge readers to assess whether the approach described would work in their own organization.
Practitioners may be tempted to read more widely to find alternative approaches to developing communities of practice, and to select 'the best of the best'. The Clarica approach is only one way, but it does provide sound conceptual models that set the strategic context, as well as diving directly into the detail. There is a useful associated website.
The Future is Here!.......2003-01-25
Hubert and Debra, thanks, you two have written a monumental work, but in such a humble and mater-of-fact manner. The more I read, the more I became frustrated with the title, because although the book is about the strategic nature of "Communities of Practice," it offers so much more. For the last thirty years, people have been trumpeting the `end of the hierarchy,' but without anything to put in its place. Know we know the future, and it is here!
In Nonaka and Takeuchi's "The Knowledge Creating Company," there was the suggestive diagram of the "hypertext organization." It showed three layers, the hierarchy, the project team community and a third space, the knowledge community. A few years later Nonaka understood that this third space was what the Japanese call "Ba," a shared mental space. Is this not what you two are talking about in your "Reflective and Strategic - Communities of Practice?"
Please write your next book as quickly as possible and reveal the key to the "culture of leadership," a phrase that got short-shrift. Revisit the earlier work you did at The Mutual Group around "values." I am convinced this, more than any number of memos, meetings and check lists, was what made it possible to accomplish what you did at Clarica.
Book Description
Learn to Apply Systematic Improvements Throughout Your Organization! At the heart of Lean and Six Sigma is the same, unique business operating system: hoshin kanri. It is a method of strategic planning and a tool for managing complex projects, a quality operating system geared to ensuring that organizations faithfully translate the voice of the customer into new products, and a business operating system that ensures reliable profit growth.
The true power of hoshin kanri, however, is two-fold -- it is a superior organizational learning method as well as a competitive resource development system.
Hoshin Kanri for the Lean Enterprise, by Tom Jackson, explains how you can implement, identify and manage the critical relationships among your markets, design characteristics, production systems, and personnel to satisfy your customers and beat your competition.
This practical workbook provides:
A new understanding of hoshin kanri as a grand experimental design implemented through a system of team agreements. Clear explanations of the steps of hoshin kanri. A measure of overall business effectiveness used to determine the focus of corporate strategy. A new, improved X-matrix that incorporates a lean "balanced scorecard" for identifying improvement opportunities and converting them readily into bottom line results as a value stream P&L in terms that financial managers and accountants can understand and support. A CD containing forms, meeting agendas, and examples of X-matrices that serve marketing and design engineering as well as manufacturing. This workbook will show you the mechanics of implementing hoshin kanri, so that you can systematically improve your brand equity, implement Lean manufacturing and Six Sigma, and integrate your suppliers into a Lean and Six Sigma organization.
Customer Reviews:
The absolute best on hoshin kanri.......2006-09-10
Tom Jackson's practical and valuable insights are rivaled only by the importance and benefits of applying Hoshin Kanri. Hoshin Kanri as a practice has been applied as part of lean transformation efforts for quite a long time. But there were still very limited resources for people to learn more about it. Tom's work in this arena is extensive, and throughout all of his books (others are Implementing a Lean Management System and Corporate Diagnosis), he has focused on tools and systems for management to use in a lean company. This is the only book you'll need - I highly recommend picking it up.
One of the things I most appreciate about this book is how it integrates hoshin kanri with the Plan-Do-Check-Act process. This of course is the intent of hoshin kanri, but the linkage was never presented so clearly.
Book Description
Organizational Learning, Performance, and Change presents the most current theoretical frameworks and practical applications in the field of human resource development. Drawing from the authors' pioneering research, this book offers the most comprehensive treatment of HRD theory and practice available, providing educators and practitioners alike with a rigorous approach to analyzing and launching successful HRD programs.
Book Description
"Scenarios are now a part of every successful manager's toolkit. This book is the first comprehensive guide to the latest developments in scenario thinking written by today's leading practitioners in the field." -Napier Collyns, a pioneer of scenario planning at Dutch/Shell now Managing Director, Gloal Business Network (GBN) "In twenty years of helping companies create and plan for their futures, I have never come across a book that dealt with the use of scenario-based planning as comprehensively as this one." -David Kelley CEO, IDEO Product Development the creators of the Apple Mouse "This book is the greatest reference today on scenario planning-the preeminent tool for those who believe that the future belongs to those with the imagination to create it. The combination of scenario planning and strategy formulation can be a wondrous right brain process that galvanizes teams with a compelling vision and common purpose." -David E. Schnedler Director, Corporate Planning Sun Microsystems, Inc. "Organizations must create intellectual and organizational tension around distinctly different views of the future. Learning from the Future demonstrates why scenarios are ideally suited to generate such tension and how to use scenario learning as a steppingstone to superior strategies." -Richard Pascale, Associate Fellow of Oxford University and author of Managing on the Edge: How the Smartest Companies Use Conflict to Stay Ahead "An invaluable guide to the mind-stretching benefits of scenarios that are fully embedded in the strategic thinking process. It should be required reading for any management team embarking on scenario development so they can realize the benefits and evade the pitfalls." -George Day, Geoffrey T. Boisi Professor and Director of the Huntsman Center for Global Competition and Innovation Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Customer Reviews:
Back to the Future.......2004-01-23
Learning From the Future, by Fahey and Randall, is a very comprehensive how-to manual for creating foresight scenarios and turning them into action. The use of scenarios to formulate a vision of the future and how best to be prepared for it has been a major strategy tool since the RAND Corporation, the military think tank, started using this methodology in the 50's to plan for "unthinkable" contingencies.
The collection of authors recounts the steps vital to a good scenario: identify key current forces affecting the organization, involve all levels of management (so they "own" the scenario results), assure the scenarios are linked to crucial decision processes, do not slip into trying to forecast the "most likely" future, tell a story, link the scenario elements logically (perhaps graphically) together. Chapter 4 is especially good at describing how to create matrices of outcomes with sliding scales of driving forces such as the price of gas or protectionist versus open markets. Both "future forward" (present day forward, or inductive) and "future backward" (working from the future backwards, deductive) scenario types are explored, as are computer-assisted methods.
Every conceivable element that could be factored into a scenario is covered and categorized in the book, including political trends, natural disasters, pricing and cultural trends, as well as the classic SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). If there is one fault to the book, it is that the case studies could be more poignant - instead of distinct organizations with palpable products and threats, these tend to be generic (e.g., a "high tech" company producing "electronics"); this exsanguination of content leads to some bland examples and occasional lapses into platitudes (e.g., "leave enough time for evaluation"). In contrast, another scenario book, The Sixth Sense, by van der Heijden, glows with colorful case studies. When I created and played in scenarios at RAND, we found that adding color and story helped the process immeasurably: we created posters and put them on the wall, we got into character like actors do, we generated future headlines and stories - not just generically, but for a specific date and paper (the Washington Post was a favorite) - to make the process seem more relevant and the results more richly detailed. The book could also have more precise examples of insights and corporate changes that resulted from scenarios as evidence for their worth - this text is clearly meant for the already converted. That said, the very extent and thoroughness of the material, its coverage of elements often left out of other texts, and its provision of checklists for novice scenario builders, make it a must-read. The use of scenarios has a long track record of success, even in decades past when the rate of change and pace of market forces was more leisurely. In this day and age, when markets can evolve every six months, the use of scenarios to enable an organization to be proactive rather than reactive is more important than ever, and this text is one of the most exhaustive that exists on this important topic.
Resource for Futures Learning.......2002-03-22
Fahey and Randall have brought together an excellent team of authors who have given numerous suggestions of what to do and what not to do in developing scenario learning in organizations and institutions. From making it unmistakable that top CEOs must be involved in the process, to offering an outline for a scenario learning workshop, suggestions for scenario learning team members and cautions about the pitfalls of using scenarios, the authors have given their insights and visions for successful futures planning for organizations.
The smart leader uses scenarios as an important tool in the executive toolkit. Just as good decision-making is not done in a vacuum, but rather is done in the light of a good deal of research and information gathering, so even scenario planning is prefaced by homework, preparation. Elements of history, traditions, branding, decision-making methodology, personnel, key decision factors and key external forces are all pieces of the background necessary for scenario planning. Scenario Learning is not just one more thing one must do because some higher up says it must be done. It is not just a task. All decision-making of any magnitude needs to cease until the scenario planning sheds light on the decision. This process is the best of strategic planning and should not be set aside while the company chooses its strategy. "Scenarios are most valuable when they are understood to be movies of an evolving story, not a snapshot of a specific point in time" (p. 12).
Several types of scenarios are offered. Scenario learning, in the context of Systems Thinking, is a powerful tool for moving into a changed reality. Systems thinking is the engine of dynamic scenario planning. In any system it must be understood that each element in a system acts or reacts to every other element in the system (elements such as events, patterns of behavior and contextual structure). Seeing the system rather than individual elements when making a decision means making decisions with a greater possibility of successful growth.
"Scenario Learning is a search for an understanding of how the future could change, and how an organization could thrive by adapting to a number of particular changed circumstances." Scenario learning identifies what the indicators of change are, and what decisions and actions must be taken today to be ready to survive and win tomorrow and in the years to come" (p. xi). What follows in the book does indeed make this clear.
Conceptual Case Histories of How to Learn from Scenarios.......2000-05-11
If you talk to someone about using scenarios to think about the future, chances are that the other person will nod her/his head in agreement with whatever you have to say. That surface agreement, however, will be misleading because the other person is probably thinking about a totally different kind of scenario thinking than you are.
Learning from the Future helps overcome that misunderstanding by explaining a large number of ways that scenarios can be used. The book contains 25 chapters which each look at a different aspect of scenario development and subsequent thinking.
Three chapters look at what scenario learning is. Seven chapters explore basic approaches to constructing scenarios. Eight chapters describe how to apply scenarios in different contexts, like competitor evaluations, technology investing, making public policy decisions, and considering customers. The final section looks at how to create the right organizational environment for making and using scenarios for learning.
You will benefit from reading the thoughts of many of the world's top experts and users of scenario learning including Peter Schwartz, Kees van der Keijden, Ian Wilson, Liam Fahey and Robert Randall. It is a great line-up, and what they have to say is good food for thought.
If you would like a good introduction to scenario learning, this is an excellent place to start because the perspectives that are captured are unusually broad and appropriate.
This book belongs in the business library of every business decision-maker. When an important question arises, you can use this book as a resource to think through how you might best use scenarios to create a better result. Enjoy!
Forewarned is forearmed.......1999-06-08
Many, if not most, corporations try to utilize scenario planning in their strategy process. All too frequently, these efforts become routine: what if we increase (decrease) marketing budgets by 10%? What if raw material prices go up (down)? It's all pretty warm beer given the pace of business change every company faces.
This book shows how to do it right. The editors have shaped the contributions of 24 experts iinto a thorough, rigorous book covering all the vital aspects of scenarios. The reader will find clear discussions of what scenarios should be and how organizations can use them to "learn from the future." There are chapters on tools and techniques (like simulation models), advice on implementation, and case studies from both the private and public sector. The last chapter, "Twenty Common Pitfalls in Scenario Planning" is especially valuable.
Forewarned is forearmed. Any manager who does not want to go into the future blind and defenseless must read this book.
Puts forth a powerful way for peering into the future........1999-03-22
This impressive work shows how to harness imagination and strategic management techniques to create scenarios that simulate future opportunities and threats. Shows how to use scenario building, drawing on case studies and insights of 26 expert scenario developers. Presents a new system of scenario learning, bringing together strategic management, scenario technology, teamwork, creativity, and decision-making skills. This is a meaty and informative book.
Book Description
Increasingly, the challenge of management is to create and supply knowledge in order to sustain organizational performance. However, few books on management strategy have been written using this concept as a foundation. This unique volume adopts a knowledge-based approach that will complement
and perhaps supplant other perspectives. Editors Nick Bontis and Chun Wei Choo look at the literature through the lens of strategic management and from the vantage point of organizational science. The thirty readings have been carefully selected and commissioned to provide the best literature
available--from articles newly written for this book and from existing publications.
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding!.......2005-08-15
Everytime I open this book I learn something powerful to help make sense of the organizational environment around me. The book has a huge price, but it also offers huge value.
An Essential Compendium for the Serious Strategist.......2003-05-26
Not a faddish management consultant recipe book. This reference tome contains an important selection of the latest thinking on organizational management. The authors' various perspectives on managing from a knowledge perspective lead the reader to do some serious thinking. I find myself returning to it again and again for further insights.
Book Description
This book helps managers move beyond the idea that the future of business will resemble the past and allows them to use scenarios to imagine multiple perspectives. The concepts of organizational realities, experience, and beliefs are explored to encourage and embrace change in business organizations for a successful future.
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"This book is about organizational survival: the reasons why organizations do not always survive, and what can be done about it. Survival means creating value for stakeholders, and the survival problem starts with uncertainty, change and the need for organizations to adapt to shifting needs and market conditions. The key question is 'Why are organizations slow to change and adapt?' Unsuccessful organizations are distinguished by their failure to overcome thinking and behavioural flaws at personal, organizational and community levels. In this book, we explain what these flaws are and how the scenario approach helps senior managers and organizations to overcome them. Our approach is based on reasoning, research, real world observations - and a long track record developing scenario-based thinking, combining the most effective elements of the many scenario approaches that have been tried over time.
Customer Reviews:
Insightful!.......2004-03-02
This book disserves itself by purporting to be merely about scenario planning, although it covers that subject thoroughly. In fact, it's one of the most lucid, interesting examinations of fortune and folly you will ever read. The recapitulation of disastrous episodes at a handful of once-great companies shows just how little inclined the gods are to spare the proud. Closed minds and entrenched habits of thought managed to afflict even such a venturesome New Economy firm as Yahoo! Originality and experimentation bless even companies in humdrum industries, such as packaging. Captivating anecdotes and illustrations are, in fact, the meat of the book. The scenario planning analysis, while solid, is less convincing than the cases themselves. At times, the book shows the weaknesses that are probably inevitable when so many authors share creation. It tends to meander and, now and then, loses its way in jargon-choked thickets. But, we assure you, the clarity of the cases redeems it and makes it valuable.
Scenario conversations as agents of change.......2003-08-06
The key theme of this book is that the appropriate use of scenario thinking is a highly effective way of catalyzing organizational change and, in particular, minimizing the risk that the organization will suffer due to learning disabilities such as 'group think' or a variety of other flaws in organizational thinking.
The focus is therefore on the process by which the management group can improve their ability to shape their future, through the way in which they engage with the creation of scenarios, and in strategic conversations about their implications in the context of the 'business idea' (competitive stance and advantages) of the organization.
This book represents a consolidation and further exploration of ideas first put forward in van der Heijden's Scenarios: The Art of Strategic Conversation. As a successor, it does not have the impact of the first book, and it goes into issues of learning disabilities to a level of detail that can be tedious to those who are familiar with these issues. None the less, it is very useful in reinforcing a sound appreciation of the value of scenarios and the importance of the process by which they are generated and used.
There are very useful summaries at the end of each chapter and at the end of the book. My main criticism is that the authors do not seem to have quite worked out whether they were writing a practical guide for business people or a text for students.
Average customer rating:
- A critical book to read if you want to understand the underpinnings of strategy
|
Dynamic Capabilities: Understanding Strategic Change in Organizations
Constance E. Helfat ,
Sydney Finkelstein ,
Will Mitchell ,
Margaret A. Peteraf ,
Harbir Singh ,
David J. Teece , and
Sidney G. Winter
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing Limited
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Binding: Paperback
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The Nature and Dynamics of Organizational Capabilities
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ASIN: 1405135751 |
Book Description
Creating, adapting to, and exploiting change is inherently entrepreneurial. To survive and prosper under conditions of change, firms must develop the ldquo;dynamic capabilitiesrdquo; to create, extend, and modify the ways in which they operate. The capacity of an organization to create, extend, or modify its resource base is vital. Since the concept of dynamic capabilities was first introduced, much research has elaborated the initial idea. This important book by Constance Helfat and her team of leading scholars provides a timely focus on in-depth examples of corporate dynamic capabilities. Testing these in the different contexts of alliances, acquisitions, and management, the book gives students and researchers a succinct, up-to-date definition of dynamic capabilities and the strategic management theories around them.
Customer Reviews:
A critical book to read if you want to understand the underpinnings of strategy.......2007-08-31
I may be the only person to write a review for this book, as its price is a little steep for the casual business book reader and this is not a casual business book.
Dynamic Capabilities is an academically based book, a collection of co-coordinated articles about the nature of capabilities in general and the capabilities that change capabilities (aka dynamic capabilities). As an academic book it is very strong with the authors tackling many of the major economic and corporate strategy issues involving why enterprises are designed and work in a particular way. From this perspective it is theory that is well researched, carefully and clearly explained.
Capabilities in general and dynamic capabilities in particular are critical for enterprises in devising and realizing their strategies and performance goals. In this regard, this book is a must read for corporate strategists and corporate development processionals who need to understand how to organize and structure the enterprise for success.
The articles in this book lay down the rational and logic for your leaders should view and organize their resources to achieve their strategies. I will admit that the language and the structure of the chapter/articles are geared more for researchers and students, but taking the time to read, understand and reflect on the implications of these research pieces is well worth the effort.
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