In Search of
EXCELLENCE Lessons from America's
Best-Run Companies Hardback book with Dust Jacket by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr. Over 360 pages Copyright © 1982 by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr. " What is the secret to successful business management?
Why does one corporation doe extraordinarily well, while another, similar company wallows in mediocrity?
Does the key lie in the use of sophisticated equipment, state-of-the-art technology, or meticulous, long-range planning and strategy?
What can we learn from our own best-managed companies, in these times when we seem transfixed with Japanese success?
Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman, Jr. of McKinsey & Co., a management consulting firm, launched a study of management techniques in an attempt to answer some of these questions, and In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies provides some surprisingly simple, straightforward answers. " " They found eight basic practices to be characteristic of successfully managed companies.
Many of these ideas are considered part of management's conventional wisdom in highly profitable Japanese corporations, but few are common practice in the majority of American business concerns. Peters and Waterman examine why and how the eight basics work. " " For example, management's "bias toward action" (one of the eight basics) in each of the successful companies was manifest in a willingness to experiment and take risks.
At 3M Company, all new ideas get tested, and set on the back burner rather than discarded if they don't work right away.
Long, detailed strategies are not the rule, and ideas are solicited from everyone, not just corporate planners. " " The problem the authors argue, is not simply ignorance- it's more systemic.
American corporations tend to be too shortsighted to permit experimentation and innovation. Managers are held in check by policies that prevent them from participating in the decision-making process. Reliance on careful, strict planning and bottom-line management results in stifled productivity and growth, while business schools seem to perpetuate the emphasis on paperwork by turning out young MBAs well versed in the use of tools and largely ignorant of the art of management. " " In Search of Excellence challenges the domination of "rationalism" but doesn't advocate exclusive devotion to "the human relations model" of management- the answer is found somewhere in between. " Contents includes: " Acknowledgments
Special Acknowledgment: David G. Anderson
Preface
Introduction PART I: THE SAVING REMNANT 1 Successful American Companies PART II: TOWARD NEW THEORY 2 The Rational Model
3 Man Waiting for Motivation PART III: BACK TO BASICS 4 Managing Ambiguity and Paradox
5 A Bias for Action
6 Close to the Customer
7 Autonomy and Entrepreneurship
8 Productivity Through People
9 Hands-On, Value-Driven
10 Stick to the Knitting
11 Simple Form, Lean Staff
12 Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties Notes
Index " This book is in very good to excellent condition with only very minor wear.
The dust jacket has some minor wear and tear.
No torn or ripped pages.
No markings or writing. | 
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