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Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 33000000002946 | HD58.8 V53 1998 | Open Access Book | Gift Book | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
Argues that to succeed in a market where consumers demand customized goods and services, you cannot rely on any one formula. Providing examples from companies such as Taco Bell, Dell Computer, Xerox, and Merrill Lynch, this book reveals how managers can determine the best path of change for their company by assessing its existing knowledge base.
Reviews 2
Booklist Review
Those who counsel individuals often first advise to "look within yourself" for answers. Similarly, the authors here suggest that most organizations already possess the internal resources necessary to succeed and grow. Victor and Boynton are both professors at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, and at the Kenan-Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They argue that rather than adopt each passing management fad, companies should use the organizational knowledge they already have and should regularly assess their existing knowledge base to discover their own unique patterns of managing growth and satisfying customers. The authors assert that there are four organizational capabilities. These are craft work, mass production, process enhancement, and mass customization. Victor and Boynton detail the "knowledge and value propositions" associated with each of the four, and they explain how, after self-analysis, companies can plot the "right path" for moving from one capability--or type of work--to the next. Their ideas are supported by numerous examples resulting from work with the IBM Consulting Group. --David Rouse
Library Journal Review
Victor and Boynton (management, International Institute for Management Development, Lausane, Switzerland) offer a rare gem among countless "also-ran" management texts. This solid work is filled with insights toward a fundamental understanding of organizations and how best to prepare for the future. Rather than turning to intermittent fads, the authors encourage building on what a firm is already about and explain their concept of a transformation path from craft work through mass production, process enhancement, mass configuration, ultimately to what they term co-configuration. Along this path, the different types of inherent knowledge within companies focusing on these different steps are defined, and practical measures from numerous companies exemplifying these different stages help convey the progression. This excellent work nicely complements John Macdonald's Calling a Halt to Mindless Change (LJ 4/1/98) and John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge's The Witch Doctors (LJ 12/96). Highly recommended for academic libraries supporting a business curriculum.Dale F. Farris, Groves, TX (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
