Organizations Books
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Drucker the ProphetReview Date: 2006-08-14
Corporation is GOD!Review Date: 2001-02-06
Corporation Is GodReview Date: 2001-02-06
Corporation is GOD!Review Date: 2001-02-06
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A Must-Have for Senior Staffs and Volunteer LeadersReview Date: 2001-03-25
The book is comprised of 37 short chapters (typically 3-6 pages each) in five sections, designed to address all aspects of board service and board/staff issues. Each chapter provides facts, opinions, tools, and a few "suggested action steps" to help a board address the issue or situation presented in the chapter.
In general, the authors reference John Carver as a good resource for the theory and practice of nonprofit governance, but they don't make Carver the precise and proscriptive recipe that some adherents do. They admit the possibility that other techniques and structures can work well for certain organizations, while "sticking to their guns" in presenting their experiences and insights as having inherent value for most nonprofits.
I was especially impressed by the distinction made between the role of the board and the role of board members. Many policy governance disputes stem from a misunderstanding that, somehow, all board members should have the same responsibilities and be treated interchangeably.
I would have liked to see a clearer treatment of the issue of board diversity; interestingly, the authors seem to agree, admitting that it's a very difficult subject to address. Many board "diversity" programs focus on narrowly-defined "diversity" and run the danger of leading to "tokenism," according to the authors.
The charts and checklists that supplement the text are simple and effective. They're easy for readers to re-create and use in their own organizations.
The book even admits of the possibility that nonprofits can (and sometimes should) dissolve and disband, and provides strategies for helping board, staff, and community understand, accept, and even support the natural cycle of life as it applies to organizations. It's an important message and not a negative one.
Although originally published in December, 1997, it has already had three printings as of August, 1999. With 15 million volunteer board members in the U.S. alone, the publishers could run through many more printings.
A "must read" for anyone serious about non-profit governanceReview Date: 1998-07-13
CEO's of Non-Profits should take special note of the practical suggestions in chapters 5, 14, 19, 21 & 26. Board members who are serious about making a contribution will benefit greatly from chapters 1, 4, 5, 7, 16, 22, 28 & 34.
The book reads quickly and can be completed in one sitting but serves best as a reference with short practical responses to frequently asked questions.
Engstrom has produced many excellent works but I hope we will see more from Andringa as well.
Must have for all staff and board members of nonprofitsReview Date: 2002-05-19
Excellence in governance can be achived by following this book. Excellence in government results in the most efficient use of staff and financial resources in fullfillment of the mission of a nonprofit.
Required reading for both new and experienced board members.Review Date: 1998-07-16
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NonProfit Membership ToolkitReview Date: 2003-08-25
Membership Guru Tells All!Review Date: 2003-07-23
Packed with Knowledge!Review Date: 2004-05-20
The Bible for Non-Profit Funding Through MembershipReview Date: 2003-08-21
A must readReview Date: 2007-01-12
The ultimate book for facilitating mergersReview Date: 2002-09-02
Don't Merge Your Nonprofit Until You Read This BookReview Date: 2001-09-08
This book is invaluable when your nonprofit is going through any form of strategic restructuing, up to and including mergers. As someone who has participated in nonprofit merger negotiations--both as a consultant and a board member representing a nonprofit--I believe this book can make the difference between success and failure.
Not only does David La Piana talk the talk in this book, he has also walked the walk. As an Executive Director of a nonprofit for many years--and having successfully led that organization through several mergers--La Piana understands the realities facing nonprofit managers and board members. His approach to strategic restructuring is pragmatic, and has enabled his consulting firm to become THE experts on nonprofit mergers in the country.
Even if you're just thinking about restructuring your nonprofit, buy this book!! You will save your nonprofit time, money, and energy, as well as protect your own sanity during the process.
Shawn Reifsteck (Masters in Nonprofit Administration)
CEO, Philanthropy Associates
A word from the authorReview Date: 2001-08-27
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A Must for learning how to design quality organizational systemsReview Date: 2006-12-24
Ralph F. Mullin, Ph.D.
Professor of Quality Management
University of Central Missouri
Good application of systems thinkingReview Date: 2006-11-26
Those hospitals challenged to improve patient satisfaction and optimum patient care will find this book inspiring. Those hospitals already doing continuous quality improvement will find interesting supportive examples.
The book is a good illustration of the benefits of total engagement of everyone involved in the process of review and recommendation for continued improvements in all processes.
Dr. Marylouise Fennell, Hospital Board Member
Hope for Our Sick HospitalsReview Date: 2006-09-23
The Savary/Crawford-Mason book takes the reader through the step-by-step process used by the two "good news" health care systems and described what each step in the process achieved. "The Nun and the Bureaucrat" is filled with specific examples of what the problem was and how the hospital solved it, sometimes in creative ways, but more often in logical ways that make us wonder why someone didn't think of that sooner. The positive results achieved through these initiatives are astounding.
What an incredible impact it would be on our entire health care system if these "Systems Thinking" initiatives could be enacted country wide in every medical facility. It gives us hope for curing our sick hospitals. It gives us hope for reducing our ever-increasing health care costs. It gives us hope for raising the standard of health care.
Everyone should read "The Nun and the Bureaucrat--How They Found an Unlikely Cure for America's Sick Hospitals" and pressure their hospital administrators, community, state, and federal officials to apply these "Systems Thinking" initiatives to our health care system nationwide.
School systems should do likewise.
Save your life....and others too....Review Date: 2006-09-02
In the book, doctors and nurses explain how they didn't believe systems thinking would improve their hospitals. But to their delight, it did and they are saving lives, making fewer errors and enjoying their work.
I am the co-author of this book and believe the comments from the experts on the back cover of the book say it all.
"If you think that hospital care cannot be significantly improved in quality and cost, you have another think coming. Read this book."
Russell Ackoff, Professor Emeritus, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Author, Ackoff's Best, Re-creating the Corporation, and Redesigning Society (with Sheldon Roven)
"This book describes the kind of leadership that's essential for making our hospitals safe and patient friendly and at the same time cutting costs by driving out waste. And that is leadership that employs systems thinking to realize an inspiring vision. Read this book to learn how two leaders educated and transformed their hospitals. They show the way that others can and should follow."
Michael Maccoby, MD, Anthropologist, psychoanalyst and consultant on leadership, strategy and organization. Author, The Gamesman; Why Work?: Motivating the New Work Force; and the Productive Narcissist: The Promise and Perils of Visionary Leadership.
"Most of us realize that living and doing daily work requires us to depend on other people and predictable work processes. Taking those understandings into health care and the work of improving it is a complex undertaking. These authors have created an inviting introduction to health care as a system. In the midst of widespread recognition that we must improve our health care, they offer a starting point for creating the changes we need. Their attention to the insightful people making these changes happen allows us to learn from what's working. They have seen what is hard to see at first: health care as a system. Their writing is clear and inviting. In short, this is a welcome addition to the public conversation. Read it, share it and tell your elected officials about what you now understand needs to be encouraged to make health care better."
Paul Batalden, M.D., Professor, Dartmouth Medical School
"If ever there was an idea whose time as has come, this is the idea and this is the time.
Cal Thomas, syndicated columnist
"This book gives me hope that we can make similar improvements at many hospitals around the country."
Kenneth H. Cohn, MD, MBA, Cambridge Management Group. Author: Better Communication for Better Care: Mastering Physician-Administrator Collaboration, and Collaborate for Success: Breakthrough Strategies for Engaging Physicians, Nurses, and Hospital Executives
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LeadershipReview Date: 2008-05-15
Great collection of articles!Review Date: 2003-06-29
Dr. Michael Beitler
Author of "Strategic Organizational Change"
One of the best collections I've seenReview Date: 2002-04-09
Leaders on ChangeReview Date: 2002-03-30
I first read the sample chapters on the Drucker Foundation Web site. Now I'm sharing this book with my friends and children.
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error in listing in AmazonReview Date: 2007-08-15
Fantastic work - great for all org dev researchers.
Normative and practive-oriented organizational learningReview Date: 2003-01-27
In this book, the approach to organizational learning is normative and practice-oriented. The authors are mainly interested in productive organizational learning: how this kind of learning can be generated in real-world organizations and how practitioners can help to foster it.
The theory given in this book is primarily based on two types of learning: single-loop and double-loop. The authors have borrowed the distinction between single and double-loop learning from W. Ross Ashby's "Design for a Brain" (1960).
On case studies of known companies, such as Intel, General Motors, etc., the authors show "primary inhibitory loops" that inhibit organizational learning, and "conditions for error", and how to avoid them. The following list gives the most common "conditions for error" and how to avoid them:
- Vagueness : Specify
- Ambiguity : Clarify
- Untestability : Make testable
- Scattered information : Concert
- Information withheld : Reveal
- Undiscussability : Make discussable
- Uncertainity : Inquire
- Inconsistency/incompatibility: Resolve
In part I, the authors introduce the conceptual framework, both for organizational learning and for the relationship between research and practice. In part II, they introduce and illustrate concepts central to limited learning. Part III presents a brief classroom-based example. Part IV is the review of the recent history of the field of organizational learning.
Despite of the brilliant content, the book which is marked as "Reprinted with corrections August, 1996", which I have (paperback), is awfully printed. It is really the eye-killer. And nevertheless, it has some typos. Please try to find a version which is not "Reprinted with corrections August, 1996".
Definitive: how people politics stop organisational learningReview Date: 1997-02-07
Chris Macrae, editor of Brand Chartering Handbook and MELNET www.brad.ac.uk/branding/ E-mail me at wcbn007@easynet.co.uk
Deep theories on learning in organizationsReview Date: 2004-08-06
"Generically, an organization may be said to learn when it acquires information (knowledge,
understanding, know-how, techniques, or practices) of any kind and by whatever means. "
In this sense, learning can be in either the positive or negative sense, an organization can become either more or less efficient over time. The authors spend a great deal of time covering the concept of an undiscussable. An undiscussable is a topic where everyone knows that it exists, is probably a problem, but for some reason is not talked about. In the worst case, the undiscussables becomes undiscussable, meaning that you cannot even discuss the fact that there are things you don't discuss. There are many reasons for the development of an undiscussable, but the most common is the perception that higher levels only want to hear statements of a certain type.
The authors define two types of organizational learning: single and double loop. A single loop learning situation is one where strategies of action are changed, but there is no change in the underlying theory behind the actions. For example, suppose a company is convinced that hotels are needed in a particular area. If the hotel rooms do not fill up, then the company may try to change the style of the rooms. This is a single feedback loop, where the failure feeds back to cause a change in the implementation. A double loop learning situation is where there is a second feedback loop that can alter the theory behind the strategies. In the case of the hotel rooms example, this would mean that the company questions whether additional hotel rooms were needed.
The authors also define model I and model II learning. Model I learning is the most common, which has a single feedback loop. It is characterized by situations where emotions and confrontation are minimized or disallowed. When difficulties or conflict are present, the general reaction is to suppress the issues as much as possible. The definition of model II learning is:
"Model II couples articulateness and advocacy with an invitation to others to confront the views ands
emotions of self and other. It seeks to alter views in order to base them on the most complete and valid
information possible and to which people involved can become internally committed. "
Model II learning is characterized by double loop learning, where the positions people take are examined in the context of their emotional condition.
The book is occasionally very theoretical, which makes it dense and difficult reading. It is easy to state theories of feedback loops based on emotions, but it is hard to articulate an appropriate way to construct them. Humans have dealt with their emotions for thousands of years, and psychologists are still arguing over the best means by which we should deal with them. Nevertheless, there is much of value in this book, as long as you don't expect it to solve all of the problems your organization has in learning and executing different strategies.
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A Call to ActionReview Date: 2006-12-27
The church is called to fulfill the missionary mandate by means of the filling of the Spirit as the empowering agency of its call. This mandate is accomplished through deeds of love and empowered through private and corporate prayer. Upholding all of this is an understanding of God's unconditional love toward sinners. By contrast, the problem often faced by the ingrown church is that of "religious cushioning" in which we focus on preserving our own comfort level instead of seeking the filling of the Spirit.
At the end of each chapter, there are "action steps" that take the principles presented and illustrated and put them into practice within specific church situations. These give the book a "how to" quality.
It seems to me that the shotgun approach to dealing with the ingrown church might have differing effects depending upon the size of the church. At the same time, Miller's action steps can find ready application in churches of all shapes and sizes.
Miller makes a call both to personal prayer and to moving the church to a greater sense of community prayer, giving practical action steps to bring this about in a gradual but persistent manner. He reminds me that, in this endeavor, I am "in the toughest battle facing the Christian church."
"People come to a church where they are wanted and they come to a pastor who wants very much to introduce them to Christ" (Page 112).
Challenged to ChangeReview Date: 2002-09-26
Biblical Principles for transformation of Church and membersReview Date: 2002-07-27
A Challenging BookReview Date: 2004-01-27
I finished this book almost ten days ago and have not yet been able to write a satisfactory review of it. I began several times, but each time found I was missing some important aspect of it. I believe the source of my trouble is that I read this book only after reading many others that came after. If I had read this book when it was published (1986) I would seen it as groundbreaking. But today, when we are surrounded by books on the principles of church growth, this book does not seem to have much new to add.
One thing that is unique about this book is that it was written by a Presbyterian pastor who also taught at Westminster Theological Seminary. Though church growth and large churches are generally associated with evangelicalism, this book details the rise of a large Reformed church. Also, this book deals with outgrowing an existing church whereas many newer books that discuss church growth do so from a church-planting perspective.
The book traces John C. Miller's growing awareness of the problem of ingrownness in his calling as a pastor. Naturally his church was only as good as its leader and it also suffered from ingrownness. We see the discoveries the pastor made that led him to outgrowing his ingrown church. The author's journey began with a breakdown as he grew frustrated with his church and with being a pastor, so left the ministry. During a time of searching he came to realize that as pastor he was the source of the problem and to build his church into one motivated to carry out the Great Commission he would need to make changes. He details this journey and in so doing challenges others to discover the power of God rather than attempting to abide in their own power and with their own resources.
Though a good book full of solid teaching, I believe it would best serve as an introduction to church growth and to outgrowing a stagnant church. If you have read other books on the subject this many not excite you very much. Those wary of evangelicalism may also find comfort in the fact that this is written from a Reformed perspective. When it comes to specifics about church growth there have been many books written since this one that will probably prove more useful.
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Unique look into the combat story of the PanzertruppeReview Date: 1997-12-17
Great Primary Source MaterialReview Date: 1999-05-08
Excellent source of referenceReview Date: 2008-02-18
There is host of detail information inside this book that will hold a mother lode of happiness to anyone who is interested in this subject matter. However, I must used the word of caution since this book was primary geared for readers who are already well read and well schooled in this subject matter. Any novice readers will definitely find this book bit over their heads. All the charts are all done in German style with a lot of German words inserted here and there. On the other hand, there are host of interesting photographs to look at.
Overall, this book comes highly recommended for anyone who wishes to advance their knowledge on the subject matter as long as its understood that material can get pretty dense if you are not familiar with the subject.
Excellent referenceReview Date: 2004-08-04
Jentz picks up in this volume where he left off in the previous book. He provides a wealth of information on force structures (including how platoons, companies, battalions, staff companies, etc.) were organized. All of this is presented in tables and figures for easy reference. Each reorganizaton is accompanied by the translated order which created the change. As in the first volume, Jentz provides unit strengths, as well as listing tank types, for each division at the start of a new operation (or at the end of one).
Also included are numerous translated after-action reports, which reveal a great deal about German armored tactics and the performance of their tanks in the field. These are fascinating, and are not available anywhere else. One final table in particularly interesting: it presents the number of tanks available to each division at the end of the war. Many panzer "divisions" had only a platoon's worth of tanks left.
The end of the book presents a variety of data in a set of appendices. This includes charts showing monthly data on the on-hand strength of each tank type as well as comparative technical data for German and Allied late-war tanks.
Also strongly recommended is volume I of the set; with both, you have a comprehensive set of information on the Panzer divisions in World War II. I constantly refer to both of them, so much that they are usually out on my desk rather than back on the shelf.
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Powerful ConceptReview Date: 2000-10-12
Essential for BusinessReview Date: 2000-08-06
Clear and ConciseReview Date: 2000-07-27
Partnering For PerformanceReview Date: 2000-07-22
As an attorney practicing corporate law in Delaware, I have been involved in many acquisitions, mergers, divestitures, etc., and have an understanding of the imperative for all companies and businesses to increase shareholder value. "Partnering for Performance" is the first book that I can recall reading which provides a lucid explanation of how a company can do so. The discussion is enlivened by numerous real world examples, as well as by an engaging dialog between the CEO and CFO of a hypothetical company.
The book goes on to sketch the wide range of activities that are conducted under the Finance umbrella, and offer suggestions as to how the value of these activities can be enhanced. There are two key thrusts the author recommends, which in many companies will require a significant culture change:
* Finance people must rethink their roles, and make the transition from functioning as analysts and controllers to "Shareholder Value Enabling."
* The business people and finance people in a company must work together as equal partners, otherwise known as "Partnering for Performance."
Drawing on their considerable experience as financial practitioners, the authors do not merely advocate such changes in principle. They also explain the obstacles to implementation, and offer solid suggestions for achieving the desired changes. The suggested game plan includes new roles and responsibilities for business people and finance people alike, demonstration projects such as overhauling the budget process, the integration of talented finance people into business teams, incentives for change, communications and training, and sample diagnostic tools (such as a corporate troubleshooting guide).
In sum, "Partnering for Performance" offers valuable insights about a low cost, low risk approach to increasing shareholder value. The book should be of considerable interest and value to a broad audience.
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I delayed reading his early works thinking that they would be excellently written, but outdated. How wrong can I be? If you believe in the noble crusade of management "sheparding the scarce resources of society", then you will have every book he ever wrote.