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Calling a Halt to Mindless Change: A Plea for Commonsense Management
 
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Calling a Halt to Mindless Change: A Plea for Commonsense Management [Hardcover]

John Macdonald (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)


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Book Description

April 7, 1998
Providing examples of companies that rely on evolution and not revolution to achieve long-term success, this text seeks to help companies anticipate and deal with real changes, like globalization. John MacDonald advocates the management practice of customer focus, communication and ethics.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Citing the glut of management fads, the author pleads for more common sense in the policies of managing companies while advocating his own "evolutionary organization" and shared values among organization, customers, employers, and community.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: AMACOM; 1st edition (April 7, 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0814403492
  • ISBN-13: 978-0814403495
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,987,741 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Evolution, not Revolution, November 25, 1999
This review is from: Calling a Halt to Mindless Change: A Plea for Commonsense Management (Hardcover)
A wonderfully thought provoking work by a man with much experience and knowledge. Mr. MacDonald maintains that so-called revolutionary changes are the result of mis-management in the first place, and many "management gurus" are ill informed, self serving, and dangerous. He laces his book with examples of both evolutionary companies and "revolutionary" firms, outlining their successes and failures. Three simple but profound ideas form the center of this book; adapt instead of adopt, evolution not revolution, and responsibility. If you are feeling like you are behind the curve because you have not studied or adopted the latest management fad, pause, take a deep breath, and read this book.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Re-infuse common sense into your management practices, February 15, 2006
This review is from: Calling a Halt to Mindless Change: A Plea for Commonsense Management (Hardcover)
The business world abounds with guru's spouting a message of revolutionary change. Business people are commanded to take immediate and drastic action or they will be left behind and their businesses will fail. It is true that things are changing, says the author, but change is evolutionary, not revolutionary. Instead of pursuing the latest management fads, companies need to return to the fundamentals of commonsense management. The author provides the following advice for companies seeking to get back to basics and handle change intelligently:

· Common sense, not fads, leads to success. Too many executives lose touch with the world outside their corporate offices; their markets, customers and employees. Alert, effective corporate managers should be able to anticipate changes without making drastic changes to their companies.

· Business is simple, don't complicate it. There are three key processes for every company: Customer focus, Company strategy and Delivery. Too many managers divert their attention from these core processes and focus instead on complicating issues, like manipulating pubic opinion or monitoring legal liability.

· Learn to adapt, not adopt, new ideas. Instead of instituting wholesale change within the organization in order to conform to a new idea, examine the idea to see how it applies to the organization. Adopt only ideas that are appropriate for your organization and adapt them to meet your specific needs.

· Become an evolutionary organization by focusing on the essentials of business, the customer and the processes that serve the customer. Get to know your customers well enough that you are able to understand and meet their wants and needs. Focus on the processes in your company that enable you to meet customer needs.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Sends an important message in these change obsessive times., March 20, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Calling a Halt to Mindless Change: A Plea for Commonsense Management (Hardcover)
This work argues that thoughtfulness must be used in decision making, limiting change to what will improve operations. It gives examples of companies that have been successful by focusing on vision, customers, employees, communications, and ethics. Sends an important message in these change-obsessive times.
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