The "Greatest Business Book of All Time" (Bloomsbury UK), In Search of Excellence has long been a must-have for the boardroom, business school, and bedside table. Based on a study of forty-three of America's best-run companies from a diverse array of business sectors, In Search of Excellence describes eight basic principles of management -- action-stimulating, people-oriented, profit-maximizing practices -- that made these organizations successful. Joining the HarperBusiness Essentials series, this phenomenal bestseller features a new Authors' Note, and reintroduces these vital principles in an accessible and practical way for today's management reader.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
'One of those rare books on management that is both consistently thought-provoking and fun to read.' Wall Street Journal 'A landmark book, without question the most important and useful book on what makes organisations effective, ever written' Warren Buffet 'Required reading.' International Management Magazine
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Publisher
The now classic volume that became an immediate bestseller as well as a landmark business book. "One of those rare books on management that are both consistently thought-provoking and fun to read."--Wall Street Journal
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
67 of 72 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This publication is a survey written by a couple of McKinsey consultants that seek to define the characteristics of successful, I mean excellent, organizations using the McKinsey 7-S framework; Structure, Systems, Style, Staff, Skills, Strategy, and Shared Values.
Their findings suggest that eight attributes are common for an excellent organization; bias for action, close to the customer, autonomy and entrepreneurship, productivity through people, hands on, value driven, stick to the knitting (=focus on what you do best), simple form lean staff, and simultaneous loose-tight properties (balance between centralized/decentralized organization). This is it.
Although the authors have a pleasant narrative style and are eloquent in making their point, I hesitate to buy into the arguments presented, first and foremost because I question the all encompassing validity of the McKinsey 7-s approach. Secondly, the authors cite companies such as Digital and Wang as qualifying for excellency. Whatever these companies did during the eighties, it wasn't good enough in the end since their advantage was not sustained and hence I wouldn't call them excellent. Thirdly, the best before stamp is obvious.
I do find the introduction and management theory review very well written and enjoyable. Ironically, (for me) the authors find that chapter the least important part of the book. I beg to differ. Overall, this would make a good intro for those interested in management theory. While you're at it, try to also take a look at Michael Porter's and Peter Drucker's work. In my view they are the authority in the field.
37 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I don't have much to add to the other reviews here on the content, but as a couple of reviewers here have pointed out, there's a problem with the way they reached their conclusions. They chose a series of metrics as indicators of "excellence": they ranked companies on these metrics to identify a sample of "excellent companies": they then profiled these companies to find common features. Statisticians call this "selecting on the dependent variable": all excellent companies might have a certain feature, but you can only say that the feature has something to do with their excellence if non-excellent companies don't have it. The features that Peters picks out might be important, but the research they do doesn't in any way prove that.
There was a follow-up piece of research done some years later (not by the authors) in a paper called "excellence revisited", which argued that excellence was basically a temporary phenomenon, and that even these companies reverted to the mean. This looked at the "excellent companies" subsequent performance and found that on average, they had deteriorated significantly in all measures of performance. They then picked a sample of "non-excellent companies" using the same ranking criteria as the original book did at the time that the original research was done. Sure enough, these on average improved significantly in performance.
53 of 60 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Few people can lay claim to having created an industry. TomPeters can.
Tom Peters is widely credited with having created themanagement guru industry. Before him it is said that "management thinkers wrote articles in academic journals, gave the occasional seminar, and worked as consultants for a few large corporations". The biggest blockbusters sold under five hundred thousand books.
`In Search of Excellence', co-authored with Bob Waterman, is Tom Peters first book and sold over 6 million copies. Its success surprised their colleagues at McKinsey, who had laughed at the idea that Peters and Waterman would keep the royalties, "should the book sell 50 000 copies".
Two decades later, `In Search of Excellence' is still one of the most readable management books. The eight characteristics of excellent companies, a bias for action, close to the customer, autonomy and entrepreneurship, productivity through people, hands-on values driven, stick to the knitting, simple form and lean staff, simultaneous loose-tight properties are all still relevant and still ignored today. It is written clearly, painting vivid pictures with anecdotes and examples from real companies.
Peters went on to become a megastar in the field of management entertaining, able to charge up to $80 000 for a one day show. The management guru industry is estimated to exceed a billion dollars and management books, including several by Peters himself, now regularly find their way into the best seller list. Peters'later writings have sometimes inspired and sometimes puzzled a new generation of managers.
This book is a classic. Great companies struggle to remain on top over an extended period. But the lessons learned endure. END
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Business Classic
Way back in the 1980s few people in business gave much thought to what makes an excellent business. Peters and Waterman conducted research on companies they identified as... Read more
Published 5 months ago by David E. McClendon
Great Book! Not a Bit Dry
Even after all these years "In Search of Excellence" is still a great guide for management concepts that do work. I bought a new copy to re-read when my original was lost. I
Published 7 months ago by Eva Braadshaw
Good job Amazon !
Glad to use your service Amazon !
I found all I looked for in your comprehensive store list. Read more
I found all I looked for in your comprehensive store list. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Ivaylo
Standing the test of time
"In Search of Excellence" was written nearly 30 years ago (in 1982) and appears to have stood the test of time. Read more
Published 24 months ago by Dmitriy Yermolayev
Excellence X 4
C.S. Lewis said, "It is a good rule after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. Read more
Published on April 10, 2010 by John W. Pearson
Ingredients for success
Stick to the knitting, is one of the mantras in this book. The authors, Peters and Waterman, study a handful of companies (including McDonalds and CocaCola) in a quest for their... Read more
Published on March 14, 2010 by E. R. D. Holen
RIP OFF
Thought I was buying the unabridged book, not so, it is a poor quality and not what you want if you are looking for the whole book. Do Not Buy
Published on February 5, 2010 by D. Frank Anderson
A Classic With Insights That Still Resonate
"In observing excellent companies, and specifically the way they interact with customers, the consistent presence of obsession was most striking. Read more
Published on September 22, 2009 by Mark Hughes
Awesome....
I was very pleased with everything from the service, the product, and the delivery. Thank you very much for the professional manner in which everything was handled.
Published on August 23, 2009 by Joseph T. Davis Jr.
A classic on Management and Mindset
I respect Mr. Peters tremendously. This book is a classic. Excellent from an Entrepreneur standpoint. Mindset is everything. Take advantage of this book. Read more
Published on April 8, 2009 by Mark Deo
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
The Belgian Surrealist Rene Magritte painted a series of pipes and entitled the series Ceci n'est pas une pipe (This is not a pipe). Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
excellent companies, productivity through people, executive champion, transforming leadership, lean staff, people orientation Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Business Week, United States, Blue Bell, Delta Airlines, Levi Strauss, Successful American Companies, General Motors, James Brian Quinn, Texas Instruments, The Wall Street Journal, Ray Kroc, David Ogilvy, Disney Productions, Emerson Electric, The Saving Remnant, Chester Barnard, Data General, General Electric, United Airlines, World War, Palo Alto, Philip Selznick, Thomas Watson, Big Jim New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The Belgian Surrealist Rene Magritte painted a series of pipes and entitled the series Ceci n'est pas une pipe (This is not a pipe). Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
excellent companies, productivity through people, executive champion, transforming leadership, lean staff, people orientation Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Business Week, United States, Blue Bell, Delta Airlines, Levi Strauss, Successful American Companies, General Motors, James Brian Quinn, Texas Instruments, The Wall Street Journal, Ray Kroc, David Ogilvy, Disney Productions, Emerson Electric, The Saving Remnant, Chester Barnard, Data General, General Electric, United Airlines, World War, Palo Alto, Philip Selznick, Thomas Watson, Big Jim New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 74
books:
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100
books
cite this book:
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- Business and Its Beliefs (McKinsey Foundation Lectures) by Watson on 8 pages
- The Functions of the Executive: 30th Anniversary Edition by Chester I. Barnard on 4 pages
- The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker on 4 pages
- The Social Psychology of Organizing (Topics in Social Psychology Series) by Karl E Weick on page 101, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Dynamic Economics by Burton H. Klein on page 109, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 74 books this book cites
- Designing Effective Organizations: Traditional and Transformational Views by David K. Banner on 15 pages
- The Ultimate Business Library : 75 Books That Made Management by Stuart Crainer on 15 pages
- Handbook of Local Government Administration (Public Administration and Public Policy) by Gargan on 4 pages
- Handbook of Production Management Methods by Gideon Halevi on 4 pages
- Perspectives on Public Relations Research (Routledge Advances in Management and Business Studies) by Danny Moss on page 27, page 57, and page 177
See all 100 books citing this book
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