Customer Reviews

Managing

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While some have identified Harold Geneen as a tyrant with an egotistical bent for power, his book, Managing, written with Alvin Moscow, is full of valuable insight. To be fair, it's important to understand the events that shaped Geneen's personality. He was a product of the depression and it's well documented that people of the depression era were, by necessity, innovative and possessed an insatiable hunger for success. These traits can be seen in every part of Geneen's management style and are accurately reflected in his book. He was by no means a saint. But he knew every facet of the businesses and made it his business to weed out slop and ineffectiveness. He checked and rechecked his plans, changed them when necessary, and forced his people to do the same. To be fair, he was the consummate workaholic, but that's par for the course. Those that stayed helped him grow a $760 million telephone company into a $17 billion multinational conglomerate. Several executives that worked with Geneen graduated to successive careers as Fortune 500 CEOs using his management principles. His well documented successes are accurately covered in this brief mosaic on managing. Full of his now famous quotes, each chapter, like the man, shrewdly covers the traits expected of management at any company. When you boil it down, it's about being a hands on, present, active and responsible manager. Know your business, know what works, know your people, know who works, tell the truth, nip it end the bud, stick with what works, but change when necessary. Like Geneen says, "Never reduce the art management to a formula. All organizations large or small, military or civilian reflect the personality and character of those who lead them." Add this one to your library, it's a keeper.

Best how-to manage better book I've ever read. No fluff, no unproven theories. Written by a man who has actually done it. Managers at all levels and in all types of businesses can benefit from this book. Buy it now before it goes out of print again.

I've read maybe 100 business books, many on the subject of management, starting with Peter Drucker. This is the best of the lot. An easy read, with many principles that have a lifetime of shelf life. I've read the book numberous times over twenty years, and now, as a consultant, give it out on a continuous basis. I'm currently order another thirty.

Best there is! Order all the used copies you can because you'll be passing them out for youe entire career. Has the usual self serving pap that infects this genre, but the essence of what it means to MANAGE shines through (I use the snow shovels in Minnesota line every time some manager excuses bad performance by telling me that sales are down "everywhere"). Six Sigma, Kaizen, re-engineering: they'll all fade ... and this meat & potatoes book will still be invaluable.

From time to time I re-read and re-read this book that offers invaluable insights in organizations. "Managers must manage". Only performance and results count. The statement of "If you don't achieve those results, you're not a manager." is awesome. We're still seeing in organizations when people explained away why things were not done. A must read for everyone who wants to change his/her lives. I did.

Harold Geneen is the best practical manager and management author (Guru) of all times, and like Chester Barnard with his classic book on organization and management who wrote "The Functions of the Executive," Geneen's book is an invaluable contribution to management thought and action. "Managing" by Geneen is an extremely valuable book, which teaches us how to manage "effectively". Not a single line is without practical emphasis on knowlege, skills and attitude gained from his own experience and solid conviction. All BBA and MBA students must read it along with their management texts and they will find it extremely useful in their later professional jobs.

Best management book I have read in over 25 years in management. Clear, concise, no bull, no theory. Lessons any organisation can learn.