Linkage, Inc.'s Best Practices in Organization & Human Resources Development Handbook [Paperback]

Louis Carter (Author), Marshall Goldsmith (Editor), Warner Burke (Author), Jay Conger (Author), Ed Lawler (Author), David Giber (Editor), Bev Kaye (Author), Louis L. Carter (Author), Richard Beckhard (Author), Ed Lawler III (Author), John Sullivan (Author), Marshall Goldsmith (Editor), Warner Burke (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0967796504 | ISBN-13: 978-0967796505 | Publication Date: January 4, 2000

Linkage, Inc.'s Best Practices in Organization and Human Resources Development Handbook is a collaborative work that includes 17 OD/HRD systems from the world's foremost organizations including Boeing, Westinghouse, Dow Corning, Xerox, Johnson & Johnson, Sun Microsystems, ServiceMaster, Nortel Networks, Kraft Foods, and Media One. The handbook covers five of the hottest management topics today: organization development & change, leadership development, recruitment & retention, performance management, and coaching & mentoring. OD/HRD case studies include models, tools, assessments, training, and a full breakdown of the change process. The book includes contributions from top organization and human resources development experts such as Richard Beckhard, Warner Burke, Jay Conger, Bev Kaye, Ed Lawler, and John Sullivan.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An extremely important volume with useful contextual perspectives plus vivid and important case studies of companies that know what they're doing to lead change." -- Warren Bennis, author of On Becoming a Leader and Organizing Genius

"Any Human Resources Professional will immediately recognize the value and benefits of this handbook and will feel comfortable in implementing the practices provided.

...Rather then simply massaging our time-worn tools, this book provides examples of new tools and techniques which have been developed by successful companies to help them with the same issues. Therefore, my focus and energy is devoted less to conceptual analysis and more to the practical application of these tools to help our organization achieve its goals and objectives. -- William H. Sevilla, VP Human Resources,St. Mary Medical Center; Faculty member, University of Phoenix

"This handbook is an excellent reference for all practitioners who are in the midst of helping their organizations become the benchmark of their industry. With the case study approach comes actual assessment instruments, initiative plans, and evaluation tools to help this take place. A very helpful tool that needs to be on every practitioner's desk." -- Dave Mehl, Director, Training & Development, SSOE, Inc.

Review

"If you're looking to move human resources out of the administrative backseat to the driver seat of change management and strategic imperatives in your organization then this is the book you need to read. I recommend this book to any human resource or organization development professional or department who is seeking to be an active strategic business partner in their companies. The book documents excellent examples of benchmark tools and processes." —Sarah M. Plasky, strategic planning manager, The Document Company, Xerox

"This book is an excellent reference for all practitioners who are in the midst of helping their organizations become the benchmark of their industry. With the case study approach comes actual assessmentinstruments, initiative plans, and evaluation tools to help this take place. A very helpful tool that needs to be on every practitioner's desk." —Dave Mehl, director, Training & Development, SSOE, Inc.

"Any human resources, organization development professional, student or professor will immediately recognize the value and benefits of this handbook and will feel comfortable in implementing and learning about the practices provided." —William H. Sevilla, vice president human resources, St. Mary Medical Center; faculty member, University of Phoenix

"An invaluable, practical guide to the most promising trends in organization and human resources development. Compelling case studies offer unique insight into how global business leaders have effectively dealt with the challenges of transformational change." —William J. Trahant, partner-in-change of organization and change strategy, PricewaterhouseCoopers

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 604 pages
• Publisher: Linkage Press (January 4, 2000)
• ISBN-10: 0967796504
• ISBN-13: 978-0967796505
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,703,408 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Many Interesting Case Histories of Making Improvements, January 7, 2002

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Best Practices in Organization Development and Change: Culture, Leadership, Retention, Performance, Coaching (Textbook Binding)

Reading this book reminded me of attending a good conference where lots of company executives provide detailed examples of the issues they faced, and how they went about dealing with those issues. Since such conferences usually cost several hundred dollars, this book is a real bargain -- and you don't have to get on an airplane and fly someplace!

One of the strengths of the book is that you receive several perspectives on the context for each case history. The editors describe what each case means, and the conclusions section summarizes general patterns. Also, each case is presented in the same format which makes it easier to understand what is being shared. I was particularly grateful for the exhibits (which exist in electronic form in the CD enclosed in the book). I also appreciated that the cases were primarily written by Human Resources professionals inside the companies, rather than being a consultant's take on what happened.

Having said all those positive things, let me share some concerns. First, I looked in vain for my favorite examples of outstanding work in recruiting, retention, knowledge encouragement, and executive development. If this book is about "best practices" where were GE, Disney, Motorola, Ritz Carlton, and SAS Institute? Second, many of the cases involved companies that are better known for their poor performance than for excellence. If they are developing their people so well, what happened? Third, a lot of these cases involve new initiatives where the long-term consequences are hard to see. Fourth, the profit impact on the organizations was not well documented. That makes it hard to use these cases as examples to encourage your own company to follow suit. Fifth, as change management processes, most of these cases are far behind the curve of what is described in Peter Senge's various books of case histories such as The Dance of Change. Part of the reason seems to be that a number of these cases aren't very new.

Of the cases in the book, I recommend the ServiceMASTER, Westinghouse, Johnson & Johnson, Allstate, and Case Corporation examples as the most helpful to me. I mention that because there's a lot of material in this book. I read a lot and rapidly, and I found this book hard to tackle. By being more selective in what you go after, you can help avoid some of that problem. Naturally, if your own issues are only in a few areas, just look at those cases.

Develop the full potential of everyone, beginning with yourself!

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Topic Areas of OD and HRD Initiatives, May 20, 2002

By 

Turgay BUGDACIGIL (Istanbul, Turkey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best Practices in Organization Development and Change: Culture, Leadership, Retention, Performance, Coaching (Textbook Binding)

"The principal goal of this book is to provide you with the key ingredients taken from best-companies to help you create and enhance your organization and human resource development (OD/HRD) initiative. Through a case study approach, this book provides practical, easy-to-apply tools, instruments, training, concepts, and competency models that can be used as benchmarks for the successful implementation of your specific OD/HRD initiative (from the Introduction)."

In this context, Louis Carter, David Giber, and Marshall Goldsmith (editors) divide core part of this book -Organization and Human Resources Development Case Studies- into following five OD/HRD topic areas:

I. Organization Development and Change: In this section, W. Warner Burke says, "Seven rich cases (Kraft Foods, Nortel, ServiceMASTER, SmithKline Beecham, Westinghouse, CK Witko, and Xerox) of organization development and change are discussed...The cases cover a wide range of change from how OD occurs every day to deep change in an organization's culture...Without doubt we can learn from these cases. And learn we must. Changing organization is too intricate to be left to novices. We have indeed learned and noted at the outset, but we still have much to learn. As one who has been involved for more than 35 years, helping organizations change is both thrilling and very satisfying. Learning, however, is the most exciting part (pp.6-8)."

II. Leadership Development: In this section, Jay A. Congerwrites that "In the cases that follow, we look at three companies (Boeing, Johnson & Johnson, and Sun Microsystems,Inc.) that have dedicated serious time and resources to leadership development...In addition, all three of the company cases make extended use of competency models, 360-degree feedback, and action learning (p.186)."

III. Recruitment and Retention: In this section of the book, John Sullivan writes, "you'll learn how three diverse companies tackled their retention and recruiting problems. Two of the firms are high tech (AMD and Cellular One), while another (Allstate) is in a more traditional industry. Both AMD and Cellular One focus on solving the hot issue of retention while Allstate takes a new look at the recruiting and selection processes. All three of the case studies use a scientific approach to identify which solutions have the most impact...All three of these case studies are worth examining because of their scientific methodology as well as their results. All are full of powerfull 'lessons learned' for those who are soon to begin a major recruitment or retention effort (pp.303-304)."

IV. Performance Management: This section examines performance management systems of Case Corporation and Sonoco. Edward E. Lawler III says that "the performance management systems in most organizations are contoversial, ineffective, and constantly under construction. They are so problematic that critics argue many organizations would be better off if they simply didn't have a performance management system, particularly one in which performance appraisals are tied to pay actions. But-and it is an important but- if individuals are not appraised, counseled, coached, and rewarded for performance, how can an organization pruduce the organized, coordinated, and motivated behavior that it takes to perform well? The answer most likely is that it can't (p.393)."

V. Coaching and Mentoring: Introduction of this section, Beverly Kaye writes, "the last 5 years have seen a groundswell in both arenas. And it's not just been more of the same; organizations have begun to use mentoring and coaching more purposefully. HR and OD practitioners have worked to utilize both interventions to meet pressing business problems having to do with the development and retention of talent, as well as the growth of future leaders. These interventions have been more systemic, more thoughtful, and more innovative than ever before. The case studies (Dow Corning, and MediaOne Group-AT&T) illustrate this trend. Both were motivated by specific business drivers, both were preceded by intensive research, both were implemented over time, and both were evaluated seriously. Readers will find them instructive, detailed, and engaging (p.438)."

Finally, Louis Carter (editor) says that "contributors were asked to indicate where they envision their organization is heading with its initiative within the next 5 to 10 years. Responses indicate that the contributors want to keep the organization on a track to continuously learn and develop its capabilities. Comments from some contributors indicate that they want to leverage lessons learned from this experience. Some contributors commented that they want to firmly ingrain the initiative into the organization to the point that it is almost invisible to the user, making it an accepted part of life at the company. Other contributors will continue to refine the present initiative in place, while others will expand their efforts into other business lines. Survey results clearly indicate that the present state of the initiatives represented in this book represent snapshots of moving targets. Further growth and innovation is inevitable for these best practice organizations, as they work to stay ahead of their competitors by embracing change and continuously learning and improving (pp.531-532)."

Strongly recommended.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent examples of benchmark tools and processes!, March 2, 2000

By 

Sarah M. Plasky,Strategic Planning Manager, T... - See all my reviews

This review is from: Linkage, Inc.'s Best Practices in Organization & Human Resources Development Handbook (Paperback)

If you're looking to move human resources out of the administrative back seat to the driver seat of change management and strategic imperatives in your organization then this is the book you need to read. I recommend this book to any human resource or organization development professional or department who is seeking to be an active strategic business partner in their companies. The book documents excellent examples of benchmark tools and processes.