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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quintessential rules for management leadership, May 16, 2007
The future reform of western management will in no small part be dependent upon how carefully business leaders and academics study this remarkable book by the co-authors brothers Hopper - a unique teaming of engineering and financial minds that understand (and so ably communicate) the socio-technical forces that have shaped our commercialized society. The combined insights and experience of a life-long professional engineer and a still practicing investment banker combine in this book to cast a powerful analytical spotlight on the history of western management practice over the past 350 years. While the locus of the book is on American management cultures, the fundamental messages revealed are shown to be applicable to any culture intent on real wealth creation as opposed to mere financial engineering.
As the title suggests, this story - for this is no dry text destined for those soulless time-serving senior managers and executives intent on seeking the latest snake oil with which to lubricate their legitimized theft of shareholder funds - traces the origins of contemporary management back to the strict disciplines of the Puritan Migrants of the 1630s and their flight to America. The authors list the four abiding aspects of Puritanism which infused the managerial culture established by the descendents of those early settlers as being: 1) the purpose of life was to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth; 2) an aptitude for mechanical skills; 3) a moral outlook that subordinates the interest of the individual to the group; and, 4) an ability to gather, galvanize and marshal financial, material and human resources to a single purpose at whatever scale. More briefly put : Rectitude, Pragmatism, Teamwork and Leadership. An Appendix summarizes the quintessential of the book in a most useful listing of the authors' 25 principles underlying good practice from the Golden Age of Management (1920-1970).
The book is divided into five parts - Origins (1630-1815), Rise (1815-1920), Triumph (1920-1970), Collapse (1970-1995) and Revival (1995-2006). Throughout, the Puritan gift is described by the authors as being the underpinning of that rare ability to successfully create and manage organisations that serve a useful purpose in any sector of human activity. Throughout the authors warn that as America increasingly distances itself from these core values, which underlay its traditional commercial and economic success, it puts its own future prosperity and security at risk.
This truly remarkable book provides an original exploration of the dramatic and far-reaching consequences of the Puritans' gift to America - the ethos which produced the early success of America and what came to be known as the American dream. While the reader may feel that Frederick Taylor's efforts receive ill treatment and that Stafford Beer's contribution should not have been totally ignored, she will be encouraged to see how the authors highlight the "Cult of the (so-called) Expert" and the bluff and bluster of the MBA movement.
This reviewer, a practicing engineer, has read many management books over the past thirty years but never before one which has been so informative, so illuminating and so enjoyable. Trite as it may sound, this is essential reading for anyone aspiring to the new style of management that will be essential for productive success in the decades ahead as the eastern economies increasingly dominate world trade.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
one of the most important business books in years, May 26, 2009
This review is from: The Puritan Gift: Reclaiming the American Dream Amidst Global Financial Chaos (Paperback)
This is a great book. Whether you agree with all of it or not -- and when was the last time a thinking person agreed 100% with any book? -- it will make you think.
All the greatness of American (and world) business has been around for ages, and we just need to get back to basics, back to the roots. Any study of the great businesses and entrepreneurs teaches this lesson. The Hoppers do an excellent job of raising this idea, with plenty of great stories to support it.
It is surprising that the publishers do not get this book into bigtime US circulation. While written by Brits, it is after all a book about the rise and fall of American business and economic prestige. It should be on the "hot" table in all the US bookstores. But in order to get it quickly you have to go to amazon UK. What gives?
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A gift from the Brits among us, May 15, 2007
The Hoppers' book should be a page-turner for people interested in 20th century business. From his personal experience, Ken Hopper, an industrial consultant, has culled thousands of facts and distilled them into a package of wit and wisdom that many academics would envy. Virtually every page in the first half of the book has some new insight into how American manufacturing came to lead the world, to transform Japan (and through it, much of Asia), and go astray. While other publications have made use of his comments on salary ratios, this reviewer found his focus on the role of shop-floor leaders and problem-solvers to be an important contribution to the literature. The critique of the "B-school" mentality, while common these days, was prescient in the late 20th century. Finally, while not ignoring W E Deming's work, Hopper brings into focus the important contributions of the other engineers on the CCS team that worked under General MacArthur: Sarasohn, Protzman, and Polkinghorn. The second half of the book blends in material drawing on the in-depth experience of William Hopper, an investment banker. From this reviewer's perspective as a college instructor and retired business person, the brothers Hopper contribute a lucid, humanistic overview of American business's successes and challenges which should be of interest to the general reader as well as the specialist.
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