In the 1960s and '70s and American businessman named Harold Geneen transformed a hodgepodge of small companies into a $28 billion industrial empire called ITT. Now, at the age of eighty-seven and still turning unprofitable companies into profitable ones, this down-to-earth business giant shares his observations about the trouble with American companies - and what CEOs, boards of directors, managers, hired guns, shareholders, and every American citizen can do to fix it. With wit and directness, Geneen champions the old-fashioned values of hard work, honesty, risk-taking, common sense, and decisiveness. With equal fervor, he tears apart the concepts of "reengineering, " "synergy" and other faddish management theories; bureaucracy; cynicism; excessive compensation packages for CEOs; the current panic about the budget deficit; derivatives; lawyers; corporations posing as "socially responsible citizens"; the federal government's antitrust activities; and more.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Harold Geneen has been a highly regarded observer of the global business scene ever since the 1960s, when he began building International Telephone & Telegraph from a "hodgepodge of little companies" into a multinational $28 billion industrial giant. Now 88, Geneen has teamed with Brent Bowers on The Synergy Myth to lay out his frank views on trendy "flavor-of-the-month" management philosophies, which are increasingly supplanting the old-fashioned values such as hard work and risk-taking that he favors.
From Library Journal
Now 86 years old, the former CEO of ITT shares here his ideas about business success. His basic business philosophy embraces the conservative values of hard work, risk taking, fun, and honesty, discounting many current management theories. The title reflects his view that selecting a company for a merger based on "synergy"?defined as "some sort of alchemy whereby the whole becomes greater than its parts"?is foolish. Geneen instead supports the concept of the conglomerate, in which multiple companies of diverse types can be managed successfully. He provides other insights on entrepreneurship, motivating workers, salaries for CEOs, and the "art of goofing off." Many other books have been written by corporate executives, including James Autry's Confessions of an Accidental Businessman (LJ 10/1/96), but Geneen's is frank, outspoken, and entertaining.?Kathy Shimpock-Vieweg, Muchmore & Wallwork Lib., Phoenix
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Should have taken a closer look before I purchased it!,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Synergy Myth: And Other Ailments Of Business Today (Hardcover)
Essentially the same material as his first book. The New York Times review of that book pretty much covers this one.
I can't say I'm any more enlightened after reading mostly comments about what the author did, which was great, 20 years ago. However, I was looking for more insight into the reasons business men, intelligent business men for the most part, insist on going for 'buzz' concepts of management that repeatedly are shown to be without merit. Didn't find it in this book. I was left wondering if Mr. Geneen's 'buzz' isn't just another variation that, somehow, I feel I've read before.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Read between the lines, this is sa subtle business mind,
By Tom Lambert Tomfib@aol.com (Commuting between London and Chicago) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Synergy Myth: And Other Ailments Of Business Today (Hardcover)
Global business, never mind American business has been damaged by the idiocies of "big for bigness sake", dumbsizing, business process engineering and the like. By turning his elderly, but still gimlet eye on the fads, fallacies and foul-ups instigated by the business bodice rippers aimed only at making a fortune for their authors and at the sheeplike behavior of boards of directors who aimlessly follow the trend hyped by people who have rarely had a real job, Geneen does us all a favor. Certainly he is egotistical, but he has a track record to back it. You don't have to read this book, but if if lead a major business and feel a sudden urge to follow the herd it is a good investment. (and if you don't go for this iconoclast, try Michael Moore wqho says the same things from the opposite side of the tracks. Tom Lambert - Author High Income Consulting etc......
4.0 out of 5 stars
A different point of view,
By Xavi "Xavi San Miguel" (Barcelona, Spain) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Synergy Myth: And Other Ailments Of Business Today (Hardcover)
Although the writer seems a bit arrogant, in fact we are talking about one of the best managers ever in corporate America. Really useful: work hard, be honest and take risks. It sounds great, isn't it?
On the other hand, common sense is one virtue that Mr. Geneen can be proud of. I recommend it to anyone interested in real business, not theories. Real work, not sluggish.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
