X-Engineering the Corporation: Reinventing Your Business in the Digital Age [Hardcover]

James Champy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2002

"The walls between a company, its customers, and its suppliers-even between its competitors-are coming down. In a world of free-flowing information and products, X-ENGINEERING THE CORPORATION reveals a radical new vision of the corporation.

Instead of a collection of separate companies turning out goods and services, Champy shows us a web of interacting processes and people that includes every organization touched by a company's product. Gone are the old secrecy controls. In their place is a collaborative environment where people have all the information they need, ideas are shared, and businesses learn to:

ïCreate Harmony. By getting more in tune with how its customers operate, Owens and Minor delivers medical products exactly when its customers want them-and reduces costs.
ïBe Transparent. Electronics manufacturing service company Solectron reveals to its customers the details of its processes-an innovation that keeps it competitive while speeding and streamlining production.
ïUnderstand the Role of Customers. EMC, the world's leading manufacturer of memory storage devices, talks with, listens to, and values customer "pull" more than ever before-and now defines its process "push" with pinpoint accuracy.
ïContinuously X-engineer. When PNC Bank used the full power of the Internet in every one of its divisions, its efficiency-and that of its customers-improved exponentially.

Inspiring and illuminating, this book uncovers the unlimited potential that imaginatively applied information technology offers corporations. X-ENGINEERING THE CORPORATION is a must-read: because change is the one thing all businesspeople must do well today.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A breakthrough book...a must-read for executives who want to prosper in the networked economy." -- Patrick J. McGovern, chairman, International Data Group

"An important contribution to business strategy for the corporation in the twenty-first century...an invaluable resource for executives..." -- Judy C. Lewent, EVP & CFO, Merck & Co., Inc.

"Jim Champy has done it again... promises to unleash a new revolution...to find powerful new ways of enhancing corporate performance." -- Nitin Nohria, Richard P. Chapman professor of business administration and chairman of the Organizational Behavior Unit, Harvard Business School

"The first book that describes what companies must do...to leverage the real power of information technology..." -- Michael Dell, chairman and CEO, Dell Computer Corporation

About the Author

JAMES CHAMPY is chairman of Perot Systems consulting practice. His columns on management are published internationally. He is the coauthor of Reengineering the Corporation and The Arc of Ambition, as well as the author of Reengineering Management.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Warner Business Books; 1st edition (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446528005
• ISBN-13: 978-0446528009
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,447,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jim Champy is one of the leading thinkers in business. His first book, Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution, a New York Times Bestseller with more than 3 million copies sold, helped transform the corporate world. His global bestsellers also include X-Engineering the Corporation: Reinventing Your Business in the Digital Age; Reengineering Management; and The Arc of Ambition. Champy's most recent books, OUTSMART! and INSPIRE!, examine the future of business in the digital age. Champy is an advisor to multiple health care organizations on issues of strategy and operations. He continues to work in the corporate world and serves on the boards of several public and private institutions.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A great book for the first-timers, June 6, 2002

By 

kmguru (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: X-Engineering the Corporation: Reinventing Your Business in the Digital Age (Hardcover)

It is a great book for those who have not read any of the Champy/Hammer reengineering books, but would like to understand the reengineering foundation. However, those, who have and practice reengineering or `the art of agility' in corporate America - will be disappointed. The book provides no new solutions to the present chaos in global business. The book does not even identify the systemic problems plaguing corporate America. Forget about connecting the dots, the book cannot even show you the dots. Everyone knows to create harmony or to be good to your customer. It is easy to name companies who are doing well and highlight some general processes even though the same company might file for chapter 11 a few months down the road. The problem is systemic like cancer that pervades the business community as evidenced from great companies like Xerox, Polaroid, Global Crossing, K-Mart, Stage Stores, Worldcom and so on. The book does not identify the problem nor prescribes the life style changing solution. The book does not even complain that the people who work in information technology department have no clue about "information" let alone know how to use them. Everyone in the IT department is an expert in the specific silo based hardware or software tools - but not in the "information". The companies never ask for it and hence never get it. So...nothing new here. The book talks great things about SciQuest. I too had dealings with that company. My impressions were along the line of "Information? - what is that?" Just a simple check of their publicly available financials would tell a different story...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book has the x-factor!, March 25, 2008

By 

P. V. de Metter "Software Entrepreneur" (Amsterdam, Netherlands) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: X-Engineering the Corporation: Reinventing Your Business in the Digital Age (Hardcover)

What I like most about this book is that it's timeless. When you spent your time on 'Re-engineering the Corporation' and 'Beyond Re-engineering' you should definitly pick up this book. At the time when I read this book in 2002 it held some new knowledge, but really targeted the IT questions you have when you read the other two titles. Now, IT has become more important than ever before and so has this book increased its value.

Don't get me wrong, this book has it flaws. No matter what's written, IT is always one step in front of what's written about it and with this book it's even two or three steps behind. What counts, though, is the thinking process described and how you can convert this knowledge into the Internet age. But again, that's fun to think of for yourself, as reading a book counts for nothing if you don't know what you're reading anyways.

Being an IT professional every piece of knowledge outside the 'technical field' is valuable. Read it when you're in or related to IT, as it will provide you with vast knowledge that has withstood the test of time.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Right on the dot, September 2, 2002

By 

Naren Chawla (San Francisco Bay Area) - See all my reviews

This review is from: X-Engineering the Corporation: Reinventing Your Business in the Digital Age (Hardcover)

What Mr.Champy has written, I have experienced. Most of us in technology and related industry have participated in the client-server boom, where all corporations were breaking the inter-department barriers and "re-engineering" their corporations.

I worked on $$ million dollar project for an Insurance company and yes, we drastically reduced their policy-writing and claim-processing time. Thanks to Mr. Champy and Mr. Collins. The company achieved huge tangible ROI.

I don't doubt even for a moment when Mr.Champy claims that the "X-engineering" revolution will be much bigger than the "reengineering revolution". The technology is ready and almost mature - internet, application servers, XML standards. The business problem is obvious - break down the corporate boundaries to achieve efficiency. Dell is the poster-boy. Current economic climate is creating a momentary damper.

The only gripe I have the book is that it didn't include a chapter on technologies that make X-engineering happen. This probably would have completed the picture for the IT manager.

I had written my thoughts prior to reading the book.
Uncanny resemblance to Mr. Champy's thought-process.