To the Desert and Back: The Story of the Most Dramatic Business Transformation on Record (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Karen Ayas (Author), George Roth (Author) "In the spring of 1995, the fourteen hundred employees of Unilever Vlees Groupe Nederland (UVGN) assembled in the early morning at their factories and boarded..." (more)
Key Phrases: team leader events, sourcing units, fats business, Blue Band, Big Night, Hans Cornuit (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...the book gives a hilarious insight what happens in practice when insane management theorists infect..." (Business Plus, September 2003)

"...the book gives a hilarious insight what happens in practice when insane management theorists infect..." -- Business Plus, September 2003

Product Description

Dove, Lipton, Knorr, Ben & Jerry's, and Slim*Fast are a few of the brands that are part of the $66 billion global empire known as Unilever. When the story opens, one of its divisions is in deep trouble— declining volume, eroding margins, critical quality problems— and is close to being sold off. Then Tex Gunning, its visionary new division chairman, takes the stage, an expanding circle of young leaders takes charge, and once-skeptical workers embrace a challenging message of growth. The result? The division grows by double digits, year in and year out, and energizes Unilever's path to thrive around the globe.

To the Desert and Back tells the inside story of the transformation in the words of the people in all quarters of the company who made it happen. It documents five years of personal soul-searching, teamwork, companywide learning conferences, memorable journeys to the mountains and desert, and inspired promotions that show how these efforts produced a remarkable top-to-bottom turnaround. This story delivers authentic and convincing proof that a revitalized business is about personal growth.

The lessons learned from this dramatic business turnaround provide unexpected insights and encouraging inspiration for other companies and leaders ready to embark on their own remarkable journey of transformation, growth, and success.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (May 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787966770
• ISBN-13: 978-0787966775
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #326,702 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An engaging narrative, February 8, 2005

By	Tojo Thatchenkery (Fairfax, Virginia, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Most books on change management describe concepts and principles with some examples. This one went several steps further and provided me with a story that was rich in details and lessons learned. I could appreciate the nuisance and subtleties involved in change and transformation because of the fineness with which the business case was narrated. The authors should be commended for unraveling for the benefit of both business and non-business readers what goes on at the top management and various levels in a mammoth organization as it tries to change with the times.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required Reading for Leaders, June 13, 2003

By A Customer

Mirvis, Ayas, and Roth make an exciting story accessible to a wide range of readers. Not only are the lessons of this story applicable to the business world, they carry over to relationships of all kinds. The dramatic story of Unilever's turn-around had this reader turning the pages. It is rare to come across a book with the potential to have such a far-reaching impact on organizations and the people in them. "To the Desert and Back" ought to be required reading for leaders young and old.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars To the future and beyond..., July 9, 2003

By A Customer

In you are interested in linking innovative methods and models to bottom-line results, seeing the view of an organiziation's story as it unfolds and with the perspective of time, experiencing the transformation from those who lived it, or just a good read; then TO THE DESERT AND BACK is for you.

I don't think it is exaggerating to say the organization time and again was faced with its very survival. And each time it set the goal higher and invented the means to accomplish it.

It is a tribute to the importance of leadership, vision, creativity, and participation. While not many organizations may have the resources to play out the metaphor on such a grand scale, every leader and organization can take away the impetus to aim high, think big, and see beyond.