Harvard business review the essentials pdf download

Even before the Internet and globalization, their track record for dealing with major, disruptive change was not good. Out of hundreds of department stores, for example, only one—Dayton Hudson—became a leader in discount retailing.

Not one of the minicomputer companies succeeded in the personal computer business. Medical and business schools are struggling—and failing—to change their curricula fast enough to train the types of doctors and managers their markets need. The list could go on. Usually they can. Nor do they lack resources to confront them. But unfortunately, most managers assume that if each person working on a project is well matched to the job, then the organization in which they work will be, too.

Often that is not the case. To succeed consistently, good managers need to be skilled not just in assessing people but also in assessing the abilities and disabilities of their organization as a whole. This article offers managers a framework to help them understand what their organizations are capable of accomplishing. It will give them a way to recognize different kinds of change and make appropri- page 4 Meeting the Challenge of Disruptive Change ate organizational responses to the opportunities that arise from each.

In trying to transform an enterprise, managers can destroy the very capabilities that sustain it. Before rushing into the breach, managers must understand precisely what types of change the existing organization is capable and incapable of handling. Where Capabilities Reside Clayton M. Our research suggests that three factors affect what an organization can and cannot do: its resources, its processes, and its values.

The second factor that affects what a company can and cannot do is its processes. By processes, we mean the patterns of interaction, coordination, communication, and decision making employees use to transform resources into products and services of greater worth.

Such examples as the processes that govern product development, manufacturing, and budgeting come immediately to mind.

Others are informal: they are routines or ways of working that evolve over time. One of the dilemmas of management is that processes, by their very nature, are set up so that employees perform tasks in a consistent way, time after time. They are meant not to change or, if they must change, to change through tightly controlled procedures.

But when the same process is used to tackle a very different task, it is likely to perform sluggishly. Companies focused on developing and winning FDA approval for new drug compounds, for example, often prove inept at developing and winning approval for medical devices because the second task entails very different ways of working.

Calculating and assessing the overall financial health of the business is an important part of any managerial position. From reading and deciphering financial statements, to understanding net present value, to calculating return on investment, Finance for Managers provides the fundamentals of financial literacy. Easy to use and nontechnical, this helpful guide gives managers the smart advice they need to increase their impact on financial planning, budgeting, and forecasting.

Packed with hands-on tips and tools, Hiring and Keeping the Best People offers managers comprehensive advice for hiring more effectively and increasing retention. Book jacket. Score: 4. Readers will learn to prepare for a formal performance meeting with a direct report, document a performance meeting, and create a development plan with the employee.

This book walks managers through every step of project oversight from start to finish. Thanks to the book's comprehensive information on everything from planning and budgeting to team building and after-project reviews, managers will master the discipline and skills they need to achieve stellar results without wasting time and money. This book covers strategy from the ground up, explaining what strategy is, how to put together a strategic plan, what tools and resources are necessary to execute it, and how to measure results.

The Harvard Business Essentials series is designed to provide comprehensive advice, personal coaching, background information, and guidance on the most relevant topics in business. With tools for managing stress levels and advice on gathering and sharing information during transition, this book is an indispensable guide for managers at any level of the organization.

The Harvard Business Essentials series is for managers at all levels but is especially relevant for new managers. For example, can you tolerate lower profit margins than your established enterprise demands? Create a separate spin-off organization? By selecting the right team and organizational structure for your innovation—and infusing it with the right resources, processes, and values—you heighten your chances of innovating successfully.

Christensen and Michael Overdorf These are scary times for managers in big companies. Even before the Internet and globalization, their track record for dealing with major, disruptive change was not good. Out of hundreds of department stores, for example, only one—Dayton Hudson—became a leader in discount retailing.

Not one of the minicomputer companies succeeded in the personal computer business. Medical and business schools are struggling—and failing—to change their curricula fast enough to train the types of doctors and managers their markets need. The list could go on. Usually they can. Nor do they lack resources to confront them.

But unfortunately, most managers assume that if each person working on a project is well matched to the job, then the organization in which they work will be, too. Often that is not the case. To succeed consistently, good managers need to be skilled not just in assessing people but also in assessing the abilities and disabilities of their organization as a whole. This article offers managers a framework to help them understand what their organizations are capable of accomplishing.

It will give them a way to recognize different kinds of change and make appropri- page 4 Meeting the Challenge of Disruptive Change ate organizational responses to the opportunities that arise from each. In trying to transform an enterprise, managers can destroy the very capabilities that sustain it. Before rushing into the breach, managers must understand precisely what types of change the existing organization is capable and incapable of handling.

Where Capabilities Reside Clayton M. Our research suggests that three factors affect what an organization can and cannot do: its resources, its processes, and its values. The second factor that affects what a company can and cannot do is its processes.