Management Book Reviews

"Good to Great," by Jim Collins

Reviewed by Alex Guzman

In Good to Great author Jim Collins explores the factors that turn a “good” company into a “great” company. Collins and his research team examine eleven companies that made the jump from good to great. These companies are compared to eleven “direct comparison” companies that did not qualify as great. There were also six “unsustained comparisons,” companies that moved from good to great, but were not able to maintain the great status.

Collins introduces his findings within a “flywheel” concept. He uses this model to describe the process from “buildup” to “breakthrough.” This process is a product of three stages, each composed of two concepts. The first stage, “disciplined people,” consists of “Level 5 Leadership” and “First Who…Then What.” In the “disciplined thought” stage the concepts are “Confront the Brutal Facts” and “Hedgehog Concept.” And “disciplined actions” is comprised of “Culture of Disciple” and “Technology Accelerators.” As each concept is a key aspect of the analysis process, Collins devotes a chapter to each in which he explains the meaning and results associated with each concept.

Level 5 Leadership is arranged in a hierarchy from Highly Capable Individual to Contributing Team Member to Competent Manager to Effective Leader to Level 5 Executive. Collins asserts that it is not necessary to move sequentially up the hierarchy, but rather assumes that Level 5 leaders exemplify all hierarchal characteristics. According to the research results, Collins concludes that Level 5 leaders are characterized as modest, self-effacing, understanding, diligent, ambitious and humble. These leaders “look out the window” to credit their success, but “look in the mirror” to take personal responsibility for failure.

To explain the First Who…Then What concept, Collins uses the analogy of a bus. He maintains that it is first necessary to have the right people on the bus before deciding where to drive it. He distinguishes between this model and the “genius with a thousand helpers” model, utilized by most of the good companies. One other key point that Collins establishes is that great companies put the best people on the greatest opportunities as opposed to the greatest problems.

In terms of Confronting the Brutal Facts, the research shows that great companies assess their situation accurately, even if that means facing a brutal truth. Kroger conducted a great deal of research in the 1960s investigating the success of the “superstore concept.” Executives came to the conclusion that “old-model grocery stores,” which included nearly all Kroger stores at the time, were becoming obsolete. Therefore, Kroger faced the facts and began a rehaul of its stores. Through such assessment, great companies are then equipped to make better decisions in the long run.

The Hedgehog Concept is presented as a three-circle diagram composed to “What are you deeply passionate about,” “What you can be the best in the world at” and “What drives your economic engine.” The Hedgehog Concept is embodied by great companies that understand what they are best at, not what they want to be best at.  For example, Wells Fargo has succeeded in running a bank like a business because that is what the company best at. This success came only after discontinuing their work in global banking, which they could not execute better than competitor Citicorp. Collins found that great companies seem to know “one great thing” and abide by that principle in every facet of business. The author also notes in this section that a great industry is not a crucial determinant of a great company.

A Culture of Discipline relates back to the three stages, in that great companies must find people who employ disciplined thought that can translate that thought into disciplined action. Collins found that the more disciplined a company, that is, the more able it is to stay within the three circles of the Hedgehog Concept, the more it will sustain growth. The author also indicates that great companies can overlook a “once in a lifetime opportunity” if it does not fit within the circles.

The concept of Technology Accelerators affirms that great companies have a different view of technology than good companies. Collins’ researched shows that technology alone is not an indicator of either success or failure, but emphasizes that great companies use the right technology to their advantage and are not led astray by technological fads.

While Good to Great focuses on a variety of corporate attributes, Collins seems to minimize the role of leadership and management. He qualifies this disparity in accounting for today’s mentality of “credit the leader” or “blame the leader.” However, the fact of the matter is that leadership undermines each concept that Collins presents. Without adequate management, the initiatives necessary to transform a good company into a great company could not be put into action. It is the job of management to exercise the principles that Collins communicates.

In terms of management, Collins analysis of great companies seems to lean toward the collaborative management style of Mary Parker Follett and her concept of authority. He contends that it is necessary for employees to disagree such that all perspectives can be presented, but that ultimately there must be a consensus. Collins also introduces an idea of management that is more of a non-management concept, whereby the company need only hire self-disciplined people, give them freedom within the system and then manage the system as opposed to the employees.

Collins emphasizes that there is no system or type of system that works for all organizations, a recurring theme of management. Rather, he states that successful strategy is a product of concurrence with the Hedgehog Concept and the translation of the strategy into one simple notion. This focus on individual circumstances and management of the system does not explicitly coincide with any one management system.

The material in this book is presented in an interesting and easy-to-understand approach. Perhaps one of the most compelling aspects of Good to Great is the fact that all of Collins’ points are substantiated by thorough research. The fact that no claim is made without study and analysis makes this book even more persuasive in its claims.

Good to Great, although insightful and well-written, is not necessarily a beneficial read for public relations personnel. While management and leadership are addressed, the themes of the book are more pertinent for executives and entrepreneurs. However, the idea of management of the system versus management of the individual is an interesting concept that could be applied in a new management effort, but it is not practical in public relations, as the field is inherently group-oriented.

"Globalization,” by Pervez Ghauri & Sarah Powell

Reviewed by Erin Racher

Pervez Ghauri’s and Sarah Powell’s Globalization, part of the Essential Managers series, contains thorough content about historic and recent globalization trends.  Throughout the book, the authors tie in management and leadership elements to show how it affects and how it applies to globalization yesterday, today and tomorrow.

From a historical perspective, the book explores the foundations of globalization and in doing so, refers to management operation systems relating back to the beginning of the twentieth century. At the start of the twentieth century in the United States, three major management operation systems developed: Fordism, Taylorism and Sloanism. Henry Ford created Fordism to mass produce automobiles.  It focuses on a conveyor belt model where an employer allots an employee a specific task to work on along a production line.  Frederick Winslow Taylor, the founder of Taylorism, researched the most efficient ways to produce an item at its lowest price; his research influenced the idea of outsourcing, which is the act of distributing different product jobs to the most efficient locations.  Lastly, Alfred P. Sloan, a management expert and the generator of Sloanism, believed business organizations worked better as decentralized and multidivisional.  The world uses these theories to manage global organizations today.   

To monitor the growing idea of globalization, governments from across the world convened at Bretton Woods to create international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund to better manage economic, political and social issues on a global scale.  In addition, trade partnerships formed to help countries exude more influential and potent effects on globalization.  Examples include the EU, MERCOSUR and NAFTA.  International institutions and trade partnerships developed to better facilitate global trade between nations.

Today, technology helps companies globally manage operations conveniently and efficiently through virtual communication; but before going global, companies should first evaluate their goals and makeup.  Management needs to consider the company’s new locality and decide how it’s going to operate.  Two popular business models are vertical and horizontal operation models.  Another model option is glocal, which means the company incorporates the country’s local culture and outlook into its business operations, services and or products.  Furthermore, it can be beneficial to localize a brand to appeal to the native population, but all brand variations should possess a similar position of values to the core brand.

As a manager, keeping up with global trends and being familiar with the host country’s local customs can better an organization.  It can be beneficial to investigate and hire a credible local manager abroad because it might positively enhance the company’s status within the community, and the individual can be a good resource to talk to about acceptable local practices.  In fact, make sure to employ an excellent translator to avoid miscommunication on local written documents and verbal interactions.  In addition, inquire about appropriate behavior to avoid wrong behavior and be considerate to ensure a good company reputation.  Finally, guard the company against copyright infringement through patents and documentation.  

The authors refer to leadership and management techniques to explain the process of globalization and what it entails.  The book is segmented into four chapters and presents the information in a progressive manner.  Although the format of the first two chapters reads like a history lesson, the book does a good job of building up the foundations of globalization through mentioning historically significant theories of management operations, including Fordism, Taylorism and Sloanism.  In contrast to our ADPR class’s emphasis on Taylorism, the book’s text format presented Taylorism as a side note while the authors brought up Fordism and Sloanism in the main body of text.

In the final two chapters, the book focuses on implementation and recent globalization movements instead of background information.  The third chapter mentions models of business operation we have learned in class such as the vertical model and the horizontal model.  The book goes farther in depth to describe the models’ while the ADPR class’s definitions are direct and simple:  Vertical organization is based on function while horizontal organization is based on process.  The last chapter offers helpful tips and strategies to operate successfully abroad.  Its content provides several examples of diversified cultural practices to offer interesting insight into the differences between separate nations. 

I would recommend the book to fellow PR students with caution.  To begin with, the book is well organized and provides colorful visualization for the reader to enjoy as well as an unique graphic design and style.  It also demonstrates valid content and examples to illustrate its points.  On the other hand, the book is boring.  It reads like a textbook for the most part and occasionally uses complex language, which makes it challenging to interpret.  In conclusion, the book provides helpful and useful content, but it is difficult to stay awake while reading it.

“The Girl’s Guide to Being a Boss...,” by Caitlin Friedman & Kimberly Yorio

Reviewed by Damilola Coker 

Picture this: You are a graduate of the University of Georgia who received a degree in public relations. You walk in for an interview with one of the top public relations firms. You wear your favorite hot pink business suit for the interview, and when you arrive at the location, you stick out like a sore thumb. Everyone surrounding you is dressed in black, and to make things worse, the interview does not go well either. When you walk into the interview room, there is a single chair and a single desk. The owner walks in and demands that you write a paragraph that will inspire journalist to write about the chair. You finish the “test” and the owner (who is female) tosses your work in the trash. She explains that you were to sell the chair. Frustrated and defensive you exit the room. Although you never say it out loud, you were thinking “THAT STUPID BITCH!” Bitch is not even the word to describe her actions.  

The owner’s action in this interview is condemned and looked down upon by Caitlin Friedman and Kimberly Yorio, the authors of The Girl’s Guide to Being a Boss without Being a Bitch. When hiring someone for a position on your team, it is vital that you truly get to know them beyond their academic skills. Making sure that the candidate will be happy within your cooperate culture should be one of the main priorities of the interviewer. The worse mistake is to make the candidate feel inferior and clam up. Nothing will be accomplished.  

Above all the points made in the book, the authors want readers to be aware of their own internalized sexism and commit not to judge their female employees for not being more like the men in the office. After all, it is possible to be a great leader and still maintain your identity as a woman. Being yourself and working for the greater good of the group is the over arching vision of this book.   

Interview etiquette for the interviewer and interviewee is one of the many topics that Friedman and Yorio touch upon in their book. In this book are questionnaires and real life examples of being a woman in charge. It stresses the importance of owning your role as the boss and not being afraid of your power. According to Friedman and Yorio, “. . . you can be powerful without being possessive. You can be opinionated without being brassy. You can have a strong voice without micromanaging. You can be mentors who lead, inspire and motivate” (introduction).  Knowing whom to promote, who to fire and how to effectively train your employees are all material that is covered in the book. Although these things may sound easy and simple, they are all small things that can affect the dynamic of an entire team if not mastered properly.  

One of the reoccurring themes of this book is women empowerment. Using this approach of empowerment and self awareness, both Friedman and Yorio succeed in helping women harness and channel the innate skills that make them such great managers. Many of the author’s ideas of what it takes to be a leader are similar to a class discussion of what makes a leader. According to class discussion, there are five important ingredients that make a wonderful leader. A leader must have a vision, a leader must have passion for their job, a leader must display integrity, and a leader must be trust worthy and daring. According to The Girl’s Guide to Being a Boss without Being a Bitch, “. . . being the leader means you can be the manager who uplifts employees and gets real enjoyment from watching your colleagues grow and prosper” (3). It’s all about growing professionally and facing exciting challenges. Making a mistake is better than doing nothing at all and getting nothing accomplished.  It is possible however to learn these skills and still fail at being a leader. The components that make a great leader mentioned above are simple tools that should be used as a blueprint. Leadership, in my opinion, is an innate skill. Not everyone is capable to lead. Someone has to follow, and this is one of the many points stressed in Friedman and Yorio’s book.  

Cooperate cultures differ from company to company, and the more a company succeeds and grows, the more changes the company’s culture may under go. Because change is sometimes necessary for growth, making sure that you as a leader are aware of various leadership techniques in order to effectively guide your team is important. I believe that this book can serve as a great resource for leaders across the board, not only for women. Whether you are a manager of a McDonald’s franchise, a supervisor at a textile mill or even a CEO of a billion dollar company, this book has fundamental strategies to guide you in your role. I definitely recommend this book to other public relations students. Public relations is all about promoting a reassuring relationship with the public, and the methods and activities in which a public relations professional will use so that this favorable relationship is obtained will require basic management techniques that is highlighted throughout this book.  

Caitlin Friedman and Kimberly Yorio, the authors, make effort to bring attention to key issues that women in authority face on a day-to-day basis, especially in the corporate world. For a woman, this book gives great advice on how to be a capable leader without being labeled a “bitch,” and if you are a man reading this book, gender issues that take place in the work force are brought to your attention. Keeping in mind that the purpose of this book is to inform and not to persuade, male readers can gain a sufficient amount of wisdom. After all, knowledge is power. Who will argue this fact?  

“Creating Magic,” by Lee Cockerell

Reviewed by: Angela Alfano

“It’s not the magic that makes it work; it’s the way we work that makes it magic.” This guiding principle is taught to every employee at Walt Disney World Resorts—the results, well, they have been nothing less than magical for both the company and employees. Lee Cockerell’s book, Creating Magic, reveals the secret ingredients Disney uses for creating magic. He teaches readers how every employee and company who implement these management/leadership strategies can create something special, too. Cockerell combines his own life experiences, on-the-job lessons and words of wisdom from his years at Disney into 10 management and leadership strategies that will ensure success to any employee and business.

Cockerell begins the book by describing Walt Disney World and the “Disney Formula of Success.” This brief detailed description of Walt Disney World reveals the magnitude of the resort complex. Disney World is double the size of Manhattan and is the largest single-site employer in the world with 59,000 employees. As former Executive of Vice President of Operations, Cockerell developed key leadership and management strategies to ensure everything at Disney ran smoothly and efficiently. The overall strategy for success begins with effective leadership. Great leadership leads to employee excellence, which creates employee satisfaction, which then creates guest satisfaction. As Cockerell states, “the customer doesn’t come first; leadership comes first.” With this philosophy in mind, Cockerell created 10 great leadership strategies which he goes into in detail throughout the rest of the book.

The first strategy, “Remember that Everyone is Important,” is something small, but really makes a huge impact in the corporate culture of a company. Cockerell describes how it is important to create an environment that makes every customer and employee feel special. He describes the importance to treat everyone as an individual and to give people respect. Most importantly, he believes it is important to take the time to get to know your employees. Another strategy he discusses is, “Breaking the Mold.” Cockerell describes how important it is to determine the efficiency of the structure of your organization and then decide if the lines of accountability, responsibility and authority are clear and developed.

“Make Your People Your Brand.” This strategy deals with hiring and firing of employees. Cockerell advises companies select the best candidate for the job, not just the best person available, even if it means putting in the extra work to find them. “Eliminate Hassles,” is another strategy. Cockerell advises leaders to ask, “Why do we do it that way?” and to find the process failure instead of finding someone to blame. Another meaningful strategy is “Burn the Free Fuel.” Free fuel is describe as ARE—appreciation, recognition and encouragement. These are cost-free fuels that can boots self-esteem and performance. These can come in various forms, such as writing a simple note to an employee praising their work or simply recognizing employees by name, and when possible, including the employee’s family when they are being recognized.

Overall, I think Cockerell’s approach to management/leadership is exceptional. He describes his strategies in a practical, common sense way that really appeals to all employees. His combination of strategies with personal storytelling provides real life examples of how effective these approaches are. Several of Cockerell’s strategies compare to total quality management. The emphasis on quality of employees, shareholders and consumers, is important to both, as well as the focus on how companies are organized (structure). In every strategy or recommendation Cockerell made, he was always looking at long-term results and treating the employees correctly so they would then treat the customers with respect, just like TQM.

Cockerell’s strategies had elements of new management (teams), as well. Both discuss how horizontal organizations are better and suggest that eliminating the middle man, or the traditional chain of command, can be an asset to the company. Cockerell’s emphasis on the hands-on and personable relationships with all employees, no matter the department, was similar to the team structure. Cockerell also united different Disney departments to include more and more employees in the same areas and to prevent miscommunication. This was also done to allow employees to continue to grow, learn and develop their leadership, technical and managerial skills.

I would strongly recommend this book to other public relations students because the strategies Cockerell discusses are essential to helping all people improve both as leaders in the workplace and in the community. His section discussing how to deal with crises and stories on how to work with managers/high level officials are especially interesting to PR students. Most importantly, Cockerell’s strategies for excellent leadership are ways to better yourself as a person. He teaches caring, compassion and good character. He describes how doing small things, such as replying to every single employee’s e-mail, phone calls and meeting requests, goes a long way. Disney’s magic, or Cockerell’s leadership/management strategies, can really do wonders for everyone. After reading this book, I too realize that it’s the way people work and the leadership strategies we implement that make magic happen.          

“Management Lessons From Mayo Clinic,” by Leonard L. Berry & Kent D. Seltman

Reviewed by Meredith Schneider 

 The needs of the patient come first. This concept seems inherent for anyone in the health care field, yet it is precisely what distinguishes Mayo Clinic from all others of its kind. The safety, needs, and well-being of the patient guides the actions of every aspect of the clinic, beginning with the janitor who meticulously sterilizes the operating room and continuing up through the ranks to the surgeon who organizes a birthday party for a patient’s family. The unique cultural values of the Mayo Clinic reside in all who work there and allow Mayo to maintain their branding of one of the world’s top health institutions for more than 100 years. 

When the Mayo brothers founded the Clinic in the early 1900s, they focused primarily on offering the best patient care, the most advanced science, and exemplary training for future generations of physicians. Unlike many major health care organizations, money is not the primary motivator of performance at Mayo Clinic. Employees feel rewarded by performing to their maximum potential and providing the highest level of care possible to all patients, regardless of financial or social status.  Additionally, there is a tremendous level of humility among physicians and executives, in that all doctors are on salary, which is very unusual amongst physicians. The Mayo brothers instituted the salary model at the Clinic’s foundation to ensure that physicians were motivated simply by the practice of the job itself, not by financial advancement.  

A core value of the Mayo Clinic is the collaborative environment of practicing team medicine. This “pooling of talent” integrates the work of multiple specialties into the single case of a patient, comparing the feeling of succeeding to a baseball team scoring a homerun. The lack of financial incentives also promotes the physicians to collaborate on additional projects for patients without the fear of losing money or time. 

The Mayo Clinic also institutes a very open communication policy with little to no boundaries within the various ranks of the organization. Because poor communication in the field of health care can be detrimental to the safety of patients, the culture of the Clinic insists upon open collaborative problem solving.  Plus-One, a program instituted in 2005, asserts that any employee can ask the help of someone in a higher position of command in order to provide the necessary care for a patient. The lack of intimidation in the hierarchy of employees results in more effective communication, and thus lower error rates.  

Unusually, the success of the Mayo Clinic operates primarily via word-of-mouth by patients and outside physicians, and the Clinic did not even have a marketing department until 1992. Mayo relies on the great satisfaction of patient care to promote the services of the Clinic, and patients travel from all over the world to receive treatment at all three campuses in Minnesota, Florida and Arizona.  

The Mayo Clinic’s approach to management is extremely unique and innovative in comparison to other institutions, both inside and outside of the health care industry. In actuality, the nature of health care presents many challenges that are not faced in other industries. As stated in the book, the majority of the organization’s customers are physically in pain; many of the customers live in their facilities while undergoing care and require 24-hour service; the services at the Clinic are based on need, not want, and many customers would rather spend their time elsewhere; the necessary services needed by patients must be customized to each individual circumstance; and customers are very high-risk, in that mistakes made on behalf of the Clinic can be fatal. Thus, the Mayo Clinic’s distinctive management model proves to be even more impressive given these unusual conditions.  

This book provides a superior outlook to management in that it is not merely preaching suggestions on how to run a company, it is describing a system that has been in place for more than 100 years. The humility of employees that work towards a common goal, the needs of the customer, sets a strong precedent for all other institutions. The system of management at the Mayo Clinic reflects the philosophies of Mary Parker Follett, with a very collaborative environment in which employees are recognized as individuals and decision-making is a multi-person process.   

I would highly recommend this book to other public relations students. Although at first the concepts may appear to apply solely to those in the health care industry, the case study describes the managerial techniques that have allowed Mayo Clinic to maintain their brand for more than 100 years with minimal marketing. Additionally, Mayo’s atmosphere of teamwork is very important to public relations professionals, in that they must integrate the work of multiple specialties within a company in order to promote the brand. Additionally, public relations practitioners must not be intimidated to question higher-ranking officials within an organization concerning issues in which they have greater expertise.  

A lesson that all students can take from Management Lessons From Mayo Clinic is that the needs of the customer must always come first. Through times of economic hardship many companies are forced to scale back the quality of their service because of lack of funds, however the reputation and superior care that the Clinic offers allows them to maintain very high standards of execution.  I feel that this book provides a very insightful discussion of an extremely successful model of management, and I would highly recommend it to both public relations students and managers of all types of businesses.

“Strengths Based Leadership,” by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie

Reviewed by Keri Lyons

Strength Based Leadership focuses on leadership and highlights the best ways to lead groups and organizations. The book is in three parts. First, the author discusses investing in your strengths. Second, they explain how to best maximize your team, and finally how to understand why people follow. They believe that these three parts, used together, will create the perfect leader and team. After reviewing all three parts, I will then discuss how I believe this book compares to collaborative management, and finally, end with why others should read this book.

Part 1: Investing In Your Strengths

According to Dr. Donald O. Clifton, “What great leaders have in common is that each truly knows his or her strengths –and can call on the right strength at the right time.” Individuals cannot lead effectively until they identify what their individual strengths are and invest their full attention on those specific strengths. Once they do this, they can give their full attention to their teams and employees and help them find their best strengths for their own job. If a leader is able “to help focus people on their strengths, it will dramatically boost engagement levels throughout your organization.”

The authors then discuss how leaders should not focus on weaknesses because it will not allow individuals to build self confidence. A study done by Tim Judge and Charlice Hurst found that individuals who had higher self-confidence would be more successful than people with lower self-confidence. “These outcomes highlight the value of leaders knowing their own strengths and also reveal how important it is for leaders to help others uncover their strengths as early as possible.”

Part 2: Maximizing Your Team

“Effective leaders surround themselves with the right people and build on each person’s strengths.” This quote emphasizes the importance of not building a team of people that act, think, and behave the same way as the leaders. Leaders need to have variety of personalities and strengths to obtain a well-rounded group. Studies completed by the authors showed that there are broader groupings of strengths, which they narrowed down into four domains. These domains are executing, influencing, relationship building, and strategic thinking. Leaders with strength in executing domain know how to catch an idea and make it happen. Leaders who influence help sell their team’s ideas inside and outside the organization. Leaders who build relationships are the glue that holds the teams together. And finally leaders with strategic thinking are the ones who keep the team focused on what could be. Leaders who take advantage of these domains within their teams will be well-rounded.

Part 3: Understanding Why People Follow

A leader is only a leader if other people follow them. So when the question “why do people follow leaders?” arises, the group to ask is the followers. The authors wanted to focus on this question because they feel it is never discussed in other studies. The study is conducted to find an average person’s opinion about leadership. They found that people wanted and needed from a leader four things – trust, compassion, stability, and hope –and if a leader had these four things, they were considered great leaders.

I believe the authors give a great approach to leadership because consistently throughout the book, they stress that a leader needs to understand their own strengths so they can help their team understand theirs. Understanding each other’s strengths helps build a good relationship between the leader and the team. A good relationship needs to be filled with trust and honesty. The team and their leader need to be loyal to each other so they will be able to trust each other. Good followers are willing to learn and able to take direction and good leaders are approachable and fair and need the ability to be good listeners. All of these traits added to understanding strengths, assure a great relationship with one another.

A bad relationship can tear a team apart. If a team has a bad relationship, they immediately need to start discussing the problems and figure out how to rebuild their relationship and trust. After a while, the meetings will bring substantial changes as the team figures out each other’s strengths and understands those strengths. The authors stress on communication and relationship building is a good example of Mary Parker Follett’s collaborative management, because collaborative management stresses that people have power together, like a team, not over each other. Collaborative management’s process of decisions occurs through a continuous process of communication, another thing stressed by the authors.

I definitely encourage my fellow classmates to read Strength Based Leadership. The book constantly emphasizes the importance of understanding your strengths at an early age because if you focus on your strengths instead of your weaknesses, you will have more self-confidence and succeed in future years. Dr. Clifton and his team created a web-based program, “StrengthFinder,” which is made to help people identify their individual strengths. When you buy this book, you have the opportunity to use StrengthFinder to find out what your strengths are, giving us time to really start understanding and shaping our strengths.  I believe being given the opportunity to take the quiz makes this book a great tool to have for the future.  

I really enjoyed reading this book. It not only has helpful resources, but the authors also use great examples to tie in their findings. They used examples of specific CEO’s to explain the four domains. Wendy Kopp, CEO of Teach For America, is an excellent example for executing, because she executed her idea of creating a national teaching corps by creating her core team, and within a year, gained 500 members and raised $2.5 million in funds. She also was a very organized person. She starts each year with a structured list of all the things she needs to accomplish in the next 12 months and then from there breaks it down by month and week. From the weekly list, she creates a daily to-do list. It is very important for a leader to be organized so that their team can be successful. Simon Cooper, CEO of Ritz-Carlton, was the best example for influencing because he focused on expanding the Ritz-Carlton to have global influence so he could build on the strength of the brand. He also started Ritz-Carlton’s program to sell private residences, which was one of the best moves in the company’s history. Mervyn Davies, Chairman of Standard Chartered Bank, is a great example of relationship building because he focused on keeping good relationships with his employees. He kept good relations with his employees by being respectful to them and sending out monthly emails to keep contact with all of them.  Lastly, Brad Anderson, CEO of Best Buy, is the best example of strategic thinking because he came up with the idea to change Best Buy from a commission job to one like grocery stores, where the shoppers are free to browse. This idea changed consumer electric stores shortly thereafter. This book's many great stories and lessons will not leave readers disappointed.

“Eat Mor Chikin, Inspire More People,” by S. Truett Cathy

Reviewed by Stefanie DiLegge

Eat Mor Chikin, Inspire More People by Samuel Truett Cathy is a biography that recounts the founding of Chick-fil-A. Cathy shares with the readers his morals, values and views on business throughout the book. Cathy explains that communication and trust are key components to his managing style. Although similar to the Total Quality Management, the Chick-fil-A management system is unique and extremely successful.

Samuel Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A, was born into an extremely poor family. Cathy’s father struggled to find work and make enough money to support the family. Tragedy struck the Cathy family early on with the death of one child and another diagnosed with polio. In order to try to make ends meet, Cathy’s mother started a boarding house to make some extra money.  Cathy’s mother turned out to be the breadwinner of the family. Early on, Cathy began to understand the importance of work. He sought out many different jobs to help his family in any way possible. From his newspaper delivery job, Cathy learned the best way to stay in business was to always please the customer. The newspaper route proved to be instrumental in shaping the business mindset of Cathy.

Years later, Cathy and his brother Ben opened up their first restaurant, the Dwarf Grill. The Dwarf Grill, later renamed the Dwarf House, was a twenty-four hour diner known for great food that customers could expect quickly and at an affordable price. Customers were the center of attention and were always pleased with the service. Cathy sought to create a lifelong, loyal customer with each new face that would come into the Dwarf Grill. Cathy poured his life and soul into the restaurant. He would work overtime and remain on-call twenty-four hours a day in case the small staff needed an extra hand.

Although Cathy’s eye was on the success of the restaurant, the brothers made a bold decision to close its doors every Sunday. Cathy spent much of his childhood in church and with family on Sundays. His main guidance in life came from his Sunday school teachers. He wanted to continue with his service to God and spend his Sundays teaching Sunday school. Cathy believed in helping others and the community. His motto for life was about the giving and taking of unexpected opportunities. After the success of his first restaurant and a couple of tragedies along the way, Cathy took advantage of an unexpected opportunity and built the foundation for Chick-fil-A.

Cathy married his wife Jeanette McNeil, his childhood sweetheart and love of his life. Shortly after they got married, Cathy faced the obstacle of rationing during WWII. Beef products were among the most difficult items to get during the rationing period. Struck with an unexpected opportunity, Cathy was approached by poultry suppliers that could not sell oddly shaped chicken breast meat. This intrigued Cathy and he began developing a recipe to sell the chicken. After four years of trial and error, Cathy perfected the chicken sandwich famously copyrighted as the original Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich. Cathy began to market the sandwich to restaurants and take a small portion of the sales the restaurants sold. However, he soon realized consistency was impossible to manage and his name would be tarnished with a less than spectacular product. Finally, he moved to open a new restaurant.

Taking advantage of the “malling” of America, Cathy opened new quick serve restaurants in malls. He based his new brand of restaurants, Chick-fil-A, on the basis of complete honestly and high standards to be upheld with every customer. Customers could see everything cooked and served before them. This idea transformed Chick-fil-A into a prestigious fast-food restaurant.

As the restaurant grew into a corporation with many franchises, the fundamental methodology in which it was founded has not changed. Cathy promotes every aspect of his business with trust, honesty and love. He trusts every employee down to the teenagers working at the local Chick-fil-A. His corporation stands for honesty, morality, integrity and a love for the community they serve. Cathy single-handedly built a multi-billion dollar corporation by attracting new customers and killing them with kindness, outstanding service and quality creating lifelong consumers. Much like the consumers, employees are loyal to the business. On a rare occasion will a team-member, operator or corporate manager quit. Most times team-members leave for school purposes and return later, operators retire and pass the franchise to their children and corporate management employees retire after many years at Chick-fil-A. Cathy has built an American icon in a corporation and is slowly changing the standards to which fast-food restaurants should rise.

S. Truett Cathy manages Chick-fil-A much like the Total Quality Management system. TQM is based on the principle that corporations must find out consumer needs, translate the needs and produce a quality, dependable product at a low and efficient cost. Cathy believes, like TQM, if operators train their employees to the best of their ability, the quality of work will be high. If employees produce high quality work, less people would need to be hired, fewer mistakes would be made and costs to the producer would be cut. Therefore, Chick-fil-A would operate with little variation and customers could expect the same high quality food and service at every restaurant visited across the nation. Also like the TQM system, Cathy manages Chick-fil-A with an emphasis on employee communication and happiness. Cathy entrusted much of his business decisions in his employees. While his management strategy works for him, I feel that putting too much trust in the employees is dangerous. In my opinion once Cathy decides to retire and hand over the business to one of his sons, his son may not be able to have the same faith in the employees. The new manager might try to take more part in the process and cause resentment among the employees for the change. Also in my critique of Cathy earned respect among his colleagues because of his hard work ethic and the amount of his soul he invested in the company. I believe that without the same experiences Cathy went through and overcame, his son may find it difficult to gain the same respect from employees and manage the corporation in the same way as his father.

In my opinion, I would recommend other PR students to read this book. Cathy’s management system and brand identity for Chick-fil-A fundamentally shows the importance standards among each employee within the corporation. The book can teach PR students to keep a high level of integrity and honesty when it comes to the work they do. Also, Chick-fil-A’s standards challenge many American businesses. Chick-fil-A faces extreme pressure from modern society to open on Sunday. Although it may be financially beneficial to the corporation, the mission of the brand is to devote Sundays to days of worship, family and service to the community. It takes a strong PR professional to battle the constant criticism Chick-fil-A receives for its old-fashioned mindset. In addition to the Sunday closure struggle, Chick-fil-A does not advertise much in mainstream media. The original billboard and word-of-mouth approach has worked tremendously for Chick-fil-A. From this, I believe that PR students would learn from Cathy the continuing importance of traditional media outlets and the importance of buzz-worthy projects to get free coverage. I feel that students would benefit from the book by analyzing the fundamentals of the PR profession and the impact it still has on modern society.  

"Raising the Bar: Integrity and Passion in Life and Business," by Gary Erickson & Lois Lorentzen

Reviewed by Ashley Teale

 

Reading Raising the Bar has opened my eyes to a completely new perspective on people, businesses, various leadership ways, and the dedication required to manage a company. The book is the story of Clif Bar & Co., a company that began producing and selling their own energy bars in the early 1990s and continues to take the industry by storm today. Through product development, life adventures, and a strong vision, Gary Erickson takes readers on a storybook roller coaster ride of how one of America’s favorite snacking treats came to be.

 

It all began one seemingly ordinary bike ride with Erickson’s good friend Jay. Known for mapping out crazy and adventurous trails, Jay invited Erickson on 175-mile bike ride through the San Francisco Bay Area. Together the two packed six energy bars, a banana, and a few sports drinks to last them the duration of the ride. What the two soon came to discover was that the ride was much longer than they had planned for. Reaching the end of their journey the two desperately needed to refuel, yet couldn’t manage to swallow the last of their six PowerBars. Riding down Mount Hamilton the idea hit Erickson that he could make an energy bar that tastes better and if necessary, could easily be swallowed after the fifth, sixth, or seventh bar. The rest as they say, is history.

 

Together Erickson and his mom concocted recipe after recipe trying to find their perfect solution. Finally, six months later, the bar was created and passed out to family and friends, fellow cyclists, and any outdoorsmen wanting to test out this new product. Named after Erickson’s father, Cliff, the bars were inspired by their father-son passion for the outdoors. The almost instant success of Clif bars came by complete surprise. After being launched in a bike race in February 1992, seven hundred bike shops were eager to sell the product in their stores.

 

Through the ups and downs of the company Erickson stood behind his product. He began having weekly Thursday morning meetings that were open discussion with the employees, interacting with each other and asking questions. At the close of each meeting a consumer appreciation letter was read. The company camping trip, ski trip, and fun competitions such as Iron Chef were reinstated and encouraged humor and enjoyment back into their work lives. The road to success was long and hard but Clif Co. saw positive product adaptation and was even approached by Lance Armstrong as a possible cycling sponsor.

 

The stories in this book are the primary lessons on business management and leadership techniques. Biking through Lucerne, Switzerland, Erickson and Jay looked at their map that was made up of red, yellow, and white trails. Red trails consisted of busy streets packed with cars and trucks, yellow were smaller roads that were still well traveled, and white were all the smaller trails branching off of the red and yellow. Starting with the red trails they then ventured to the yellow and lastly road the white. Pretty soon white were the only trails they traveled. Erickson applied that symbolism to his business method and followed it the rest of his life. In his method the red paths were about reaching the final destination. It connected Point A and Point B in the fastest route and is often dangerous and risky. The white path focused on the journey. It offers adventure and requires you to trust your gut. For Clif Co., following the red trail meant maximizing shareholder value, and making large sums of money. However when they took the white trail the moments mattered, not the destination. One example of this is when Clif Co. remained privately owned. The owners weren’t sure what the outcome of the company would be between various product launches, a shift in management, and increasing competition between competitors, yet they stuck with the journey regardless. They didn’t have a set or final destination and that is what drives Clif Co.

 

I think this is a great way to look at a management system and decide where your focus is. A primary company goal is listening to the consumers and offering the products they want. The company noticed a demand for something and followed it instead of creating something and forming a demand afterwards. His leadership approach I highly recommend and loved his open door policy. During the weekly Thursday meetings Erickson put himself out there and stood in front of employees willing to answer their concerns. When they asked to see a tour of the bakery and how the products they were selling were made he readily obliged and arranged a tour and small dinner party at the bakery. Placing trust in the workers, informing them of changes and asking their opinion are key parts of diminishing fear and anxiety. Erickson is not only an amazing leader but also a phenomenal entrepreneur as well.

 

Erickson’s method of leadership seems to be a combination of Ed Deming’s Total Quality Management (TQM) and Mary Parker Follett’s collaborative system. One example of TQM in his method is focusing on the long-term goals of the company instead of short-term goals. Despite being heavily influenced by his partner and his financial advisors, Erickson withheld from selling the company and acquiring shareholders. A major focus of the company was analyzing the products and relating them to the consumers needs. If the two failed to match, then the managers and product developers knew a product change was needed. A characteristic related to Follett’s collaborative system was Erickson’s self-improvement and education program. Informing his employees was his best tool to promoting the product and increasing self-awareness. If they had a question regarding the making of any of the products he would bring them on a tour of the bakery and allow them to watch the process. This way when they were asked about the product they would have complete knowledge and be able to give an accurate answer.

 

Encouraging group success and rewarding it was a way to boost morale and encourage continuous self-development amongst employees. Decisions were made involving numerous staff members from varying positions. Often times he would ask employees their ideas and suggestions in order to help Clif Co. continue growing. Even if a manager is not exactly like Erickson I feel they could still use a similar method of management. There isn’t a specific personality type or life experience that his models requires, rather a dedication to the company and its product and the ability to communicate with employees. If a manager focuses on the greater good of the company and puts those values above all then the rest should fall seemingly into place.

 

It may seem throughout the book that Erickson is solely in the business to further his products and isn’t concerned with making tons of money. While I understand that he has a deeply rooted attachment to his products and genuinely wants consumers to benefit from them, there is a reason he is focusing all his time, money, and energy into this venture: to make at least a noticeable profit. With countless companies whose main goal it is only to make large sums of money, it is a refreshing notion that Clif Co. is confident with their product and the idea that making a profit is a bonus that they’ll receive from their hard work. The company sincerely seems to take an interest in their customers, their health, and the well being of the environment.

 

I cannot explain just how blown away I was by this book. To read a story detailing the steps it took to bring a company from the underdog to the front-runner was an inspiring tale. The amount of passion, integrity, and love Erickson invested in both his product and employees is like finding a diamond in the rough. I would highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to broaden their leadership and management skills or if they are simply looking for a real-life Cinderella story. Years down the road when I’m faced with an uncertain business or life decision and am unsure which way to go, I will pull out this book and once again be inspired.  

“Forces for Good,” by Leslie R. Crutchfield and Heather McLeod Grant

Reviewed by Kristin Eichbauer

 

“Forces for Good” by Crutchfield and Grant describes six practices of nonprofits that ultimately help them achieve greater social change and impact in their particular social spheres. The authors spent four years surveying and interviewing nonprofit industry leaders to compose this list of what makes nonprofits most successful in fulfilling their missions. Crutchfield and Grant describe these practices in the context of particular influential nonprofits they identified that utilize these specific tactics in creating impact. The book is organized into separate chapters focusing on one of the six practices they outline.

 

The first practice is “advocate and serve.” Traditionally, nonprofits have taken on either advocacy or service.  What this chapter reveals is that taking part in both of these helps leverage greater social change for an organization. A nonprofit can create effective programs that serve a local community, but in order to reform larger systems, advocacy is required to expand their impact.  Advocacy allows organizations to access government resources, change legislation, and raise public awareness for their cause.

 

The second strategy utilized by high-impact nonprofits is “make markets work.” The premise here is to engage with businesses instead of viewing them as an enemy. Nonprofits do this by influencing business practices of major corporations, establishing corporate partnerships and developing earned-income businesses of their own to further their cause. In this chapter, the authors cite Environmental Defense, a nonprofit committed to creating innovative solutions to environmental problems, and the nonprofit’s partnership with major U.S. corporations such as McDonald’s, FedEx, and Wal-Mart. This influential force partnered with these corporations to help them reduce their waste and become more environmentally friendly, which ultimately benefits both the corporation and Environmental Defense. 

 

Third, high-impact nonprofits inspire evangelists. Instead of solely viewing nonprofit supporters as volunteers and as a way to generate funds, these organizations engage these individuals in impacting experiences that transform the basic volunteer into an advocate, ready to educate the world of the organization’s cause. They train and equip these leaders with the supplies and resources they need to spread the cause, furthering their impact.

 

The fourth practice is to nurture nonprofit networks. Instead of viewing other nonprofits as competitors for volunteers and resources, effective nonprofits partner with these organizations to maximize impact and further the cause as a whole. They share leadership and management tips with these organizations as well as sharing donors and resources with them. They view other nonprofits as members of the same team instead of competitors.

 

Next, for a nonprofit to be highly effective, it must master the art of adaption. The organization must not be stuck in a routine way of doing things, but rather, remain adaptable so greater impact can be achieved. This could mean adopting and evolving old fundraising techniques into ones that will be more effective in the current environment.

 

Last, a nonprofit organization must share leadership.  Instead of the traditional vertical hierarchy of management, effective nonprofits propose and establish a horizontal system in which leadership is concentrated in the hands of many, instead of the few. These nonprofits believe that the more leadership their employees are given, the greater ownership and passion they will have to pursue greater impact they desire. 

 

In terms of management, nonprofits typically are managed differently than for profit organizations and focus not on increasing profit and beating out the competition, but raising money, recruiting volunteers, and ultimately, working to have the greatest impact in their prospective spheres of influence. Because of this emphasis on impact over individual gain, the authors suggest a very horizontal approach to management, which does without strict hierarchies within the organization and gives all employees a voice in decision-making.  As long as everyone is on board with the vision and overall goals of the organization, these high-impact nonprofits do not let individual interest get in the way of working towards a greater good. This approach is also closely aligned with Mary Parker Follett’s collaborative management system because of its emphasis on sharing leadership and decision-making in a team compared to Frederick Taylor’s scientific management system characterized by strict hierarchy focused on individual productivity.

 

Also, the authors suggest a model of management where nonprofits work with one another, not as competitors for scarce resources and volunteers, but as organizations working together to further their cause and work towards a greater good. Sometimes, this requires individual nonprofits to make short-term sacrifices to have a longer-lasting and greater impact as a network and community of organizations looking to achieve similar goals. This can be associated with collaborative management’s idea of constructive conflict. Instead of bargaining over resources among nonprofits, they choose to unify for greater impact.

 

They also admit that not all of these nonprofits have perfect management practices, but since these organizations utilize these six practices, they achieve greater social impact. They emphasize outcomes and results instead of the traditional management model, like Management By Objective (MBO), that stresses input and processes. Though I agree with the authors that greater impact is achieved through focusing on actual results, I do believe that input and process is key in maintaining any organization that wants to work for the betterment of a social cause.

 

I would highly recommend this book for numerous audiences. It is especially helpful to any student who is interested in working in the nonprofit sector simply because the book focuses on how to make these organizations great. The insight this book provides in revealing the secrets of America’s most influential nonprofit organizations is inspiring and educating. By reading this book, I have been given a sense of empowerment and direction in how to most effectively pursue the social change that I hope to seek in my career in nonprofit management. It is also helpful for students interested in nonprofit public relations to discover how to address and manage your publics effectively to result in the greatest social change.

 

For those not interested in working in the nonprofit sector, this book still offers useful information for those pursuing a career with a corporation or other for-profit entities. This book introduces the reader to a new way to address nonprofit philanthropy and corporate social responsibility.  Companies can view partnerships with and donations to nonprofits, not only as a philanthropic cause, but also as a business venture that can be beneficial in increasing profits for a corporation. 

"Eat Mor Chikin, Inspire More People," by Truett Cathy

Reviewed by Caitlin Peterson

 

Truett Cathy’s book, Eat Mor Chikin, Inspire More People, describes his life and business along with his unique way of doing both. It is an eye-opening look inside the man that “didn’t invent the chicken, just the chicken sandwich.”

 

His strong faith and conviction for the Christian faith has led him in all aspects of his life, including Chick- fil-A. He believes that God encourages opportunities, in business and in his personal life, which lead him to greater successes. Cathy expects that these moral convictions are fundamental and necessary for every employee who work with and for him.

 

His decision to keep the company private is an example of this conviction. Cathy wants to maintain the freedom to give money and support when he feels that the Lord calls him to do so, and if the company were public that decision would affect so many others who may not support his decision. This decision may lose him short-term profits but with Cathy the bottom line isn’t the most important; it’s the quality of the food and the way the business is run.

 

This is the same thinking that keeps Chick-fil-A closed on Sundays. It is considered the most lucrative day for fast food restaurants but for Cathy his convictions hold more value than monetary gains. He believes that by closing on Sundays the company sets a good example for families and communities. It allows an opportunity for family time as well as  time to honor God.  These are the values that guide Cathy when he decides to entrust his name and company in the hands of others.

 

The people who become “Operators,” franchise owners, of a Chick-fil-A restaurant, must believe in this mission as well. They can’t just run a business or a restaurant, but must be there to help a community and be leaders in each one. It is their duty to contribute to the community; by donating food or helping worthy kids get jobs and scholarships; it is more about the people in the area than about the profits. Cathy’s ideas about good business practice stem far beyond profits and further into being a solid member of society. If the company is there for the community, then they will support the business for years after that single donation or scholarship application. Cathy’s thinking is that if the company can influence people at a young age in a positive manner, then they will be lifetime customers, much better for the company in the long term.

 

He acts as a true manager should act. By involving everyone in the process and believing in taking in everyone’s opinion and input in the decision, but ultimately it is his decision to make.  He sticks to his values and does not let the profits change those. In deciding to help fund Berry and the Winshape Camps, a summer program for boys and girls in Berry, Georgia, everyone on his financial team felt it was a waste of money, but he, with his wife, felt that God was calling him to get involved. He listened to the concerns of his business associates and weighed that with his family’s feelings (they were supporting the decision) and decided what he felt was best. Today these institutions are growing and have become another positive opportunity that Chick-fil-A and the Cathy family can proudly stand behind. He continues to use his faith and religious convictions in every decision that he makes- both in his business and his philanthropic pursuits

Cathy uses many of the collaborative styles of management; his authority is a direct result of his ability to make sound decisions and his consistent use of cooperative power. His process, though, does not go as far as utilizing a system of a horizontal corporation. His decision is just the final step of that decision. After taking everything into account, he still has the final say. The decision to continue with the Winshape camps is an example if this.

 

These amazing opportunities that Cathy funds and is personally involved in was not something that he experienced growing up. Rising from humble beginnings in Georgia, Cathy’s family struggled to make ends meet and was lacking in a strong father figure. This situation later prompted him to become a strong male role model for troubled and fostered children. He is known as “grandpa” to over 150 children and is responsible for the upbringing and Christian education for all of them.  His own experiences as a child inspired him not to only build a strong, successful business but take the wealth that God has gifted him and honor God with that by leading an extremely faith based life and help teach children those same values.

 

The style of writing in this book was interesting and different because Cathy approaches the readers as if he was their grandfather. At times it was difficult to follow and thoughts started and ended abruptly, but overall the tone and message of the book truly showed what kind of man Cathy is and they what kind of business he runs because of it. His business practices are among the top rated and his business is making money where others are failing so he must be doing something right. I would definitely recommend this book to other PR majors, as it exhibits following one’s beliefs and sticking to convictions, even if they are not always the most popular. In Cathy’s situation it has led him to incredible success.