Work at Home or in the Office?

Posted by on December 5, 2022 · Leave a Comment 

There are obvious benefits to the employee of working from home. However the negatives to the company are too significant to ignore. In every turnaround of a distressed company I have fixed, the absence of face-to-face cross-functional communication was glaringly absent. Cross-functional communication is defined as employees from every function meeting as a group on […]

Category American Management Association, Avoiding a Common Manufacturing Problem, Books, Broken Business Model, Business failure, CEOs, Chief Executive Officer, Cross-functional communication, Effective management and employee communication, Leadership, Management, Turnarounds · Tags

The Netflix Culture & Mistake

Posted by on October 25, 2011 · Leave a Comment 

Netflix’s culture was described in a recent edition of the Business Insider. It makes an interesting read. At more than one hundred pages, it is quite long and detailed – but worthwhile. While it is described as a statement of its company culture, it is more of a guide and blueprint for its employees on […]

Category Best Companies to Work For, Books, CEOs, Peter Drucker, USA · Tags , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What Leads to Business Failure?

Posted by on October 14, 2011 · Leave a Comment 

Donald Keough’s book “The Ten Commandments for Business Failure”is an interesting, creditable book useful to Chief Executive Officers with a company culture that needs improvement. Donald Keough is the former President of The Coca-Cola Company. The book is a short, easy read that covers all the elements of a positive culture. Some of it is self-evident. […]

Category Bankruptcies, Bankruptcy, Blog, Books, Business failure, CEOs, Chief Executive Officer, Leadership · Tags , , , , , , , ,

Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War”

Posted by on September 16, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

Sun Tzu’s book “The Art of War”was written in 400BC. Peter Drucker’s and Sun Tzu’s management tenets for success are essentially the same. Sun Tzu was China’s first professional General. Prior to him the Sovereign led his army which was frequently disorganized, under-funded and unsuccessful. He developed strategy and tactics of war but also detailed […]

Category Books, CEOs, China, Peter Drucker, The Art of War, USA · Tags , , , , , , ,

Where is China Heading?

Posted by on June 15, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

Mark Leonard’s book “What Does China Think?” presents China’s challenges and struggles with some surprising priorities its leaders have set to correct them. For the first time in China’s history its 11th five-year plan does not list economic growth as its first priority. The plan: “put people first”…“respecting the natural environment”…introduces a Scandinavian model of social welfare […]

Category Blog, Books, China, India, Manufacturing, Mexico, Peter Drucker, The Art of War · Tags , , , , , , , , , ,

A Helpful History Book for CEOs

Posted by on March 6, 2006 · Leave a Comment 

I came across an impressive book, which would be very helpful to any CEO.  It is an interesting historical effort and was referenced in a footnote of a best selling business book “Good to Great”. It proved to be a better book on management in my opinion, than the popular business publication. Barbara Tuchman wrote “The March […]

Category Books, Business failure, CEOs, USA · Tags , , , , , , , ,

Managing & The Firestone Debacle vs. “Best Companies to Work For” Analysis

Posted by on February 6, 2002 · Leave a Comment 

The Wall Street Journal’s January 10, 2002 article “Hidden Cost of Labor Strife” describes how incorrectly reducing labor costs results in higher operating costs. A Fortune magazine article cites examples of correctly reducing costs in difficult times and have employees support your decisions, be sympathetic and helpful. At Emerson Electric Co., we never had employees be […]

Category Best Companies to Work For, Blog, Books, Business failure, CEOs, Manufacturing · Tags , , ,

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Reason I wrote my book “Learn to Whisper”

Click on this link for a more complete description of “Learn to Whisper”

The reason I wrote “Learn to Whisper”:

My conclusion after operating as a Turnaround Chief Executive Officer for more than twenty-five years is that the majority of this country’s top management is far from first-rate. In fact top management, particularly at the chief executive officer level, is at best average with a large number that can be rated mediocre. This lack of management competence has seen this country’s market leaders lose sizeable market share to foreign manufacturers able to export better quality and lower cost products to the USA. It has seen manufacturing and service operations unnecessarily moved to foreign countries. All of which has negatively affected the economy, severely damaged former blue-chip corporations and seen quality jobs lost.

It is quite common to discover that companies struggling with this inability to compete with foreign companies have been simply mismanaged. The once successful business deteriorated because of an incompetent chief executive officer and weak senior management

Why doesn’t this nation have first-rate management? Inadequate training. Chief executive officers and vice presidents learn “on the job”. A number get promoted based on personality, political connections and drive – not merit. They are not carefully screened for the potential to become successful at managing. For some all that is needed is a well-written resume, the right interviewing style and the inability of a new employer to accurately assess skills, performance and potential.

Compare this to the process doctors go through. From medical school to internship to residency to a senior role after years of education, experience and continuous training their progress and capabilities are constantly monitored even after they become senior in the profession. Generals and Admirals go through a similar protocol. They must prove themselves in low-level assignments before they are judged qualified for senior positions. Unqualified applicants in both professions are culled out. What can be done to improve management competence? Education, on-the-job training and job performance monitoring. My book will educate people on the subject of managing. Its 101 management lessons are separated into the 17 subjects managers need to know.