2nd Best Company to Work For

Fortune Magazine’s 2017 “100 Best Companies to Work For” rated Wegmans Food Markets as the second best company to work for. As Inc. Magazine’s article reports, Wegmans does not pay the highest wages compared to many of the other companies on Fortune’s list. However, it does have some attractive perks for tuition reimbursement and health care insurance but, in comparison to others on the best to work for list, it falls well short. Why the... Read More

A Worthwhile Management Book

Thomas E. Ricks’ book, “The Generals”, is the history and essentially a performance evaluation of more than a dozen US Army Generals from World War II through 2012. It is not very flattering for some generals. It is a well-written management and leadership book. Although not intended to be a textbook its examples of what led to successes and failures may be helpful for civilian business managers – including members of Boards of Directors... Read More

My Leadership Excellence magazine article “Seven lessons from a turnaround CEO”

Leadership Excellence magazine published my article: “Mastering Leadership – Seven lessons from a turnaround CEO” By Robert F. Amter There are many theories about what it takes to be an effective Chief Executive Officer.  Most are based on observation and research.  They lack the hands-on, in the trenches experience of what it really takes to lead a company – especially one that is experiencing bad times. When I enter a company... Read More

Steve Jobs compared to Peter Drucker

Steve Jobs built Apple Computer into one of the most successful and valuable companies in history. He had a distinctive management style. How would his management compare to the advice Peter Drucker would give a CEO? Steve Jobs’ practice of management: Heavy stress on innovation. He did not have all the innovative thoughts that proved successful but he quickly recognized a potentially successful idea or product. Since he was not risk averse, he... Read More

Miyamoto Musashi, “The Book of Five Rings”

There are several revered authorities whose management principles result in businesses becoming and continuing to be successful. Two of the most famous: Peter Drucker and the legendary Sun Tzu. Peter Drucker is the eminent author of 39 management books and is considered the “father of modern management”. Sun Tzu is the author of “The Art of War”. He was China’s first professional General. Prior to Sun Tzu’s leadership, armies in China... Read More

Peter Drucker’s Tenets

Peter Drucker, a writer of 39 books and a management consultant, was considered the “father of modern management”. An avid student of managing complex businesses, he was the advisor who helped mold many corporations into industry leaders which forged this country’s ability to become an economic super power. A Sampling of Mr. Drucker’s Tenets: “In most business failures, the board was the last to realize that things were going wrong.” “Managers... Read More

The Netflix Culture & Mistake

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 how the company operates or, perhaps more accurately what is expected of its employees. Netflix’s culture document has three principal themes... Read More

What Leads to Business Failure?

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. But if officers, second and third tier managers all read it, it would contribute to a re-focused... Read More

Why William Clay Ford, Jr. Failed

In October 2006, the Ford Motor Company replaced William Clay Ford, Jr. as its Chief Executive Officer. Why did Mr. Ford fail? His own words, reported by Micheline Maynard of the New York Times on July 16, 2006, titled “Is Ford Running On Empty” revealed the answer. “I bowed to managers on what I knew were product development mistakes”. “I can’t delegate to anybody…dealing with unyielding managers that stymie and condescend... Read More

Mitt Romney Advises: “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt”

Governor Mitt Romney offers some interesting advice regarding the Big Three in his November 18, 2008 New York Times Op-Ed “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” summarized as follows: “If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed. Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically... Read More