Management Turnover as Change Agent

Monday, February 9, 2009

Recommended Reading - Uncompromising Leadership in Tough Times, Harvard Business School Working Knowledge

Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge, A First Look at Faculty Research published a Q&A with Harvard Business School Professor Michael Beer.  Beer and his colleagues have a book coming out this summer entitled, High Commitment, High Performance: How to Build a Resilient Organization for Sustained Advantage.  

The book looks broadly at what it takes to build a high commitment, high performance (HCHP) system inside companies. It asks and answers questions such as: What outcomes must such an organization achieve in order to sustain commitment and performance? What are principled choices its leaders must make if they are serious about building such a firm? What are the means for changing an average company into a HCHP company? What are the key design features of such a firm?

 Beer was quoted in the article,

“CEOs of HCHP companies think very differently about their employees. They see them as an asset and care about them as people.” As a result they manage downturns differently from the norm, too.

Beer has examined a number of CEOs who have lead firms in a different manner than most of us are use to, particularly when you think of companies facing the current difficulties they have been forced to endure.  I highly recommend anyone interested in leadership/management read the article and consider purchasing Beer’s new book when it comes out this summer. 

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