A Guide to Controlling Your Corporation's Future


Book Description

Praise for Russell Ackoff’s previous book: Creating the Corporate Future &146;Russell Ackoff is a compelling and thoughtful writer…His ability to think in historical terms about the development of work and work organizations and to put in perspective the short-term dilemmas today’s manager must face puts him in a class of explainer populated by the likes of Harry Levinson and Lewis Thomas…. Creating the Corporate Future [is] compelling, challenging and perhaps even a little disturbing." —Training Magazine "Ackoff is best described as a pragmatic philosopher. His latest book on corporate planning is full of practical advice and examples. Yet it takes an extraordinarily broad view of the planning process and sets it in the context of a whole changing concept of the world, which is moving from preoccupation with discrete elements to new methodologies for dealing with interdependent systems." —Choice "What he calls ‘formulating the mess’ involves describing the present business situation, including present obstructions to corporate development, and projecting future performance. He discusses how to formulate goals, objectives and ideals, and offers advice for identifying and acquiring the necessary resources." —Harvard Business Review "…Stimulating thought for the senior executive who is considering—or should be considering—the future of his or her organization." —Industry Week







Creating America's Future


Book Description

American citizens assume that the future for this country will be a future much like the past-beautiful in many respects. This optimistic view is now countered by those who see a country in decay, struggling to address problems in health care, education, the environment, international affairs, and other sectors. This book calls on citizens and their leaders to build the future they most desire. The future should not happen to citizens but instead be created by citizens. In part one, this book examines the reasons for future building and the processes for doing so through interactive public sector-private sector dialogue and by applying methods of continuous improvement, reengineering, and visioning. In part two, Ziegenfuss presents scenarios of America's future that include the country's points of decay, trends, vision, and strategies in each of the "parts of America," meaning energy, health care, transportation, business, housing and urban development, education, arts and entertainment, science, environment, agriculture, international affairs and defense, and law and justice. Public and private citizens, especially students, teachers, and planners are encouraged to lead the debates with hope and vision, defining the future they most desire. Book jacket.




Innovation and the Future Proof Bank


Book Description

Innovation, the conversion of the new to business as usual, is a very special business process. It is the business process able to reprogram all others. Creating the practices that make this process work is a key challenge for all in financial services that are worried about responding to the future. When an institution can identify things that are outside its present practices and convert them, production line style, into products, processes, cultural changes, or new markets, it will never be outpaced by internal or external change again. The institution becomes "FutureProof". This is a book about those practices in banks. It explains, using examples from institutions around the world, what it takes to create an innovation culture that consistently introduces new things into undifferentiated markets and internal cultures. It shows how banks can leverage the power of the new to establish unexpected revenue lines, or make old ones grow. And it provides advice on the social and political factors that either help or hinder the germination of the new in banks. Moreover, though, this is a book about the science of innovation in a banking context. Drawing from practices already highly developed in financial services—managing portfolios of assets to mitigate risk—it explains how practitioners can run their innovations groups like any other business line in the bank one that delivers a return on investment predictably and at high multiples of internal cost of capital. For leaders, Innovation and the Future Proof Bank provides the diagnostic tools to guide benchmarking and investment decisions for the innovation function. And for innovation practitioners, the book lays out everything needed to make sure that converting the new to business as usual is predictable, measurable, and profitable.




Creating Desired Futures


Book Description

Today’s society is making great leaps in its effort to obtain ever more and ever more specific know-how in various specialties, with the consequence that the structures of today’s companies are become increasingly complex. This in turn leads to problems at the points of interface, which calls for a comprehensive approach to solutions.Creating Desired Futures defines design a creative, analytical method to develop and explore alternative solutions to complex problems, and it shows that design is particularly well suited to the business world’s current need for innovative strategies. In twenty-four essays by designers, architects, and representatives of large companies such as Nike and Shell, the book shows how such a design-based approach can help define, assess, and solve problems for companies. It presents not only specific strategies from actual practice but also innovative approaches from the world of corporate consulting. Essays by researchers and teachers discuss theoretical aspects of the subject "Design Thinking." Michael Shamiyeh is a practicing architect with his own firm (Shamiyeh Associates) and also founder and direction of the DOM (Design—Organisation—Media) Research Laboratory at the Kunstuniversität Linz. He works on the relevance of creative, analytical approaches in architectural thinking to solve complex problems in the area of Strategic Business Thinking and Innovation. Shamiyeh has received numerous awards, including the Innovation Prize (2008) of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Science and Research and well as the Future Award (ZuP, 2003) and the Award for Entrepreneurship (2000), both awarded by the Austrian government.




Stewards of the Future


Book Description

Climate- and ESG-competent boards are in high demand by investors and other stakeholders. In fact, climate change and other environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues have become some of the biggest challenges faced by 21st-century board directors. Today's boards must contend with a wide range of stakeholders who can affect the fortunes of a company--customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, politicians, activists, and social-media influencers, among others.This book demonstrates that for long-term profits and sustainability, boards need to not only define the purpose of their company in society but have the insight to ask the right questions of management on complex issues such as climate change, ESG, corruption, cybersecurity, human trafficking, supply-chain resilience, and much more.With insightful contributions from over one hundred world experts, this book provides board members and executives with a practical guide on what is required today to develop thriving, future-fit organizations. The insights shared in this book have one common message: the companies with the best chance of surviving and thriving will be guided by leaders with the foresight, knowledge, and determination to tackle the daunting challenges that confront all of humankind.




Suggested Management Guides


Book Description




Managing the Future


Book Description

A guide to forecasting and strategic planning for organizations




The Future Control of Food


Book Description

This practical book highlights the key issues of intellectual property and ownership, genetics, biodiversity and food security. Additionally it covers negotiations in the World Trade Organization, Convention on Biological Diversity, UN Food and Agriculture Organization and various other international bodies.




Rethinking the Fifth Discipline


Book Description

'Fifth Discipline' is one of the very few approaches to management that has attained position on the International Hall of Fame. Professor Flood's book explains and critiques the ideas in straight forward terms. This book makes significant and fundamental improvements to the core discipline - systemic thinking. It establishes crucial developments in systemic thinking in the context of the learning organisation, including creativity and organisational transformation. It is therefore a very important text for strategic planners, organisational change agents and consultants. The main features of the book include: * a review and critique of 'Fifth Discipline' and systemic thinking * an introduction to the gurus of systemic thinking - Senge, Bertalanffy, Beer, Ackoff, Checkland, and Churchman *a redefinition of management through systemic thinking *a guide to choosing, implementing and evaluating improvement strategies *Practical illustrations. Robert Flood is a renowned and authoritative expert in the field of management. He has implemented systemic management in a wide range of organisations in many continents and lectured by invitation in 25 countries, including Japan and the USA. Professor Flood has featured on many radio and TV programs. His book Beyond TQM was nominated for the 'IMC Management Book of the Year 1993'.