Today’s best companies get it. From Costco® to Commerce Bank, Wegmans to Whole Foods®: they’re becoming the ultimate value creators. They’re generating every form of value that matters: emotional, experiential, social, and financial. And they’re doing it for all their stakeholders. Not because it’s “politically correct”: because it’s the only path to long-term competitive advantage.These are the Firms of Endearment. Companies pe...

The international bestseller-now with a new preface by author John Kotter.Millions worldwide have read and embraced John Kotter’s ideas on change management and leadership.From the ill-fated dot-com bubble to unprecedented M&A activity to scandal, greed, and ultimately, recession-we’ve learned that widespread and difficult change is no longer the exception. It’s the rule. Now with a new preface, this refreshed edition of the global bestseller Leading Cha...

Building upon the concepts introduced in Good to Great, Jim Collins answers the most commonly asked questions raised by his readers in the social sectors. Using information gathered from interviews with over 100 social sector leaders, Jim Collins shows that his "Level 5 Leader" and other good-to-great principles can help social sector organizations make the leap to greatness.

Learn why bad decisions happen to good managers—and how to make better ones.If you read nothing else on decision making, read these 10 articles. We’ve combed through hundreds of articles in the Harvard Business Review archive and selected the most important ones to help you and your organization make better choices and avoid common traps.Leading experts such as Ram Charan, Michael Mankins, and Thomas Davenport provide the insights and advic...

"Jugaad Innovation is the most comprehensive book yet to appear on the subject [of frugal innovation]."—The EconomistA frugal and flexible approach to innovation for the 21st centuryInnovation is a key directive at companies worldwide. But in these tough times, we can't rely on the old formula that has sustained innovation efforts for decades—expensive R&D projects and highly-structured innovation processes. Jug...

Given the urgency and immediacy of so many business problems and challenges, a solid grounding in the history and evolution of business thinking will help managers separate fad from fact and apply the cumulative wisdom of the writers whose ideas have demonstrated profound and lasting impact. From Sun Tzu's timeless Art of War to the inventors of modern management in the 1920s-'40s to the books that have the captured the New Economy Zeitgeist, The Best Business Books Ever ...

Thinking about the Future, by Andy Hines and Peter Bishop, distills the expertise of three dozen senior foresight professionals into a set of essential guidelines for carrying out successful strategic foresight. Presented in a highly scannable yet personable style, each guideline includes an explanation and rationale, key steps, a case example, and resources for further study. The 115 guidelines are organized into six sequential categories that mirror the phases of a strategic foresight ac...

A beginner's guide and a bible for one of the greatest social innovations of modern times: the discipline of management.Whether you’re new to the field or a seasoned executive, this book will give you a firm grasp on what it takes to make an organization perform. It presents the basic principles of management simply, but not simplistically. Why did an eBay succeed where a Webvan did not? Why do you need both a business model and a strategy? Why is...

The best organizations have the best talent. . . Financial incentives drive company performance. . . Firms must change or die. Popular axioms like these drive business decisions every day. Yet too much common management wisdom” isn’t wise at all-but, instead, flawed knowledge based on best practices” that are actually poor, incomplete, or outright obsolete. Worse, legions of managers use this dubious knowledge to make decisions that are hazardous to organizational health.Jeffrey ...

You have a great idea, now what?That first mile-where an innovation moves from an idea on paper to the market-is often plagued by failure. In fact, less than one percent of ideas launched by big companies end up having real impact. The ideas aren’t the problem. It’s the process.The First Mile focuses on the critical moment when an innovator moves from planning to reality. It is a perilous place where hidden traps snare entrepreneurs and roadblocks ...

This book reveals the three most important capabilities leaders must demonstrate today: the ability to set strategy, empathize with others, and take risks—all at the same time. In Head, Heart, and Guts, leadership experts David Dotlich, Peter Cairo, and Stephen Rhinesmith—who teach and coach CEOs and executive teams throughout the world—argue that to be successful in a complex, matrixed, fast-moving world, “whole” leaders must set strategy, develop trusting relationships with othe...

Is your company's top talent jumping ship as good replacements become harder to get?If you need the best practices and ideas for winning the race for talent--but don't have time to find them--this book is for you. Here are 11 inspiring and useful perspectives, all in one place.This collection of HBR articles will help you:- Look for good people in all the right places- Interview more effectively- Make--and keep--compelling promises to candidates and ...