Redesigning the Firm - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195087100 ISBN 13: 9780195087109

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1995

Synopsis

The rapidly changing nature of the modern industrial world has helped spark a radical rethinking of the design of corporations, changes no less revolutionary than the wave of innovations associated with the names of Frederick Taylor and Henry Ford at the dawn of this century. In Redesigning the Firm, nineteen experts from one of the nation's premier business schools, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, take an informed look based on their own research at various aspects of this revolution, offering managers a host of insights and powerful tools for orchestrating change in their firm.
Redesigning the Firm illuminates many of the challenges that confront the executive, approaching the issue from a wide variety of perspectives. The book considers, for instance, whether the firm's stockholders, directors, and managers should reevaluate how they distribute power and share information, and it explores why external board members often fail to exercise a strong voice in governance. It looks at the changing boundary of the firm, as partnerships and alliances have become more important, examining this new development in three types of market: emerging markets such as Eastern Europe, markets where economies of scale provide a critical advantage, and dynamic markets where speed is essential. It examines the use of suppliers in Japanese, American, and European firms, and finds the former to be more efficient. Some of the essays are quite eye-opening. For instance, one chapter demonstrates that firms can increase product variety at no extra cost, revealing how a study of the automotive industry shows that investing in training, in flexible manufacturing processes, and in better operations management will increase variety without compromising productivity or lowering quality. And one chapter sounds a strong note of dissent, contending that the design of organizations matters little to a global competitor--what matters is how managers think about the world, and how the operating procedures they use guide decision-making and behavior. In the final section, editors Bowman and Kogut reflect on two outstanding issues concerning the design of the firm: how much of what managers used to believe was critical to their success can they place outside their ownership boundaries; and how to deal with the complex challenges that modular design presents. The editors apply their conclusions to the Wharton School itself, making the book particularly valuable for anyone concerned with the quality and future of business education in America.
Here then is the best thinking by leading experts in corporate design, who examine the best ways to generate speed, variety, and flexibility, to expand the firm over time and over national boundaries, and to prepare a corporation for the next century.

About this title

About the Author

Edward H. Bowman is Reginald H. Jones Professor of Corporate Management and Director of the Reginald H. Jones Center of the Wharton School, at the University of Pennsylvania. Bruce Kogut is a Professor of Management at the Wharton School and Co-Director of the Reginald H. Jones Center.

From the Back Cover

Redesigning the Firm illuminates many of the challenges that confront the executive, approaching the issue from a wide variety of perspectives. The book considers, for instance, whether the firm's stockholders, directors, and managers should reevaluate how they distribute power and share information, and it explores why external board members often fail to exercise a strong voice in governance. It looks at the changing boundary of the firm, as partnerships and alliances have become more important, examining this new development in three types of market: emerging markets such as Eastern Europe, markets where economies of scale provide a critical advantage, and dynamic markets where speed is essential. It examines the use of suppliers in Japanese, American, and European firms, and finds the first to be most efficient.

Reviews

Business Week's most recent, well-publicized Guide to the Best Business Schools (1995) moved the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School to a first-place ranking. This improvement from its previous fourth-place listing was based on a "radical overhaul" of Wharton's curriculum, which now emphasizes a global perspective, innovation, and interdisciplinary cooperation. This book grew out of the collaboration that took place in that curriculum redesign effort. Each chapter has been jointly written by paired teams of faculty experts and leading researchers from among Wharton's 11 departments and more than 20 research centers. The common focus of each contribution is on "the kinds of organizations that will compete effectively in markets today and tomorrow." Although many of the basic concepts are now familiar ones (horizontal structures, teams, process re-engineering), this book provides Wharton's unique perspective on contemporary business research and management thinking. David Rouse

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195087100
• ISBN 13: 9780195087109
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 296
• Editor: Bowman Edward H., Kogut Bruce M.