Why Managers Matter

Why Managers Matter PDF Author: Nicolai J Foss
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1541751035
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
A manifesto on managers and hierarchy that bucks the trend of the lean, flat, leaderless organization As business struggles to adapt to a rapidly changing world, managers are bombarded with a bewildering array of schemes for how to be a boss and make an organization tick. It’s tempting to be seduced by futurist fantasies where every company has the culture of a startup, and where employees in wacky, whimsical office settings, liberated from hierarchies and bosses that oppress them, are the foundation for breakthrough performance. “Get real,” warn Nicolai J. Foss and Peter G. Klein. These fads ironically lead to micromanaging and, often, to disaster. Companies and societies, they show, need authority and hierarchy to coordinate work, including creative work. And, counterintuitively, Foss and Klein illustrate how the creative use of authority and hierarchy helps companies to be more agile and flexible, enabling educated, motivated people and teams to thrive. And not a moment too soon: Foss and Klein provide evidence that global challenges such as the proliferation of artificial intelligence, economic disruption, empowered knowledge workers, and black swan events such as the pandemic actually make hierarchy and the job of the manager more important than ever.

Why Managers Matter

Why Managers Matter PDF Author: Nicolai J Foss
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1541751035
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 311

Get Book Here

Book Description
A manifesto on managers and hierarchy that bucks the trend of the lean, flat, leaderless organization As business struggles to adapt to a rapidly changing world, managers are bombarded with a bewildering array of schemes for how to be a boss and make an organization tick. It’s tempting to be seduced by futurist fantasies where every company has the culture of a startup, and where employees in wacky, whimsical office settings, liberated from hierarchies and bosses that oppress them, are the foundation for breakthrough performance. “Get real,” warn Nicolai J. Foss and Peter G. Klein. These fads ironically lead to micromanaging and, often, to disaster. Companies and societies, they show, need authority and hierarchy to coordinate work, including creative work. And, counterintuitively, Foss and Klein illustrate how the creative use of authority and hierarchy helps companies to be more agile and flexible, enabling educated, motivated people and teams to thrive. And not a moment too soon: Foss and Klein provide evidence that global challenges such as the proliferation of artificial intelligence, economic disruption, empowered knowledge workers, and black swan events such as the pandemic actually make hierarchy and the job of the manager more important than ever.

Make It Matter

Make It Matter PDF Author: Scott Mautz
Publisher: AMACOM
ISBN: 0814436188
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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Book Description
How do you motivate the disengaged, and further engage the engaged? The answer is to foster meaning at work and give work a greater sense of personal significance, thus making work matter. The startling truth is that 70% of the workforce is disengaged - their bodies may put in long hours, but their hearts and minds never punch in. This is a terrible dilemma for organizations trying to motivate employees to do more with less. Make It Matter is the antidote to crisis levels of disengagement and the first book that serves as a practical, yet inspiring how-to guide for motivating by creating meaning?- the?motivational force of our times. Distilling research, case studies, stories, and interviews with managers at great companies to work for, leadership expert Scott Mautz unveils 7 essential Markers of Meaning that can be triggered to create meaning in and at work. You'll get dozens of tools and learn about the power of: Direction - Reframe work to add meaning and motivation, and help people find a sense of significance and purpose in what they do Discovery - Craft the richest kind of opportunities to learn, grow, and influence, while helping people feel valued Devotion - Cultivate an authentic, caring culture, master meaning-making leadership behaviors, and drive out corrosive behaviors that can unknowingly drain meaning at work When people feel that they matter, they give their all. Channel that power and everyone profits.

Does management matter? : evidence from India

Does management matter? : evidence from India PDF Author: Nick Bloom
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Textile factories
Languages : en
Pages : 43

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Book Description
A long-standing question in social science is to what extent differences in management cause differences in firm performance. To investigate this we ran a management field experiment on large Indian textile firms. We provided free consulting on modern management practices to a randomly chosen set of treatment plants and compared their performance to the control plants. We find that adopting these management practices had three main effects. First, it raised average productivity by 11% through improved quality and efficiency and reduced inventory. Second, it increased decentralization of decision making, as better information flow enabled owners to delegate more decisions to middle managers. Third, it increased the use of computers, necessitated by the data collection and analysis involved in modern management. Since these practices were profitable this raises the question of why firms had not adopted these before. Our results suggest that informational barriers were a primary factor in explaining this lack of adoption. Modern management is a technology that diffuses slowly between firms, with many Indian firms initially unaware of its existence or impact. Since competition was limited by constraints on firm entry and growth, badly managed firms were not rapidly driven from the market.

Does Management Matter?

Does Management Matter? PDF Author: Nick Bloom
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Textile factories
Languages : en
Pages : 43

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Book Description
A long-standing question in social science is to what extent differences in management cause differences in firm performance. To investigate this we ran a management field experiment on large Indian textile firms. We provided free consulting on modern management practices to a randomly chosen set of treatment plants and compared their performance to the control plants. We find that adopting these management practices had three main effects. First, it raised average productivity by 11% through improved quality and efficiency and reduced inventory. Second, it increased decentralization of decision making, as better information flow enabled owners to delegate more decisions to middle managers. Third, it increased the use of computers, necessitated by the data collection and analysis involved in modern management. Since these practices were profitable this raises the question of why firms had not adopted these before. Our results suggest that informational barriers were a primary factor in explaining this lack of adoption. Modern management is a technology that diffuses slowly between firms, with many Indian firms initially unaware of its existence or impact. Since competition was limited by constraints on firm entry and growth, badly managed firms were not rapidly driven from the market.

Does Management Matter? Evidence from India

Does Management Matter? Evidence from India PDF Author: Nicholas Bloom
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 53

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Book Description
A long-standing question in social science is to what extent differences in management cause differences in firm performance. To investigate this, the authors ran a management field experiment on large Indian textile firms, providing free consulting on modern management practices to a randomly chosen set of treatment plants and compared their performance to the control plants. They find that adopting these management practices had three main effects. First, it raised average productivity by 11 percent through improved quality and efficiency and reduced inventory. Second, it increased decentralization of decision making, as better information flow enabled owners to delegate more decisions to middle managers. Third, it increased the use of computers, necessitated by the data collection and analysis involved in modern management. Since these practices were profitable this raises the question of why firms had not adopted these before. Their results suggest that informational barriers were a primary factor in explaining this lack of adoption. Modern management is a technology that diffuses slowly between firms, with many Indian firms initially unaware of its existence or impact. Since competition was limited by constraints on firm entry and growth, badly managed firms were not rapidly driven from the market.

Returns to capital in microenterprises : evidence from a field experiment

Returns to capital in microenterprises : evidence from a field experiment PDF Author: Christopher Woodruff, David McKenzie, Suresh de Mel
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 37

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Book Description
Abstract: Small and informal firms account for a large share of employment in developing countries. The rapid expansion of microfinance services is based on the belief that these firms have productive investment opportunities and can enjoy high returns to capital if given the opportunity. However, measuring the return to capital is complicated by unobserved factors such as entrepreneurial ability and demand shocks, which are likely to be correlated with capital stock. The authors use a randomized experiment to overcome this problem and to measure the return to capital for the average microenterprise in their sample, regardless of whether they apply for credit. They accomplish this by providing cash and equipment grants to small firms in Sri Lanka, and measuring the increase in profits arising from this exogenous (positive) shock to capital stock. After controlling for possible spillover effects, the authors find the average real return to capital to be 5.7 percent a month, substantially higher than the market interest rate. They then examine the heterogeneity of treatment effects to explore whether missing credit markets or missing insurance markets are the most likely cause of the high returns. Returns are found to vary with entrepreneurial ability and with measures of other sources of cash within the household, but not to vary with risk aversion or uncertainty.

Does It Matter?

Does It Matter? PDF Author: Nicholas G. Carr
Publisher: Harvard Business Press
ISBN: 1422129527
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
Over the last decade, and even since the bursting of the technology bubble, pundits, consultants, and thought leaders have argued that information technology provides the edge necessary for business success. IT expert Nicholas G. Carr offers a radically different view in this eloquent and explosive book. As IT's power and presence have grown, he argues, its strategic relevance has actually decreased. IT has been transformed from a source of advantage into a commoditized "cost of doing business"--with huge implications for business management. Expanding on Carr's seminal Harvard Business Review article that generated a storm of controversy, Does IT Matter? provides a truly compelling--and unsettling--account of IT's changing business role and its leveling influence on competition. Through astute analysis of historical and contemporary examples, Carr shows that the evolution of IT closely parallels that of earlier technologies such as railroads and electric power. He goes on to lay out a new agenda for IT management, stressing cost control and risk management over innovation and investment. And he examines the broader implications for business strategy and organization as well as for the technology industry. A frame-changing statement on one of the most important business phenomena of our time, Does IT Matter? marks a crucial milepost in the debate about IT's future. An acclaimed business writer and thinker, Nicholas G. Carr is a former executive editor of the Harvard Business Review.

The Progress Principle

The Progress Principle PDF Author: Teresa Amabile
Publisher: Harvard Business Press
ISBN: 1422142736
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
What really sets the best managers above the rest? It’s their power to build a cadre of employees who have great inner work lives—consistently positive emotions; strong motivation; and favorable perceptions of the organization, their work, and their colleagues. The worst managers undermine inner work life, often unwittingly. As Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer explain in The Progress Principle, seemingly mundane workday events can make or break employees’ inner work lives. But it’s forward momentum in meaningful work—progress—that creates the best inner work lives. Through rigorous analysis of nearly 12,000 diary entries provided by 238 employees in 7 companies, the authors explain how managers can foster progress and enhance inner work life every day. The book shows how to remove obstacles to progress, including meaningless tasks and toxic relationships. It also explains how to activate two forces that enable progress: (1) catalysts—events that directly facilitate project work, such as clear goals and autonomy—and (2) nourishers—interpersonal events that uplift workers, including encouragement and demonstrations of respect and collegiality. Brimming with honest examples from the companies studied, The Progress Principle equips aspiring and seasoned leaders alike with the insights they need to maximize their people’s performance.

The Handbook of Organizational Economics

The Handbook of Organizational Economics PDF Author: Robert S. Gibbons
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691132798
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 1248

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Book Description
(E-book available via MyiLibrary) In even the most market-oriented economies, most economic transactions occur not in markets but inside managed organizations, particularly business firms. Organizational economics seeks to understand the nature and workings of such organizations and their impact on economic performance. The Handbook of Organizational Economics surveys the major theories, evidence, and methods used in the field. It displays the breadth of topics in organizational economics, including the roles of individuals and groups in organizations, organizational structures and processes, the boundaries of the firm, contracts between and within firms, and more.

Personnel Economics

Personnel Economics PDF Author: Edward P. Lazear
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262121880
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
This text provides an introduction to personnel economics, showing how economists can make specific predictions and prescriptions for personnel issues that arise in business on a daily basis. The author focuses on compensation and its relation to worker motivation, selection and teamwork.