The Individualized Corporation: A New Doctrine for Managing People

"In 1682, English astronomer Sir Edmund Halley had the good fortune to be at the right place at the right time. His observations on the spectacular comet that now bears his name helped earn him the prestigious title of Astronomer Royal.More important to this professional scientist was the fact that this fortuitous opportunity inspired a flurry of other research activity that led to new and important discoveries about the nature of our universe." Sumantra Ghoshal and Christopher A. Bartlett write, "While hardly on the same grand scale as Sir Edmund, we, too, have been fortunate to have had a front-row seat at a once-in-a-lifetime event- the collapse of an outmoded corporate form and the emergence of a new management model that we believe will propel today's companies well into the twenty-first century. At the heart of the emerging model lie not only some very different organizational practices and processes but also a fundamentally different management philosophy. In this book, we describe this new management model and illustrate how some of the pioneers of this new approach have implemented it in their companies" (from the Introduction).They divide their book into four parts. In the first part, they present the concept of the Individualized Corporation. In the second part, they describe the organizational characteristics required to develop three core capabilities that distinguish the Individualized Corporation. In the third part, they explore the managerial implications of these new organizational characteristics and focus on how companies can go about building and managing the Individualized Corporation. Finally, in the fourth part, they step back from the details of defining the characteristics of the Individualized Corporation and describing how to build and manage it, to examine the more profound issues of a new managerial philosophy that underlies this new corporate model.In this context, in the third part, after introducing the new corporate model, they examine new management roles and tasks of this new model that are radically different from the classic ones:1. Operating-Level Managers* Changing role: From operational implementers to aggressive entrepreneurs.* Primary value added: Driving business performance by focusing on productivity, innovation, and growth within frontline units.* Key activities and tasks: Creating and pursuing new growth opportunities for the business. Attracting and developing resources and competencies. Managing continuous performance improvement within the unit.2. Senior-Level Managers* Changing role: From administrative controllers to supportive coaches.* Primary value added: Providing the support and coordination to bring large-company advantage to the independent frontline units.* Key activities and tasks: Developing individuals and supporting their activities. Linking dispersed knowledge, skills, and best practices across units. Managing the tension between short-term performance and long-term ambition.3. Top-

Management thinkers over the last 8 decades have been trying to come up with the perfect structure, whether it's the functional structure, the matric, the SBU structure and it is generally felt that if this problem is figured out the rest of the pieces of jigsaw will fall in place. Ghoshal and Bartlett differ, and drawing from the thoughts of other thinkers make a case that structure does not matter so much unless your processes make your company a place where the people love to come to. Where the control, compliance paradigm of organizations are replaced by the discipline, stretch, trust paradigm. The book is packed with examples but an area that is not stressed which crops up again and again is that of leadership. Whether it is Percy Barvenik of ABB, or Welch of GE or Rajat Gupta of McKinsey, or Grove of Intel. They all perfected the art of "cooking sweet with sour" or combining the O and E factors for development (as Nohria and Beer put it)...The authors could have stressed more on that factor.

This is a sound and thorough description of the principles and practices underlying a shift from the hierarchical, bureaucratic mode of managing to one based on recognition of the talents of the people within the organisation, which seeks to enhance and release those talents for shared ends.Having said that, it is a bit difficult to see why the book has been given such extravagant praise. Nearly everything in it was anticipated by the Pinchots in 1993 and the themes covered are very well established (and were already established when it was first published in 1997). Although it is not new, the principles are still not widely followed, so any additional material that may serve to spread the message is welcome. The material is good. The reliance on a lot of examples makes it very discursive, but the sub-heads through the text are useful. There is a slightly breathless air of 'discovery' through the book that would be acceptable if the ideas and prescriptions were in fact new.

This book gave a new perspective to watch the firms in the new century.A lot of cases explained how purpose, process, and people works under the new doctrins. However, empirical proofs should increase their creditibilty on their breakthrough suggestions.How to use these concepts in contexts that differ than those appeared in this book is worth to further study.

A very well researched book with plenty of grounded case-studies on the subject. Content has been nicely laid-out in a logical fashion which makes the book very readable. Authors have taken a holistics view of the subject with appropriate references to other current literature. The book is full of valuable insights. Undoubtedly, this is one of the best books published on this subject and should be a must-read book for all serious practitioners. Bipin Junnarkar Director, Knowledge Management Monsanto Company