Good to Great Book Review

There is a great importance put on business leadership, this is directly due to how a business not only functions but in how fruitful the company can become. A great leader essentially can take a business plan that is weak yet turn it into a success, whereas a poor leader stands a higher chance of ruining the best of business plans. That is why it is essential to develop effective leadership throughout a companies entire management program at all levels. How does one develop or retain strong leadership? Companies must be focused on hiring strategies that encompass very specific parameters, building from within whilst creating a strong foundation for employee development and succession planning. Leadership is essential in any organization. The style and theory embraced determines whether the company will or will not achieve their goals. in all cases theory must be embraced, as a companies theory, style, and strategy is greatly dependent on the industry the company is in (Sadler, 2014). “The behavioral theory is one of the widely used theories of management. It suggests that leaders are made and not born. It gives room for training to install leadership traits in leaders at the expense of denying them a chance. There are various leadership styles embraced by companies (Cyert, & March, 2005).”  This paper takes a look at the management styles of two specific

The task assigned is a review of the book Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen. I will provide examples and summarize the main concepts of the book to include Intimate Partner Violence, Battering, and Intimate Terrorism. I will reference the text Family Violence, Across the Lifespan by Ola W. Barnett, Cindy Miller-Perrin, and Robin D. Perrin in order to support my theoretical claims. I will select a critical part of the book and explain why it was challenging to read and understand based on my perspective, and then select a character to analyze using one of the theoretical perspective. This book is sad and disturbing, the punishment inflicted on Fran by her husband Bobby Benedetto is unacceptable and

While Jim helps Billy recover from his stroke, Billy tells Jim about his former who want his sea chest

There is no “one size fits all” when it comes to structure and culture within an organization since industries and situations can vary. Furthermore, if an organization wants to improve its effectiveness and performance, their organizational culture needs to be strong and provide a strategic competitive advantage when it comes to its beliefs, and values. Organizations can differentiate itself from one another by those that do not have structure and culture. It is important to know that employees in all organizations want to work in an environment of trust and respect where they

A good culture encompassing strong values, vision, morale’s and beliefs and behaviours expressed by employers and employees of an organisation can be the driver of the overall performance of a company. A good culture can help support the implementation of changes and new initiatives and are likely to be supported by those involved.

A company’s culture can have a huge impact on employment relations. If the organisation encourages staff to be engaged and involved in how business is delivered, they are more likely to be motivated and productive and retention will be higher. Creating a good reputation outside the business can also help with future recruitment.

Collins (2005) defines Level 5 hierarchy leadership as the manager in whom honest individual modesty mixes with strong expert willpower. Mr. Gates displays this type of leadership much in his individual life than in his career events. Bill Gates represents a critical segment not only in his earnings but of his net worth to philanthropic causes but as well motivates similar leaders to follow his path. Gates’ duty as a trailblazer of leaders is a thing that uplifts his reputation about leadership globally.

“Hey, Sal, how come they ain’t no brothas on the wall?” (Do the Right Thing) was the question by Buggin Out that began and instigated the conflict that occurred on the hottest day of the summer in a local Brooklyn pizzeria. Sal Fragione is the owner of the 25 year old pizzeria in a majorly African-American neighborhood. The plot follows and revolves around Sal because of his role in “instigating” the antagonist (Buggin Out), supporting the protagonist (Mookie) with a job, delivering advice to his son, speaking and helping all of the other supporting characters. With the issue of the Wall of Fame, Sal believed that he had the right to choose which individuals appeared on his Wall of Fame in his pizzeria; all Italian Americans. Buggin Out attempts to rally people on the block to boycott Sal’s Pizzeria because of his single-race Wall of Fame. But, almost everyone refuses to boycott because Sal has supported, fed and cared for them over the years. In a last stitch effort, Buggin Out finds two individuals, Radio Raheem and Smiley, who agree to boycott Sal’s. In the film, Do the Right Thing, racial slurs, derogatory innuendos and insults are the norm between all of the individuals, specifically different races, that reside on this Brooklyn block and nothing comes of it. However, conflict ensues when Sal is pushed to the brink by Buggin Out and Radio Raheem. During the surprising violent conflict, there became to be a division of races which ended in a fatality, serious

To transform a good company to great company is all manages' dream, but only few of them make it. To find out the core factors which lead to a good company became a great company is very difficult, because in different era, different industry companies face different opportunities and threats. To begin the research for the Good-to-Great study, Jim Collins and his research team searched for companies that: performed at or below the general stock market for at least fifteen years; then at a transition point began to pull away from the competition, and sustained returns of at least 3 times the general market for the next fifteen years. He started with a list of 1,435 companies and found eleven that met his criteria.

Rather they demonstrated personal humility and professional will revealing an aggressive resolve to do what was best for the company, he or she plays an important role in the success of their organization through talent, knowledge, skills, and good work habits. The lower levels included effective leader, competent manager, contributing team member, and highly capable individual. The traits of Level 5 leaders include, building “enduring greatness” into their organizations, setting their successors up for success, talking about the company and others, but declining to discuss themselves, ordinary people producing extraordinary results, most likely to come from within the company, not outside of it, quick to give credit outside themselves when there was success, while at the same time taking personal responsibility when things went badly and distinctive in their approach to the people they wanted in the company. Most companies would think the first step in becoming a great would be to create a vision and a strategy, but this has not been proven true. The first step a company should take is determining who the right employees are, and which position in the company is right for them. In chapter three is states” If executives get the right people on the bus, the right people in the right seats and the wrong people off the bus, then we’ll figure out how to take it someplace great.” Level 5 leaders wanted top players as well top effort.

"Good is the enemy of great” is the first sentence in Jim Collins book; Good to Great, Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Other Don’t. Jim Collins says, because good is the enemy of great, is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great. This book is packed with leading edge thinking, understandable examples, and data to support the conclusions. It is a challenge for CEOs, entrepreneurs and leaders to show evidence of the discipline required to shift their companies from Good to Great.

The hedgehog concept is an interesting one. The hedgehog concept in simple terms is sticking to what you known and what you are best at to achieve success. It seems like it would be a simple and easy thing that all companies would do, but most people can come up with a few companies that don’t follow this concept exactly. For example, Facebook is starting to get into virtual reality and is wanting to become a competitor in the VR market; this hardly fits their social media concept. While Facebook might not fail at doing this, there are plenty of other companies that have done this and failed, and others who succeed at this like GE and Samsung. The hedgehog concept is a key component for a company to become a success, and can even be applied to one’s self for personal success.

An interesting find in Collin’s research is the use of the hedgehog concept in GTC company’s transition strategies; companies focus their operation on a simple concept they want to reach and stay within that framework; such as Kimberly Clark focuses on their consumer goods. Operational strategies are focused on these simplified goals to promote growth; in Kimberly-Clark’s case, they chose to sell their paper mills to solely focus on growing their consumer product division. This concept is difficult to apply to health care or public health system as they

Kouzes (2012) explains “[d]eveloping competence and building confidence are essential to delivering on the organization’s promises and maintaining the credibility of leaders and team members alike.” For a company to exhibit exemplary performance an investment in the quality of leaders and staff must be executed.

With the Level 5 leadership theory, there are 5 layers in which an organization can improve on their leadership tactics. The levels represent the capabilities of each individual. The Level 5 leader is the highest of the hierarchy. Once each level is achieved, the leader can reach move onto the next. When all accomplished, a good leader will transform into a great leader.