Rebuilding the Corporate Genome: Unlocking the Real Value of Your Business

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Praise for Rebuilding the Corporate Genome

"Whether you talk about capability-driven organizations, modular approaches, or networked economies, the implications of very low costs for transactions, information exchanges, and communications are clear: Business boundaries are dissolving and re-forming. Aurik, Jonk, and Willen show how innovators are creatively exploiting this trend to their decided advantage."
—Gerard Hoetmer, Senior Vice President, Unilever Bestfoods

"If you set your strategy at lower levels of the business, you can more effectively compete and grow-and fend off unexpected rivals. Rebuilding the Corporate Genome shows that once you look through capability lenses, new horizons and new possibilities suddenly come into focus."
—Jan Oosterveld, Member, Group Management Committee, Royal Philips Electronics

"This book is a compelling and prescient look at the future of the modern corporation. While the 'corporate genome project' may be a work in progress, the authors take important steps towards the goal of understanding how corporations really work, and how capability-based corporations will emerge as the organizations of tomorrow. Read this book carefully, because this is as close as you will get to a key for unlocking innovation and value in your industry."
—Mohanbir Sawhney, McCormick Tribune Professor of Technology and Director, Center for Research in Technology & Innovation, Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management

"Rebuilding the Corporate Genome reveals the future before it arrives. The authors masterfully extrapolate from a set of current trends to paint a picture of how businesses and strategies will evolve. The book is a must-read for anyone charged with charting the direction of a business in these turbulent times."
—Toby E. Stuart, Fred G. Steingraber-A.T. Kearney Professor of Organizations and Strategy, University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business

Customer Reviews:

Failed to connect the dots..........2002-12-01

While presenting an interesting thesis, the book missed many opportunities at greatness. Why? The genome analogy was almost completely squandered, probably because genes represent traits and not capabilities, as the authors suggest. (Perhaps the authors could compare 'centers of excellence' to organs, with genes being the traits those organs exhibit which separate world class organizations from also-rans.) But I didn't write the book, so, ok, the authors get the benefit of the doubt.

However, the notion that a company that exhibits a world-class capability should soul-search to figure out "what business they're really in" is overly simplistic. The business world is littered with companies that forgot what business they were in, and have since succumbed to their more focused competitors. It is the alignment of culture, strategy and workflow that characterizes great companies, not fitting square pegs into round holes by making wholesale strategic shifts because "we happen to be great at shipping or inventory management or product design." It is these areas of excellence that make otherwise mediocre companies stand out against their competition; packaging and selling such dominating capabilities could prove lethal. How? The notion of packaging a core capability misses an important counterpoint to the enthusiastic promise of the subtitle: Unlocking the value of your business, to be sure, might allow unwanted trespassers.

This book provides much in the way of theory and the ideas presented are valid absent any specific market context. Applying these ideas in the real world, however, is risky, expensive and challenges the notion of cyclicality - that a business varies between reliance on partners (outsourcing) and doing it all in-house because markets demand it or competitive threats command it. Once that dominating capability that you have so carefully packaged and marketed is matched by a competitor, you're back to square one, having forgotten your original business base and left to rethink exactly what business you're in. Again. Sticking to what you're good at is no doubt good advice; sticking to what you're passionate about is better advice.

The quiet business revolution.......2002-11-25

I first heard about this book from an article in Fortune magazine about a year ago and since then it seems to be popping up everywhere. The authors present a completely original and compelling perspective on how companies can exploit the potential of their various business capabilities. Although the topic may appear to touch on old ground, it really doesn't. The authors look at businesses and their boundaries in a new, perhaps revolutionary, way. The text is full of cases and examples so the reading is pretty easy. They also provide solid frameworks and guidelines for executives. I think the ideas here could be as important as Hamper and Champy's "Reengineering the Corporation" was in the 1990's. I highly recommend it.

A must-read for managers.......2002-11-01

A fresh and compelling take on management for the twenty-first century. Sure to turn up on B-school reading lists in the years to come. Don't miss it!

Book Description

In May 1914, workers walked off their jobs at Atlanta's Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills, launching a lengthy strike that was at the heart of the American Federation of Labor's first major attempt to organize southern workers in over a decade. In its celebrity, the Fulton Mills strike was the regional contemporary of the well-known industrial conflicts in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Ludlow, Colorado. Although ultimately unsuccessful, the strike was an important episode in the development of the New South, and as Clifford Kuhn demonstrates, its story sheds light on the industrialization, urbanization, and modernization of the region.

Drawing on an extraordinary collection of sources--including reports from labor spies and company informants, photographs, federal investigations, oral histories, and newly uncovered records from the old mill's vaults--Kuhn vividly depicts the strike and the community in which it occurred. He also chronicles the struggle for public opinion that ensued between management, workers, union leaders, and other interested parties. Finally, Kuhn reflects on the legacy of the strike in southern history, exploring its complex ties to the evolving New South.

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Contesting the New South Order: The 1914-1915 Strike at Atlanta's Fulton Mills.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Southern History
Randall L. Patton
Manufacturer: Southern Historical Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008DGZN0
Release Date: 2005-07-31

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Southern History, published by Southern Historical Association on May 1, 2003. The length of the article is 585 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Contesting the New South Order: The 1914-1915 Strike at Atlanta's Fulton Mills.(Book Review)
Author: Randall L. Patton
Publication: Journal of Southern History (Refereed)
Date: May 1, 2003
Publisher: Southern Historical Association
Volume: 69 Issue: 2 Page: 464(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

The economic axiom is a very general and purely a formal principle of conduct. It is inconceivable that anyone should act without applying, well or ill, the very principle of every action, i.e., the economic principle.

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Doctors of Modernity: Darwin, Marx, and Freud

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Doctors of Modernity: Darwin, Marx, and Freud
R. F. Baum
Manufacturer: Open Court
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0893852155

Book Description

What, often obscured by the commentaries they inspired, did Darwin, Marx, and Freud actually assert? What in the end did they withdraw? Here, in one well documented book, are concise and accurate statements of doctrine whose impact on the modern world can hardly be exaggerated. In Doctors of Modernity R. F. Baum, whose work has been applauded by thinkers as diverse as Sir Karl Popper and the late P. A. Sorokin, provides critical assessments of Darwinism, Marxism, and Freudianism in the light of empirical fact and logic. So doing, Baum uncovers in their propositions a denigration of mind and reason that undercuts the same propositions' claims to rationality and truth. Baum traces this irrationalism to Darwin's, Marx's, and Freud's common naturalism or atheism. Pointing out, perhaps to the reader's surprise, that what is most convincing in Darwinism, Marxism, and Freudianism was anticipated long ago in the teaching of Doctors of the Church, Baum's conclusion argues briefly for reconsideration of non-sectarian theism. A substatial contribution to this generation's re-thinking of fundamental issues, Doctors of Modernity will prove invaluable to college students and reflective adults.

Exploring Marx's Capital: Philosophical, Economic and Political Dimensions (Historical Materialism Book Series)

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Exploring Marx's Capital: Philosophical, Economic and Political Dimensions (Historical Materialism Book Series)
Jacques Bidet
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 9004149376

Book Description

This book, originally published in French under the title Que faire du Capital?, offers a new interpretation of Marx's great work. It shows how the novelty and lasting interest of Marx's theory arises from the fact that, as against the project of a `pure' economics, it is formulated in concepts that have simultaneously an economic and a political aspect, neither of these being separable from the other.

Jacques Bidet conducts an unprecedented investigation of Marx's work in the spirit of the history of science, exploring it as a process of theoretical development. Traditional exegesis reads the successive drafts of Capital as if they were complementary and mutually illuminated one another. In actual fact, like any scientist, Marx only wrote a new version in order to correct the previous one. He started from ideas borrowed from Ricardo and Hegel, and between one draft and the next it is possible to see these being eliminated and restructured. This labour, moreover, was never fully completed.

The author thus re-assesses Marx's entire system in its set of constitutive categories: value, market, labour-power, classes, working class, exploitation, production, fetishism, ideology. He seeks to pin down the difficulties that these encountered, and the analytical and critical value they still have today.

Book Description

In his new book, Katz offers a new reading of Karl Marx's theory of history. The book re-examines two incompatible versions of historical materialism: one ascribes the primary cause of historical development to technological progress, the other to class struggle. Katz argues that these versions are inadequate, both as interpretations of Marx's theory and as explanations of the problems of historical change. His study distinguishes three different levels of analysis. The first level is Marx's own summaries of historical materialism, which typically award causal primacy to technology. The second level is Marx's historical studies of feudalism and the transition to capitalism, where class and class struggle play a central role. The third level is the modern debate on the transition from feudalism to capitalism. The history of this transition is chosen by Katz as an empirical test of Marxian theory because it is the principal source from which Marx developed the concepts for interpreting the dynamics of crisis in modes of production. By establishing a reciprocal movement between the respective explanatory roles of technology and class struggle on the one hand, and the historical record on the other, Katz evaluates their relative contributions to an understanding of the supersession of feudalism by capitalism. The result is a reconstruction of Marx's theory of radical social change, one which is "historically and theoretically more tenable." The book's first two chapters develop and contrast the two dominant principles of historical causality in Marx's work: class struggle and the development of technology. Subsequent chapters explore the history of feudalism's decline and final disintegration, and its replacement by capitalism, providing a critical analysis of Marx's theory of history. From Feudalism to Capitalism is an important new scholarly source for students of Karl Marx's social and political thought, or students enrolled in social science programs.

Historical Materialism and the Economics of Karl Marx

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Historical Materialism and the Economics of Karl Marx
Benedetto Croce; Translator C.M. Meredith;
Manufacturer: RUSSELL and RUSSELL INC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WT55OU

Making History: Agency, Structure, and Change in Social Theory

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Making History: Agency, Structure, and Change in Social Theory
Alex Callinicos
Manufacturer: Cornell Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Theory | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Modern | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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Last stop, The End of History

Marx Versus Markets
Stanley Moore
Manufacturer: Pennsylvania State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

Last stop, The End of History.......2002-04-11

This is a short version, upgraded, of S. Moore's _Marx on the Choice between Socialism and Communism_. The author's argument is:
"Pointing out that Marx deffines communist economies as classless economies without markets, this book examines his claim that classless economies with markets are in some sense inferior to communist economies. From its analysis, two conclusions emerge. First, Marx's major arguments for abolishing commodity exchange rely on moral and philosophical premises, derived from Feuerback in the earlier writings and from Hegel in the later. Second, Marx's ideal of a communist economy is incompatible with his materialist approach to history...'
Your move.

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Brilliant Overview and Analysis

Marx's Social Critique of Culture
Louis Dupre
Manufacturer: Yale Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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Customer Reviews:

Brilliant Overview and Analysis.......2007-02-25

Louis Dupre's engagement with Marx and Marxism over the decades has culminated in this in-depth yet accessible study of what forms Marx's understanding of human society and its subsequent critique of culture. What adds to this work, however, is the background of Dupre's understanding of the history of Western thinking (e.g., his Passage to Modernity and The Intellectual Foundations of the Enlightenment). Because of this he is able to situate the underpinnings of Marx's philosophy within a larger analysis and critique, making the various domains of his philosophy both acessible and interconnected--e.g., from philosophical anthropology to the economic transformation of the theory of value. Finally, Dupre engages with many of the main commentators on Marx,ranging from Anglo-American to Contintental thinkers.

The New Dialectic and Marx's Capital (Historical Materialism, 1)

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The New Dialectic and Marx's Capital (Historical Materialism, 1)
Christopher John Arthur
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 9004127984

Book Description

This book both argues for, and demonstrates, a new turn to dialectic. Marx's Capital was clearly influenced by Hegel's dialectical figures: here, case by case, the significance of these is clarified. More, it is argued that, instead of the dialectic of the rise and fall of social systems, what is needed is a method of articulating the dialectical relations characterising a given social whole. Marx learnt from Hegel the necessity for a systematic development, and integration, of categories; for example, the category of 'value' can be fully comprehended only in the context of the totality of capitalist relations. These studies thus shed new light on Marx's great work, while going beyond it in many respects.

Political Identity: Thinking Through Marx

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Thinking through Marx after 1989
Brilliant and challenging social criticism.

Political Identity: Thinking Through Marx
Robert Meister
Manufacturer: Blackwell Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Theory | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Customer Reviews:

Thinking through Marx after 1989.......2006-02-19

This book represents 30 or more years of careful observation of American academia, in particular, the institutionalization of New Left scholarship and its thinking about identity politics. It announces a devastating critique of "scholarship"--in fields such as philosophy, sociology, cultural studies and ethnography--that has been largely satisfied with word play. It is an eye opener indeed!

If for nothing else, read this work as a critical, engaging (if at times, challenging) literature review. In that light, it is an interesting introduction to major thinkers in the Western tradition.

For those who have not yet encountered the intellectual hold of Hegel and Marx on much of 20th century Western scholarship--it is time to read this book!

Brilliant and challenging social criticism........1997-07-13

This is a remarkable work of social criticism and analysis, challenging the reader to re-think how s/he looks at politics today. Moving beyond a mere critique of "identity politics," the author explains why present political and academic debates seem so limited and limiting and proposes a politics which can change the terms of the debate. It is not an easy text to get through. But reading even a few chapters can be deeply rewarding

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The three dimensions of communication

Lots of good ideas from world-class companies

Fascinating insights and useful framework

A whole new way of looking at business

A business classic

The Customer Century : Lessons from World Class Companies in Integrated Communications (Routledge Corporate Communication Series) (Routledge Corporate Communication Series)
Ander Gronstedt
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The New Marketing Paradigm: Integrated Marketing Communications

IMC, The Next Generation : Five Steps For Delivering Value and Measuring Financial Returns

Integrated Marketing Communications: Putting It Together & Making It Work

Developing a Creative and Innovative Integrated Marketing Communication Plan: A Working Model

Integrated Business Communication: In a Global Marketplace

ASIN: 0415921996

Book Description

Say goodbye to the production century. Savvy and all-powerful consumers are at the helm. Based on hundreds of hours of in-depth interviews with senior marketing and corporate communications managers from top companies such as Federal Express, Hewlett-Packard, Ericsson, Philips, and Xerox, Gronstedt provides the keys to thriving in the upcoming "customer century." Companies must learn to integrate communications three dimensionally: externally with key customers, vertically between senior management and front-line workers, and horizontally across departments. Packed with hands-on advice, this book is a roadmap to success in the Customer Century.
Explains a hot, new management strategy
Includes practical tips and strategies

Customer Reviews:

The three dimensions of communication.......2006-01-27

In the past companies could succeed based on how well they were able to produce and sell goods. Now, we are moving from the Production Century to the Customer Century, in which success depends on how well a company is able to satisfy its customers. To satisfy customers, companies must integrate marketing and communications throughout the organization.

According to the author, marketing and communications should be integrated along three dimensions.

1. Integrated external communication: this is the process of involving everyone in the company in communication with customers and shareholders.
· Identify the most profitable customers and track their buying behavior.
· Use data to concentrate on improving market share among your best customers.
· Address customer complaints immediately.

2. Integrated vertical communication: this is the process of creating forthright, two-way communication between senior management, middle management and other employees.
· Create a company vision based on the company's core competencies.
· Use the vision to coordinate effort and communication from the top-down and the bottom-up.
· Use the vision to direct employee training towards business goals.

3. Integrated horizontal communication: this is the process of opening up communication among work units, departments and countries.
· Use customer needs as the core beginning to developing effective teamwork practices.
· Facilitate "virtual communities of practice" across the organization to benefit from networking among employees.
· Rotate employees systematically through job assignments to facilitate understanding between work units.

Lots of good ideas from world-class companies.......2000-12-26

I work as a consultant for a PR agency, so I'm supposed to know what is "best practice" in the realm of communications. This book compiles real-world examples from a dozen European and U.S.-based companies that seem to be getting it right: FedEx, Hewlett-Packard, GM Saturn, ABB, and others.

My principal interest in the book was in finding a source of good ideas that I can adapt for use by clients, and I was not disappointed. Anyone in a communications role, whether in-house or outsourced, can benefit by taking some of these ideas and adapting them to the particular needs of their own organization.

The book is especially helpful in getting around a dilemma frequently faced by consultants (internal or external) who are called upon to produce so-called creative ideas, i.e., if you propose something that's really provocative and different---outside the box, as they say---the first thing your client often wants to know is, "Where has this worked before?" Of course, if what you've proposed is truly creative and original, it may not have been tried before---a perfect reason for the client to shoot it down.

By drawing liberally from the ideas set forth in this book, you can come up with good creative PR and internal communications programs that have actually been put into practice by well-known companies. For example, when Saturn had to recall some of its cars to fix a defect, it basically turned the event into a party: car owners were invited to a Thai barbecue while mechanics spent 30 minutes fixing their Saturns. They even got a free car wash to boot. This example is a perfect illustration of a basic truth of PR, i.e., that crisis communications is not simply about damage control. Handled properly, a crisis can be an opportunity to get your customer to see your brand in a whole new light.

Another nice feature of the book is that much of it focuses on internal communication. Gronstedt uses a three-part model (he's a former academic, so he likes models, but don't worry: there's only one, and his writing is lively and clear) to describe communications, and one part consists of External relations, including media relations. But the other two parts are Vertical and Horizontal communications, both of which take place within the organization ("vertical" referring to communications that go up and down the chain of command and "horizontal" meaning communications that cut across different functions or business groups). This emphasis on internal communications gives an enlightened perspective that gets away from the one-way, press agentry model of PR that relies predominantly on placing stories about your company in the newspaper.

So read the book, mark the ideas and best practices of these world-class companies, and then adapt them for your own use. It's a great resource for anyone responsible for organizational communications.

Fascinating insights and useful framework.......2000-03-23

This is the most comprehensive book I've come across on how to strategically managing communications at every point of contact with customer and stakeholders. Gronstedt has written a practical book that provides fascinating insights into the inner workings of companies like Saturn, HP and FedEx. The examples are woven together into a "3D" model of integrated communications, which is a very useful framework for analyzing organizational communications. I'm really looking forward to sharing this book with my the communication classes at the University of Iowa.

A whole new way of looking at business.......2000-03-22

This book sets the stage for the new economy from a customer perspective, in a more clear and complelling way than anything else Ive read. It provides a whole new way of looking at business. Its a real treasure trove of inspiring ideas and captivating stories from the front lines of integrated communications and supports many concepts I have found useful in my own international consulting. Ill definitely be referring back to it time and time again.

A business classic.......2000-03-22

The Customer Century provides managers an important lesson- without a process for integrating communications, companies simply cannot flourish in the new millenium! I'm thoroughly impressed with the readability and endless practical examples in the book. They are as applicable to business here in France as elsewhere. Gronstedt provides a roadmap that is easy to read and aesy to follow. I'm sure this will be a business classic.

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