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Strategy Catalogue
Leadership tools for strategic planning, implementing strategy and changing a culture.
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Drawing a new map (digital Kindle version)
The Strategic Management Process, Strategic Learning and Strategic Alignment are presented in this book as key techniques for companies to use in adapting to a fast-changing reality.
Retail : R150.00 ..... You save : R15.00 !
Price: R135.00
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Doing the right things well through an effective strategic management process.
Do you have an effective strategic management process? Or have you resigned yourself to fire-fighting and company politics as the inevitable reality for most of your waking hours? Does it seem like managers and co-workers have gradually transformed into psychopaths and narcissists? Does it seem as if your company is running after every new fad in the vain hope of improving the bottom line, exhausting everyone in the process? Has the fun disappeared from work? Do you despair of ever achieving work life balance?
In the post 2008 world cost cutting is rampant and competitors you never knew about are attacking your market share. As a result the pressure on employees has increased drastically. Along with the loss in company profitability enjoyment of work seems to have disappeared.
The premise of this book is that individual managers can make a difference and change this reality. This book provides a practical account of the strategic management process inside organizations. It presents examples where company turnarounds were achieved through the efforts of one or two individuals in a management team. These turnarounds were achieved in a very short space of time by focussing on leverage points and bypassing counterproductive aspects of human behaviour.
For companies to adapt successfully to a fast-changing reality it is critical that the organisation first identifies what needs to be done, and then acts. In order for this to happen employees (group) need to learn together and then coordinate their actions which is where the problem lies. The inherent need in humans for esteem and power can result in subconscious actions intended to maintain their status. These drives, together with the hierarchical structure, result in behaviour that shuts down group learning and group action.
An effective Strategic Management Process that combines Strategic Learning and Strategic Alignment are presented in this book as key techniques to deal with this fundamental human problem. Supporting techniques such as Dialogue and the Theory of Constraints are also introduced. Real life stories are related to illustrate and make actions tangible and real. This book will start managers on the road towards achieving a better work environment while improving company profits. This it does by making managers aware of the current organisational dynamics, showing them what is possible and giving them the confidence to act.
Table of contents
Foreword
The Story of the Business Unit that Turned Around in Six Months
Chapter 1 The Map
Chapter 2 Going for Gold
Chapter 3 The Shifting Landscape
Chapter 4 Keeping Track of Where the Gold is
Chapter 5 Cognitive Problems in Finding the Gold
Chapter 6 Politics and Culture
Chapter 7 The Need for a Strategy Map
Chapter 8 Plotting the Route and Continuing the Journey
Chapter 9 Improving the Plotted Route
Chapter 10 Improving the Logistics for the Trip
Chapter 11 Fine-tuning the Route
Chapter 12 More Fine-tuning
Chapter 13 Conclusion
Appendix A
Appendix B
References
Biography
Acknowledgements
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SALEepubepub
Drawing a new map (digital ePub version)
The Strategic Management Process, Strategic Learning and Strategic Alignment are presented in this book as key techniques for companies to use in adapting to a fast-changing reality.
Retail : R150.00 ..... You save : R15.00 !
Price: R135.00
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Arrie van Niekerk commented.
Essential reading for a manufacturing
company in distress
March 17, 2013
By
T A VAN
NIEKERK
Hendrik Lourens has managed to
capture the essential predicament of the CEO in charge of a manufacturing
company in distress: "What do I do to get out of the mess?" Reading
DRAWING A NEW MAP took me back to various situations where I experienced times
when I just did not know what to do. Hendrik shares his practical experiences
in a troubled industry with remarkable insight into some of the most valuable
options available. The book clearly demonstrates the necessity of Peter Senge's
work on The Learning OrganisationThe Fifth
Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization and the Society for Organisational Learning (SoL)
to create the required organisation culture to develop a better future. He
found the sweet spot between Strategic Thinking, Strategic Learning (William G
Pietersen)Strategic
Learning: How to Be Smarter Than Your Competition and Turn Key Insights into
Competitive Advantage and the Strategic Fitness Process (M
Beer, et al) and shows how these concepts could be utilised to improve. I found
his description of the essential requirements for open dialogue very valuable
and those that follow his guidelines will certainly benefit from it. His
insight into the practical application of the Theory of Constraints (TOC) by Dr
Eli GoldrattThe Goal:
A Process of Ongoing Improvement
is spot on.Christian Strohmaier commented. This book definitely belongs on the shelf of the open
minded manager who's number one concern is the health of his company. March 27, 2013
By
Christian
Strohmaier
Managers by definition have to manage uncertainty in good times and bad.
This book will help to view these uncertainties in a new light. Even a slight
shift in viewpoint might be all that is needed to come to a constructive
solution or conclusion. Rather than fear change and try and avoid 'loosing
face', use this book to get new tools so that there will be no risk of 'loosing
face' when dealing with different people with different backgrounds. When the
landscape changes, it is of no use to blame anyone, and it is of no benefit to
keep using a hammer when the nail has changed into a porcelain cup. The
management needs to focus not only on the problem but make sure that the
problem is still relevant. Kodak did not do too well in the arena, the perfect
film is still out there, but who cares!
This book teaches us how to use the human potential in a company in order to
plan a strategic course. It teaches us to listen to those who say that the
emperor has no clothes, or that film has no future! Sometimes problems are too
wicked to solve and can only be managed. And be managed they must. It is best
to do the right things in the right way, but with uncertainties, this is not
always possible. When we have incomplete knowledge, we might just have to live
with doing the right things in the wrong way but we will not survive doing the
wrong things in the wrong way. Much like an aircraft that does not understand
the quantum physics of the air, it does still benefit by using this same air to
stay aloft. This works for times of smooth air or in times of turbulence. Time
might show that this is the wrong thing to do, but for now the aircraft does it
in the right way and that makes all the difference.
What this book emphasizes is that it is important to prepare for turbulence when
the business cycle is still smooth. When the going is smooth the smooth go
planning. They use the excess cash to invest into equipment so when the
competition and business recession comes, they are in a good position to
compete with good products that the customer can be happy about. They have
focussed on the throughput and reaped the benefits at the time when the
competition's cost cutting strategy starts to unravel. After all, the cost of
new machines are a small fraction of the material and labor costs over the
lifetime. If cost cutting is the fashion, then let the competition delay their
upgrades. The time will come when the margins will squeeze too hard for them to
buy new equipment or even to survive. Doing the right thing is also to invest
by creating a harmonious working environment in order for creativity to
flourish in good times or bad. The answers are in the hands of the ones who are
on the shop floor, those in contact with the customers and those who have to
follow the procedures. They need to be able to tell the emperor that he has no
clothes and the emperor will need the wisdom of this book in order to listen to
the message.Anonymous commented. Drawing a new map by Hendrik Lourens is a book for many audiences who are interested in strategy. For MBA students who are struggling to understand how all the strategic theories and concepts fit together, this is a book that integrates many strategic concepts into one integrated whole via the use of real life stories. Whether you are learning about Theory of Constraints, Strategic Learning, Strategic Alignment, Mental Models or Strategic Management, this book shows how different strategic and leadership concepts fit together, in the real world of an organization.For CEOs who need their leaders to adapt to a fast changing reality, this book provides a practical account of how a strategic management process and different mental models and tools can turn around an organization.Filled with real life stories, practical experiences as well as simple explanations of difficult strategic concepts, this is a book to add to your collection of books on strategy, strategic thinking, strategic learning, culture and leadership.Your review of how this product has helped you.
© Change Designs 2011. All rights reserved.
complex problems in business, also relevant to the public sector March 31, 2013
By
Marguerite
Holtzhausen
I
read this book, because of my interest in business strategy after recently
completing a MBA, but was surprised
I read this book, because of my
interest in business strategy after recently completing a MBA, but was
surprised how relevant the principles set out are also for the public sector. I
work for local government and as with business, government is under tremendous
pressure to cut expenditure in order to make their books balance. This book
awakens management not to only look through their financial lenses to address
problems, but to consider the complexity of the world, which could be applied
to both business and government. Henk Lourens' style of writing is easy to
understand, by constantly referring to his own experience in industry. Dealing
with system's theory could be quite intimidating for us mere mortals, but Henk
Lourens manages to introduce the reader to various interrelated techniques,
which give practical guidelines for dealing with complex issues, which he
refers to as wicked problems. His focus on using participatory methods of
strategy formulation, emphasises the need to get input from various stakeholders
in the business in order to be able to fully understand problems and find
lasting solutions and, of course, to increase profits. He also challenges
management to review their mental models, which prevents them from involving
staff from various levels in the organisation. The book also introduces the
reader to various theories for example Peter Senge's Fifth Discipline, Myers
Briggs personality analysis, Theory of Constraints, which could be of academic
interest to those who want to explore them further and to see how the theories
could be integrated in practice. Ultimately this book is ideal for the manager
who does not have time to struggle through theories and who just wants to know
how to apply them to business in order to be more profitable. I think Henk
Lourens succeeds well in illustrating how to apply strategy in practice and how
to systematically deal with complexity in an easy to follow manner. I already
referred to this book in many strategic discussions at my workplace. It is a
must read for managers in business and government.