 |
Title: The Agenda
Author(s): Michael Hammer. Publisher: Crown-Business, 2001, 269 pages. Manageris 100a. Following the Internet craze, companies are now rediscovering the virtues of basic operational improvement practices. Is this simply the return of reengineering? No, it’s more than that. In The Agenda, Michael Hammer invites managers to think bigger than they did in the nineties, offer total customer solutions rather that just great products, and optimize the entire supply chain rather than just internal processes. Main subject [Reengineering] |
 | ......................................... Discover how Manageris helps demanding executives : Test our services (and get 5 free book synopses) More about us ......................................... |
Reading Tips for...
While Michael Hammer’s first book was something like a “manifesto,” this book is written like a memo suggesting that executives put nine priorities on their agenda. It is structured in simple format, and offers clear messages with many original and detailed supporting examples to give substance to the author’s recommendations.
For ideas on creating more customer value, go to chapter 3 first. This chapter provides many examples of companies that have innovated to offer more than just a product. Chapter 2 rounds out the topic by offering six ways to make customers’ lives easier.
The clear review of the basic foundations of the process reengineering approach offered in chapter 4 is optional reading for managers experienced in the subject. The tricky subject of how to reconcile this approach with a geographical or functional organization is covered in chapter 7, using a detailed case study of Duke Power.
The advantages of optimizing creative processes, such as key account sales and R&D, are demonstrated in chapter 5. Of particular interest here are the Caterpillar and Hewlett-Packard examples.
The importance of optimizing processes across company boundaries is covered in two parts. Chapter 8 discusses how to optimize the allocation of manufacturing and distribution roles (Motorola, Kawasaki), while chapter 9 analyzes ways to optimize the supply chain (Geon, Hewlett-Packard). However, chapter 10 is not as convincing in its recommendations to use the same approach for building a virtual network of partners.
Finally, we felt three chapters lacked novel inspiration. Chapter 6 reviews the advantages and principles of effective performance tracking systems (supported by the interesting cases of Allmerica and Duke Power), while chapters 11 and 12 offer tips on managing change and developing the organization’s adaptive capabilities.
Critical commentary…
by Régis Coeurderoy,
Professor of Organizational Strategy at Université Catholique de Louvain.
Michael Hammer produced his first illustrious work on reengineering in the early nineties, in which he explained how new information technologies would revolutionize the way companies are organized and redesign organizational roles.
In this new book, he clearly manifests his intention to establish a roadmap for the new decade. In this, The Agenda is a well-chosen title evoking a to-do list to maintain organizational effectiveness in the future.
What the author recommends is nothing less than taking management past the boundaries of the company. As information technologies enable two companies to be linked as closely as two departments of the same company, inter- and intra-organizational differences tend to disappear. Two interwoven organizations must consequently be managed in concert. Among the concepts suggested by this stimulating book to address this imperative, two stand out as being particularly powerful.
The first of these concepts is the need to think through processes in conjunction with customers. The catalogue offering is obsolete. Companies can no longer afford to deliver mere products. Today, service starts by helping customers define their needs, or even anticipating those needs. Then, as customer needs change, the company must change. In recommending that customer relationships be considered as processes that continue over time, Hammer is saying that the company of tomorrow must be able to link its fate inextricably with that of the customer. Management efforts consequently cannot stop at the threshold of the company.
The second powerful concept is to think network. Hammer also demonstrates that the company of tomorrow is first and foremost a network organization. Competitive pressures will continue to drive the trend toward specialization, in which companies focus on what they do best and get what they lack from other organizations. The fantastic progress in information technologies will enable this complex alchemy to succeed by breaking down the barriers between organizations. For example, distance no longer prevents suppliers from responding immediately to the demands of their customers. However, such highly-interdependent relationships mean that decisions must be assessed at the virtual network level, rather than from the viewpoint of a single member of that network. Individual value is enhanced by increasing the value of the whole network.
Some might say that these two structural management concepts – processes and networks – are old hat. That is certainly true. What is original is how Hammer considers both of these concepts simultaneously to expand the conventional scope of management. Nonetheless, it is regrettable that despite many illustrative examples, the author devotes so little of the book to his touted organizational change methods. This book should therefore be considered as a signpost marking the path to liberation from organizational barriers. However, readers will have to look to others for a map on how to get there.
Further readings…
- Reengineering the Corporation
Michael Hammer – Harper Collins.
(Book and Manageris synopsis 07b) - Lean Thinking
J. Womack, D. Jones –Simon & Schuster.
(Book and Manageris synopsis 49a) - Customer Intimacy
F. Wiersema – Knowledge Exchange.
(Book and Manageris synopsis 50a)
 |