 | Management Quotes |  |
As Eben Moglen once said: “Society has been vastly underproducing pyramids since the time of the Pharaohs.” The economic and social system that made pyramid production sensible simply doesn’t exist anymore, and no one seems to miss it, even if we’re a few pyramids short of where we’d like to be.
— Jonathan Zittrain
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Economics and Miscellaneous
We hew to laws against stealing because there is already cultural consensus that stealing is wrong, rooted in the fact that the thief deprives the good citizen of the stolen property. To copy an idea does no such thing; wrote Jefferson, “he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.” It does indeed deprive the original author of the ability to monopolize the idea and perhaps extract money from it. That can serve as a reason to create and enforce such a monopoly, but it’s not nearly as grounded in our ethical senses as is robbing a bank or vandalizing a house.
— Jonathan Zittrain
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Ethics and Law / Legal
The 20th-century company was characterized by a separation of conceptualization and execution; a small group of people—the “brains”—developed a plan, and a large group of people—the hired “hands”—carried it out. That distinction is obsolete in the information economy.
— Erik Brynjolfsson
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Business Rules and Economics
Computers are great at making information cheaper and cheaper, but it takes humans to respond and act on that data. For most tasks, you still need a person in the loop. But humans can also be a bottleneck. We have more demand and overload on our cognitive abilities, and that prevents technology from being as effective as it can be.
— Erik Brynjolfsson
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Economics and Technology
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
— Gandhi
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Career and Personal Development
The competitive executive seizes and exploits opportunities. He is more interested in building on strength than in shoring up weaknesses. He devotes more time to building his own company’s position than to countering competitive moves.
— Marvin Bower
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Leadership and Management
Like so many other management concepts…the value of the fact-founded approach depends on the degree and effectiveness of its use. My observations convince me that only the most successful companies really use facts adequately and with full effectiveness in developing strategic plans and making decisions. Too many executives get fixed attitudes on common issues, typifying the cliché, “My mind is made up—don’t bother me with the facts.” Too many executives—even some successful ones—come to value their own opinions and judgments so highly that they ignore or underestimate facts.
Ideally, the job of building in the fact-founded approach starts at the top. In large-scale organizations, the factual approach must be constantly nurtured by high-level executives. The more layers of authority through which facts must pass before they reach the decision maker, the greater the danger that they will be suppressed, modified, or softened so as not to displease the “brass.” For this reason, high-level executives must keep reaching for facts or soon they won’t know what is going on. Unless they make visible efforts to seek and act on facts, major problems will not be brought to their attention, the quality of their decisions will decline, and the business will gradually get out of touch with its environment.
— Marvin Bower
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Management and Organizational Behavior
The business with high ethical standards has three primary advantages over competitors whose standards are lower:
1 . A business of high principle generates greater drive and effectiveness because people know that they can do the right thing decisively and with confidence. When there is any doubt about what action to take, they can rely on the guidance of ethical principles. Inner administrative drive emanates largely from the fact that everyone feels confident that he can safely do the right thing immediately. And they also know that any action that is even slightly unprincipled will be generally condemned.
2. A business of high principle attracts high-caliber people more easily, thereby gaining a basic competitive and profit edge. A high-caliber person favors the business of principle and avoids the employer whose practices are questionable. For this reason, companies that do not adhere to high ethical standards must actually maintain a higher level of compensation to attract and hold people of ability.
3. A business of high principle develops better and more profitable relations with customers, competitors, and the general public because it can be counted on to do the right thing at all times. By the consistently ethical character of its actions, it builds a favorable image. In choosing among suppliers, customers resolve their doubts in favor of such a company. Competitors are less likely to comment unfavorably on it. And the general public is more likely to be open-minded toward its actions.
— Marvin Bower
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Ethics and Organizational Behavior
The results of organizational planning are pictured in organizational charts, with their boxes and lines of authority. But organizational planning really deals with the actions, ambitions, emotions, and personal effectiveness of people. Whether or not the actions of individuals are effectively harnessed to achieve the purposes of the business depends largely, I believe, on how well the plan of organization is fashioned and how resolutely managers at all levels follow it themselves and require others to do so. The boxes and lines on charts are merely symbols of plans that, as part of the management system, help to require and inspire purposeful, productive decisions and actions.
— Marvin Bower
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Management and Organizational Behavior
Organizational planning is concerned—in management jargon—with the duties, responsibilities, authority, relationships, and personal requirements of positions. This kind of planning harnesses and legitimizes power. It also helps to contain illegitimate power.
Even a perfect organizational plan won’t control all the imperfections of human nature. But a defective plan can be counted on to bring out the worst in people and to raise costly havoc in the organization.
— Marvin Bower
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Management and Organizational Behavior