A Framework for the Strategic Use of I/T to Transform Business Projects Making I/T Work offers managers basic guidance and an effective model for making the right choices when considering implementing information-based business projects. In this book, Dennis Severance and Jacque Passino provide business leaders with a framework of organizational change that places the problems of change into a context so that they can be effectively addressed and outlines a proven framework that can be adapted to a variety of situations.Making I/T Work offers managers A framework for managing I/T investment opportunitiesFifty helpful questions for leading a program of strategic changeGuidance for overcoming the powerful blocks to changes in infrastructureSuggestions for formulating a winning strategyA model for preparing and implementing a projectInformation on how to assess the success of a programMaking I/T Work can help managers guide a strategic I/T transformation with a plan that is based on a strong sense of objective and a credible assessment of current realities.

Competing in a Service Economy is a hands-on guide to creating services, with illustrative examples from service-oriented companies including Disney, Ericsson, IKEA, National Association of Convenience Stores, Ritz Carlton, Scandinavian Airline Systems, Sterling Pulp Chemicals, and Telia Mobile. This practical resource for executives, general managers, and managers in marketing, operations, and human resources reveals how to gain a competitive advantage by creating and implementing a strategic plan that will ultimately improve their organization's services. Written by the authors of the best-selling book Improving Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Profit, this important new book will help business professionals to think and plan strategically to dramatically improve services, service development, and service innovation within their organizations.

Interviewing is one of the most effective ways to identify and attract employees who will be successful enough to stay. But few managers are adept at the skill. This book helps eliminate expensive errors of judgment by presenting readers with a set of behaviorally based interviewing strategies. Written by the faculty of the prestigious University of Michigan Executive Education Center--and based on one of their most popular courses--its seven-step "Strategic Interviewing Approach" helps interviewers define the competencies candidates need to possess and make hiring decisions based on accurate predictions of the candidates' performance.

Why do some companies perform beyond expectation year after year while others start out strong but quickly fizzle? The answer lies in their ability to create long-term value. In this book, a leading professor at the top-ranked University of Michigan Business School presents five keys to creating value by incorporating the efforts of marketing, manufacturing, human resources, and finance in a strategy for continuing bottom-line success. His fresh look at what makes companies work shows managers how they can identify the factors that create value and use them to benefit their organizations and their own careers.

A Book in the University of Michigan Business School Series It's a simple equation: no customers equals no profits. So how can a company ensure that its customers enjoy a consistently satisfying experience? In this book, two experts from the University of Michigan Business School lay out a five-stage process that links all of the key measures of customer satisfaction with marketing strategy and product development to guarantee excellent customer service. Johnson and Gustafsson show managers how to break down the organizational barriers that defy great customer service and instead tie together their customer value chain to create a cohesive customer measurement and management system. So, if like most companies, yours has only a fleeting understanding of its relationship with its customers, this book offers the organizational know-how to make and keep them happy.

Interviewing is one of the most effective ways to identify and attract employees who will be successful enough to stay. But few managers are adept at the skill. This book helps eliminate expensive errors of judgment by presenting readers with a set of behaviorally based interviewing strategies. Written by the faculty of the prestigious University of Michigan Executive Education Center--and based on one of their most popular courses--its seven-step "Strategic Interviewing Approach" helps interviewers define the competencies candidates need to possess and make hiring decisions based on accurate predictions of the candidates' performance.

Money isn't everything to today's employees. This book shows companies how to combine traditional compensation with the educational, emotional, and psychological benefits that will attract the best and brightest. It identifies the ten elements--including learning, advancement, emotional rewards, and quality of life--that job seekers rank highest among desired benefits. Then it shows employers how to combine them with monetary benefits to create effective, employee-driven compensation packages.

As the war for talent rages on, organizations are seeking proven methods for leveraging diversity as a resource. Creating the Multicultural Organization challenges today's organizations to stop "counting heads for the government" and begin creating effective strategies for a more positive approach to managing diversity. Using a model outlined in his earlie rworks, Taylor Cox Jr.--an associate professor at the University of Michigan Business School and president of his own consulting firm--shows readers the many practical and innovative ways that top organizations such as Alcoa effectively address diversity issues to secure and develop the talent that they need in order to succeed. A University of Michigan Business School Series Book

Corrosive work relationships are like black holes that swallow up energy that people need to do their jobs. In contrast, high-quality relationships generate and sustain energy, equipping people to do work and do it well.Grounded in solid research, this book uses energy as ameasurement to describe the power of positive and negative connections in people's experience at work. Author Jane Dutton provides three pathways for turning negative connections into positive ones that create and sustain employee resilience and flexibility, facilitate the speed and quality of learning, and build individual commitment and cooperation.Through compelling and illustrative stories, Energize Your Workplace offers managers, executives, and human resource professionals the resources they need to build high-quality connections in the workplace.

Why do the people in some companies continually dazzle us with their brilliant decisions while those in others make one blunder after another? Do they understand their businesses better? Are they just plain smarter? Or is it all a matter of luck? The answer, says J. Frank Yates, is none of the above. The real key, rarely recognized, is how the leaders manage the company's decision processes—the leaders' decision management practices. Drawing on his thirty years of research and experience as well as scholarship from psychology, economics, statistics, strategy, medicine, and other fields to explain the fundamental nature of business decision problems, Yates highlights the ten cardinal decision issues crucial to managing the decision-making process—and ultimately better company decisions. He covers problems ranging from recognizing whether a decision is actually called for to assuring that a preferred course of action will be implemented. He shows how solid decisions result when managers ensure that deciders resolve every cardinal issue effectively for every decision problem facing the company. He also reveals how, conversely, chronically poor decisions are traceable to managers allowing—or even creating—conditions that encourage deciders to fall short in how they address at least one of those critical issues.

Although many leaders acknowledge and invest in creativity, we seldom see it hold a credible place in the business development process. Creativity at Work takes a practical approach to creativity, showing how to select practices to produce results and add value. The authors explain how to:* Understand the creative preferences of organizations, departments, work groups, and individuals* Identify and compare the different creativity profiles that describe specific purposes, practices, and people* Produce the desired results by developing the right practices* Blend creativity practices to meet the complex needs that characterize most work situationso Develop required creative abilities in a team and in oneself

Finance for Strategic Decision Making demystifies and clarifies for non-financial executives the basics of financial analysis. It shows how they can make important financial decisions that can critically enhance their institution’s ability to respond to competitive challenges, undertake new projects, overcome financial setbacks, and most importantly, create shareholder value. Written by M. P. Narayanan and Vikram K. Nanda—two of the country’s leading authorities on financial strategy—this book offers a practical guide for using financial analysis to enhance strategicdecision making. The book includes a coherent framework that outlines practical and intellectually sound guidance for executives who must make strategic decisions. Finance for Strategic Decision Making Explains the role of finance in corporate strategyOffers guidance on resource allocation decisionsExplores how to determine the right balance of debt and equity capital to maximize firm valueDemonstrates how to use payout policy as a strategic toolClarifies if a merger, acquisition, or divestiture is in the best interest of an organizationShows how to manage riskReveals how to measure value created and the effectiveness of upper level management

A Book in the University of Michigan Business School Series You can build it. You can use it. You'll prosper if you do. Discover a step-by-step program for tapping the hidden resources in your business, professional, and personal networks: your social capital. Here, an expert on building connections shows how building rich social capital produces higher pay, faster promotions, better jobs, breakthrough ideas, new business opportunities, and profitable companies.You'll learn how to develop your own social capital and use it to attain your personal and professional goals and, in the process, enhance your own health and emotional well-being.

Managers at all levels are constantly challenged to do more with fewer employees, to motivate diverse groups of people, and to face up to tough people problems in their workforces. An important key to managers' success is accomplishing these goals while protecting themselves and their companies from legal liability. Yet some in management tend to blame legal requirements for hindering progress toward solving problems. U.S. law, however, provides managers with broad discretion in many employment situations and in most cases helps ensure that managers perform their essential functions in a way that is fundamentally fair while still supporting company goals. A Manager's Guide to Employment Law will help managers make day-to-day decisions on how best to manage their employees and handle issues of legal liability. Expert author Dana Muir identifies the subtle and unnecessary mistakes managers make that cause legal headaches and shows how becoming familiar with basic principles of employment law will enable them to develop an internal compass to help make the right decisions. Each chapter focuses on legal concepts of broad application in today's workplace, providing real examples of problems managers face and offering strategies for addressing those problems.

A Framework for the Strategic Use of I/T to Transform Business Projects Making I/T Work offers managers basic guidance and an effective model for making the right choices when considering implementing information-based business projects. In this book, Dennis Severance and Jacque Passino provide business leaders with a framework of organizational change that places the problems of change into a context so that they can be effectively addressed and outlines a proven framework that can be adapted to a variety of situations.Making I/T Work offers managers A framework for managing I/T investment opportunitiesFifty helpful questions for leading a program of strategic changeGuidance for overcoming the powerful blocks to changes in infrastructureSuggestions for formulating a winning strategyA model for preparing and implementing a projectInformation on how to assess the success of a programMaking I/T Work can help managers guide a strategic I/T transformation with a plan that is based on a strong sense of objective and a credible assessment of current realities.

Competing in a Service Economy is a hands-on guide to creating services, with illustrative examples from service-oriented companies including Disney, Ericsson, IKEA, National Association of Convenience Stores, Ritz Carlton, Scandinavian Airline Systems, Sterling Pulp Chemicals, and Telia Mobile. This practical resource for executives, general managers, and managers in marketing, operations, and human resources reveals how to gain a competitive advantage by creating and implementing a strategic plan that will ultimately improve their organization's services. Written by the authors of the best-selling book Improving Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Profit, this important new book will help business professionals to think and plan strategically to dramatically improve services, service development, and service innovation within their organizations.

Interviewing is one of the most effective ways to identify and attract employees who will be successful enough to stay. But few managers are adept at the skill. This book helps eliminate expensive errors of judgment by presenting readers with a set of behaviorally based interviewing strategies. Written by the faculty of the prestigious University of Michigan Executive Education Center--and based on one of their most popular courses--its seven-step "Strategic Interviewing Approach" helps interviewers define the competencies candidates need to possess and make hiring decisions based on accurate predictions of the candidates' performance.

Why do some companies perform beyond expectation year after year while others start out strong but quickly fizzle? The answer lies in their ability to create long-term value. In this book, a leading professor at the top-ranked University of Michigan Business School presents five keys to creating value by incorporating the efforts of marketing, manufacturing, human resources, and finance in a strategy for continuing bottom-line success. His fresh look at what makes companies work shows managers how they can identify the factors that create value and use them to benefit their organizations and their own careers.

A Book in the University of Michigan Business School Series It's a simple equation: no customers equals no profits. So how can a company ensure that its customers enjoy a consistently satisfying experience? In this book, two experts from the University of Michigan Business School lay out a five-stage process that links all of the key measures of customer satisfaction with marketing strategy and product development to guarantee excellent customer service. Johnson and Gustafsson show managers how to break down the organizational barriers that defy great customer service and instead tie together their customer value chain to create a cohesive customer measurement and management system. So, if like most companies, yours has only a fleeting understanding of its relationship with its customers, this book offers the organizational know-how to make and keep them happy.

Interviewing is one of the most effective ways to identify and attract employees who will be successful enough to stay. But few managers are adept at the skill. This book helps eliminate expensive errors of judgment by presenting readers with a set of behaviorally based interviewing strategies. Written by the faculty of the prestigious University of Michigan Executive Education Center--and based on one of their most popular courses--its seven-step "Strategic Interviewing Approach" helps interviewers define the competencies candidates need to possess and make hiring decisions based on accurate predictions of the candidates' performance.

Money isn't everything to today's employees. This book shows companies how to combine traditional compensation with the educational, emotional, and psychological benefits that will attract the best and brightest. It identifies the ten elements--including learning, advancement, emotional rewards, and quality of life--that job seekers rank highest among desired benefits. Then it shows employers how to combine them with monetary benefits to create effective, employee-driven compensation packages.

As the war for talent rages on, organizations are seeking proven methods for leveraging diversity as a resource. Creating the Multicultural Organization challenges today's organizations to stop "counting heads for the government" and begin creating effective strategies for a more positive approach to managing diversity. Using a model outlined in his earlie rworks, Taylor Cox Jr.--an associate professor at the University of Michigan Business School and president of his own consulting firm--shows readers the many practical and innovative ways that top organizations such as Alcoa effectively address diversity issues to secure and develop the talent that they need in order to succeed. A University of Michigan Business School Series Book

Corrosive work relationships are like black holes that swallow up energy that people need to do their jobs. In contrast, high-quality relationships generate and sustain energy, equipping people to do work and do it well.Grounded in solid research, this book uses energy as ameasurement to describe the power of positive and negative connections in people's experience at work. Author Jane Dutton provides three pathways for turning negative connections into positive ones that create and sustain employee resilience and flexibility, facilitate the speed and quality of learning, and build individual commitment and cooperation.Through compelling and illustrative stories, Energize Your Workplace offers managers, executives, and human resource professionals the resources they need to build high-quality connections in the workplace.

Why do the people in some companies continually dazzle us with their brilliant decisions while those in others make one blunder after another? Do they understand their businesses better? Are they just plain smarter? Or is it all a matter of luck? The answer, says J. Frank Yates, is none of the above. The real key, rarely recognized, is how the leaders manage the company's decision processes—the leaders' decision management practices. Drawing on his thirty years of research and experience as well as scholarship from psychology, economics, statistics, strategy, medicine, and other fields to explain the fundamental nature of business decision problems, Yates highlights the ten cardinal decision issues crucial to managing the decision-making process—and ultimately better company decisions. He covers problems ranging from recognizing whether a decision is actually called for to assuring that a preferred course of action will be implemented. He shows how solid decisions result when managers ensure that deciders resolve every cardinal issue effectively for every decision problem facing the company. He also reveals how, conversely, chronically poor decisions are traceable to managers allowing—or even creating—conditions that encourage deciders to fall short in how they address at least one of those critical issues.

Although many leaders acknowledge and invest in creativity, we seldom see it hold a credible place in the business development process. Creativity at Work takes a practical approach to creativity, showing how to select practices to produce results and add value. The authors explain how to:* Understand the creative preferences of organizations, departments, work groups, and individuals* Identify and compare the different creativity profiles that describe specific purposes, practices, and people* Produce the desired results by developing the right practices* Blend creativity practices to meet the complex needs that characterize most work situationso Develop required creative abilities in a team and in oneself

Finance for Strategic Decision Making demystifies and clarifies for non-financial executives the basics of financial analysis. It shows how they can make important financial decisions that can critically enhance their institution’s ability to respond to competitive challenges, undertake new projects, overcome financial setbacks, and most importantly, create shareholder value. Written by M. P. Narayanan and Vikram K. Nanda—two of the country’s leading authorities on financial strategy—this book offers a practical guide for using financial analysis to enhance strategicdecision making. The book includes a coherent framework that outlines practical and intellectually sound guidance for executives who must make strategic decisions. Finance for Strategic Decision Making Explains the role of finance in corporate strategyOffers guidance on resource allocation decisionsExplores how to determine the right balance of debt and equity capital to maximize firm valueDemonstrates how to use payout policy as a strategic toolClarifies if a merger, acquisition, or divestiture is in the best interest of an organizationShows how to manage riskReveals how to measure value created and the effectiveness of upper level management

A Book in the University of Michigan Business School Series You can build it. You can use it. You'll prosper if you do. Discover a step-by-step program for tapping the hidden resources in your business, professional, and personal networks: your social capital. Here, an expert on building connections shows how building rich social capital produces higher pay, faster promotions, better jobs, breakthrough ideas, new business opportunities, and profitable companies.You'll learn how to develop your own social capital and use it to attain your personal and professional goals and, in the process, enhance your own health and emotional well-being.

Managers at all levels are constantly challenged to do more with fewer employees, to motivate diverse groups of people, and to face up to tough people problems in their workforces. An important key to managers' success is accomplishing these goals while protecting themselves and their companies from legal liability. Yet some in management tend to blame legal requirements for hindering progress toward solving problems. U.S. law, however, provides managers with broad discretion in many employment situations and in most cases helps ensure that managers perform their essential functions in a way that is fundamentally fair while still supporting company goals. A Manager's Guide to Employment Law will help managers make day-to-day decisions on how best to manage their employees and handle issues of legal liability. Expert author Dana Muir identifies the subtle and unnecessary mistakes managers make that cause legal headaches and shows how becoming familiar with basic principles of employment law will enable them to develop an internal compass to help make the right decisions. Each chapter focuses on legal concepts of broad application in today's workplace, providing real examples of problems managers face and offering strategies for addressing those problems.