THE FUTURE OF MANAGEMENT, by Gary Hamel

THE FUTURE OF MANAGEMENT

by Gary Hamel

Publisher: Harvard Business Press

September 2007

Pages: 288 

Rating: 2/5

Synopsis

What fuels long-term business success? Not operational excellence, technology breakthroughs, or new business models, but management innovation-new ways of mobilizing talent, allocating resources, and formulating strategies. Through history, management innovation has enabled companies to cross new performance thresholds and build enduring advantages.

In The Future of Management, Gary Hamel argues that organizations need management innovation now more than ever. Why? The management paradigm of the last century-centered on control and efficiency-no longer suffices in a world where adaptability and creativity drive business success. To thrive in the future, companies must reinvent management.
Practical and profound, The Future of Management features examples from Google, W.L. Gore, Whole Foods, IBM, Samsung, Best Buy, and other blue-ribbon management innovators.

Review

I've never thought of gaining competitive advantage from this perspective. Information is clean, providing clear examples for all the points presented. I think Hamel is on to something here - although, as a manager, it would be hard to implement some of his strategies. Good presentation, but somewhat redundant. Also, totally negating the importance of other innovations (such as financial, operational or otherwise) is a bit too absolute for my views. Still, it is an interesting read, even if to only understand the reason of the success behind companies such as Google. This was given a relatively low rating because despite the fresh look, it was long and dry.