Sumantra Ghoshal on Management: A Force for Good

Sumantra Ghoshal on Management: A Force for Good

by Julian Birkinshaw, Gita Piramal
Released February 2006
Publisher(s): Pearson
ISBN: 9780131370319

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Book description

Sumantra Ghoshal on Management represents Ghoshal¿s twenty-year intellectual odyssey to challenge the underpinnings of management thought; to expose, rework and replace the foundation stones of management thinking.   Exploring his key ideas, and reflecting his genius for collaboration along the way, this book shows how he had become a force for good in the world of management

  • The first book to bring all the key Ghoshal writings together in one place.

  • When a guru is well known and respected collected guru works sell extremely well. Ghoshal was perhaps the foremost management theorist in Europe, and has an army of personal and professional admirers. 

  • Today's leading lights in management and strategy provide context and commentary.

  • Introduction by Julian Birkinshaw, discusses Goshal's work as a whole and its relevance to today's business environment.

  • Published on the anniversary of Goshal¿s death, this title will be timely and supported by a national PR campaign that is sure to grab attention.

  • Goshal's works are well grounded in research but deeply applicable to the everyday working environment.

  • AUDIENCE: Will sell well to academics and general business readers alike. Key audience categories: senior managers, consultants, academics and students.

  • BENCHMARKS: The Essential Drucker, HarperCollins 2003. Maslow on Management, John Wiley 1998.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
    1. Dedication
  2. Financial Times Prentice Hall
  3. Foreword
  4. A force for good: The life and work of Sumantra Ghoshal
    1. The problem with management theory
    2. Part I Managing across borders
    3. Part II The individualized corporation
    4. Part III The new management agenda
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. 1. Towards a good theory of management
    1. Companies are the engines of economic progress
    2. ‘Asshole management’ is not inevitable
    3. Management theories must be both right and good
    4. References
  7. I. Managing across borders: New concepts and perspectives on the multinational corporation
    1. 2. Managing across borders: New strategic requirements
      1. New challenges: Mixed responses
      2. Traditional strategic demands
        1. Rewarding efficiency in global industries
        2. Building responsiveness in multinational industries
        3. Exploiting learning in international industries
      3. Strategic challenge of the 1980s: Transition to transnationality
        1. Need for multidimensional strategic capabilities
        2. Responding to the challenge: Toward transnational capabilities
      4. The organizational constraint
        1. The critical role of administrative heritage
      5. Organizational capability as key competence
      6. References
    2. 3. Managing across borders: New organizational responses
      1. From unidimensional to multidimensional capabilities
      2. Overcoming simplifying assumptions
      3. From symmetry to differentiation
      4. From dependence or independence to interdependence
      5. From control to coordination and cooption
      6. Sustaining a dynamic balance: Role of the “mind matrix”
      7. References
    3. 4. The multinational corporation as an interorganizational network
      1. Interorganizational theories applied to the multinational corporation
        1. The multinational as a network: Constructs and terminology
      2. Resource configuration in MNCs
        1. Effects of within density in national organization sets
        2. Effects of across density in the external network
      3. Centrality and power within the multinational network
        1. Effects of within density in national organization sets
        2. Effects of across density in the external network
      4. Large MNCs as differentiated networks
      5. Implications for research
        1. Building a network theory of the MNC
      6. References
    4. 5. Internal differentiation within multinational corporations
      1. Internal differentiation in MNCs: A contingency framework
        1. Headquarters–subsidiary relations as a mixed-motive dyad
        2. Exchange contingencies posed by different contexts
        3. The different structural elements of headquarters–subsidiary relations
        4. The structure–context “fit” in headquarters–subsidiary relations
      2. Measurement procedure and sample
      3. Data analysis and results
        1. Univariate context–structure relationships
        2. Different types of subsidiary contexts
        3. A multivariate test of “fit”
      4. Conclusions
      5. Appendix: Operationalization and measurement of constructs
        1. A: Headquarters-level instrument (instrument finally employed in the study)
          1. Local organizational abilities/resources
          2. Centralization
          3. Formalization
          4. Normative integration
          5. Performance
        2. B: Subsidiary-level instrument (employed for pre-test)
          1. Centralization
          2. Formalization
          3. Normative integration
      6. Acknowledgements
      7. References
  8. II. The individualized corporation: Towards a managerial theory of the firm
    1. 6. Rebuilding behavioral context: Turn process reengineering into people rejuvenation
      1. Pathologies of the inherited context
        1. Compliance
        2. Control
        3. Contract
        4. Constraint
      2. The context for renewal
        1. Discipline
        2. Support
        3. Trust
        4. Stretch
      3. Framing new individual behaviors
      4. Individualizing the corporation
      5. References
    2. 7. Rebuilding behavioral context: A blueprint for corporate renewal
      1. A phased sequence of change
      2. A new behavioral context
      3. Simplification: Building front-line initiative
        1. Building discipline
        2. Embedding support
      4. Integration: Realigning cross-unit relationships
        1. Creating stretch
        2. Developing trust
      5. Regeneration: Ensuring continuous learning
        1. Integrating the contextual frame
        2. Maintaining a dynamic imbalance
      6. Leading the renewal process
      7. References
    3. 8. Bad for practice: A critique of the transaction cost theory
      1. “Unpacking” opportunism
        1. The concept of opportunism
        2. Attitude or behavior?
        3. What if opportunism is a variable?
      2. The self-fulfilling prophecy
        1. Implications
        2. The case of social control
      3. In the end, markets?
        1. Control-context fit
        2. Domain bias
        3. From hierarchies to markets
        4. Beyond the market-failure framework
      4. The organizational advantage
        1. The market logic: Autonomous adaptation
        2. Organizational logic: Purposive adaptation
          1. Missing markets
          2. Dynamic efficiency
          3. The moral factor
      5. A theory for the organizational economy
        1. The double hermeneutic
        2. Building on or starting over?
      6. References
    4. 9. Diversification and diversifact
      1. The spinning top of the multi-business enterprise
        1. Adding bulk for stability
      2. Trade-offs in designing the multi-business enterprise
        1. The horizontal trade-off: Autonomy vs. synergy
        2. The vertical trade-off: Control vs. initiative
        3. The centrifugal trade-off: Spin vs. skin
        4. The balance trade-off: Base vs. bulk
      3. Building and balancing capabilities
        1. Strengthening the base
        2. Reinforcing the core
        3. Adding bulk
        4. Providing spin and skin
      4. Putting the “a” back in diversifiction
      5. References
  9. III. The new management agenda: Building social capital and unleashing organizational energy
    1. 10. Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage
      1. Social capital
      2. Intellectual capital
        1. Dimensions of intellectual capital
          1. Types of knowledge
          2. Levels of analysis in knowledge and knowing
        2. The creation of intellectual capital
          1. Combination and the creation of intellectual capital
          2. Exchange and the creation of intellectual capital
        3. The conditions for exchange and combination
        4. Toward a theory of the creation of intellectual capital
      3. Social capital, exchange, and combination
        1. Exchange, combination, and the structural dimension of social capital
          1. Network ties
          2. Network configuration
          3. Appropriable organization
        2. Exchange, combination, and the cognitive dimension of social capital
          1. Shared language and codes
          2. Shared narratives
        3. Exchange, combination, and the relational dimension of social capital
          1. Trust
          2. Norms
          3. Obligations and expectations
          4. Identification
      4. Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage
        1. Organizations as institutional settings are conducive to the development of social capital
          1. Time and the development of social capital
          2. Interdependence and the development of social capital
          3. Interaction and the development of social capital
          4. Closure and the development of social capital
        2. The coevolution of social and intellectual capital underpins organizational advantage
      5. Discussion and implications
      6. Notes
      7. References
    2. 11. Radical performance improvement is possible
      1. The pathology of satisfactory underperformance
      2. The dynamics of satisfactory underperformance
      3. Satisfactory underperformance is pervasive in India
      4. Radical performance improvement is possible
        1. 1. High performance companies exist in “unattractive” industries
        2. 2. A company can achieve outstanding performance even when its industry is shrinking
        3. 3. Outstanding performance can be achieved even when competitors are much bigger and stronger
        4. 4. Radical performance improvement is possible even when you are already very successful
        5. 5. Charismatic leadership is not a prerequisite for radical performance improvement
      5. What does it take?
      6. Reference
    3. 12. Integrating the enterprise
      1. A need for horizontal integration
      2. Four critical components of horizontal integration
        1. Operational integration through standardized technological infrastructure
        2. Intellectual integration through shared knowledge base
        3. Social integration through collective bonds of performance
        4. Emotional integration through shared identity and meaning
      3. Entrepreneurial activity and horizontal integration co-evolve
      4. References
    4. 13. Beware the busy manager
      1. Focus and energy
      2. The procrastinators
      3. The disengaged
      4. The distracted
      5. The purposeful
      6. Challenge and choice
  10. Commentaries and reflections
    1. Creating a legacy: The philosophies, processes, and person behind the ideas
      1. The research philosophy: Built on a respect for managers
      2. The process: Collaboration as an art form
      3. The person: Intense, bold, compassionate
    2. Sumantra Ghoshal: The practical dreamweaver
    3. The role of creative dialogue
    4. Creating a desire for the sea
      1. Beware the busy manager[1]
      2. Reclaim your job[3]
      3. Going beyond motivation to the power of volition[4]
      4. Unleashing organizational energy[6]
      5. A bias for action
      6. A desire for the sea
      7. Notes
    5. A final word

Product information

  • Title: Sumantra Ghoshal on Management: A Force for Good
  • Author(s): Julian Birkinshaw, Gita Piramal
  • Release date: February 2006
  • Publisher(s): Pearson
  • ISBN: 9780131370319