Rating: 
Summary: Not a good book.
Review: Morris's attitude is, "Gee whiz, I'm a real live philosopher!"--even though he has no real philosophical perspective. His book is intellectually flabby. He does not portray philosophy accurately and trys to make it seem as though there is a unity within the whole of philosophy that supports his overly simplistic outline of what's important.He does not discuss how Aristotle or any other philosopher would do things differently at any particular company. (Thus the title, which is intriguing, does not portray the content of the book accurately). Rather, he discusses how such and such a value in his conceptualization of things is held important by philosophy in general. This is not real philosophy. Philosophy is not a unified set of feel-good beliefs and morals that can guide us in making our decisions. Rather, philosophy comprises many divergent and contradictory sets of beliefs and perspectives. People do in fact take guidance from particular philosophers and their works, but they usually adhere, more or less, to a certain philosophical school, since other schools are likely to believe totally opposite things. Either Morris doesn't get this, in which he's incompetent, or he's purposely selling a dumbed-down version of "philosophy" to the vulger masses. The above are bad flaws. But the killer flaw of the book is that it is dull. As a person who has a BA in philosophy and is currently working on an MBA, I highly dis-recommend this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Clever, thoughtful, and misnamed...
Review: Not a book about Aristotle or General Motors, but talks about four principles of what constitutes an "excellent company:" Truth, Beauty, Goodness, and Unity. Together, these principles make for an insightful look into human nature and into why we do what we do in the corporate world. Another good book that may parallel this a bit is "Why We Do What We Do" by Edward Deci. This book would be a quick and easy primer for Deci's book (see my review), while focusing more on how to make communities, organizations, and businesses better. Particularly interesting is Morris's definition of the meaning of life. If you enjoyed Ayn Rand's definition in "Atlas Shrugged," or could echo Neitzsche's call in "Thus Spake Zarathustra," it may be worth the buy if only for that. (Hint: It's on page 94 in the softbound copy.) It's also much easier to read. In summary, although this book will never really take the place of Dr. W. Edwards Deming's books or usurp Peter Drucker in your business library, it still comes highly recommended for all.
Rating:
Summary: Clever, thoughtful, and misnamed...
Review: Not a book about Aristotle or General Motors, but talks about four principles of what constitutes an "excellent company:" Truth, Beauty, Goodness, and Unity. Together, these principles make for an insightful look into human nature and into why we do what we do in the corporate world. Another good book that may parallel this a bit is "Why We Do What We Do" by Edward Deci. This book would be a quick and easy primer for Deci's book (see my review), while focusing more on how to make communities, organizations, and businesses better. Particularly interesting is Morris's definition of the meaning of life. If you enjoyed Ayn Rand's definition in "Atlas Shrugged," or could echo Neitzsche's call in "Thus Spake Zarathustra," it may be worth the buy if only for that. (Hint: It's on page 94 in the softbound copy.) It's also much easier to read. In summary, although this book will never really take the place of Dr. W. Edwards Deming's books or usurp Peter Drucker in your business library, it still comes highly recommended for all.
Rating: 
Summary: great, inspiring, motivating- easy to read
Review: The book was great!! I found it easy to read, and very inspiring- if you are a manager in any capacity you will like this book- you'll learn something even if you think you have it all figured out!A great motivational tool!!!
Rating:
Summary: Remarkable application of ancient wisdom to business world
Review: This book is a delightfully readable and energetic presentation of the classic virtues and their relevance for business and institutional life. Morris does not parade his mastery of the technicalities of academic philosophy (amply demonstrated in his other writings) but does a masterful job of conveying the heart and soul of what motivated the great philosophers. This book is a great step in retrieving philosophy from its cultural obscurity and bringing it back into its natural habitat, namely, everyday life, where all of us seek meaning and purpose in our various pursuits. Morris shows how businesses and institutions can recover the great human values of truth, beauty, goodness and unity by citing not only the famous thinkers of history, but also numerous contemporary business executives who have applied these principles with positive results. This book is a great read for anyone interested in the renewal of morale and meaning in corporate life.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and inspiring
Review: This is the first time I've been moved enough to write an online review. Tom Morrison's lessons for humanity in business should be must reading for leaders who want something more than today's dog-eat-dog approach. Brilliant and inspiring!
Rating:
Summary: This book could put Dilbert out of business...
Review: Tom Morrison has identified a better business
management theory. It's not new, as he points
out. It is simply the application of centuries
of accumulated wisdom to our modern experience.
By writing this book, he has done us all a great
service. Now, if only my manager and CEO would
read it.... Morrison applies the four dimensions of human
experience identified by the Greek sage, Aristotle,
to business development. Each dimension has a
direct application through four foundations of
excellence. As Morrison summarizes it, the Intellectual
Dimension aims at Truth; the Aesthetic at Beauty;
the Moral at Goodness; and the Spiritual at Unity. But don't groan about the esoterics just yet. Morrison
applies each of these very complex notions to our
everyday experience and shows how striving for
fulfillment in the four dimensions brings excellence
and success in business, small and large. Morrison fails to step beyond Aristotle, however,
in not discussing the Economic foundation that
aims at Utility. Any attempt at the introduction
of philosophical principles to business should
include it. Heilbroner could give him a few pointers
on that one. Lastly, the aphorisms and quotations spread throughout
the text, while interesting and applicable (I'll be
be using some as marquees on my screen saver), are
quite distracting. Without a doubt, If Aristotle Ran General Motors
is a great resource that should be studied and applied
to every person's employment. I've been waiting
a long time for a book like this one.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting look at business and decision-making.
Review: Using four virtues (truth, beauty, goodness, and unity) as guidelines for making business decisions was a great approach for the book. The section on goodness was especially interesting because it mentions how everyday situations can be seen as ethical decisions. I particularly enjoyed the quotes that Morris uses throughout the book which provide other thinkers' ideas about ethics. Morris also does a great job of combining all of the elements at the beginning and then giving his justification.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: When you ask business people what they think about ethics and morality, they usually answer that these are important things in today's business environment. When you ask them what they REALLY think about ethics and morality, most of them don't want to answer you in any detail. A few will reply that morality is "idealistic" and that one must be "pragmatic" in everyday business practice. The belief that "morality is a topic to be debated after the bills are paid" seems to be the dominant belief in business (and other) circles. This book, brilliant in every way, attempts, and succeeds, in arguing that wisdom and its concrete manifestation in ethics, should be the cornerstone of business life. The author is a philosopher, and not a business owner, but with his insight into the dynamics of the marketplace and its optimization, his ideas are clearly thinking "out of the box". One can only hope that business leaders (and others) will discover the ideas in this book or some other like it. With today's headlines in corporate fraud and other scandals (some justified and some not), business people need to start believing in the efficacy of ethics in optimizing their business ventures. The preface to the book concerns "reinventing corporate spirit", the author drawing on the thoughts of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle to set up the foundation for his arguments in the book. He recognizes correctly that it is ideas that fundamentally move the world. Throughout the book are many interesting insights into the psychology of business practices. When speaking of happiness for example, in relation to Aristotle's notion of eudaemonia, one of these is the recognition that money is frequently not the end goal for business people, the real goal being to achieve admiration in the eyes of others. The resulting ostentatious lifestyle is primarily done to impress, this being a transient and ultimately unsatisfying motivation in the eyes of the author. The book is divided up into four parts: Truth, Beauty, Goodness, and Unity. Each of these stand for respectively, the intellectual, aesthetic, moral, and spirtual necessities for achieving true happiness.
In "Truth" the discussion is interesting in that it emphasizes the importance of telling the truth not just from the standpoint of what it will do in relation to others, but what it will do for the individual involved. Telling a lie damages one's self confidence. Individuals who practice the telling of falsehoods are intimidated by truth and do not have any confidence in the efficacy of their own minds. In addition, the author discusses the importance of "open-book management": that the sharing of knowledge results in greater productivity among the employees. This is to be contrasted with the nervous attitude among some managers who feel threatened by information, again lacking self-confidence and are in a perpetual state of worry that the dissemination of knowledge among employees or co-workers will result in their comptetitive demise. These views on truth are most refreshing. "Lying is the most dangerously corrosive and subtly destabilizing activities to be found in human life" he says. He's right. Quoting the Hindu proverb "The true nobility is in being superior to your precious self", the author encourages the view of competition as being one in which individuals surpass their former abilities, instead of worrying about their status in relation to others. He's right. Even more important is that the author addresses the influence of philosophy in the development of ethical attitudes in business. Ethical relativism and nihilism have wreaked havoc in society as a whole, not just in business, and the author emphasizes the need for coming to grips with these beliefs, and replacing them with sound philosophical systems that are both rational and meshed with common sense. "Ideas rock the world" he states. He's right. Most refreshingly, the author does not shy away from addressing the issue of self-interest. Confronting the "What's in it for me?" question that is asked by some, he clearly believes that self-interest is not something to be swept under the rug in discussions on ethics and morality in business. "The view that ethics requires total personal disinterestedness is a dangerous distortion of the truly moral point of view", he states. He's right. Peer pressure and "going with the flow" are always issues that everyone has to deal with in the business environment. Not being labeled as a "team player" can be detrimental to one's growth in a particular organization. The author asks the reader to count the costs of conformity and not to "associate with evil men, lest you increase their number", quoting George Herbert. He's right. But ethics is not merely a collection of arbitrary rules to follow, the author argues. The right course of action is built into the nature of reality and meshes with human nature and human needs. Since this is the case, the practice of true ethical norms is not only productive, but pleasureful to the individual, and instead of causing boredom as some might believe, alleviates it, argues the author. He's right. Some might label, and the author does unashamedly, the framework outlined in the book as "spiritual". Goal-oriented, truth-valuing, truth-loving conduct results in a productive, life-loving spiritual individual, in complete antithesis to that of a sterile, non-creative, cynical one who views life as a burden with crosses to bear. Some of course might view this book, and one on ethics in general, as being "idealistic" or "naive". Such individuals may not wish to even pick it up, let alone read it. But individuals who practice these ideas, or ones very similar, haved moved the world, and will continue to do so.
| 
