Rating: 
Summary: Business needs more than quality management!
Review:
When inovation and learning become fundamental for business, rules, standards, and established pieces of knowledge cannot be taken as guides, as they must also be renewed. Mangers ask: "How is it possible for people to cooperate in such an environment?"
Quality management has given an important contribution to improve business, emphasising the importance of customer satisfaction and extending the concept of customer to include internal clients, but we are recognizing that it is not enough. Modern business must satisfy all of its stakeholders: customers, employees, owners, suppliers, community, etc.
Management by Values focuses on the sources that drive the action of people and organizations. It treats business as a social system that emerges from the cooperation of different stakeholders. Management by values is not another program that management must do, but the very essence of management: it is caring about the relationships that keep the business alive.
The book in itself is a beautiful piece of work: succint, clear, pleasant to read. The principles of MBV are presented through the story of an executive who goes through the implementation process. The authors also supply information about real cases.
One limitation of the book is that, very understandably, it presents "Management by Values" as a consulting product. The reader should be aware that, independently of the methodology used, values are always what makes people act and things happen!
In spite of its limitation, this is a very instructive and pleasant book, and I believe readers will find it very valuable!
Rating:
Summary: Business needs more than quality management!
Review: When inovation and learning become fundamental for business, rules, standards, and established pieces of knowledge cannot be taken as guides, as they must also be renewed. Mangers ask: "How is it possible for people to cooperate in such an environment?" Quality management has given an important contribution to improve business, emphasising the importance of customer satisfaction and extending the concept of customer to include internal clients, but we are recognizing that it is not enough. Modern business must satisfy all of its stakeholders: customers, employees, owners, suppliers, community, etc. Management by Values focuses on the sources that drive the action of people and organizations. It treats business as a social system that emerges from the cooperation of different stakeholders. Management by values is not another program that management must do, but the very essence of management: it is caring about the relationships that keep the business alive. The book in itself is a beautiful piece of work: succint, clear, pleasant to read. The principles of MBV are presented through the story of an executive who goes through the implementation process. The authors also supply information about real cases. One limitation of the book is that, very understandably, it presents "Management by Values" as a consulting product. The reader should be aware that, independently of the methodology used, values are always what makes people act and things happen! In spite of its limitation, this is a very instructive and pleasant book, and I believe readers will find it very valuable!
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring yet realistic overview of values integration...
Review: Finally... a book that gives more detail on how the values integration process works. Reading this book 6 months into our own values integration process is very reassuring because it really hits home on a lot of points. This book outlines the same process that we used and its working! The interpersonal relationships seem to me to be the first notable change. The buy-in part is crucial. This book is also realistic about internal opposition to the values integration and the length of time that it takes to truly become a values- based company. Another key topic in this book is that being a values-based company is about being a group of values-based people. You need to work on yourself too; it's not just that you have values when you come to work. I think an important feature of any values integration process is promoting the importance of living each day with integrity in ALL things that we do, not just at work. The amazing thing is that once you start to see and feel that your company is living your values, you will try harder to keep moving forward. Another good book to get people inspired is Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive by Patrick Lencioni.
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring yet realistic overview of values integration...
Review: Finally... a book that gives more detail on how the values integration process works. Reading this book 6 months into our own values integration process is very reassuring because it really hits home on a lot of points. This book outlines the same process that we used and its working! The interpersonal relationships seem to me to be the first notable change. The buy-in part is crucial. This book is also realistic about internal opposition to the values integration and the length of time that it takes to truly become a values- based company. Another key topic in this book is that being a values-based company is about being a group of values-based people. You need to work on yourself too; it's not just that you have values when you come to work. I think an important feature of any values integration process is promoting the importance of living each day with integrity in ALL things that we do, not just at work. The amazing thing is that once you start to see and feel that your company is living your values, you will try harder to keep moving forward. Another good book to get people inspired is Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive by Patrick Lencioni.
Rating:
Summary: Managing by Values
Review: I found this book to be an extremely refreshing way to determine business success. As recruitment of the "best of the best" continues to be very competitive, I think that associates will become more interested in Mr. Blanchard's philosophy of using the values approach to manage business. I found this to be extremely easy reading, yet it shared a message that I wish every CEO could hear. I would recommend this book for any innovative thinker who is searching for a new way to build a successful business.
Rating:
Summary: Managing by Values
Review: I found this book to be an extremely refreshing way to determine business success. As recruitment of the "best of the best" continues to be very competitive, I think that associates will become more interested in Mr. Blanchard's philosophy of using the values approach to manage business. I found this to be extremely easy reading, yet it shared a message that I wish every CEO could hear. I would recommend this book for any innovative thinker who is searching for a new way to build a successful business.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is the nadir of vanity publishing.
Review: I have never read a book so filled with bad grammar, misspellings, and cliches. The characters are worse than one-dimensional. They don't even belong in Flatland. "You're a quick study" Ed said, with a wink. "That suits me fine," she glowed. Oh, please. The only item of interest in the book is trying to figure out how a little electro-magnetic gadget spells out, 'Managing by Values'. The authors certainly couldn't. If you want to read a cartoon book about American management, read a 'Dilbert'. If you're seriously interested in shaping a value-driven corporation, read 'The Heart Aroused' by David Whyte.
Rating:
Summary: A story of organizational & personal transformation
Review: I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Blanchard and O'Connor tell a great story about significant change in the life of the main character and his company. Some may criticize this as "pop" business theory or fluff but I sensed they were writing from personal experience. I especially love that they stress the fact it'll take 2-3 years to begin to see results. If you're interested in organizing your life around shared values, check this book out. The book won't cost you much in money or reading time but you will probably glean some very helpful insights into the change process.
Rating:
Summary: A story of organizational & personal transformation
Review: I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Blanchard and O'Connor tell a great story about significant change in the life of the main character and his company. Some may criticize this as "pop" business theory or fluff but I sensed they were writing from personal experience. I especially love that they stress the fact it'll take 2-3 years to begin to see results. If you're interested in organizing your life around shared values, check this book out. The book won't cost you much in money or reading time but you will probably glean some very helpful insights into the change process.
Rating: 
Summary: Beyond Power to Stakeholder-Centered Missions and Values
Review: If you like Ken Blanchard's other books (like The One Minute Manager with Spencer Johnson), this could turn out to be your favorite Blanchard book of all time. This book looks more fundamentally at how people get their business and personal lives out of whack than the other Blanchard books. That usually means putting the pursuit of prosperity ahead of health, happiness, and peaceful relations with others. The book is built on this premise: "It's values that align people, that get them all committed to working for the common good." On the other hand, if you dislike Blanchard's general approach to business and book-writing, enough said. This one will affect you the same way, and you should skip it. Most people who think about leadership imagine exercising great power by using moral persuasion and commands to shift an organization into a better direction. Actually, that's harder than turning a supertanker around, and often less useful. In my experience, and in the views of this book, it works better to find a purpose for the organization that is equally valuable and meaningful to everyone involved (those who work there, customers, suppliers, shareholders, distributors, partners, and the communities you serve). That purpose doesn't come from the CEO, but rather it emerges from conversations with all of the interested parties. Then, by using that central purpose, and the values to support it, everyone can decide what the right thing to do is in any situation with a minimum of leadership and management from elsewhere. Johnson & Johnson is probably a good example of a company that runs this way. When someone tampered with some Tylenol capsules, the company quickly recalled all Tylenol products as a reflection of its value of providing only helpful, healthful products. Unlike Ken Blanchard's other books, this one has a lot of process-oriented information about how to go from how you lead today to a mission and value-centered process. I found that very helpful, and the process suggestions seemed sound to me. I have not actually seen a company use the exact process here, but it seems reasonable compared to the examples I have seen in other companies. As you probably guessed, the book is built around a fable that involves someone (CEO Tom Yeoman of RimCo) having an epiphany that leads to a desire to change his life and improve his company. The epiphany follows his best friend refusing to help start a new business with him, saying, "The trouble with you, Tom, is that you're in a rat race. Remember, even if you win the race, you're still a rat." Tom meets a change agent (a consultant who specializes in Managing by Values) and several clients of the change agent who share their experiences. The book goes on to describe how Tom's company implements that advice. You'll also recognize the familiar summaries, diagrams and short quotes ("The most important thing in life is to decide what's most important.") to emphasize what you have just learned. This book is also a good reference tool, because it has a lot of detail about how to implement the process. The main drawback to the reader is that you probably cannot implement this process very well by yourself. You will probably want to hire one of the firms that the coauthors work for if you like the process. Normally, I complain bitterly about this in other business books. I am making an exception here, because my experience has clearly been that an outsider can be essential to establishing personally-meaningful missions, values by consensus, and creating the adjustments needed to live by those values. The actual content in the book is probably five times greater than in a typical Ken Blanchard book, so you'll definitely get your money's worth. Live long and prosper by your values!
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