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1-Page Summary of In Search Of Excellence
Overview
Business management is a complex topic. However, there are some key concepts that can help us understand it better. These concepts have been distilled from the experiences of successful business leaders and managers across history. Some people have tried to find out what makes these leaders so good at managing their businesses but they haven’t found the holy grail yet. Tom Peters and Robert Waterman decided to go straight to the source: The most successful companies in American history, which were run by those great leaders of olden times (the ones who didn’t die young). They figured that if they couldn’t find this elusive “holy grail” then it might not exist after all; however, on their journey they did kill off several myths about business management along with finding some unique insights for modern-day managers
The authors studied great companies and wrote a book about them. The book is called In Search of Excellence, and it’s an instant classic that shows how these successful companies were built.
After reading this, you will have learned the importance of not being too rigid and allowing your business to be innovative. You will also learn how walking around your office can help you manage it better. Finally, you’ll understand why Procter & Gamble lets its brands compete against each other for market share.
Big Idea #1: For a long time, people have debated how to manage companies.
Every business leader wants to know the best way to manage their company. But why are there so many different approaches and schools of thought? Well, management theory has long been a topic of general concern and disagreement among academics. In the 1930s, Chester Barnard argued that management wasn’t an exact science, but more like an art relying on charismatic leadership.
In the 1970s, management theorists were concerned about international competition. This was especially true in countries like Japan where companies were growing at a much faster rate.
People noticed that Japan didn’t have a lot of business schools, and this led people to question whether Americans were too theoretical in their approach to management.
The authors wanted to find out what made the top companies of America so successful. They conducted interviews and research on 15 companies that were considered best in their fields by businessmen, consultants, and business academics. The criteria used for selecting these companies was two-fold: 1) how popular the company was among those three groups; 2) if they stayed in the top half of a list of 43 companies over 20 years with regards to growth (average return on capital or average return on sales).
So, according to the criteria above, in 1982 the top 15 American companies were Bechtel, Boeing, Caterpillar Inc., Dana, Delta Airlines, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), Emerson Electric Company (EMC), Fluor Corporation (FLR), Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ), IBM Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald’s and Procter & Gamble. What attributes did all of these companies share? Keep reading to find out.
Big Idea #2: Great companies know how to get things done.
The authors noticed that successful companies have a common trait: they’re able to get things done. In fact, the top companies surveyed were all action-oriented.
Most companies believe they have an action bias, but most don’t. Instead of taking action, many businesses get bogged down in bureaucracy. When you need a lot of people to sign off on any given decision, it’s difficult to take action.
Good companies resolve issues by being flexible. They can deal with problems that require multiple levels of bureaucracy.
