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The Living Company: Growth Learning and Longevity in Business
 
 
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The Living Company: Growth Learning and Longevity in Business [Paperback]

Arie P. De Geus
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
RRP: £14.99
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The Living Company: Growth Learning and Longevity in Business + Built To Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies + Good To Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
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Product details

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Nicholas Brealey Publishing; New edition edition (8 April 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1857881850
  • ISBN-13: 978-1857881851
  • Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 232,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

The average life span of a Fortune 500 company is less than half a century, yet there also are corporations around the world that have been in business for 200, 500, even 700 years. Arie de Geus, a retired Royal Dutch/Shell Group executive, maintains after studying both extremes that the most enduring treat their businesses as "living work communities" rather than pure economic machines. The Living Company: Growth, Learning and Longevity in Business persuasively outlines his resultant prescription for organisational longevity. --Amazon.com

Product Description

Explores the theme of organizational learning. Provides an investigation of the consequences of building a sustainable work community for human resource management, strategic planning and organisational structure. A case is made for a public debate on corporate governance and the reallocation of power in a company.

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (1)
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Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars This book is must reading for any leader or aspiring leader!, 23 Mar 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: The Living Company: Growth Learning and Longevity in Business (Paperback)
Arie de Geus is probably the most unique business thinker around. He combines the pragmatism of someone who had a very successful career at Shell with the curiosity of a talented academic. Behind this unique perspective is a deep appreciation for people. Most of us automatically relate to organizations like Newton related to the natural world, as one big physical mechanism. We casually talk about "aligning parts of the organization", "operating in organizational smokestacks or silos", and "fixing communications channels". Mr. de Geus helps us learn to think about organizations from the natural perspective, as living organisms, subject to many of the same limitations and forces as individual people are. When you read this book, you will become a much better and more effective person in all parts of your life. You will also feel better about yourself, and make those around you feel better about themselves. Read THE LIVING COMPANY today. This book is a wonderful gift to us all!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars This book will change your business life, 20 May 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: The Living Company: Growth Learning and Longevity in Business (Paperback)
Arie de Geus uses a deceptively simple analogy: what if organisations behaved as living beings? From a variety of perspectives, he examines the underpinnings of corporate success, and informs it with examples from his career in Royal Ducth Shell. I read this book and its messages kept coming back to me as I worked with clients. There are thoughts in this book which will stay with you for a long, long time. Warmly recommended, easy to read, non prescriptive, and packed with wisdom. Just read it!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent student business strategy book!, 9 Dec 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: The Living Company: Growth Learning and Longevity in Business (Paperback)
This is undoubtedly one of the best books for a business, european business or even hospitality management student who may be studying for corporate strategy or organisational behaviour/development at any level, but particularly at degree or above. I found it particularly useful in terms of my dissertation regarding change management in the hospitality industry, as it provides us students with a practitioners interpretation of the company, as a living being!

A must for any student!

James A Gower BA (Hon) Hospitality Management Student University of Derby UK

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