The Individualized Corporation: A Fundamentally New Approach to Management [Paperback]

Having said that, it is a bit difficult to see why the book has been given such extravagant praise. Nearly everything in it was anticipated by the Pinchots in 1993 and the themes covered are very well established (and were already established when it was first published in 1997). Although it is not new, the principles are still not widely followed, so any additional material that may serve to spread the message is welcome.

The material is good. The reliance on a lot of examples makes it very discursive, but the sub-heads through the text are useful. There is a slightly breathless air of 'discovery' through the book that would be acceptable if the ideas and prescriptions were in fact new.

They divide their book into four parts. In the first part, they present the concept of the Individualized Corporation. In the second part, they describe the organizational characteristics required to develop three core capabilities that distinguish the Individualized Corporation. In the third part, they explore the managerial implications of these new organizational characteristics and focus on how companies can go about building and managing the Individualized Corporation. Finally, in the fourth part, they step back from the details of defining the characteristics of the Individualized Corporation and describing how to build and manage it, to examine the more profound issues of a new managerial philosophy that underlies this new corporate model.

In this context, in the third part, after introducing the new corporate model, they examine new management roles and tasks of this new model that are radically different from the classic ones:

1. Operating-Level Managers

* Changing role: From operational implementers to aggressive entrepreneurs.

* Primary value added: Driving business performance by focusing on productivity, innovation, and growth within frontline units.

* Key activities and tasks: Creating and pursuing new growth opportunities for the business. Attracting and developing resources and competencies. Managing continuous performance improvement within the unit.

2. Senior-Level Managers

* Changing role: From administrative controllers to supportive coaches.

* Primary value added: Providing the support and coordination to bring large-company advantage to the independent frontline units.

* Key activities and tasks: Developing individuals and supporting their activities. Linking dispersed knowledge, skills, and best practices across units. Managing the tension between short-term performance and long-term ambition.

3. Top-Level Managers

* Changing role: From resource allocators to institutional leaders.

* Primary value added: Creating and embedding a sense of direction, commitment, and challenge to people throughout the organization.

* Key activities and tasks: Challenging embedded assumptions while establishing a stretching opportunity horizon and performance standards. Institutionalizing a set of norms and values to support cooperation and trust. Creating an overarching corporate purpose and ambition.

Finally, they say that "Halley's comet will return to our corner of the solar system in the year 2062. When it does, we believe our successors will look back at the Individualized Corporation as the revolutionary new model that brought business organizations into the postindustrial, information-intensive age of knowledge."

Highly recommended.

Part I - Birth of a New Corporate Model serves as an introduction, describing "the most profound change in management in a lifetime": the move from organization man to individualized corporation. "In this book, we will describe this management model and illustrate how some of the pioneers of this new approach have implemented it in their own companies." The first chapter, The Rediscovery of Management, frames the historical context and describes the authors' research motivation. The second chapter, Rebirth of an Organization Man, provides an example of how the transformational changes at one company affected the activities, motivation, and performance of a "classic organization man." In Part II - From Organization Man to Individualized Corporation, the authors describe the organizational characteristics required to develop the three core capabilities that distinguish the 'individualized corporation'. The first core capability is its ability to inspire individual creativity and initiative in all its people, built on a fundamental faith in individuals. The second core characteristic is the ability to link and leverage pockets of entrepreneurial activity and individual expertise by building an integrated process of organizational learning. The third core feature is its ability to continuously renew itself. Each core capability is discussed in detail. The third part of the book - Building and Managing the Individualized Corporation - explores the managerial implications fo above mentioned characteristics and on how companies can go about building and managing the individualized corporation. The authors use the final chapter of this part to discuss the transformation process that has taken at various companies, such as Philips Electronics, ABB, ISS, 3M, McKinsey & Co., and General Electric. In the fourth and final part - Toward A New Corporate Era - the authors examine the new managerial philosophy behind this new corporate model. By using the case of Swedish company IKEA, they explain the redefinition of "the role of corporate management away from its classic focus on strategy, structure, and systems to one built around purpose, process, and people". This redefinition is really the main message of the book.

I have a mixed feeling about this book. Yes, I believe that the authors are right in the sense that we have now entered the era of individualized corporations. But my main feeling is that I either read this book too late or that it was published too late. Some other great management thinkers, such as Peter F. Drucker, Charles Handy and Henri Mintzberg, have covered this subject/trend several decades before. Also, the book does not provide us with enough tips and checklist to enable us to manage these (new) types of organization. The book is also rather long and I recommend other readers to go for the three authors' Harvard Business Review-articles covering this book, starting with "Changing the Role of Top Management: Beyond Strategy to Purpose" (1994).