- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: John Wiley & Sons (25 April 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 047144510X
- ISBN-13: 978-0471445104
- Product Dimensions: 24.1 x 15.8 x 2.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 946,921 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Offers a broad view of leadership and shareholder value based on multiple business disciplines
In Why the Bottom Line Isn′t! authors Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood argue that sustainable shareholder value comes increasingly from assets not accounted for on an organization′s balance sheet. These assets include a company′s reputation, its ability to attract talent, and its ability to react quickly to new opportunities in the marketplace. Why the Bottom Line Isn′t! harnesses research from a number of disciplines including human resources, finance, and leadership to establish a hierarchy of such intangibles. The authors extrapolate from these intangibles to establish leadership tools that will help create sustainable shareholder value. The book offers a broad, expansive perspective on leadership while eschewing convoluted theory for concrete practice.
Dave Ulrich, Ph.D., (DOU@UMICH.EDU) has been listed by BusinessWeek as the top "guru" in management education. He has co–authored 10 books and over 100 articles, serves on the Board of Directors of Herman Miller, and has consulted with over half of the Fortune 200 companies. He is currently on professional leave as Professor at the University of Michigan to serve as Mission President for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter–day Saints in Montreal.
Norm Smallwood (nsmallwood@rbl.net) is co–founder of Results–Based Leadership (www.rbl.net), which provides education and consulting services based on this book as well as the ideas in Results–Based Leadership: How Leaders Build the Business and Improve the Bottom Line, which he co–authored with Ulrich. He has led leadership development, business strategy, organization capability, change management, and HR projects for a wide variety of clients spanning multiple industries.
From the Inside Flap
Why the Bottom Line Isn’t! began when the authors asked a simple question: How can two companies in the same industry with similar earnings have vastly different market values? In answering that question, authors Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood demystify theories of intangible value and show that the bottom line is about much more than just earnings–it’s about building long–term value through assets not accounted for on a company’s financial statements, such as leadership, brand, corporate culture, and ability to attract talent. The authors use real–world examples from various industries to show how intangibles drive market value; even more, they provide the tools to make it happen in your company.
Based on research drawn from a number of disciplines, including human resources, finance, IT, and leadership, this book offers ideas and actions that leaders at any level, in any function, can use to protect and increase their organization’s overall value. Each chapter presents an intangible asset as a concept, then provides examples and tools that help leaders deliver and communicate the value of each to shareholders, investors, regulators, customers, and employees.
Today’s successful leaders must understand the new role that intangibles play in company valuations and see their own roles from a larger perspective if they are to join the new breed of leaders–those who can consistently build value within the company. Why the Bottom Line Isn’t! will show you how to take that next step and start improving your organization now.
But business leaders aren’t the only people who can benefit from the tools and techniques included in this book. These ideas can be easily translated to all types of organizations–from churches, to schools, to government agencies. No matter what kind of organization you operate, remarkable things happen when you build value through intangible assets. Employees will be more committed, customers and investors more satisfied, confident, and numerous. For those who want to impact the long–term value of their organizations, Why the Bottom Line Isn’t! is a clear and solid guide.
Inside This Book
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Ulrich and Smallwood continue the earlier work from Ulrich (and Smallwood): Delivering Results (1990), Human Resource Champions (1997), and Resultsbased leadership (1999). Basically the authors attempt in a practical way to answer the question: how come two identical firms have very different market values? And they succeed very well. Supported by multiple scientific references and documentation, the authors have created a focused book, about how the so-called ”soft business issues” can cause results and market value.
But ”Why the Bottom Line ISN’T” is more than that. The authors present a whole concept of 4 dimensions based on solid theory, and yet described in a businesslike manner:
1. How to deliver consistent and predictable earnings.
2. How to articulate a growth vision.
3. How to ensure future aligned competencies.
4. How to create capabilities.
One practical model follows another, and likewise for checklists, advice, descriptions of processes etc.
Rust doesn’t sleep on Ulrich. He moderates previous models and tools, and new concepts appear. Most of them described in a down-to-earth manner. The description on how to design Shared Mindsets is sharper than earlier, and the same can be said about he methods explaining accountability. Leadership branding is a new and exciting way of creating differentiation between companies. And the description of organizational antivirus is funny and thought provoking.
”Why the bottom Line ISN’T” can very well turn into a handbook for leaders for the years to come.
Claus Hellmann Hansen
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
David Ulrich’s ideas have pretty much defined the HR profession for the last decade. That by itself is a reason to make sure you’ve read this book. What is even more important is that Ulrich & Smallwood outline how HR activities can help to increase the shareholders value as measured in stock price (at least, this is what HR could do, if they would do it right, the reality is that often HR just seems to be wasting money). Given that shareholders become more and more demanding, that’s another good reason to read this book. So I was a bit surprised to see that this book is not high on the Amazon bestseller list when I’m writing this review (sales rank 12.407 when I wrote this and only 4 other reviews written).
Not only does the book contain a lot of valuable advice, it’s structure and writing style make it easy to get the message. For instance, you’ll find most principles illustrated with examples of companies such as General Electric, South West Airlines, Sears, … and each chapter ends with a section with leadership implications.
While reading the book, I had myself going “yes” most of the time and I really think that this book should be on your reading list. So why did I only give it 4 stars? For the 3 last years I’ve been trying to convince jobEQ’s partners and customers to put Ulrich’s ideas in practice. Unfortunately sometimes prospects just didn’t get it. I think many HR professionals still didn’t hear the “wake up call”. That’s why I would have preferred a more provocative writing style, more examples of how other companies screw up, etc. I think that more counter-examples would really have driven the book’s message home.
Not only does the book contain a lot of valuable advice, it’s structure and writing style make it easy to get the message. For instance, you’ll find most principles illustrated with examples of companies such as General Electric, South West Airlines, Sears, … and each chapter ends with a section with leadership implications.
While reading the book, I had myself going “yes” most of the time and I really think that this book should be on your reading list. So why did I only give it 4 stars? For the 3 last years I’ve been trying to convince jobEQ’s partners and customers to put Ulrich’s ideas in practice. Unfortunately sometimes prospects just didn’t get it. I think many HR professionals still didn’t hear the “wake up call”. That’s why I would have preferred a more provocative writing style, more examples of how other companies screw up, etc. I think that more counter-examples would really have driven the book’s message home.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Authors Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood use a bottom-line approach to assess various business intangibles that build actual value, such as a vision of future growth and improved capabilities. They present the keys to creating value by mustering intangible assets in a well-organized, highly structured way. Unfortunately, the intangible factors and the growth steps they discuss are well-traveled territory. But while other books may describe how to develop these "soft" qualities in a more intriguing or more original way, this volume handily dissects, quantifies and explains them step by step. Here, the vague is made concrete. Even a bean counter could understand the bottom line value of innovation, improved internal systems and enhanced organizational culture with this explanation. We recommend it to those who want to invest in intangible assets in a tangible setting, for very tangible reasons.
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