The rapidly changing nature of the modern industrial world has
helped spark a radical rethinking of the design of corporations,
changes no less revolutionary than the wave of innovations
associated with the names of Frederick Taylor and Henry Ford at the
dawn of this century. In Redesigningthe Firm, nineteen experts from
one of the nation's premier business schools, the Wharton School at
the University of Pennsylvania, take an informed look based on
their own research at various aspects of this revolution, offering
managers a host of insights and powerful tools for orchestrating
change in their firm.
Redesigning the Firm illuminates many of the challenges that
confront the executive, approaching the issue from a wide variety
of perspectives. The book considers, for instance, whether the
firm's stockholders, directors, and managers should reevaluate how
they distribute power and share information, and it explores why
external board members often fail to exercise a strong voice in
governance. It looks at the changing boundary of the firm, as
partnerships and alliances have become more important, examining
this new development in three types of market: emerging markets
such as Eastern Europe, markets where economies of scale provide a
critical advantage, and dynamic markets where speed is essential.
It examines the use of suppliers in Japanese, American, and
European firms, and finds the former to be more efficient. Some of
the essays are quite eye-opening. For instance, one chapter
demonstrates that firms can increase product variety at no extra
cost, revealing how a study of the automotive industry shows that
investing in training, in flexible manufacturing processes, and in
better operations management will increase variety without
compromising productivity or lowering quality. And one chapter
sounds a strong note of dissent, contending that the design of
organizations matters little to a global competitor--what matters
is how managers think about the world, and how the operating
procedures they use guide decision-making and behavior. In the
final section, editors Bowman and Kogut reflect on two outstanding
issues concerning the design of the firm: how much of what managers
used to believe was critical to their success can they place
outside their ownership boundaries; and how to deal with the
complex challenges that modular design presents. The editors apply
their conclusions to the Wharton School itself, making the book
particularly valuable for anyone concerned with the quality and
future of business education in America.
Here then is the best thinking by leading experts in corporate
design, who examine the best ways to generate speed, variety, and
flexibility, to expand the firm over time and over national
boundaries, and to prepare a corporation for the next century.
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