Book Reviews 145
matter of readership policy, reviewer preference will be given
to practising managers, or planners. Your interest should be
expressed as a specific request to review a book from Review
Briefs, preferably giving some intimation of why you think
your review would be of interest to readers, addressed to:
Bruce Lloyd, Book Review Editor, 48 Aberdare Gar-
dens, London NW6 3QA, U.K.
Strategies of Growth: Maturity, Recovery and Internationaliz-
ation, PETERMcKIERNAN,Routledge (1992), 174 pp., 30.00
(hardback), 9.99 (softback).
Concentrates on the 'forgotten cell' (dogs) of the Boston
Matrix and examines alternative strategies for their recovery
arguing that we should think much more creatively before we
decide to rely on automatic prescriptions of divestment for any
low-share, low-growth businesses. Macro background in-
formation on four key industries is contained in Globalisation of
industrial activities: Four Case Studies: Auto Parts, Chemicals,
Construction and Semiconductors, OECD (1992), 160 pp., FF150.
Leaders: The Learning Curve of Achievement, ANDREWFORREST
and PATRICK TOLFREE, Industrial Society (1992), 333 pp.,
19.95.
The most effective leaders never stop learning. How do they
learn? Through experience or formal education? What role
for knowledge, judgement and management style ? This book,
based on 19 detailed interviews of leading U.K. personalities;
with a final chapter drawing together key issues, including an
appropriate emphasis on responsibility. Another relevant study
is Educationfor Judgment; the Artistry of Discussion Leadership, C.
ROLAND Cr~RISTENSEN,DAvtO A. GARWN and ANN SWEET,
(Eds) Harvard Business School Press (1991), 312 pp., 22.95.
A study devoted to exploring the building blocks of successful
group leadership; negotiating a 'contract' for the contact of the
group; skilfully using the tools of questioning, listening and
responding; guiding participants to adopt new roles; encour-
aging independent thinking and planning for an extended
seqeuence of discussion sessions. A book that deserves (and
needs) to be widely read. A very different view of some of the
issues behind the leadership education debates in the U.K. is
contained in Philosophers and Kings: Educationfor Leadership in
Modern England, GARY McCuLLOCH, Cambridge University
Press (1991), 163 pp., 27.95. One sentence in particular is
worth quoting--Association of Governing Bodies of Public
Schools (1942)--'Such leadership involves the readiness to
take responsibility, the exercise of initiative, the power to give
orders and to choose between persons without offence being
given or taken, and the habit of settling issues, large or small,
on the principle of the good of the community.' Perhaps,
today 'the power to give orders' would be phrased differently
but, otherwise, the wisdom has stood the test of time. A
practical approach to some of the key leadership issues: Take
the Lead: Interpersonal Skillsfor ProjectManagers, DAVIDBODDY
and DAVID BUCHANAN,Prentice Hall (1992), 184 pp., 16.95.
Strategy and Choice, RICHARDJ. ZECKHAUSER(Eds), The MIT
Press (1991), 402 pp., 31.50.
Fifteen essays by well known scholars who present the most
significant recent advances in strategic choice theory in
activities ranging from gift giving to political wheeling and
dealing. Fundamental questions for strategy continually
reappear: What factors motivate individuals' values and
action? What principles guide effective bargaining? H o w can
incentives and decision processes be structured to yield
desirable collective outcomes ? A useful read for managers and
strategic planners.
Strategy: Seeking and Securing Competitive Advantage, CVNTmA
A. MONTGOMERYand M~CHAELPORTER (Eds) Harvard Busi-
ness Review (1991), 475 pp., 26.95.
A collection of 23 articles from the Harvard Business Review
(1979-1990) on the overall theme but broken down into four
parts: Business Strategy; Linking Competitive Strategy and
Functional Strategy; Evolving Nature of International C o m -
petition; Corporate Strategy and Firm Scope. A must for any
strategist who did not see the originals.
Leadership and the Computer: Top Executives reveal how they
personally use Computers to Communicate, Coach, Convince and
Compete, MARY E. BOONE, Prima Publishing (1991), 397 pp.,
$24.95.
Sixteen of America's most respected business leaders show
how they use computers to increase their ability to manage
their organizations effectively. Should be widely read by any
CEO concerned with keeping up with the competition.
A Strategy of Change: Concepts and Controversies in the
Management of Change, DAVID C. WILSON, koutledge (1992),
147 pp., 30.00 (hardback), 9.99 (softback).
Argues for a more general integration of approaches to the
subject of organizational change, 'in particular not forgetting
the intellectual traditions, contradictions and roots of analysis
in our haste to try and solve the pressing problems of today's
organizations.' A similar theme is taken in Managing Quality
Dynamics,JAMES TE/3OUt, Prentice Hall (1991), 249 p., 16.95,
which uses the concept of Quality Dynamics to produce a new
form o f management--management for objectives by con-
tinuous improvement. Those involved in this demanding area
would be well advised to try to find time to read either, or
both, of these challenging books. Those who are particularly
interested in the issues surrounding managing change might
try: Paths of Change: Strategic Choices for Organizations and
Society, WILt McWHINNEY,Sage (1992), 272 pp., 16.95. But
is was written more for the academic than the managerial
market. A short publication aimed firmly at the management
audience is Managing Change in the 1990s--Changing Priorities,
People in Business, (1992), 42 pp., 55.00, which found
(among other things): 'Quality has become the key element in
organizational s t r a t e g y . . . Middle and senior level managers
are the major blocks to change, kecession has forced them to
adopt a siege mentality, avoiding risk, protecting their 'turf"
rather than looking outwards towards external threats.' Other
management focused studies in this area include: TQM-Based
Performance Measurement: Practical Guidelines, M. ZAmI, Tech-
nical Communications (Publishing) Ltd (1992), 73pp.,
25.95 and Competitive Benchmarking: An Executive Guide, M.
ZAIRI, Technical Communications (Publishing) Ltd (1992),