Patterns of Excellence

In an increasingly competitive and complex environment, many businesses today are struggling to achieve sustainable success. So what can organizations do to put excellence back at the heart of their business?

Based on a global study of the world's best organizations, Patterns of Excellence reveals the guiding principles which separate the best from the rest, The book's case studies provide illuminating analysis and practical guidance on implementing management structures.

Share the holistic vision of the world's best companies.

The new principles of corporate success

Samson and Challis cut through the fads and jargon of modern business and systematically identify the fundamental building blocks underpinning the world's leading companies. They characterize fourteen distinguishing principles of organizational excellence, enabling readers to identify and mbilize the perfect pattern for business.

• Part 1: Patterns of Excellence
1. Patterns of excellence — beyond organizational 'mid-life' crisis
• Introduction
• How and what you manage
• The present state of play — organized chaos
• How good could it (or should it) be?
2. Towards world-class management and leadership
• Company 'New' — what would you look like and what wouldn't it look like?
• Part 2: Management by Principles
3. Management by principles
• Introduction
• How management by principles work
4. Principle 1: Alignment
• Introduction
• Evaluation of alignment
• Benefits of alignment
• Improving a company's alignment
• Summary
5. Principle 2: Distributed leadership
• Introduction
• Evaluation of distributed leadership
• Benefits of distributed leadership
• Improving distributed leadership
• Summary
6. Principle 3: Integration
• Introduction
• Evaluation of integration
• Benefits of integration
• Improving integration
• Summary
7. Principle 4: Being out front
• Introduction
• Evaluation of out front
• Benefits of out front
• Improving out-front status
• Summary
8. Principle 5: Being up front
• Introduction
• Evaluation of up front
• Benefits of up-front principle
• Improving up-front status
• Summary
9. Principle 6: Resourcing the medium term
• Introduction
• Evaluation of resourcing the medium term
• Benefits of resourcing the medium term
• Improving on resourcing th medium term
• Summary
10. Principle 7: Being time focused
• Introduction
• Evaluation of time focus
• Benefits of the time-focus principle
• Improving time focus
• Summary
11. Principle 8: Embracing change
• Introduction
• Evaluation of the embracing-change principle
• Benefits of embracing change
• Improving on the embracing-change principle
• Summary
12. Principle 9: Learning focus
• Introduction
• Evaluation of the learning principle
• Benefits of learning
• Improving on the learning-focus principle
• Summary
13. Principle 10: Being disciplined
• Introduction
• Evaluation of the principle of discipline
• Benefits of discipline
• Improving and sustaining discipline
• Summary
14. Principle 11: Measurement and reporting
• Introduction
• Evaluation of measuring and reporting
• Benefits of measurement and reporting
• Improving the organization's measurement and reporting
• Summary
15. Principle 12: Customer value
• Introduction
• Evaluation of the customer-value principle
• Benefits of customer-value creation and focus
• Improving and sustaining customer value
• Summary
16. Principle 13: Capabilities
• Introduction
• Evaluation of capabilities
• Benefits of the capabilities principle
• Improving capabilities
• Summary
17. Principle 14: Micro to macro
• Introduction
• Evaluation of micro to macro
• Benefits of micro to macro
• Improving micro to macro
• Summary
• Part 3: Implementation
18. Implementation steps
• Introduction
• Step 1: Building awareness and executive buy-in
• Step 2: Strategic focussing — business/organizational direction
• Step 3: Performance assessment — business/organizational
• Step 4: Diagnosis and development of the change case (gap analysis)
• Step 5: Project planning
• Step 6: Implementation and review
• Summary
19. Key Success Factors ­— the system of management
• Introduction
• KSF 1; Understanding the changing nature of business strategy: from plan to process
• KSF 2: Integrated management of business strategy and organizational development systems
• KSF 3: Know the magnitude of the gap, know how long there is and know the culture
• KSF 4: Know the limits of restructuring and the business growth breakpoint: is the organization at risk of becoming anorexic?
• KSF 5: Develop an exceptional sense of reality
• KSF 6: The ability to avoid 'fad-surfing'
• KSF 7: Keep it relevant and keep it simple
• LSF 8: Getting into specifics: managing the detail, not the concept
• KSF 9: Leadership of the change process
• KSF 10: Stakeholder engagement
• Summary
• Conclusion and epilogue

This is no Peters book, au contraire. It describes how organized and disciplined organizations can work.