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Journal of Education for Business

ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20

Book Review

James L. Morrison

To cite this article: James L. Morrison (2008) Book Review, Journal of Education for Business, 83:4, 246-248, DOI: 10.3200/JOEB.83.4.246-248

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.83.4.246-248

Published online: 07 Aug 2010.

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246฀ Journal฀of฀Education฀for฀Business

BOOK฀REVIEW

Christopher,฀William฀F.฀Holistic฀ Management:฀Managing฀What฀Matters฀ for฀Company฀Success.฀Hoboken,฀NJ:฀ Wiley,฀2007,฀503฀pp.฀ISBN:฀978-0-471-74063-6.฀$99.95.

n฀Holistic฀ Management:฀ Managing฀ What฀ Matters฀ for฀ Company฀ Suc-cess,฀ William฀ F.฀ Christopher฀ presents฀ a฀ new฀ approach฀ to฀ managing฀ an฀ organi-zation฀ whether฀ it฀ is฀ in฀ the฀ nonprofit,฀ for-profit,฀ or฀ public฀ sector.฀ Specifically,฀ Christopher฀ builds฀ a฀ relation฀ between฀ two฀recently฀developed฀managerial฀areas฀ that฀can฀significantly฀improve฀organiza-tional฀ performance:฀ system฀ science฀ and฀ key฀ performance฀ parameters.฀ He฀ refers฀ to฀ this฀ approach฀ as฀ providing฀ holistic฀ understanding฀ of฀ management.฀ Thus,฀ the฀ focus฀ is฀ on฀ assisting฀ individuals฀ in฀ an฀ organization฀ to฀ prepare฀ for฀ change,฀ innovation,฀ and฀ growth฀ by฀ building฀ on฀ traditional฀principles฀of฀management฀that฀ typically฀ have฀ focused฀ on฀ the฀ functions฀ of฀ planning,฀ organizing,฀ implementing,฀ and฀assessing฀organizational฀activities.฀

Christopher฀ argues฀ that฀ systems฀ thinking฀ provides฀ a฀ holistic฀ view฀ of฀ how฀฀aspects฀of฀an฀organization฀relate฀ to฀ one฀ another฀ and฀ how฀ everything฀ works.฀He฀builds฀on฀the฀readily฀accept-ed฀ adage฀ that฀ a฀ system฀ is฀ much฀ more฀ than฀the฀sum฀of฀its฀parts.฀The฀primary฀ purpose฀of฀systems฀thinking฀is฀the฀cre-ation฀ of฀ value฀ for฀ customers฀ in฀ ways฀ that฀ enable฀ the฀ company฀ to฀ achieve฀ sustainable฀ profitability.฀ The฀ author,฀ therefore,฀ presents฀ those฀ technologies฀ and฀methods฀necessary฀to฀achieve฀this฀ objective฀by฀means฀of฀linking฀specific฀ key฀performance฀parameters฀that฀were฀ derived฀from฀Peter฀Drucker’s฀classical฀ measures฀ for฀ assuring฀ organizational฀ sustainability.฀ Drucker’s฀ eight฀ princi-ples฀ for฀ success฀ are฀ (a)฀ market฀ posi-tion,฀ (b)฀ productivity,฀ (c)฀ innovaposi-tion,฀ (d)฀ physical฀ and฀ financial฀ resources,฀ (e)฀ manager฀ performance,฀ (f)฀ worker฀ performance,฀(g)฀public฀responsibility,฀ and฀(h)฀profitability.฀

In฀ chapter฀ 1,฀ Christopher฀ provides฀ a฀ framework฀ of฀ the฀ holistic฀ approach฀ to฀ the฀ study฀ of฀ management฀ and฀ how฀ it฀ may฀ be฀ applied฀ to฀ advance฀ organiza-tional฀ goals.฀ In฀ addition,฀ he฀ introduces฀ the฀concept฀and฀cybernetics฀that฀reflect฀ the฀science฀of฀communication฀and฀con-trol.฀ He฀ describes฀ them฀ as฀ two฀ criti-cal฀components฀to฀systems฀thinking.฀In฀ this฀ regard,฀ Christopher฀ characterizes฀ a฀ system฀ as฀ having฀ either฀homeostasis,฀ a฀ tendency฀ for฀ managers฀ to฀ maintain฀ an฀ organization฀ in฀ its฀ present฀ state,฀ or฀ heterostasis,฀a฀tendency฀for฀individuals฀ in฀ an฀ organization฀ to฀ promote฀ change฀ and฀ improvement.฀ In฀ chapter฀ 2,฀ Chris-topher฀builds฀on฀Stafford฀Beer’s฀viable฀ system฀ model฀ (VSM)฀ to฀ generate฀ his฀ own฀model฀for฀systems฀analysis.฀Viable฀ system฀modeling฀provides฀a฀framework฀ to฀ dissect฀ an฀ organization’s฀ structure฀ and,฀ specifically,฀ the฀ internal฀ environ-ments฀ within฀ its฀ boundaries.฀ In฀ chap-ter฀ 3,฀ Christopher฀ includes฀ a฀ number฀ of฀ examples฀ that฀ demonstrate฀ how฀ Beer’s฀VSM฀may฀be฀applied฀to฀improve฀฀ performance.

In฀ chapter฀ 4,฀ Christopher฀ introduces฀ his฀ seven฀ key฀ performance฀ areas฀ that฀ determine฀every฀organization’s฀success.฀ These฀ performance฀ keys฀ for฀ success,฀ derived฀ from฀ Drucker’s฀ classical฀ per-formance฀ theory,฀ are฀ (a)฀ creating฀ cus-tomers,฀ (b)฀ innovation,฀ (c)฀ quality฀ and฀ productivity,฀ (d)฀ physical฀ and฀ financial฀ resources,฀ (e)฀ organization฀ capability,฀ (f)฀ public฀ and฀ environment฀ responsi-bility,฀ and฀ (g)฀ profitability.฀ The฀ next฀ 7฀ chapters฀are฀devoted฀to฀elaborating฀each฀ of฀these฀aspects฀of฀management.

For฀ example,฀ in฀ chapter฀ 5,฀ Chris-topher฀ focuses฀ on฀ planning฀ and฀ con-tinuous฀ budgeting฀ as฀ a฀ new฀ version฀ of฀ controlling฀ an฀ organization’s฀ finances.฀ Christopher฀ argues฀ that฀ this฀ is฀ more฀ effective฀ than฀ adhering฀ to฀ producing฀ one฀annual฀budget฀each฀year.฀In฀chapter฀ 6,฀ he฀ promotes฀ what฀ he฀ refers฀ to฀ as฀ a฀ vital฀ performance฀key฀ related฀ to฀ creat-ing฀ and฀ maintaincreat-ing฀ customer฀ satisfac-tion฀over฀the฀long฀run.฀In฀chapter฀7,฀he฀

emphasizes฀the฀need฀to฀produce฀quality฀ products฀ and฀ services฀ through฀ continuous฀improvement.฀In฀chapter฀8,฀Christo-pher฀promotes฀the฀need฀to฀be฀innovative฀ by฀seeking฀new฀and฀different฀strategies฀ for฀ delivering฀ on฀ expectations฀ held฀ by฀ important฀ stakeholders.฀ In฀ chapter฀ 9,฀ he฀ discusses฀ the฀ soft฀ side฀ of฀ manage-ment฀ in฀ assuring฀ that฀ individuals฀ work฀ together฀effectively฀to฀train฀and฀prepare฀ them฀to฀eventually฀assume฀senior฀lead-ership฀ positions฀ in฀ an฀ organization.฀ In฀ chapter฀10,฀he฀discusses฀how฀important฀ it฀is฀for฀managers฀to฀relate฀successfully฀ to฀ the฀ leadership฀ in฀ local฀ communities฀ and฀ to฀ representatives฀ at฀ all฀ levels฀ of฀ government.฀Last,฀in฀chapter฀11,฀Chris-topher฀ integrates฀ significant฀ economic฀ principles฀ into฀ his฀ final฀ performance฀ indicator฀ that,฀ when฀ adopted,฀ enhance฀ the฀likelihood฀of฀achieving฀profitability฀ edge฀ presented฀ in฀ the฀ book฀ through฀ discovery฀ learning฀ and฀ repetition.฀ In฀ presenting฀ what฀ is฀ identified฀ as฀ a฀ new฀ systems฀science฀for฀managing฀business฀ operations,฀ the฀ objective฀ is฀ to฀ increase฀ what฀ is฀ delineated฀ as฀ an฀ organization’s฀ greatest฀asset฀(i.e.,฀the฀intellectual฀capa-bility฀of฀its฀managers).฀With฀this฀vision฀ as฀a฀backdrop,฀Christopher฀engages฀the฀ reader฀ at฀ a฀ personal฀ level฀ to฀ apply฀ the฀ new฀systems฀science฀to฀everyday฀prac-tices฀ by฀ addressing฀ issues฀ presented฀ through฀a฀variety฀of฀case฀studies.฀There฀ are฀ numerous฀ opportunities฀ throughout฀ the฀book฀to฀test฀one’s฀understanding฀of฀ the฀ systems฀ science฀ approach฀ to฀ man-agement.฀ Thus,฀ Christopher฀ combines฀ cutting-edge฀knowledge,฀personal฀expe-rience,฀ and฀ common฀ sense฀ in฀ putting฀ forth฀a฀practical฀book฀on฀management.

The฀book,฀however,฀is฀not฀for฀every-one.฀The฀ intensity฀ of฀ the฀ writing฀ style,฀ case฀ studies,฀ and฀ models฀ discussed฀ require฀ an฀ ability฀ to฀ comprehend฀ some฀ difficult฀and฀challenging฀material฀within฀

I

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฀ March/April฀2008฀ 247 the฀ context฀ of฀ managerial฀

responsibili-ties.฀ Therefore,฀ although฀ Christopher฀ appears฀ to฀ target฀ the฀ managers฀ who฀ want฀to฀upgrade฀their฀understanding฀of฀ how฀ to฀ analyze฀ existing฀ organization-al฀ issues,฀ he฀ also฀ has฀ put฀ together฀ an฀ offering฀for฀undergraduates฀in฀business฀ programs฀who฀are฀seeking฀a฀more฀inten-sive฀ study฀ in฀ systems฀ thinking.฀ There-fore,฀the฀book฀may฀also฀be฀appropriate฀ for฀ faculty฀ seeking฀ to฀ help฀ produce฀ a฀ future฀ group฀ of฀ managers฀ who฀ desire฀ to฀ reshape฀ existing฀ business฀ models.฀ The฀ methods,฀ tools,฀ and฀ technologies฀ discussed฀ throughout฀ the฀ book฀

repre-sent฀ the฀ most฀ current฀ thinking฀ in฀ the฀ field.฀This฀holistic฀approach฀to฀studying฀ management฀provides฀an฀opportunity฀to฀ advance฀an฀organization’s฀prowess.

The฀two฀intriguing฀aspects฀of฀the฀text฀ are฀ the฀ focus฀ on฀ the฀ concepts฀ of฀ self-organization฀and฀self-control.฀In฀an฀era฀ when฀ change฀ can฀ be฀ so฀ dramatic฀ and฀ continuous,฀ managers฀ need฀ the฀ ability฀ to฀ quickly฀ react฀ to฀ competitive฀ chal-lenges.฀Therefore,฀the฀need฀to฀wait฀for฀ those฀ in฀ senior฀ management฀ to฀ final-ize฀ decisions฀ typical฀ of฀ the฀ industrial฀ model฀ of฀ the฀ past฀ may฀ no฀ longer฀ be฀ appropriate฀ today.฀ Having฀ the฀

capabil-ity฀to฀change฀direction฀and฀to฀have฀units฀ in฀ an฀ organization฀ control฀ their฀ own฀ operations฀ may฀ provide฀ the฀ flexibility฀ required฀ to฀ advance฀ the฀ likelihood฀ of฀ success.฀The฀book฀is฀an฀excellent฀refer-ence฀for฀building฀individual฀capacity฀to฀ understand฀ the฀ managerial฀ principles฀ behind฀ the฀ decision-making฀ process฀ required฀ to฀ cope฀ with฀ change฀ and฀ the฀ disruptions฀that฀ensue.฀

James฀L.฀Morrison University฀of฀Delaware Newark,฀DE Copyright฀©฀2008฀Heldref฀Publications

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Education

usiness

B

Journal

of

for

Scope฀of฀JEB

Instructions฀to฀Contributors

The฀JOURNAL฀OF฀EDUCATION฀FOR฀฀

BUSINESS฀features฀original฀basic฀and฀applied฀research฀ articles฀in฀accounting,฀communications,฀economics,฀finance,฀ information฀systems,฀information฀technology,฀management,฀ management฀information฀systems฀(MIS),฀marketing,฀and฀ emerging฀disciplines.฀Articles฀are฀selected฀through฀a฀blind฀ peer-review฀process.฀

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