Andy Boynton

Bill Fischer

With Virtuoso Teamsyou can transform any enterprise. This is a book about effectively managing and leading teams that are catalysts for big change and breakthrough performances. Whether you're launching an innovative new product or service, entering into challenging new markets or simply trying to transform the way you operate, Virtuoso Teamscan make the difference between achieving remarkable success, or just another modest result. Teams is a steady area in business, but there is nothing out there with this kind of punch or invention. The case studies are absolutely fascinating and take center stage. While the primary market will be executives and managers who assemble teams (and the team members themselves) the tertiary market will be serial business book buyers who can t believe they can have a book with such fabulous and wide-ranging stories. The stories of the great teams are unbroken by commentary. The authors weigh in with the management commentary and tips at the end of each chapter, and provide readers with questions that get readers thinking about the steps they need to take to build VT s. The authors are consultants and Professors at one of the world s finest executive education centres: IMD in Switzerland.

Lessons from Teams that Changed Their Worlds

Virtuoso Teams

A different way of discovering and developing the best business ideas Jack Welch once said, "Someone, somewhere has a better idea." In this myth-busting book, the authors reveal that great business ideas do not spring from innate creativity, or necessarily from the brilliant minds of people. Rather, great ideas come to those who are in the habit of looking for great ideas all around them, all the time. Too often, people fall into the trap of thinking that the only worthwhile idea is a thoroughly original one. Idea Hunters know better. They understand that valuable ideas are already out there, waiting to be found - and not just in the usual places. Shows how to expand your capacity to find and develop winning business ideas Explains why ideas are a critical asset for every manager and professional, not just for those who do "creative" Reveals how to seek out and select the ideas that best serve your purposes and goals and define who you are, as a professional Offers practical tips on how to master the everyday habits of an Idea Hunter, which include cultivating great conversations The book is filled with illustrative accounts of successful Idea Hunters and stories from thriving "idea" companies. Warren Buffet, Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, Mary Kay Ash, Twitter, and Pixar Animation Studios are among the many profiled.

How to Find the Best Ideas and Make them Happen

The Idea Hunter

The tumultuous Vietnam era brought many cultural and social changes to America. Jimbo, like other Americans of that time must learn to adapt and cope with the tests of their character during one of the dark passages of America’s history. The story and characters are fictional; their predicaments are not. Jimbo is a young Marine who has been wounded in battle in Vietnam. The corpsman who saved his life has been mortally wounded. In his dying moment, the corpsman asks Jimbo to promise he will return his religious scapular to “Miss Emma” and his sister, and to tell them he loves them. Although Roof dies before Jimbo can affirm the unsolicited promise, he feels committed to it. Not only is Jimbo faced with the challenge of recovery from his wounds, he also struggles with the loss of the affection of the girlfriend he once hoped to marry. Kathy, for whom he has a deep attachment, rejects him. She tells him she cannot love someone who supports the war in Vietnam. She has met someone else who isn’t guided by his patriotic fervor. Although Jimbo later finds an accomplished and affectionate woman he cares for, he is unable to suppress the lingering feelings he has for Kathy. He is unable to understand how the memory of her maintains the grip on his thoughts, and wonders if he will carry those feelings to his grave.

A Warrior’s Promise

Fang Liu

Umberto Lago

A compelling profile of an emerging Chinese competitor Chinese firms are reinventing their business models, theircorporate cultures, and themselves, becoming global competitors whoincreasingly offer knowledge rather than cheap labour in theirquest to join the ranks of the "world's best" companies. This bookoffers a compelling profile of the most ambitious of these emergingChinese competitors, the Haier Corporation (the world's largestmanufacturer of home appliances), and shares insights on how oneorganization has repeatedly reinvented its business model andcorporate culture in an effort to sustain its success. Reinventing Giants provides an exclusive look within theHaier Corporation and shows how managerial accountability andresponsibility have been repositioned at every level of theorganization, with the core value of market-centricity, whilealigning strategy on each level of management. It includes actualwork reports that show this process in detail from the ground up.The authors emphasize how a belief in the liberation of employeetalent has consistently been the driving force underlying Haier'ssuccess. Includes the remarkable story of Haier's turnaround and howthese lessons can be applied to other organizations Contains information for any company grappling with competitionin the global marketplace Shows how to liberate employees' talent to drive businesssuccess Written by Bill Fischer, Professor of Innovation Management atIMD in Switzerland, Umberto Lago, Professor of Management atBologna University, Italy, and Fang Liu, Research Associate ofIMD Reinventing Giants helps global managers rethink theirown business models and accompanying corporate cultures in order tobe able to apply Haier's lessons directly to their ownorganizations.

Bill Fischer

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