OPEN-BOOK MANAGEMENT --- THE COMING BUSINESS REVOLUTION
by John Case. HarperBusiness, 1995
 FORWARD --- AN IDEA THAT WORKS (pxi)

INTRODUCTION --- A different way of thinking (pxv)

    Open-book management is about creating organizations in which everybody understands that they are competing in a marketplace, trying to make money.

    In "open-book" organizations, employees learn to follow the numbers and help make decisions. They learn to think and act like owners, like businesspeople, and not like hired hands!

PART 1 --- WHY CHANGE? RUNNING A BUSINESS IN THE NEXT ECONOMY (p3-17)

    [1] The demands of the marketplace (p3-17)

      (1) Competition

      (2) The new workplace

      (3) What does it all mean? --- the overarching lesson of the "new economy" for management is that as much as mission and strategy, a company needs eager, willing employees! It needs employees who have a reason to care about the success of their organization and who know how to help it succeed! (p14-27)

    [2] Evolution of an idea (p18-36)

      (1) The origin of old-style management

      (2) Old management meets new economy

      (3) The birth of open-book management

    [3] Open-Book management (p37-56)

      (1) The basics

      (2) The turnaround at Pace Industries

      (3) The homely truths of open-book management (p43-45)

        1. Homely Truth #1 --- There is not anything mysterious
        about open-book management! (p43-42)

        2. Home Truth #2 --- Why it works (p45-50)

          One = It forces managers to know their own numbers!

          Two = It forces managers to understand their numbers

        3. The power of metaphor (p51-53)

      (4) Why it works (p45-51)

      (5) The power of metaphor (p51-53)

PART 2 --- IMPLEMENTING "OPEN-BOOK" MANAGEMENT (p58-77)

    Introduction --- changing an organization (p57-60)

    (1) First, look at your business situation. What do you hope to achieve? (57-58)

    (2) Second, is there anything else that needs to be changed in your organization? (p58-59)

    (3) And finally, do not forget perseverence! (p59-60)

Open-book management is a whole new system based upon FOUR "principles" or things that need to be done before an open-book system can work:

    1. Get information out there --- chapter 4

    2. Teach people business literacy, including how to understand and use information --- chapter 5

    3. Develop a system of responsibility and accountability --- that is, EMPOWER employees to act like businesspeople. --- chapter 6

    4. Give everyone a stake in the organization's success --- chapter 7

[4] First principle --- Information, Please! (p61-72|)

    (1) The power of information (p63- 65)

    (2) What's the right information? (p66-68)

    (3) How to do it (p68-70)

    (4) Confronting the "Great Fear" (p70-72)

[5] Second principle --- business literacy (p73-84)

    (1 The power of business literacy

    (2) How to do it

[6] Third principle --- empowerment --- with brains! (p85-96)

    (1) The trend that never happened

    (2) Empowerment with brains

    (3) How to do it

    (4) Some final advice

[7] Fourth principle --- a stake in success (p97-122)

    (1) The pitfalls of profit sharing --- and bonuses

    (2) The open-book approach (p101-107)

    (3) What about stock ownership? (p108-110)

[8] Ten ways to get started (p111-122)

[9] One company's experience --- a Fortune 500 manufacturer (p123-129)

    (1) The background

    (2) How it works

    (3) The payoffs

[10] One company's experience --- a small service business (p130-136)

    (1) The background

    (2) How it works

    (3) The payoffs

[11] One company's experience --- a fast-growth "Star" (pa37-144)

    (1) The background

    (2) How it works

    (3) The payoffs

[12] One company's experience --- "The "Biggest Bank in Town (p14-161

    (1) The background

    (2) How it works

    (3) The payoffs

[13] One company's experience --- a telecommunications giant (p154-161
    (1) The background

    (2) How it works

    (3) The payoffs

[14] Objections, costs, challengess (p162-174)

[15] A company of businesspeople (p175-180)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION (p181)

REFERENCES (p183-186)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (p187-189)

INDEX (p191-199)
Go to: Brainpower Issue at Work
Go to: Change Issue at Work
Go to: Leadership Issue at Work
Go to: Leadership Control Essay
Go to: Home Page Index
Go to: Interactive Index