New Summaries of the Week

The Advantage

The Advantage

Organizational health represents a company’s greatest source of advantage. It forms the context for every important function, ranging from strategy to finance, marketing, technology, and more. Cultivating organizational health is free, yet many leaders feel they are too sophisticated or busy to bother with it. In The Advantage, Patrick Lencioni describes the four disciplines that are essential for organizational health.

 Lencioni, Patrick
Changeology

Changeology

Many people spend years trying to quit their smoking or drinking habits, lose weight, save money, or improve relationships. These efforts often fail because few of these people formulate plans before they begin. In Changeology, university professor and clinical psychologist John C. Norcross has designed a ninety-day plan that lays the groundwork for people who are seeking positive changes in their lifestyles.

 Norcross, John C.
The Business Model Innovation Factory

The Business Model Innovation Factory

In The Business Model Innovation Factory, Saul Kaplan introduces the concept of business model innovation factories, the 15 principles associated with that concept, and how these factories can benefit an organization by enabling it to stay relevant. Because of his unique experience in both the private and public sectors, Kaplan understands the tendencies that cripple innovation. Through dozens of real world examples, Kaplan makes a strong case for business model innovation—comparing the success of companies that have embraced it with those that have not.

 Kaplan, Saul
Content Is Currency

Content Is Currency

Content Is Currency can help businesses take maximum advantage of the new possibilities created by the Internet, smart phones, and other digital tools and media. Author Jon Wuebben surveys the many types of content businesses can use to build enduring, fruitful relationships with customers, with a focus on maximizing each type’s effectiveness and strategies for linking them to amplify their impact.

 Wuebben, Jon
Change Better

Change Better

Change is a constant, omnipresent reality of life. Organizations and companies are forced to adapt to fluctuations in a globalized marketplace in a frenetic rush to stay ahead of the curve. These changes impact everyone, both in their professional and personal lives. Individuals must achieve a level of comfort with the idea of change and the processes associated with it or they risk being left behind by a society unwilling to slow down and wait for them. In Change Better, Jeanenne LaMarsh explains that people can successfully adapt to and conquer the change process.

 LaMarsh, Jeanenne
The Essential Controller

The Essential Controller

With The Essential Controller, Steven M. Bragg has provided a primer for the new controller. The world of accounting has changed, and with it the role of the controller. A once isolated profession, corporate accounting now involves close collaboration with many divisions as well as outside investors. Bragg shows how to manage the accounting department effectively, use ratio and trend analysis to understand the business, and create the internal controls that will catch problems and reduce risk.

 Bragg, Steven M.
Lean Done Right

Lean Done Right

In Lean Done Right, Thomas G. Zidel argues that ineffective approaches to Lean also can be found in many healthcare organizations today. He is concerned that hospitals and other healthcare organizations are wasting time and resources on improper Lean implementations when they could be getting it right the first time. Therefore, he provides a road map that helps organizations implement Lean properly by integrating Lean principles into their organizational cultures, which will lead to real healthcare reform.

 Zidel, Thomas G.