Coping with boundaries is a persistent and potentially rewarding management challenge. Various approaches to understanding the nature of boundaries have drawn on various perspectives, however insights have yet to be drawn together in providing an understanding of boundaries that expands knowledge of management of the organization. This book provides illustrative case studies on boundaries drawn from a wide range of organizations and countries around the world. Theories of boundaries are applied and developed further and implications for the management of boundaries in organizations are outlined.
Drawing together an international group of scholars, this book provides fresh and provocative perspectives on boundaries in organizations. The emergence, management and transformation of organizational boundaries is intrinsic to modern organization and poses one of the most persistent and potentially rewarding challenges to researchers and managers alike. The book offers the latest insights into the nature of boundaries, how they may be interpreted and studied, as well as implications for managing. The chapters include theoretical perspectives and cases from Europe, Canada, the USA, Australia, the Middle East and Africa.
It's What You Don't Know That Counts Discover the important roles chance and uncertainty play insuccessful strategic planning. In this ingenious work, author RalphD. Stacey shows managers how their companies can benefit from theunexpected developments that impact their business and how they canprepare to creatively leverage the opportunities such developmentspresent. He explains how an appreciation of conflict and teamdialogue can help managers discover and build on the innate energyof their organizations. And he illustrates his theories withreal-world examples from Sony, Kodak, Federal Express and othernoted market innovators.
Working Across Boundaries is a practical guide for nonprofit and government professionals who want to learn the techniques and strategies of successful collaboration. Written by Russell M. Linden, one of the most widely recognized experts in organizational change, this no nonsense book shows how to make collaboration work in the real world. It offers practitioners a framework for developing collaborative relationships and shows them how to adopt strategies that have proven to be successful with a wide range of organizations. Filled with in-depth case studies—including a particularly challenging case in which police officers and social workers overcome the inherent differences in their cultures to help abused children—the book clearly shows how organizations have dealt with the hard issues of collaboration. Working Across Boundaries includes Information on how to select potential partners Guidelines for determining what kinds of projects lend themselves to collaboration and which do not Suggestions on how to avoid common pitfalls of collaboration Strategies proven to work consistently The phases most collaborative projects go through The nature of collaborative leadership
PRAISE FOR BOUNDARY SPANNING LEADERSHIP "Fostering a culture of teamwork among business units and partners is crucial for bottom-line success. This groundbreaking book, packed with practical examples and based on solid research, shows us how to get started." -- Marc Noel, Chairman, Noël Group LLC "In this deeply insightful look at the demands on 21st-century leaders, Ernst and Chrobot-Mason outline six boundary spanning leadership practices derived from case studies and research with thousands of participating managers. This work is bound to be one of the mostimportant management books of the decade." -- David A. Thomas, Ph.D., H. Naylor Fitzhugh Professor ofBusiness Administration at Harvard Business School "Few books capture the needs and narrative of today's business and so elegantly lay out a plan to address its challenges. Boundary Spanning Leadership nails this . . . Consume it and play your role!" -- Andy Stefanovich, Chief Curator and Provocateur, Prophet "Boundary Spanning Leadership draws on rigorous global research and real-world experience to help leaders move into new frontiers where they can find answers and practices for creating success." -- Jack Stahl, former CEO, Revlon, and President /COO, Coca-Cola "The future will be punctuated by new spans across old boundaries. This book shows you how to improve your span ability." -- Bob Johansen, Ph.D., Distinguished Fellow, Institute for the Future, and bestselling author ofGet There Early and Leaders Make the Future Catalyze collaboration, drive innovation, transform your organization--with Boundary Spanning Leadership you can put it ALL together! We live in a world of vast collaborative potential. Yet all too often, powerful boundaries create barriers that can splinter groups. And this can lead to uninspiring results. To transform borders into frontiers in today's global, multistakeholder organizations, you needBoundary Spanning Leadership. Powered by a decade of global research and practice by the top-ranked Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), this book takes you from rural towns in the United States to Hong Kong's skyline and from a modernizing South Africa to the bustling streets of India, showing you how to build bridges across boundaries. Through compelling stories and practical tools and tactics, you’ll learn how to apply the six boundary spanning practices that occur at the nexus where groups collide, intersect, and link: Buffering defines boundaries to create safety Reflecting creates understanding of boundaries to foster respect Connecting suspends boundaries to build trust Mobilizing reframes boundaries to develop community Weaving interlaces boundaries to advance interdependence Transforming cross-cuts boundaries to enable reinvention Together, these practices combine to create what authors Chris Ernst and Donna Chrobot-Mason call the Nexus Effect. The Nexus Effect allows groups to be more agile in response to changing markets; be more flexible in devising and deploying cross-functional learning and problem-solvingcapabilities; work with partners in deeper, more open relationships; empower virtual teams; and create a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive organization that brings out everybody's best. Boundaries exist. What matters most is how you work to bridge these divides and transform your organization's wide-ranging talents and knowledge to deliver value. With Boundary Spanning Leadership, the possibilities are limitless. For more about the book and free resources, visit www.spanboundaries.com.
In the 21st century governments are increasingly focusing on designing ways and means of connecting across boundaries to achieve goals. Whether issues are complex and challenging – climate change, international terrorism, intergenerational poverty– or more straightforward - provision of a single point of entry to government or delivering integrated public services - practitioners and scholars increasingly advocate the use of approaches which require connections across various boundaries, be they organizational, jurisdictional or sectorial. Governments around the world continue to experiment with various approaches but still confront barriers, leading to a general view that there is considerable promise in cross boundary working, but that this is often unfulfilled. This book explores a variety of topics in order to create a rich survey of the international experience of cross-boundary working. The book asks fundamental questions such as: What do we mean by the notion of crossing boundaries? Why has this emerged? What does cross boundary working involve? What are the critical enablers and barriers? By scrutinizing these questions, the contributing authors examine: the promise; the barriers; the enablers; the enduring tensions; and the potential solutions to cross-boundary working. As such, this will be an essential read for all those involved with public administration, management and policy.
Stop! If you have been looking for the one resource for managing a business of any size, this is it. Based on the extensive business experience of five experts, this authoritative guide provides an in-depth look at what every leader must know about managing across departments, functions, divisions, or companies. Drawing on decades of combined experience, John Colley and colleagues detail the wide range of skills, tools, and conceptual understanding as well as the qualities of leadership that a successful general manager must acquire. In an era of specialization and specialists, the authors return due focus to the generalist. No other book so passionately and thoroughly examines the roles and responsibilities of the general manager and the full scope of this distinct, pressure-filled occupation. The authors explore the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the job and discuss how the skilled manager moves an organization from abstract goals to definitive action. For every profit center or plant manager, function head, division president, or CEO, this book is indispensable reading.
This book offers a comprehensive treatment of the economic and technical foundations for new organizational forms, relations and processes. It provides a wide range of underlying concepts and frameworks that help the reader understand the major forces driving organizational and marketplace change, rather than presenting these changes as simple outcomes of technological or management fads. Contains case studies are included.
Stretching Boundaries: Cases in Organizational and Managerial Communication focuses on non-traditional organizations in a variety of contexts. Because cases range from small family-owned entrepreneurships and cybervetting to provincial egovernment democratic movements in China, this supplemental text enables a reexamination of the boundaries of traditional organizational contexts. Cases delve into organizing structures, relationships, and visions for global not-for-profits, hybrid, creative industry, and entrepreneurial organizations. This book stands to benefit instructors and students in at least four ways. First, it provides instructors with an application-based teaching tool to help spark discussion. Second, students will find the case studies interesting and applicable to their future work lives, especially undergraduates who will soon be in the work force. Additionally, cases help students grasp course materials that may be otherwise challenging. Finally, for graduate students, the book encourages reflection on important topics for future research.
An essential guide for putting workforce management systems to work for your business Showing you how to take your business from reactive to proactive and improve performance, No Boundaries provides a vendor-neutral guide on how your company can use workforce management systems to improve productivity and profits. Drawing upon years of experience implementing these systems, author Lisa Disselkamp offers numerous case studies illustrating how organizations have used workforce management systems to solve their business problems and discusses: How the latest software uses data from time and attendance to create real time visibility into employee activity and cost Developments in labor management technology that can mitigate the challenges faced by employers in every industry and public sector Using labor data to achieve financial goals and maximize profits Using workforce management technology to enhance operations, quality, compliance, and employee satisfaction and retention Adding value to data through integration with other key business information How to build a business case and gain internal support for an investment in time and labor management technology Guide to selecting and installing time and labor systems This book bridges the gap between what business leaders understand about their business and what they have yet to learn about this technology. The author introduces the concept of Mission Based Configuration, showing companies how to apply time and labor systems to their business needs to save time and money. The use of technology offers an effective tool to manage budgets, meet strategic targets, and channel decision-making toward best practices. No Boundaries reveals how your business can win the race for profits and productivity.
