Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman
In recent years, few books on management have been more acclaimed than In Search of Excellence. Written by two business consultants, Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman, the book identified factors which have accounted for the success of some of America’s best-run companies. Forty-three top companies were studied. Many examples of the experiences of these organizations are given in the book. These provide useful lessons for all managers.
One of the points made by the writers is that communications in excellent companies are different from those in other companies. Excellent companies have a “vast network of informal, open communications”. People working in them keep in contact with each other regularly. They meet often, and have many unscheduled meetings. In the best-run businesses, few barriers exist to prevent people talking to each other. The companies do everything possible to ensure that staff meet easily and frequently.
The authors give many examples to back up their view. For instance, one day, they visited the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M). They soon noticed that there were a lot of casual meetings going on with “salespeople, marketing people, manufacturing people – even accounting people – sitting around, chattering about new product problems… It went on all day – people meeting in a seemingly random way to get things done”. One of the 3M executives told the authors, “We just plain talk to each other a lot without a lot of paper or formal rigmarole”.
The book is full of examples of companies who believe in “keeping in touch”: firms like IBM where the Chairman personally answers any complaint which is addressed by members of staff; other companies where managers are encouraged to get out of the office and walk around and some which make a point of informality, like Walt Disney Productions, where everyone wears a name-tag with his/her first name on it.
One problem with communication is that people think they have got their message across
One of the points made by the writers is that communications in excellent companies are different from those in other companies. Excellent companies have a “vast network of informal, open communications”. People working in them keep in contact with each other regularly. They meet often, and have many unscheduled meetings. In the best-run businesses, few barriers exist to prevent people talking to each other. The companies do everything possible to ensure that staff meet easily and frequently.
The authors give many examples to back up their view. For instance, one day, they visited the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M). They soon noticed that there were a lot of casual meetings going on with “salespeople, marketing people, manufacturing people – even accounting people – sitting around, chattering about new product problems… It went on all day – people meeting in a seemingly random way to get things done”. One of the 3M executives told the authors, “We just plain talk to each other a lot without a lot of paper or formal rigmarole”.
The book is full of examples of companies who believe in “keeping in touch”: firms like IBM where the Chairman personally answers any complaint which is addressed by members of staff; other companies where managers are encouraged to get out of the office and walk around and some which make a point of informality, like Walt Disney Productions, where everyone wears a name-tag with his/her first name on it.
One problem with communication is that people think they have got their message across