This book provides a comprehensive sociological explanation for the emergence and continuation of organized crime in Chicago. Tracing the roots of political corruption that afforded protection to gambling, prostitution, and other vice activity in Chicago and other large American cities, Robert M. Lombardo challenges the dominant belief that organized crime in America descended directly from the Sicilian Mafia. According to this widespread "alien conspiracy" theory, organized crime evolved in a linear fashion beginning with the Mafia in Sicily, emerging in the form of the Black Hand in America's immigrant colonies, and culminating in the development of the Cosa Nostra in America's urban centers. Looking beyond this Mafia paradigm, this volume argues that the development of organized crime in Chicago and other large American cities was rooted in the social structure of American society. Specifically, Lombardo ties organized crime to the emergence of machine politics in America's urban centers. From nineteenth-century vice syndicates to the modern-day Outfit, Chicago's criminal underworld could not have existed without the blessing of those who controlled municipal, county, and state government. These practices were not imported from Sicily, Lombardo contends, but were bred in the socially disorganized slums of America where elected officials routinely franchised vice and crime in exchange for money and votes. This book also traces the history of the African-American community's participation in traditional organized crime in Chicago and offers new perspectives on the organizational structure of the Chicago Outfit, the traditional organized crime group in Chicago.
Connecting theory and practice, Agendas and Decisions explores how state-level public executives and managers decide and implement policy. The authors focus on Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander's (1979–1987) management system, which believed in and practiced the principles espoused by leadership theorists: focus on one or two important substantive problems or initiatives, work with stakeholders to protect the organization and to obtain necessary resources, hire good people, and authorize them to act. In addition to sending his cabinet members to the Kennedy School of Government to learn leadership principles, he also established the Tennessee Government Executive Institute (TGEI) to provide a similar program for mid-level executives. Authors Dorothy F. Olshfski and Robert B. Cunningham managed the TGEI during its first five years and had unprecedented access to state-level public executives and managers. Here, they explain the everyday workings of state-level bureaucracy within the context of a simple decision model and share managers' and executives' own stories. Their research questions several aspects of the current orthodoxy on decision-making processes, offers new thinking about executive leadership in implementation and evaluation, and compares executive and middle-manager thinking and behavior.
Curated by Harvard Business Review, this digital collection brings together the ideas of leadership expert Robert Steven Kaplan. Successful leaders know that leadership is less often about having all the answers—and more often about asking the right questions. The challenge lies in being able to step back, reflect, and ask the key questions that are critical to your performance and your organization’s effectiveness. What to Ask the Person in the Mirror presents a process for asking the big questions that will enable you to diagnose problems, change course if necessary, and advance your career. In What You’re Really Meant to Do, Kaplan shares a specific and actionable approach to defining your own success and reaching your potential. Finally, in What You Really Need to Lead, Kaplan argues that leadership is accessible to all of us—today—and it starts with an ownership mind-set.
Learning how to actively listen and absorb what a person is saying, thinking, and feeling can set the stage for dramatically improved relationships and increased personal success. Most people retain only a fraction of what they hear, resulting in miscommunications and lost opportunities. In Listen Up or Lose Out, communications expert Robert Bolton highlights the underestimated and under-utilized tool of active listening and explains how it can be used to gather perspectives, bridge differences, and resolve problems. Bolton teaches you key communication skills by: breaking down listening into a set of learnable skills such as avoiding the urge to criticize, question, or advise; focusing on the speaker’s point of view; asking the right questions, in the right order; and learning how to read people’s feelings and reflect them back Listen Up or Lose Out explains how one can become a skilled listener who experiences fewer conflicts, makes better decisions, and discovers opportunities that others might miss. Whether personally or in business, could you benefit from better communication? Give listening a try!
In Leading the Way, Hewitt Associates’ business leaders Robert Gandossy and Marc Effron present their findings from the largest research project ever conducted on leadership, the "Top Companies for Leaders." Using data from more than 600 companies around the globe and interviews with senior executives at the top companies, they present a compelling business case for investing in growing leaders. Their stories, examples, and tactics provide tangible, practical tools for leaders everywhere.
What exactly is "breakthrough leadership"? Quite simply, it's an approach to performance aimed at transcending limitations and maximizing team potential. As the author points out, the process of innovation and high performance is not random or haphazard. The limitations and barriers that commonly get in the way of success can be overcome-if we use the right leadership techniques. And that's just what Dr. Bart Barthelemy, one of the nation's leaders in the fields of aeronautics and astronautics, discusses in The Sky Is Not the Limit-leadership techniques that work, and work consistently. Barthelemy has used his years of management experience to come up with a practical, results-driven guide to leadership based on the ideas of competitive collaboration and structured flexibility. Whether you're a manager, supervisor, team leader or consultant, The Sky Is Not the Limit can help you achieve significant breakthroughs in performance and productivity. You can use its proven tips and techniques to lead your teams to new heights of excellence. Remember, the sky is not the limit-not for airplanes, not for this planet, not for our organizations and not for any of us!
Strategic Learning in a Knowledge Economy defines unique and powerful ways that organizations can foster learning at the individual, group and organizational levels, a capability critical to both strategic objectives and business performance. The book explains how individuals and organizations learn, clarifying cognitive and social aspects of the topic. Readers will understand how learning enables organizations and individuals to better create, assimilate, and transfer knowledge. Strategic Learning in a Knowledge Economy helps managers create individual and collective processes that maximize the quality of the knowledge created and learned and ensures this knowledge is effectively used. The book appropriately redefines the frequently narrow and technology-oriented view of learning and explains how an effective learning strategy ensures that a broad base of employees learn and implement vital organizational lessons. Strategic Learning in a Knowledge Economy features focused discussions of organizational core competencies, learning and innovation, communities of practice, assessing organizational learning capabilities, and other important learning topics. This authoritative compendium helps readers master organizational issues crucial in today's knowledge economy by:
This book provides a comprehensive sociological explanation for the emergence and continuation of organized crime in Chicago. Tracing the roots of political corruption that afforded protection to gambling, prostitution, and other vice activity in Chicago and other large American cities, Robert M. Lombardo challenges the dominant belief that organized crime in America descended directly from the Sicilian Mafia. According to this widespread "alien conspiracy" theory, organized crime evolved in a linear fashion beginning with the Mafia in Sicily, emerging in the form of the Black Hand in America's immigrant colonies, and culminating in the development of the Cosa Nostra in America's urban centers. Looking beyond this Mafia paradigm, this volume argues that the development of organized crime in Chicago and other large American cities was rooted in the social structure of American society. Specifically, Lombardo ties organized crime to the emergence of machine politics in America's urban centers. From nineteenth-century vice syndicates to the modern-day Outfit, Chicago's criminal underworld could not have existed without the blessing of those who controlled municipal, county, and state government. These practices were not imported from Sicily, Lombardo contends, but were bred in the socially disorganized slums of America where elected officials routinely franchised vice and crime in exchange for money and votes. This book also traces the history of the African-American community's participation in traditional organized crime in Chicago and offers new perspectives on the organizational structure of the Chicago Outfit, the traditional organized crime group in Chicago.
Some of the strengths that lead high-potential managers to early promotions can become weaknesses. When this happens, many whose careers have been full of promise stumble, creating huge organizational and personal waste. Much derailment, however, is preventable. By looking at the problem from both an individual and organizational perspective, this report shows how.
WHAT MAKES A LEADER? CAN YOU REALLY LEARN TO LEAD? You might believe that leaders are born, not made. Perhaps you think that you need to hold an important job to be a leader—that you need permission to lead. Leadership is one of the most important aspects of our society. Yet there is enormous disagreement and confusion about what leadership means and whether it can really be learned. As Harvard Business School professor Robert Steven Kaplan explains in this powerful new book, leadership qualities are not something you either have or you don’t. Leadership is not a destination or a state of being. Leadership is about what you do, rather than who you are, and it starts with an ownership mind-set. For Kaplan, learning to lead involves three key elements: • Thinking like an owner • A willingness to act on your beliefs • A relentless focus on adding value to others Kaplan compellingly argues that great organizations are built around a nucleus of people who think and act with an ownership mind-set. He believes that leadership is not a role reserved only for those blessed with the right attributes or situated in the right positions of power. Leadership is accessible to each of us—today. It requires a process of hard work, willingness to ask questions, and openness to learning. This book aims to demystify leadership and outlines a specific regimen that will empower you to build your leadership skills. Kaplan tells real-life stories from his own experience of working with various types of leaders seeking to improve their effectiveness and make their organizations more successful. He asks probing questions, provides exercises, and suggests concrete follow-up steps that will help you develop your skills, create new habits, and move you toward reaching your unique leadership potential. What You Really Need to Lead will help you develop your capacity to lead by unlocking your power to think and act like an owner.
Experience may be a leader's best teacher--but there's a hitch. Two people can have identical experiences, but one blossoms while the other is depleted. The same can be said for any pair of fired CEOs, unsuccessful political candidates, or rookie supervisors. In Crucibles of Leadership, Robert J. Thomas concludes that what matters most is what one makes of experience, particularly the traumatic and often unplanned crucible events that challenge one's identity as a leader. What distinguishes leaders who grow through a crucible experience? Their approach to learning. Like accomplished athletes or artists, they practice as strenuously as they perform. And because the line between performance and practice is often hard to discern, they learn how to practice while they perform. But theirs is no ordinary practice. It's a regimen tailored to individual aspirations, motivations, and learning styles--a Personal Learning Strategy. Building on insightful and moving stories told by accomplished leaders, Thomas offers probing self-assessments and innovative tools designed to help you develop your own Personal Learning Strategy. Provocative and original, with examples drawn from business and politics as well as from the inner workings of the Mormon Church and the Hell's Angels, Thomas's book will revolutionize the way you think about leadership and learning.
An essential reference book for you and your global organization, Executive Development and Organizational Learning for Global Business will guide you through the challenge of producing effective executives and masterminding learning organizations. In this cutting-edge overview, you'll share in the success stories of some of the most tried-and-true, top-selling authors in the world such as Peter Senge and Rosabeth Moss Kanter. Considered a “must-have” handbook for development managers, Executive Development and Organizational Learning for Global Business gives you a unique perspective on the major challenges you'll face when setting up your executive education program. Anyone creating a comprehensive game plan for a large global organization will want to be familiar with the informative practices in this book. In its concise and straightforward chapters, you'll read about: cross-cultural challenges of executive development tools and techniques for developing international executives experiential issues and action learning in global organizations anticipatory learning for global concerns Today, more than ever, piloting your global organization through a world of changing management systems and executive development programs can be overwhelming. But the unique perspectives you'll find in this time-saving collection will start you off right. So, whether you're a human resource development practitioner, a human resource executive, or an academic in human resource development, you'll profit from the bevy of intellectual insight and real-world experience that some of the world's most successful authorities have organized for you in the pages of Executive Development and Organizational Learning for Global Business.
In response to the need for an alternative to broad-coverage organizational behavior books, Bob Vecchio has written Organizational Behavior: Core Concepts. With solid coverage of theory, research, and practice, this new edition provides the foundation for understanding micro and macro views of organizational behavior.
Rapid Results! shows how to make large-scale changes succeed by using 100-day results-producing projects to develop this vital implementation capability. Written by Robert H. Schaffer, Ronald N. Ashkenas, and their associates--leaders in the field of change management--Rapid Results! describes an approach that has been field-tested by real organizations of every size and description to improve performance and speed the pace of change. Rapid results projects produce results quickly, introduce new work patterns, and enable participants to learn a variety of lessons about managing change. Step by step, the book describes how the use of rapid-cycle, or 100-day, projects will multiply your organization's power to succeed at large-scale change. Schaffer and Ashkenas specifically outline the concept behind 100-day projects and show you how to Set up the architecture to implement rapid results projects Improve operational performance and also attain hard results in the soft areas of management Build rapid results into major organizational change such as reorganization, acquisition integration, and international development Use rapid results to drive leadership development and culture change
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