The Smart Organization: Creating Value Through Strategic R&D [Anglais] [Relié]

In their survey of hundreds of corporate decision makers, the authors, who are brothers and principals at Strategic Decisions Group in Menlo Park, Calif., chose 22 exemplars and ranked them on the basis of their reputations for good decision making. Among them were 3M, Merck, Hewlett-Packard, General Electric and AT&T. In-depth interviews at 13 of those companies yielded 45 "best practices," such as "coordinate long-range business and R & D plans," and the nine principles of smart R & D that facilitate the best practices. Although some of The Smart Organization reads like statements of the obvious mixed with common sense, the examples of counterproductive behavior and conflicting perspectives the Mathesons provide from their consulting practice are useful. --Ce texte fait référence à lédition Relié .

"If more companies were to act like this, there might be less demand for off-the-peg strategies from consultants."

Here is an experience-rich book on how companies can create value by becoming smart organizations. Based on research and consulting engagements with the world's largest R&D-intensive companies, it reveals how senior managers can dramatically improve the return on their companies' investment in R&D and technology.

The Smart Organization brings new perspective to management decision making throughout the organization. It identifies the key practices that enable successful organizations to deliver a stream of winning products and services. Smart organizations, say the Mathesons, have internalized nine interlocking principles essential in creating corporate cultures that emphasize making the right strategic decisions at the right time. They use best practices to support these decisions and sustain their success. These principles--among them, embracing uncertainty, disciplined decision making, and value creation culture--enable companies to make appropriate choices about their R&D planning, portfolio management, and product strategies.

Drawing on the experiences of R&D-intensive organizations all over the globe, the authors illustrate the book with best practice examples from companies like Hewlett- Packard, 3M, Merck, Proctor & Gamble, DuPont, Monsanto, and AT&T. They stress the importance of evaluating trade-offs, investigating alternatives, and getting buy-in across functions to ensure that decisions will be viable from both the technological and managerial perspectives. They show how managers can apply these methods more broadly to create a smart organization. The Mathesons clearly demonstrate that changing the decision-making process is an efficient means of reforming culture and improving not just R&D but overall company performance.

Brings new perspective to management decision making throughout the organization. Identifies the key practices that enable successful organizations to deliver a stream of winning products and services. DLC: Research, Industrial - Management.

Over the past eight years, we implemented new decision processes based on the nine principles found in The Smart Organization. The result has been a change in the openness of our decision processes, the evolution of an improved attitude toward learning, and significant value added for GM's shareholders. --Vincent P. Barabba, General Manager, Corporate Strategy and Knowledge Development, General Motors Corporation

This major work describes the practices that permit an organization to derive the most benefit from making quality decisions following the fundamental methodology of the Stanford school of decision analysis.' The Mathesons' book draws on more than 30 years' experience in management consulting and research. Their design for the smart organization' should capture the attention of any smart executive leader. --Ronald A. Howard, Professor and Director, Decisions and Ethics Center, Department of Engineering-Economics Systems and Operations Research, Stanford University

Bayer has used the SDG approach for the last six years, and we have found the process extremely useful. The Smart Organization elucidates both process and methodology, using a clear concept and lively examples from real business situations. --Dirk Suwelack, Ph.D., Head of Strategic Planning, Business Group Pharmaceuticals, Bayer AG, Leverkusen, Germany

With sharply drawn examples from Medieval longbows to space shuttle o-rings, the Mathesons' book enables us to carry home vivid pictures of the path to organizational enlightenment. The fundamental principles they outline were the guide to the re- engineering of drug discovery and development at Eli Lilly and Company. --W. Leigh Thompson, Ph.D., M.D., Retired Chief Scientific Officer, Eli Lilly and Company, and CEO, Profound Quality Resources, Ltd.

David Matheson is a principal in Strategic Decisions Group's London office and director of the research efforts that identified the best practices and the Nine Principles of Smart R&D. Jim Matheson is a world-recognized authority on decision analysis and its application. He is a co-founder and director of Strategic Decisions Group, an international management consulting firm headquartered in Menlo Park, California, and director of the firm's R&D practice.