BOOKS FOR MANAGERS

the appearance of a standard textbook and although the athor states his rationale for the structure of the book, the reader is left wondering what the author’s view of the subject is. This is important given the current debate surrounding the direction of the subject. Further. the ‘something for everyone’ approach necessitates a long course in strategic management if all the chapters have to bc covered.

The use of short illustrative case studies within each chapter is excellent, as too is the use of references. Thus the book blends research and practicality with giving the reader the opportunity to match the appropriate research with ‘real life’ examples. The short cases make their point well and are drawn from IIK companies and organisations.

For the student of strategic management there is a lot of information in the book, as well as some useful questions of how to utilize the material. However, :IS with many such texts, the difficulty remains of how to operationally deploy the information in real situations. This would perhaps make the book too prescriptive, but in a live subject such as strategic management, such devices are essential. One is left with the impression that the book is excellent in terms of being about business rather than for business. An accompanying series of cases which shows how the information can be deployed would be more than useful. S M Sanderson lhizersity of Rrudford Management Crntre

Systems: Concepts, Methodologies and Applications (Second Edition) by BRIAN WILSON

This is an excellent book which recently has been revised and extensively updated. It describes and applies systems concepts and methodologies which have been developed at Lancaster University. Most of these have their origin in the soft system problem solving

4

methodology of Peter (:heckland. The text is logicall)

presented and covers essential background material for those unfamiliar with the need for s)%ems methods. Topics disc.usscd at an early stage include models and modelling. problems and concerns, structure and logic, systems, and model classification. The historical evolution of systems Ixngwges is ;ilso xvell

at2ted.

Wlc rcmaindcr of the book i:; concerned \vith presenting :I

rxnge of particular problem

sollkig tllethoclologics. Each of these has been de\~loped by the ;iuthor for specific application in slrhtcnis at many different points on the spectrum of problem situations. The methodologies include s)‘stems engineering, system control, information s)‘stem methods and organisa- tional rc-&sign methods. (;ood

C:ISC study materhl is prcscnted in

respect ot each mcthoclolog);.

(:oml”chcnsivc appcndicx3

c‘o\w model classifications in detail, exercises :ind the

prcscntation of :I full sJ5tcni study carried out by a different author. Whilst interesting, it is not clearly explained why this is prcscntcd and why xs an

appendix. The book is, essentially, :I

write up of Brian Wilson’s extensive experiences within the Lancaster action research programme of tackling real problems in ;I wide variet!, of industrial and commercial settings ;inci. from a systems pructicc

point of view, this is a vcq useful contribution to knowledge.

f Iowever, from a systems theory point of view, the message of the book seems to be that there is often a need to tailor a general methodology, such as the Checkland Methodology, to a given situation by the inclusion of ne\v or alternative stages and b) the inclusion of more detailed steps and guidelines. Such :m

interpretation carries with it a danger of diluting the principal axioms of the soft system problem solving methodology. Firstly, if changes to the methodology are required for each type of problem situation encountered, this could be seen

:IS :I move tow;mIs tcchniquc orientation. That is. towards the specific. Operational Research based problem solving approach. kvhrre off-the-shelf tcchniqucs arc :t\,ailable for application to gcncric problem themes. Second, the creation of more and more detail in the mett~odolog~ is indicative of a iiio\~ aw:i). from holism towards reductionism and can ;ilso lead to system victors losing touch \yith the o\vtlership of a problem x~ci Lvith a commitment to its etimin:ition.

Brian Wilson is clearly auarc of these dangers :mcl is at pains to

cmphasise that his methods arc htill rclati\.cly broad based and

flexible. I think that I agi-cc Lvith his htancc, but would be \2.:iry of the creation of too m;in!~

additional specifications and steps in the \rery successful soft system methoclotog)~.

Advanced Manufacturing by DOLJGLAS K MacI3ETII IflY I’rrhiic~utioris, I WW. .f_?O. ‘i

This \‘cry rcadablc little book reviews the plethora of Ad\~~ncecl Manufacturing Technologies c.onfronting tod:i)-‘s managers and sccka to guide them through the processes of selection, introduction and cisc.

The book starts with two csscntialty introductory chapters. The first examines the objecti\pes of the manufacturing process. reminding LIS of the goals of quality, dclivcry :ind cost. The second chapter sets the scene for advanaced manufacturing in terms of management style and philosophy. It owes a lot to I>cming. Juran and Schonbcrgcr, introducing concepts of manufacturing to meet customer’s needs rather than output targets :incl of establishing partnership with suppliers rather than adversarial relationships.

Chapter three is the kernel of the book, defining over twent) i\dvanccd Manufacturing Technologies (AM’I‘s) with which \vc arc daily bornbardcd by their three 2nd four letter ;icronynis; these definitions alone make the

ECIROPEAN MANAGEMENT JOI’RNAL Vol c) No 1 March 1001

BOOKS FOR MANAGERS

book a worthwhile read. A useful distinction is drawn between those hardware, or equipment based, technologies such as Robotics and those software or technique based such as Pull Logistics and Total Quality. MacBeth then goes on to evaluate each one in terms of their contribution to quality, delivery and cost. It is a pity that this exercises was not extended to an assessment of their range of applicability. For instance Statistical Process Control (SPC) and Computer Aided Design (CAD) are much more widely applicable than, say, Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMM) and Group Technology (GT). In evaluating the benefits personal experience (particularly perhaps involving failures) can inevitably be an influencing factor. MacBeth is a little hard on MRP for example; this can offer significant gdillS in terms of both delivery and cost much more easily than some of the other AMTs but it suffers more than most from having been over sold by computer salesmen into cnviron- ments \xThich arc tither unsuitable or ilI prepared to exploit the potential gains.

I3y the same token the introduction of CNC at significant capital outlay can give quite a poor return to a manufacturer who does not have the volume to justify the investment nor the skills to support it and who may well be wiser to adopt a sub- contracting strategy passing the work to the best local specialist available.

The fourth chapter discusses

strategy and introduces the ideas

of Michael Porter to the manufacturing reader. Starting with the business strategy it is shown that the manufacturing Strategy can be developed in terms of the necessary processes and infrastructure. Hence the appropriate AMTs can be

selected; furthermore manage- ment knows what to expect of them. Other strategic issues such as whether to manufacture, what to manufacture or where to manufacture are not covered in this book.

The final chapters consider implementation of AMTs, what can go wrong and why com- panies fail. The keys to success are identified as: good planning, including the selection of the right AMT for the job; rccog- nizing the need for adaptive organisation and the importance of education and training; and finally effective project management. Although addressing the issues of management and strategy in advanced manui‘acturing AMTs remain the core of the book with new philosophies of management being woven around them. Certainly the AMTs can be the catalyst to stimulate the new thinking and surely the AMTs will be ineffective in an old style management environment. Whether they arc necessary to achieve modern manuhcturing management is not really proven

in this book. Manufacturing managers

have little time for reading, so one of the attractions of this book is its brevity and readability.

Reading it is likely to lower the risks and increase the chances of

success in moving towards advanced manufacturing; however at 22 pence a page it is perhaps a little expensive. John M Smith EAI’ European School of Management, Oxford

Manager and Team Development by BERNARD BAHBINGTON SMITH and ALAN SHARP Heinemann, 1990, d25.00

This book is a reflective discourse between a pioneer trainer of managers and a skilled inter- locutor. Their joint depth and length of contact with Coverdale could have produced a flat even complacent retrospective. Instead the selection of 5 main themes approached through clusters of linked essays has a lively present contact. The same qualities which made Covet-dale influential are apparent in the book’s mixture of psychology and philosophy. The tripartite core: the development of groups, the development of individuals through such groups on Coverdale courses and the transactions between people as individuals and as members of different groups is managed stage by stage. The language is common parlance ‘bafflement’ (is it appropriate to learning?) (‘getting things done’ (what is the systematic approach?) and getting to know’ (a useful commentary in the Harvard Negotiation Project); the issues posed are quintessential. Kitson Smith KAAP European School of ilCwxcggement, O.@-d

EUROPEAN MANAGEMENT JOLJRNAL Vol 9 No 1 March 1991