Five Minds for the Future

John P. Kotter, Kotter

Corporate Culture and Performance

Going far beyond previous empirical work, John Kotter and James Heskett provide the first comprehensive critical analysis of how the "culture" of a corporation powerfully influences its economic performance, for better or for worse. Through painstaking research at such firms as Hewlett-Packard, Xerox, ICI, Nissan, and First Chicago, as well as a quantitative study of the relationship between culture and performance in more than 200 companies, the authors describe how shared values and unwritten rules can profoundly enhance economic success or, conversely, lead to failure to adapt to changing markets and environments. With penetrating insight, Kotter and Heskett trace the roots of both healthy and unhealthy cultures, demonstrating how easily the latter emerge, especially in firms which have experienced much past success. Challenging the widely held belief that "strong" corporate cultures create excellent business performance, Kotter and Heskett show that while many shared values and institutionalized practices can promote good performances in some instances, those cultures can also be characterized by arrogance, inward focus, and bureaucracy--features that undermine an ...

Gary Blake, Blake

Elements of Business Writing: A Guide to Writing Clear, Concise Letters, Mem

From an interoffice memo to a fifty-page proposal, this is the definitive guide to business writing. Anyone who has ever had to write any business document will find "The Elements of Business Writing" the single most effective tool for producing clear, concise, and persuasive prose. Equally useful to executives and support staff, it shows how to: write clearly and powerfully; rid writing of jargon and pompous language; organize material effectively; and avoid errors in spelling, grammar, and usage.

Peter B. Kyne

The Go-Getter: A Story That Tells You How to Be One

The Go-Getter is Kyne's most famous work, first published by William Randolph Hearst in 1921. The story centers around disabled World War I veteran Bill Peck, a worker who must overcome many obstacles in order to build a successful life for himself. At every turn he is thwarted by life's circumstances and must rely on his own tenacity and wits to see him through. American novelist PETER B. KYNE (1880-1957) was born in San Francisco, California. From early on it was clear that he had a gift for writing, and his time in the army during the Spanish-American War and World War I gave him plenty to write about. Kyne's novels include The Three Godfathers (1913) and Cappy Ricks (1916).