The Cure: Enterprise Medicine for Business: A Novel for ManagersISBN: 978-0-471-26830-7
Paperback
304 pages
February 2003
This is a Print-on-Demand title. It will be printed specifically to fill your order. Please allow an additional 10-15 days delivery time. The book is not returnable.
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This collaborative effort bv Paul, a former strategic planner for
CEO Jack Welch at General Electric, and business writer Cox (Zapp!)
is described in the promotional copy as "a novel for managers," a
fictional story that illustrates the business principle of the
"boundaryless" company pioneered by Welch. It's a stodgy but
effective effort in which an inefficient, disorganized
widget-producing outfit called Essential resolves a dire
companywide communication problem just in time to avoid corporate
disaster. Paul and Cox's approach is to create a series of
high-level managerial characters with stereotypical business
personalities. The huge cast includes Rick Riggins, the
authoritarian "get it done now" company president; Frank Harlan,
the egotistical, turf-protecting genius engineer; and Jake Foster,
a slow-but-steady operations manager new to the company. Essential
is about to lose its biggest client because the company can't
deliver its widgets on time. The desperate Riggins hires a wise
consultant named George Tracey, who guides the company through the
revitalization process, starting with candid employee interviews
followed by a weekend brainstorming session and a retreat. Paul and
Cox do a solid job of creating believable business problems and
interpersonal conflicts, though the story is broken up by having
too many employees take a turn narrating in short, choppy sections.
General readers will steer clear, but the novel does offer a
pleasant spoonful of literary sugar for business types who want to
absorb the latest management trends. (Feb.) (Publishers
Weekly, February 10, 2003)
‘…contains much sound advice and, apart from being a good story, is very informative and instructive…’(Professional Manager, July 2003)