Product Description

'We must reject the idea - well-intentioned, but dead wrong - that the primary path to greatness in the social sectors is to become "more like a business".' So begins this astonishingly blunt and timely manifesto by leading business thinker Jim Collins. Rejecting the belief, common among politicians, that all would be well in society if only the public sector operated more like the private sector, he sets out a radically new approach to creating successful hospitals, police forces, universities, charities, and other non-profit-making organisations. In the process he rejects many deep-rooted assumptions: that somehow it's possible to measure social bodies in purely financial terms; that they can be managed like traditional businesses; that they can be transformed simply by throwing money at them. Instead he argues for radical new attitudes and strategies, using the analytical approach and clear thinking that lie at the heart of Good to Great.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7924 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 48 pages

From the Publisher
The author of the best-selling Good to Great turns his attention to the problems of the social and public sectors – and suggests how to improve them.

From the Back Cover
We must reject the idea – well-intentioned, but dead wrong – that the primary path to greatness in the social sectors is to become "more like a business." Most businesses – like most of anything else in life – fall somewhere between mediocre and good. Few are great. When you compare great companies with good ones, many widely practiced business norms turn out to correlate with mediocrity, not greatness. So, then, why would we want to import the practices of mediocrity into the social sectors?

About the Author
Jim Collins has authored or co-authored four books, including Built to Last and Good to Great. Driven by a relentless curiosity, he began his research and teaching career on the faculty of Stanford's Graduate School of Business, where he received the Distinguished Teaching Award. In 1996, he returned to his hometown of Boulder, Colorado, to found his management laboratory, where he conducts research and works with leaders in the corporate and social sectors. More about Jim and his works can be found at his e-teaching site, where he has assembled articles, audio clips, a recommended reading list, discussion guide, tools, and other information. The site is designed to be a place for students to study and learn: www.jimcollins.com

Customer Reviews

Leadership in non-profit organisations a real challenge.
This monography is about leadership, real leadership, not primarily leadership in business, but also leadership in the non-profit sector, which can be even more challenging.
Jim Collins is very direct in his stile. "... many widely practiced business norms fall somwhere between mediocre and good. Few are great."
The misunderstanding of using business-like concepts araises from the focus on earnings, instead of focus on output and resources.
"We need a new language." A new laguage that can describe the quality of output in a school system or in any other non-profit or public service funtion. The bottom line in a non-profit business is not earnings. It is well educated kids in the school system, high quality treamnet in the public hospitals, well caretaking of elderly in the elderly sector etc..
Lars Bitsch-Larsen

Not for Profits don't have to copy business
I have worked in the private sector for a major multinational organisation for a number of years and am a great fan of "Good to Great". I was seconded into the development sector for a while and repeatedly heard how different the private and social sectors were and yet how anxious they were to become more business minded. My perspective was that the social sector is not as different as people think it is and that not every process in business is appropriate to be transfered. When I came across the Monograph it brought simple clarity to my unexpressed thoughts. So if you are in the Social sector and striving to set Missions, Visions and Goals, have a read of the Monograph. You might just decide you want to read the original Good to Great too!

I learned a lot from my secondment and now work across both sectors.

Read both
My former director encouraged me to read good to great in preparation for a job interview. It helped crystalise a lot of what I thought about what I wanted to achieve, but always wondered how to apply it to the public and voluntary sector. This monograph shows how it is possible.

I didn't get the job. But I got a much stronger convinction about the value of what great social sector organisations should be trying to achieve. And now I have got the promotion...