Who Really Matters: The Core Theory of Power, Privilege and Success - Hardcover

Kleiner, Art

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385484488 ISBN 13: 9780385484480

Publisher: Doubleday, 2003

Synopsis

Argues that a "core group" of business executives are the ones who determine the behavior of a company, not the shareholders, and that the primary purpose of these organizations is to provide wealth for senior executives and their descendants.

About this title

About the Author

<p><b></b>ART KLEINER is the director of research and reflection at Dialogos, a consulting firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts; a faculty member at New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program; and the “Culture & Change” columnist for <i>Strategy + Business</i> magazine. He is also the editorial director of the Fifth Discipline Fieldbook series and a longstanding writer on the human impact of management and technology. He lives outside New York City.</p>

From the Inside Flap

<b>In a breakthrough <i>Organization Man</i> for the twenty-first century, bestselling author Art Kleiner reveals that every organization is driven by a desire to satisfy a Core Group of influential individuals and explains why understanding this group’s expectations is the key to success.</b><br><br>When corporate leaders announce, with seeming sincerity, “We make our decisions on behalf of our shareholders,” their words are taken at face value. But as recent news stories prove, this imperative is routinely violated. In <i>Who Really Matters</i>, Art Kleiner argues that the dissonance between a declared mission and actual operation can be seen at organizations large and small. All organizations have one motive in common. Every decision―which projects to back, who to promote, or how to spend money―is affected by the perceived wants and needs of a core group of people “who really matter.” <br><br>The composition of the group can differ from organization to organization. Often, the most senior people in the hierarchy are members―but not always. Sometimes, the people who “matter” can extend far down the corporate ladder, or even reach outside the company to include key customers, labor union leaders, and stockholders. Kleiner gives readers clues about how to identify a core group’s real mission by observing its day-to-day actions, listening to the fundamental message it sends employees, examining its management of new members; understanding the ideas that shape its policies about management, money, and the way the world works; and avoiding the taboos governing the way it operates.<br><br>Whether you’re a member of the Core Group―or want to be―this deft, engaging blend of argument and observation, anecdotes and advice, is the one guide you’ll need to achieve your career goals and aspirations by navigating the hidden pathways in any organization, large or small.

Edition details

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385484488
• ISBN 13: 9780385484480
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 277