Collins and Porras discovered that the exceptional companies shared several timeless qualities:
They have core values. These core values form solid foundations that do not change because of current fads. (They seem to function like DNA: They organize the processes required for thriving and enable the transfer of effective design knowledge to future generations, ensuring long-term survival.) It is important to note, however, that if exceptional companies stray from their core values, they deenergize their employees and lose their competitive edge. Such was the case with IBM, when it lost is audacious boldness for investing in the future and became more conservative and protective.7
They are driven by more than making money. The exceptional companies pursue a cluster of objectives; while making money is one of those objectives, it is not necessarily the primary one. Yet, these exceptional companies are more profitable than their competitors, which are driven primarily by making money.
They focus on continuous improvement. The companies focus more on continually improving themselves rather than on beating the competition.
They learn from failures. The companies rely more on trial-and-error experimentation than on academic strategic planning.
. . . those companies with adaptive cultures increased their revenues over an 11-year period by 682% and improved their net incomes by 756% compared to 166% and 1% respectively, for those companies that were not adaptive to change.
Given these figures, it's ironic that many executives regard values and culture as "soft" factors. Most likely, these executives also don't understand the real value of the knowledge resource in their employees.
Reinforces the idea that despite Shelby's talk about "runnin' the university like a bidness" he doesn't know anything about managing an organization, which is ultimately what running a business is all about.
quote: Originally posted by: Anorexia nervosa ""The organization becomes thin, but less healthy. First, the organization's fat is depleted, then its muscle, and eventually even its brainpower.""
In USM's case, the administrative brain power was the first to go, with the hiring of SFT.
quote: Originally posted by: Reporter "In USM's case, the administrative brain power was the first to go, with the hiring of SFT."
One of Shelby's former students made an interesting statement "If you did want to run university like a business, why would you hire Shelby?" A $200 million budget with a guy who has never remotely been in charge of anything like a 16,000 student university.
"Surgically cutting away part of the employee body and leaving the remaining employees hemorrhaging dangerously impairs the company's vitality. Three years after the publication of Reengineering the Corporation, Hammer admitted that he "wasn't smart enough" about the importance of factoring in people. He blamed his own engineering background and said he had not been sufficiently appreciative of the human dimension."12