Knowledge Works or Leadership

Knowledge Works: Managing Intellectual Capital at Toshiba

Author: W Mark Mark Fruin

This book describes why, for the past twenty-five years, Japanese productivity has been growing more rapidly than productivity in the U.S. Unlike other books on the subject of the Japanese success in manufacturing, it looks at what actually happens in factories. The author brings his experience of working at the Yanagicho Works of the Toshiba Corporation, in Kawasaki City. Like so many Japanese factories, this one is highly productive, efficient, and flexible. While the factory is ordinary looking on the outside, its workers are anything but ordinary as they constantly strive to improve the way they work and the quality of the products they produce. The key to this is the continuous creation and application of knowledge throughout the factory, from workers on the shop floor, to research and development engineers, to top management. Fruin explains how Japanese culture and religion prepare workers for their role in this process of creating and disseminating knowledge.

See also: Wiley IFRS:Guia de Implementação Prático e Livro de exercícios

Leadership: 4 Competencies for Success

Author: Robert Portnoy

Combining practical insights from the real business world together with the academic theory and research that underlie methods and techniques, this innovative book prepares readers for the rigors of leading people in just about any situation, not just organizations -- i.e., it trains leaders to think before they act. From assessment through implementation, it focuses on four competencies -- specific behavior characteristics that delineate the "ingredients" of leadership: Directional Thinking, Consequential Thinking, Influence Strategies, and Communication Skills.Begins with a four-chapter Assessment in which readers provide information about how they would use the four Competencies to address specific situations, challenges, and dilemmas. Outlines a Relationship Life Cycle -- a flow chart, linked to a case study at each step, that depicts how relationships begin and evolve and how they either deal effectively with conflict and survive or ignore conflict and as a result allow it to escalate and destroy the relationship. Interpersonal communication skills are then explained and illustrated as a way to help leaders both prevent and resolve interpersonal conflict in both business and personal settings. Includes a Speaker Effectiveness Index -- that serves as both an assessment and development tool for better understanding and improving presentation skills. Includes T-Charts that explain and illustrate how to make a balanced decision. Contains a Q&A chapter that addresses frequently asked questions about leadership and -- in particular -- how to develop and implement a mentoring program in an organization using the 4 Competencies. For leaders, andaspiring leaders, in any type of organization or situation..

Table of Contents:

Keys to the Competencies.
Introduction. 4 Competencies for Success.

I. THE ASSESSMENT.

1. The Behavior Interview.
2. The In-Basket.
3. Ask the Consultant.
4. Scoring Your Results.

II. THE COMPETENCIES.

5. Directional Thinking.
6. Consequential Thinking.
7. Influence Strategies.
8. Communication Skills.

III. APPLICATIONS.

9. Frequently Asked Questions About Leadership.
10. Assessment Guidelines and Some Final Thoughts.
Index.