Author Description

Based on six years of research and hundreds of interviews with managers at every level in such companies as Intel, ABB, Canon, 3M, and McKinsey, The Individualized Corporation explores the collapse of an outmoded corporate form and reveals the emergence of a fundamentally different management philosophy that focuses on the power of the individual as the driver of value creation in the company and the importance of individuality in management. Sumantra Ghoshal and Christopher Bartlett conclude that in today's service-based, information-intense, competitive environment, corporate leaders must recognize that human creativity and individual initiative are their most important source of competitive advantage. Without proposing a universal solution or a quick-fix prescription, The Individualized Corporation describes in practical detail not only the "what" but also the "how" of building and managing an Individualized Corporation. It develops a new model of the organization as a portfolio of processes rather than a hierarchy of tasks. It describes the new roles that frontline, middle, and top-level managers must play and examines the personal attitudes, knowledge, and skills they will need in order to succeed. And it defines the outlines of a new moral contract that this new generation of companies must develop with its employees and society at large.