Global markets, Japanese competition, the service economy, the sophisticated consumer--American business today faces challenges undreamed of just a few decades ago, and traditional approaches to corporate problems are becoming increasingly less effective. And yet, as the authors of The Unbounded Mind point out, MBA programs still preach--and thousands of American firms hold sacred--an antiquated system of business thinking that is wholly inadequate to the problems they face. In this groundbreaking work, two pioneering thinkers in business studies, Ian I. Mitroff and Harold A. Linstone, pinpoint the profound changes that must occur in the way business executives think, make decisions, and solve problems, if America is to remain competitive. They put forth a radically new approach--"new thinking"--and show executives exactly how to employ these special critical and creative tools to clear the hurdles businesses now face. Logic and rationality, they explain, are useful but limited. And traditional simplification often inhibits the ability to ask the right questions and recognize the true problem. But varying perspectives, multiple realities, and openness to multiple solutions are the secrets of contemporary problem-solving, and lead us to the cutting edge of innovation. Clearly and compellingly, Mitroff and Linstone weave together insights gleaned from philosophy, psychology, management science, economics, and decision science, and quote thinkers from Descartes to Robert Bly, from Alvin Toffler to Chief Seattle. In illustrating how "new thinking" differs from the usual ways in which American firms have handled problems, they analyze a wealth of examples including the decline of the American auto industry and the consequences of this country's blind exporting of technology. They also revisit and interpret some of the most grave crises corporate America has faced: the Bhopal disaster, the Tylenol scare, and the accident at Three Mile Island. Hard-hitting and insightful, The Unbounded Mind is a clarion call for American business. It argues that if we are to produce products and services that can compete in the information age, we must challenge the very foundations of our thinking, and learn how to approach decisionmaking in a truly creative way.

The Unbounded Mind: Breaking the Chains of Traditional Business Thinking

Business & Money

Mitroff, Ian I.

Linstone, Harold A.

Management & Leadership

Oxford University Press

The claims made for television when it was a fledgling industry in the early 1950s have virtually all proven false. T.V. was to be the great entertainer-educator, an electronic marvel that could reach into the lives of millions and, over time, elevate their tastes and sensibilities. As we now know, of course, the entertainment component of this equation has so thoroughly dominated every aspect of T.V. and the mass media that most everything has been reduced to simple, slick, and powerful images. As Fred Friendly once remarked, "commercial television makes so much money doing its worst, it can't afford to do its best." This is the state of things in America on the eve of the twenty-first century. And as Ian I. Mitroff and Warren Bennis show in this fascinating and profoundly disturbing book, the situation only promises to get worse. Already, newspapers and magazines such as U.S.A. Today and Business Week have adopted a sort of television look, helping to blur the line between reality and fantasy that the authors believe is a frightening hallmark of contemporary life. Surveys show that up to 50% of those who watch crime re-enactment programs such as "Rescue 911" believe they are witnessing "the real thing. "And consider, for example, the prospect of "virtual reality," where people can place themselves "inside" T.V.; in the not so distant future, the authors suggest, consenting adults will be able to slip into undergarments lined with sensors and miniature actuators and, while whispering endearments, enjoy "sex" over the phone. What becomes clear as we read The Unreality Industry is that the deliberate creation of unreality is one of the most pivotal social forces shaping our time. Mitroff and Bennis explore in detail the pervasive and dangerous effects of television on American culture, arguing that we have fallen victim to the invented unrealities passed on through the mass media. Focusing on T.V. as the major culprit

The Unreality Industry: The Deliberate Manufacturing of Falsehood and What It Is Doing to Our Lives

Computers & Technology

Bennis, Warren

Games & Strategy Guides

Syringes allegedly found in cans of Pepsi, deaths from Jack-in-the-Box hamburgers, kickbacks from Honda dealers to corporate executives, racial discrimination by Dennys employees: a crisis can strike a firm at any time and no company is immune. But now, when disaster hits, managers can turn to The Essential Guide to Managing Corporate Crises. Enhanced with unique interactive software (for Macintosh) that can be used both as part of a training program and as a working guide during the crisis itself, this essential handbook shows executives, including those with no experience in this area, how to assess their company's strengths and vulnerabilities before a crisis ever happens, how to handle a crisis effectively once it hits--including what to do if there has been no pre-crisis planning--and how to learn from a crisis so they can minimize future problems. No other guide provides as much necessary information about crisis management in one convenient volume. Mitroff, Pearson, and Harrington, all highly regarded authorities, provide an overview of the entire crisis management process, cover thoroughly what to do before and after a disaster, and highlight the knowledge and training needed to implement an effective program. They lay out the key management actions and decisions that executives must face to handle a major crisis, and provide a questionnaire that helps managers assess their firms' overall level of crisis preparedness. There are many ways that firms can find themselves in trouble, and the authors cover them all, ranging from disasters that threaten the public image of a company or product line, to financial catastrophes, to industrial problems that endanger consumers, employees, the community, or the environment. Along the way, they are careful to give managers many real-life examples, to make each point crystal clear. In discussing media relations, for instance, they show how Johnson &amp; Johnson, during the Tylenol tampering tragedy, improved its credibility and achieved customer reassurance through candor with the media. And they contrast Johnson &amp; Johnson's successful response with Exxon's arrogant response to the Valdez oil spill, and show how US Air's CEO might have responded more effectively to questions about his airline's safety standards. The book also reveals how some companies' solutions to crises only serve to create new problems. For example, Sears sought to avert financial disaster by offering Auto Repair employees a bonus for bringing in more business, a strategy that not only increased revenue, but also led to employees recommending unnecessary repairs to customers, thus tarnishing Sears' reputation. Similarly, NASA introduced a bonus for workers in key programs who located defects that led to employees discovering non-existent defects to collect the bonus. Based on the authors' years of experience studying crises, teaching courses and conducting seminars in CM, and advising firms during the heat of actual crises, The Essential Guide to Managing Corporate Crises is crucial reading for all key managers and legal personnel in any size private or public organization.

The Essential Guide to Managing Corporate Crises: A Step-by-Step Handbook for Surviving Major Catastrophes

Pearson, Christine M.

Harrington, L. Katharine

Global markets, Japanese competition, the service economy, the sophisticated consumer--American business today faces challenges undreamed of just a few decades ago, and traditional approaches to corporate problems are becoming increasingly less effective. And yet, as the authors of The Unbounded Mind point out, MBA programs still preach--and thousands of American firms hold sacred--an antiquated system of business thinking that is wholly inadequate to the problems they face. In this groundbreaking work, two pioneering thinkers in business studies, Ian I. Mitroff and Harold A. Linstone, pinpoint the profound changes that must occur in the way business executives think, make decisions, and solve problems, if America is to remain competitive. They put forth a radically new approach--"new thinking"--and show executives exactly how to employ these special critical and creative tools to clear the hurdles businesses now face. Logic and rationality, they explain, are useful but limited. And traditional simplification often inhibits the ability to ask the right questions and recognize the true problem. But varying perspectives, multiple realities, and openness to multiple solutions are the secrets of contemporary problem-solving, and lead us to the cutting edge of innovation. Clearly and compellingly, Mitroff and Linstone weave together insights gleaned from philosophy, psychology, management science, economics, and decision science, and quote thinkers from Descartes to Robert Bly, from Alvin Toffler to Chief Seattle. In illustrating how "new thinking" differs from the usual ways in which American firms have handled problems, they analyze a wealth of examples including the decline of the American auto industry and the consequences of this country's blind exporting of technology. They also revisit and interpret some of the most grave crises corporate America has faced: the Bhopal disaster, the Tylenol scare, and the accident at Three Mile Island. Hard-hitting and insightful, The Unbounded Mind is a clarion call for American business. It argues that if we are to produce products and services that can compete in the information age, we must challenge the very foundations of our thinking, and learn how to approach decisionmaking in a truly creative way.

Biography & History

The subjective side of science: A philosophical inquiry into the psychology of the Apollo moon scientists

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Psychology & Counseling

Elsevier

Stakeholders of the Organizational Mind (Jossey-Bass Management Series/Jossey-Bass Social and Behavioral Science Series)

Proquest/Csa Journal Div

The population and technology explosions are shrinking the world to a system in which everything is interactive, forcing us to transcend traditional modes of thinking. In this book, the authors set forth the concept of multiple perspectives: technical, organizational, and personal. They begin the book with a multiple-perspective examination of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, a case that foreshadows the intensifying problem of managing hazardous technology in the coming decades. They then apply this approach, on a much larger scale, to the United States in the evolving global setting. Included in the discussion are issues such as the balance between short-term and long-term concerns and between individual and societal responsibilities. The interdependence and inseparability of the three perspectives is reflected in the focus on technological superiority, organizational rethinking, and imaginative personal leadership.This book will help managers and students in business, engineering, science, and policymaking break away from exclusive concern with the technical perspective and thus help prepare them for the challenges of a new era.

The Challenge of the 21st Century: Managing Technology and Ourselves in a Shrinking World

State Univ of New York Pr

Managing Crises Before They Happen: What Every Executive and Manager Needs to Know about Crisis Management

From tragic accidents to public relations fiascos, we live in an increasingly crisis-ridden society. In fact, half of the major industrial accidents of the past century occurred in the last 20 years. 
Incidents such as Bhopal and the Exxon Valdez have become embedded in our consciousness, cultural icons of the worst sort. Other crises, less devastating but with serious impact on their businesses, occur almost daily. Why is this-- and what can be done to reverse this disturbing trend? 
According to Ian Mitroff, one of the world's leading experts on crisis management, the rise in the crisis rate is due to an ingrained "it-can't happen- to-us" mentality--which, in turn, leads to a total lack of preparedness for crises. His solution? Find out in MANAGING CRISES BEFORE THEY HAPPEN. This fascinating book provides readers with a powerful framework that will help them: 
* Recognize the early warning signals that almost always precede a crisis * Focus on the big picture, not just the details * Avoid becoming either the victim or the villain in a crisis situation * Understand the importance of personal character, corporate culture, and thinking outside the box to effective crisis management * Learn from one crisis things that can prevent or ameliorate the next.

Managing Crises Before They Happen: What Every Executive and Manager Needs to Know About Crises Management

ANAGNOS, Gus

Amacom Books

Like many companies over the last few years, yours has probably done a great deal to reassess its physical, strategic, and financial vulnerabilities. But there is a huge difference between business continuity planning and true crisis management. Do your company and employees have the necessary ""IQ"" not only to withstand a crisis but also to come through it with strength and confidence?Ian Mitroff, recognized around the world as an authority in crisis management, has created a plan that goes well beyond "disaster preparedness" to help your company get accustomed to working in the face of some unsettling facts:* In an age of terror, cyberattacks, large-scale corporate fraud and more, crisis is no longer a question of if, but of when.* Your company, no matter its size, industry, or location, is not immune from this reality.* Your contingency planning will only be as effective as the human beings charged with putting it into action.Mitroff outlines seven distinct competencies your organization needs to handle crises effectively:* Right Heart (emotional IQ): By accepting crisis as an inevitability, you can process much of the shock and grief beforehand, and avoid making the effects of the crisis even worse through an unconstructive response.* Right Thinking (creative IQ): ""Crises don’t give a damn for the ways in which we have organized the world,"" so out-of-the-box thinking is essential.* Right Social and Political IQ: Understand that your business is subject not only to the particular pitfalls of its industry, but also to the universal and complex challenges that threaten all companies.* Right Integration (integrative IQ): Realize that crises are perceived differently by different stakeholders, and are never simple ""exercises"" that can be ""solved."" Identify and reconcile these perceptions now so that the path is clear when the crisis strikes.* Right Technical IQ: ""Think like a controlled paranoid"" to uncover ways in which malicious forces could cause a crisis in your company. Question every assumption about what is ""normal,"" ""impossible,"" or ""absurd.""* Right Aesthetic IQ: Reconsider the classic design of the corporation, which is meant to address problems as they arise, and move toward one in which crisis management is an overarching discipline on a par with, for example, finance.* Spiritual IQ: Reject the notion that people’s physical, mental, and spiritual beings are completely separate; recognize that crises cause us to question the very meaning of our lives and what we do, and establish ahead of time why our work is, and must remain, important to us on many different levels.Although crisis management has taken on new urgency in recent turbulent times, the need for careful planning did not originate on September 11, 2001. Mitroff’s examples, drawn from interviews conducted both after the 2001 attacks and during his 25-year career as an expert in crisis management, demonstrate the need for action -- and offer a blueprint for taking it.

Why Some Companies Emerge Stronger And Better From A Crisis: 7 Essential Lessons For Surviving Disaster

"Like many companies over the last few years, yours has probably done a great deal to reassess its physical, strategic, and financial vulnerabilities. But there is a huge difference between business continuity planning and true crisis management. Do your company and employees have the necessary ""IQ"" not only to withstand a crisis but also to come through it with strength and confidence? Ian Mitroff, recognized around the world as an authority in crisis management, has created a plan that goes well beyond ""disaster preparedness"" to help your company get accustomed to working in the face of some unsettling facts: * In an age of terror, cyberattacks, large-scale corporate fraud and more, crisis is no longer a question of if, but of when. * Your company, no matter its size, industry, or location, is not immune from this reality. * Your contingency planning will only be as effective as the human beings charged with putting it into action. Mitroff outlines seven distinct competencies your organization needs to handle crises effectively: * Right Heart (emotional IQ): By accepting crisis as an inevitability, you can process much of the shock and grief beforehand, and avoid making the effects of the crisis even worse through an unconstructive response. * Right Thinking (creative IQ): ""Crises don’t give a damn for the ways in which we have organized the world,"" so out-of-the-box thinking is essential. * Right Social and Political IQ: Understand that your business is subject not only to the particular pitfalls of its industry, but also to the universal and complex challenges that threaten all companies. * Right Integration (integrative IQ): Realize that crises are perceived differently by different stakeholders, and are never simple ""exercises"" that can be ""solved."" Identify and reconcile these perceptions now so that the path is clear when the crisis strikes. * Right Technical IQ: ""Think like a controlled paranoid"" to uncover ways in which malicious forces could cause a crisis in your company. Question every assumption about what is ""normal,"" ""impossible,"" or ""absurd."" * Right Aesthetic IQ: Reconsider the classic design of the corporation, which is meant to address problems as they arise, and move toward one in which crisis management is an overarching discipline on a par with, for example, finance. * Spiritual IQ: Reject the notion that people’s physical, mental, and spiritual beings are completely separate; recognize that crises cause us to question the very meaning of our lives and what we do, and establish ahead of time why our work is, and must remain, important to us on many different levels. Although crisis management has taken on new urgency in recent turbulent times, the need for careful planning did not originate on September 11, 2001. Mitroff’s examples, drawn from interviews conducted both after the 2001 attacks and during his 25-year career as an expert in crisis management, demonstrate the need for action -- and offer a blueprint for taking it."

Why Some Companies Emerge Stronger and Better from a Crisis: 7 Essential Lessons for Surviving Disaster

AMACOM

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mitroff, Ian I.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Mitroff, Ian I.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mitroff, Ian I.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Unbounded Mind: Breaking the Chains of Traditional Business Thinking

The Unreality Industry: The Deliberate Manufacturing of Falsehood and What It Is Doing to Our Lives

The Essential Guide to Managing Corporate Crises: A Step-by-Step Handbook for Surviving Major Catastrophes

The Unbounded Mind: Breaking the Chains of Traditional Business Thinking

The subjective side of science: A philosophical inquiry into the psychology of the Apollo moon scientists

Stakeholders of the Organizational Mind (Jossey-Bass Management Series/Jossey-Bass Social and Behavioral Science Series)

The Challenge of the 21st Century: Managing Technology and Ourselves in a Shrinking World

Managing Crises Before They Happen: What Every Executive and Manager Needs to Know About Crises Management

Why Some Companies Emerge Stronger And Better From A Crisis: 7 Essential Lessons For Surviving Disaster

Why Some Companies Emerge Stronger and Better from a Crisis: 7 Essential Lessons for Surviving Disaster