Open Book Management

A senior editor of Inc. magazine explains the concept of "open-book management"--the powerful management tool that is revolutionizing American business--describing how and why it works and illustrating how all companies can utilize it to realize higher profits. magazine.

In the early 1980s, Springfield Remanufacturing Corporation (SRC) in Springfield, Missouri, was a near bankrupt division of International Harvester. Today it's one of the most successful and competitive companies in the United States, with a share price 3000 times what it was thirty years ago. This miracle turnaround is all down to one man, Jack Stack, and his revolutionary system of Open-Book Management, in which every employee understands the company's key figures, can act on them and has a real stake in the business. In Stack's own words: 'When employees think, act and feel like owners ... everybody wins.' As a management strategy, 'the great game of business' is so simple and effective that it's been taken up by companies from Intel to Harley Davidson.

The Great Game of Business started a business revolution by introducing the world to open-book management, a new way of running a business that created unprecedented profit and employee engagement. The revised and updated edition of The Great Game of Business lays out an entirely different way of running a company. It wasn't dreamed up in an executive think tank or an Ivy League business school or around the conference table by big-time consultants. It was forged on the factory floors of the heartland by ordinary folks hoping to figure out how to save their jobs when their parent company, International Harvester, went down the tubes. What these workers created was a revolutionary approach to management that has proven itself in every industry around the world for the past thirty years--an approach that is perhaps the last, best hope for reviving the American Dream.

Over the last decade companies have struggled to balance the human dimension of business with the need to be aggressive, competitive, and profitable. Of all the management solutions considered, one philosophy, open-book management, has proven its power to transform organizations and enhance morale and productivity again and again.But what was it about a seemingly risky philosophy, in which all of a company's financial numbers are revealed to every employee, that compelled companies as dissimilar as multibillion-dollar RR Donnelley and modest-sized Crisp publications, to undertake such a drastic rethinking of company management? Was it the increased profits other companies, such as Amoco Canada, were experiencing due to their employees' new financial involvement in the company? Or was it he improved production that Bagel Works, Inc., and Dixie Ironworks, Inc., realized through employee joint accountability? Perhaps it was the enhanced employee morale that still other companies were achieving now that their employees were partners who designed their own bonus packages. Likely, it was all these reasons and dozens more that convinced hundreds of companies to adopt open-book management to help reduce costs, improve quality, and boost sales, all while creating an environment that reinvented and revitalized the role of the employee.In this practical and highly accessible book, John Case, the leading authority and foremost chronicler of open-book management, shows how to put the open-book philosophy to work. The Open-Book Experience explains how to identify critical numbers, how to bring the corporate financials down to earth, and how to set up a system that gets everyone in the business working to improve performance. It describes how companies both large and small have actually implemented open-book management—how they got started, how they overcame obstacles, and how they taught employees to understand the business. Using a step-by-step methodology gleaned from the experiences of more than 100 successful companies, and revealing tools and techniques such as electronic scoreboards and collaborative “games,” Case shows how open-book management can work for any company wanting to bridge the age-old gap between concern for people and the need for rigorous performance measurement and improvement.

In the world of Fringe (or Off-Off Broadway) theatre, a strong debate has been raging for years - when you're producing a low/no-budget production, how on earth can you make it happen and still treat everyone involved in an open, honest and ethical manner? Where do you stand with profit-share productions when you can't afford to pay Union minimums? Open Book Theatre Management, along with its free online resources of instructional budget spreadsheets, is the first book ever to show you exactly how to mount a theatre production without losing either your integrity or your shirt. It is aimed at actors, directors and producers in the early stages of their careers; drama schools; and further and higher education establishments. The methodologies outlined in the book are transferable across all countries in which arts funding is difficult to secure. The time for going to the Establishment with the begging bowl is over. There need be no more excuses. The author will even show you how to start your own theatre company for only a tenner…

This is a story of reinvention. Jim Whitehurst, celebrated president and CEO of one of the world's most revolutionary software companies, tells first-hand his journey from traditional manager (Delta Air Lines, Boston Consulting Group) and “chief” problem solver to CEO of one of the most open organizational environments he'd ever encountered. This challenging transition, and what Whitehurst learned in the interim, has paved the way for a new way of managing—one this modern leader sees as the only way companies will successfully function in the future. Whitehurst says beyond embracing the technology that has so far disrupted entire industries, companies must now adapt their management and organizational design to better fit the Information Age. His mantra? “Adapt or die.” Indeed, the successful company Whitehurst leads—the open source giant Red Hat—has become the organizational poster child for how to reboot, redesign, and reinvent an organization for a decentralized, digital age. Based on open source principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration, “open management” challenges conventional business ideas about what companies are, how they run, and how they make money. This book provides the blueprint for putting it into practice in your own firm. He covers challenges that have been missing from the conversation to date, among them: how to scale engagement; how to have healthy debates that net progress; and how to attract and keep the “Social Generation” of workers. Through a mix of vibrant stories, candid lessons, and tested processes, Whitehurst shows how Red Hat has blown the traditional operating model to pieces by emerging out of a pure bottom up culture and learning how to execute it at scale. And he explains what other companies are, and need to be doing to bring this open style into all facets of the organization. By showing how to apply open source methods to everything from structure, management, and strategy to a firm's customer and partner relationships, leaders and teams will now have the tools needed to reach a new level of work. And with that new level of work comes unparalleled success. The Open Organization is your new resource for doing business differently. Get ready to make traditional management thinking obsolete.

A higher purpose is not simply about profit. Symbolising the motivations of our actions and efforts, it reflects something much more aspirational and contributes to our global society. This open access book offers novel solutions to ensure employees support a wider organizational meaning whilst guaranteeing that the company benefits from the employee’s individual sense of purpose. Advocating a shift from previous models and theories, this book contributes to debate and offers insight for both scholars and practitioners. The chapters bring together academic rigour and practical models to help readers distinguish between the fads and influential strategies. Exploring the development of purpose at each level of business, from strategy and leadership to communication, this book avoids theoretical jargon and provides new approaches to building sustainable purpose-driven organizations. This is an Open Access book sponsored by DPMC Spain, UIC Barcelona and Corporate Excellence - Centre for Reputation Leadership

Effective Research Data Management (RDM) is a key component of research integrity and reproducible research, and its importance is increasingly emphasised by funding bodies, governments, and research institutions around the world. However, many researchers are unfamiliar with RDM best practices, and research support staff are faced with the difficult task of delivering support to researchers across different disciplines and career stages. What strategies can institutions use to solve these problems? Engaging Researchers with Data Management is an invaluable collection of 24 case studies, drawn from institutions across the globe, that demonstrate clearly and practically how to engage the research community with RDM. These case studies together illustrate the variety of innovative strategies research institutions have developed to engage with their researchers about managing research data. Each study is presented concisely and clearly, highlighting the essential ingredients that led to its success and challenges encountered along the way. By interviewing key staff about their experiences and the organisational context, the authors of this book have created an essential resource for organisations looking to increase engagement with their research communities. This handbook is a collaboration by research institutions, for research institutions. It aims not only to inspire and engage, but also to help drive cultural change towards better data management. It has been written for anyone interested in RDM, or simply, good research practice.