‘Big Bosses se Plant' is a Spanish translation of the best seller ‘Why Smart Executives Fail'(2003). The original version has been authored by Sydney Finkelstein. Sydney Finkelstein is a graduate in Management from the University of Columbia. He has received degrees in Industrial Relations and Strategic Management from the London School of Economics and the University of Concordia respectively.
Since 1998, Sydney Finkelstein has been associated with the most prestigious university along the east coast region of America. It is the ‘Tuck School of Business' at Dartmouth. In his association with this university as Professor of Management, Sydney Finkelstein also discharges the role of directing training programs for leaders. Professor Sydney Finkelstein has published several books particularly on the theme of strategic leadership. Some of the famous books authored by him are ‘Why Smart Executive Fail' (2007), ‘Why Smart Executives Fail': What do we learn from their mistakes (2004) and ‘Top Executives and Their Effects on Organizations' (1996).
‘Why Smart Executives Fail?' is the result of studies and research conducted by Sydney Finkelstein and his research team from the Tuck Business School at Dartmouth for six years. During these six years, 51 companies that were forced to close down due to dismal commerce have been screened to understand the causes of these failures. The interest of this study is attributed to the sample of selected firms. This sample shows the difficulties encountered by companies in different sectors. These failures are spread over a long period from the 80s with the failed strategy of General Motors in robotics, failed start-ups born from the 2000s boom of the Internet.
With his skills in management, Sydney Finkelstein tried to analyze how the makers of these companies were able to counteract these resounding failures. To learn from those mistakes, he and his team conducted 197 interviews with CEOs, managers and executives from companies that have experienced serious crises. To complete the statements of these privileged witnesses and the veracity of their testimony, the research team relied on financial reporting, analysis of independent experts and the annual reports of companies involved. This allowed them to gather information to find the causes of these failures.
The causes of these failures are numerous and diverse a priori. The surveyed companies with little in common, it is likely that their failure is the result of very different factors. It appears from this investigation that these companies have often performed in the same manner and for the same reasons. We learn from this work that the major failures have been restricted to only a limited number of cases.
The aim of this book is to present and try to explain at first, the causes of errors that led to these spectacular failures, to give leaders ways to detect signs of discomfort in their latent business and finally give them the means to ensure that serious difficulties are avoided by providing avenues pertaining to management for the companies to follow to avoid ending up like the companies studied in this work.
Tags -Sydney Finkelstein, management, leadership mistakes
[...] The most serious error that was committed by Saatchi & Saatchi was to have placed too much importance in the growth of the company without paying any regard to the skill that was needed to ensure that the acquisition of a new company brought growth to the group. Many of these integration errors plagued the group and impeded its journey to recovery; this resulted in the departure of the Saatchi brothers from a business they had owned for twenty years. Another process that makes a company very vulnerable is when the leader chooses strategies that are inappropriate. Most often, these bad choices occur when the approach of a competitor is misconstrued. [...]
[...] One of the most interesting parts of this book is the analysis of the 7 habits of those who miss what they do. This section allows managers to understand what kind of behavior they should avoid; it also allows employees and managers of a company to detect certain attitudes that can lead to errors. These signals are important when a detectable pattern gives the impression that there are no boundaries between his personal interests and those of his company. These leaders must be singled out and they may also believe that they have all the answers and do not pay attention to anyone's opinion but their own. [...]
[...] They do not stop to see if these methods are still valid. The results of this survey can predict some future crises because they give us the opportunity to identify some warning signals. The first signals are the unnecessary complexities in the business organization and strategies that are too complicated for simple problems. The impression of a lack of experience to manage the growth of the company, the management ignoring existing problems, the unexpected departure of important people is other significant signals. [...]
[...] This rejection of innovation led to the mass exodus of customers to its competitors. The events of the Rubbermaid company also illustrates this point perfectly. For years, Rubbermaid responded to consumer demands with new products and constantly improved the design of its products. Evolving in an environment where competition was ineffective, this strategy gradually faded. When new customers in the form of powerful retailers demanded better prices and services, their competition offered these willingly and as Rubbermaid failed to respond to this (and continued to sell at higher prices); it led to the company's ruin. [...]
[...] Sydney Finkelstein – Why smart executives fail 'Big Bosses se Plant' is the translated work of the bestseller ‘Why smart executives FAIL' written by American author Sydney Finkelstein and published in 2003. Sydney Finkelstein graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Management, he also studied Industrial Relations at the London School of Economics and has a degree in Strategic Management from Concordia University. Sydney Finkelstein has taught as a professor of management at prestigious American universities such as the Concordia University or the University of Southern California. [...]
APA Style reference
For your bibliographyOnline reading
with our online readerContent validated
by our reading committee
