The Halo Effect

罗森维（Phil Rosenzweig），瑞士洛桑国际管理学院（IMD）战略及国际管理教授。拥有25年商业及学术界经验，获加州大学经济学学士和工商管理硕士学位，并在沃顿商学院获得博士学位。曾在惠普任职七年，并在哈佛商学院执教六年，在欧洲、美洲、亚洲等地区都开设了有关执行的课程，并为微软、戴姆勒-奔驰、雷诺、雅高、迪拜铝业、沃达丰、MTN等著名企业提供顾问服务，主要研究领域为全球战略制定、跨国企业组织设计、行业分析和竞争、客户服务、FDI。目前已出版《国际管理：教程与案例》（International Management, Text and Cases）（合著）、《加速国际化成长》（Accelerating International Growth）（合著）等著作。

出版者:Simon & Schuster Ltd

作者:Phil Rosenzweig

页数:256

出版时间:2007-2-1

价格:GBP 16.99

装帧:Hardcover

isbn号码:9780743291255

图书标签:管理Management方法论商业书籍批判性思维商业咨询Research

Much of our business thinking is shaped by delusions -- errors of logic and flawed judgments that distort our understanding of the real reasons for a company's performance. In a brilliant and unconventional book, Phil Rosenzweig unmasks the delusions that are commonly found in the corporate world. These delusions affect the business press and academic research, as well as many bestselling books that promise to reveal the secrets of success or the path to greatness. Such books claim to be based on rigorous thinking, but operate mainly at the level of storytelling. They provide comfort and inspiration, but deceive managers about the true nature of business success.

The most pervasive delusion is the Halo Effect. When a company's sales and profits are up, people often conclude that it has a brilliant strategy, a visionary leader, capable employees, and a superb corporate culture. When performance falters, they conclude that the strategy was wrong, the leader became arrogant, the people were complacent, and the culture was stagnant. In fact, little may have changed -- company performance creates a Halo that shapes the way we perceive strategy, leadership, people, culture, and more.

Drawing on examples from leading companies including Cisco Systems, IBM, Nokia, and ABB, Rosenzweig shows how the Halo Effect is widespread, undermining the usefulness of business bestsellers from In Search of Excellence to Built to Last and Good to Great.

Rosenzweig identifies nine popular business delusions. Among them:

The Delusion of Absolute Performance: Company performance is relative to competition, not absolute, which is why following a formula can never guarantee results. Success comes from doing things better than rivals, which means that managers have to take risks.

The Delusion of Rigorous Research: Many bestselling authors praise themselves for the vast amount of data they have gathered, but forget that if the data aren't valid, it doesn't matter how much was gathered or how sophisticated the research methods appear to be. They trick the reader by substituting sizzle for substance.

The Delusion of Single Explanations: Many studies show that a particular factor, such as corporate culture or social responsibility or customer focus, leads to improved performance. But since many of these factors are highly correlated, the effect of each one is usually less than suggested.

In what promises to be a landmark book, The Halo Effect replaces mistaken thinking with a sharper understanding of what drives business success and failure. The Halo Effect is a guide for the thinking manager, a way to detect errors in business research and to reach a clearer understanding of what drives business success and failure.

Skeptical, brilliant, iconoclastic, and mercifully free of business jargon, Rosenzweig's book is nevertheless dead serious, making his arguments about important issues in an unsparing and direct way that will appeal to a broad business audience. For managers who want to separate fact from fiction in the world of business, The Halo Effect is essential reading -- witty, often funny, and sharply argued, it's an antidote to so much of the conventional thinking that clutters business bookshelves.

读后感

佛说“无常”，很多很多书尝试找出成功的定式。 追求卓越 基业长青 从优秀到卓越 是这尝试找出成功定式的代表 而这本书告诉我，未来无常，成功也是无常的。  

几年前在《IT经理世界》上读到岳占仁先生写的书评，没有太仔细看，但是一直惦记着。这几天从当当上买了回来，认真读了一遍后大呼过瘾。如果你读过〈从优秀到卓越〉或者〈基业长青〉，那你更值得得读读这本书，它会带给你一些新的思考。 长期以来，管理的“爱好者”们追逐着一...  

这个书，戳穿了很多管理巫师的呼风唤雨的惑众巫术，把真正的理性商业思考之砖抛出，能不能引到玉，要靠诸位自己努力。 思考是世界上最艰苦的时期，所以很多人宁愿浑浑噩噩。人云亦云。 巫师们，该退休啦！！  

这个书，戳穿了很多管理巫师的呼风唤雨的惑众巫术，把真正的理性商业思考之砖抛出，能不能引到玉，要靠诸位自己努力。 思考是世界上最艰苦的时期，所以很多人宁愿浑浑噩噩。人云亦云。 巫师们，该退休啦！！  

佛说“无常”，很多很多书尝试找出成功的定式。 追求卓越 基业长青 从优秀到卓越 是这尝试找出成功定式的代表 而这本书告诉我，未来无常，成功也是无常的。  

用户评价

《基于长青》《追求卓越》《第五项修炼》被高端黑了，不过讲的是事实，大家以后还是别随便崇拜某个outperformed的企业家和企业；critical thinking佳作，批判性通俗读物；对于欧洲百年的家族企业却没考虑到，或许人家所处行业比较稳定；不确定性应对和有效执行，算是作者核心

1. The Halo Effect。 2. 我们的一切努力都不可能保证成功，而只能提高成功的概率。失败是不可避免的事情。 【这书有点啰嗦。】

critical thinking 不简单

Clarify many delusions though I’ve already understood. The whole thing of business is about what is really realistic and how to empirically get things done.

EMBA老师要求读的，主题思想就是别浪费钱买经济类书籍尤其是成功公司经验之类的。其实我本来也是不读那种的。。。