My introduction to Latino Issues at USHLI

By Victor Alatorre
Two years ago, I had the pleasure of attending the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute in Chicago IL.  Attending the USHLI was as a very rewarding experience for me. I attended the event 20 years ago during my freshman year at UW Oshkosh. It was a good refresher for my memories of what happened 20 years ago. The experience allowed me to recap the changes to my perceptions and values.

The memories of the event 20 years ago were few, however I remember how I felt and what I perceived (inclusive of self-perception), more than what I was listening to or understanding. Those struggles related to language and cultural differences.

My ability to communicate and immerse into the conversation of the Latino struggle of 1991 was difficult. I didn’t understand it, but I was just starting to experience what it was to be Mexican in America. I had been in the US for only a year or so, so I had many personal challenges related to missing home, my family, my culture, etc. I had a hard time understanding why there were Mexican kids that look like me, but didn’t speak Spanish.

I was experiencing a painful transformation and immersion into the new reality. Back in Mexico I never understood or experience the concept of being ethnically different. I knew the concept of being the heavy set kid, the concept of living in poverty due to my parents divorce, but never living based on the concept of ethnicity. No one ever identified me as Mexican or foreign. It was until my sophomore year that I understood that some people didn’t like my patriotism represented by a Mexican flag taped on the window of my residence hall, my ethnic music, and my perceived language limitations. I was the only native Mexican student in Fletcher Hall in the fall of 1991. Other students of Hispanic origin didn’t speak like me or identified themselves as having the same challenges, etc. And, like many of the speakers of this year’s conference, I experience my first racist remark by a kid living in my hall; I learned the meaning of the term: “beaner”. Which was used by my next-door neighbor as a response to my Mexican flag posting on my door/window. I have a picture of that same Mexican flag next to the US flag I received when I became a US citizen last year.

Despite the struggles; I continue to appreciate the blessings my experiences living in the US have given me. During my experience at UW Oshkosh, I became the president of an all-white fraternity. Only a few years before, I had been warned (by other international students) to stay away from the fraternity house in the corner of Algoma and Wisconsin across campus. I had no money, thus a job was necessary. My first job in the minority lab under the division of academic support allowed me access to further opportunities at the Department of Residence Life, Management Information Office. I was promoted several times and eventually became the Coordinator-Manager of a very successful Residential Computing Office and also one of the Assistant Directors of Residence Life.

20 years later

The USHLI conference is held annually in Chicago and organized by a prestigious group of Hispanic Leaders. Dr. Juan Andrade is the sponsor, promoter and organizer of this event every year. Cultural, economical and leadership topics are presented through 3 days of workshops and forums. There seems to be tracks that are not identified but seem to be: professional development for high school students planning to attend college, college students planning to graduate. With activism in the areas of: immigration, Latino rights, collective bargain, the historical legacies of Hispanics, and acknowledgement of the rising stars of the Latino communities throughout the US. I was hoping to see more information on student development and advising and/or how to retain and further the path for Hispanic students.

Other observations:

I believe in a humble approach to leadership, but I got a sense that the organizers believe they are providing the participants an amazing opportunity by allowing them to be in the presence of very successful Latinos (as). I believe Dr Andrade applies a very top down (old school) approach to Hispanic leadership. The struggles of the generations are very different. The Mexican American generation of Dr Andrade struggled with blatant racism and lack of opportunities in professional environments, hence the emphasis on the work of Cesar Chavez, Unions and (us vs. them) approach.

http://www.wolfmanproductions.com/andrade.html

We could spend a great deal of energy pointing out many situations where racism had an impact on the participants, but I believe a better approach is to look at the commonalities between Hispanic students and their counterparts. While I appreciate Dr Andrade’s contributions to Hispanic leadership, I’m not sure the USHLI operates like other professional conferences.

The first breakfast (the labor unity breakfast session) had a folk guitar player that spoke/sang about the struggle of migrant workers throughout the Midwest. I enjoyed his songs and the undercurrent of humor, but the stories were not pleasant. There was a sense of indoctrination for a struggle that the participants didn’t experience in their own skin. Do I fail to appreciate the Latino struggle? No. My grandfather was a Mexican immigrant requisition prior to World War II, so I’m sure he would have enjoyed the old school songs of protest. But I’m not sure many in the room understood what the activism of the Mexican migrant struggle was about in the 50s and 60s. I wish there was a historical unbiased context of the presentations, but none were provided.

The current generation struggles with ongoing identity issues of “Hispanidad”. Hispanic Students recognize the ongoing opportunities vested on them by their parent’s effort for education and living standards but they struggle with the burden presented by our culture and their mix identity. How can we become more American or more Hispanic since the internal perceptions-of-self are somewhere in the middle? To outsiders, most of us, look Mexican, Puerto Rican or Cuban, but our value system is very much American and mainstream. I have heard my US born Mexican cousins talked about the internal struggle of identity. Two of them have said to me in different occasions (jokingly) that they feel like they are Americans trapped in Mexican Bodies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanidad

Sponsorship

The conference has big sponsors thus they are constantly reminding the attendees of the generosity provided by companies like Miller Coors, Southwest Airlines, Verizon, University of Phoenix, etc. While I understand every conference needs the resources provided by sponsors, it became very noticeable and very intrusive (more so than any other event I have participated in the past). Every napkin and every meal had a verbal reminder of who the providers had been. I noticed that free alcohol was provided during the socials and dances. Despite the enforcement of drinking laws, it set a poor precedent knowing that many Hispanics struggle with alcoholism. If this is a leadership conference, why do we allow external marketing forces to use alcohol as a marketing tool?

Dinner Dynamics

There were very long dinners (2 hour+) that served a dual purpose of recognizing US Hispanic leaders, while allowing them to share their philosophies, struggles and outlook of the future. Some of their speeches were very useful; nevertheless I wish we could have been given the chance to opt out from some of the self-proclamations of excellence. There were too many political agendas intermingled with encouragement and recognition of the contributions of the Hispanic echelon.

The dinners had a “Hispanic” family atmosphere… I can’t find any other analogy to describe the interaction between the organizer and the students attending the event. It was like going to your grandpa’s house for dinner and having your grandpa talked about his struggles and successes. If you listened to him you were rewarded with a gift or a memento of the event. But conference organizers demanded the respect of the family in a very direct way by asking coordinators to silence people that were talking with a room full of people. There had to be over a thousand people sitting in the conference room for every meal and service was slow. While one side of the room was finishing dinner, the other side was just starting, so complete silence was impossible.

Presentations Our Struggle, Our Strength

Dr David Camacho was an assistant to the Chancellor at Northern Arizona University (he was very proud of that fact). His experience and presentation were “a little” disorganized and carried emotional baggage from the struggle of Chicano Culture in the Southwest in the 1960s. He used the reference of historical factoids (like the independence from Spain, the fragmentation of Mexico, etc) to instigate activism through his experience in Northern Arizona. He was very proud of his path to leadership (or assistance to the leadership) and his struggle, and seemed to have something to offer, but the ideas were lost in the mix. At some point in my life, I have been indoctrinated into believing that California, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and “Tejas” were taken from us. Some believe that if the southwest belonged to Mexico, my homeland would have been a larger wealthier place. The truth is that the perceived wealth of the southwest is the byproduct of many generations of people coming from all over the World and US. Sadly I believe that the “decadence” of the Northwestern part of my homeland would have been pushed farther north.

Honorable Ricardo Muñoz, District 2 in Chicago (Speaker)
Talked about the union issues in Wisconsin. He welcomed the students and talked about his political career and the upcoming election. Encourage people to vote and to hold politicians accountable for their actions.

Ms Esther Lopez (Speaker)
Director Civil Rights and Community Action spoke about labor issues and the attack on unions and civil liberties protected through collective bargaining. Among the many words of wisdom, she kept saying that: “If you are going to be an effective leader; you better know who you are”. So Self-awareness is an important element of her advise. She also used the statement: “Leadership know thy self”. So nothing new here… Her inspiration words came from mainstream ideas on leadership. She spoke about elements of our common history. After her motivational speaking, I wanted to go and punch someone, but I didn’t know whom or why. :)

Other thoughts

• Humble yourself through teamwork: So, be a team player because your success depends on your ability to lead your team.
• Evolving Leadership: You need to create a team to constantly evaluate the strategy. Don’t surround yourself of people that agree with all your wishes and ideas.
• Responsibility of Leadership Be a benevolent leader. A sense of utilitarianism.
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism
• Self-Deprecation: Have the ability to laugh at even yourself.
• Leadership is a team effort: Let others to lead; share the glory as well as the pain.

National Issues Forum 1: The impact of anti-Latino public policies on Latino voting behavior.

The round table provided good Information on the struggles of Hispanics in various states. The economy and the impact the shift of power is having with anti-immigration laws in Arizona (SP 270), Indiana (SP 590), Nebraska, etc.

The following individuals were able to present their perceptions and opinions on the struggles on the States they represent.

Hon Kelvin Roldan Rep 4th district from the State of Connecticut: had not much to share about his struggle in Connecticut. His presentation was very academic and seemed to approach political activism through a more subtle approach. I’m not sure I understood his position on what was happening in the State of Connecticut other than he seemed grateful to be a Hispanic District Representative. The other reps kind of made fun of him by calling him “Professor”.

Hon Crisanta Duran Rep 5th district from the State of Colorado: not much was shared by her other than Colorado is currently experiencing a lack of Hispanic leadership and representation due to the absence of former Colorado Senator Ken Salazar, now the Secretary of the Interior for Obama. She rightfully claims to be like many other Mexican Americans in the US, the product of many generations of Mexican Americans living within the geography of the US prior to the foundation of the US territory as we know it. She stated that: “She didn’t cross the border, the border crossed her”. At some point, I take issue with the statement because it comes off (to border crossing Mexicans like myself) as elitist… The other ones that look like me are the ones that crossed the border (not me).

Hon Ruben Gallego Rep 16ht district from the State of Arizona: a Marine and Harvard graduate talked about how the retirees rule the anti-immigration sentiment in Arizona. He talked about his experiences when he was going door-to-door and getting doors slammed in his face. It was not a matter of skin color, but cultural shifts experienced in the southwest.

Hon Mara Candelaria Reardon Rep 12th district State of Indiana: The one and only Hispanic woman representing in the state of Indiana. She talked about the struggles of Hispanic women that do not look like traditional Hispanic women. How constituents and peers say the most inappropriate things because they do not know she is Hispanic

Hon John Haroldson District Attorney, Benton County, Oregon: a dual citizen that grew up in my hometown (Monterrey) shared his experience dealing with the laws affecting Hispanics in his district. The challenges presented by culture and language. He was often asked why he chose to become a DA instead of a public defender. He stated he wanted to contribute or represent to the fairness of law applied to Hispanics within the realm of the prosecution. I had the opportunity to meet him after the presentation.

http://www.co.benton.or.us/da/haroldson.php

They gave the following opinion on the upcoming challenges:

• The ongoing efforts to redistrict will have an impact on Hispanics throughout the US. It is important that all citizens understand the impact this will have on their representation
• Go vote because mainstream politicians do not understand the impact of the Hispanic vote. They do not fear the Hispanic vote because we tend not to vote.
• Social activism is important, but ultimately Lawyers will take on the issues. Marches and Protests are important visual queues, but ultimately decisions are made within the legislative and judicial branches.
• Many states are looking at banning illegal immigrants from getting in-state tuition.
  (Like it was happening in Wisconsin)

Moctesuma Esparza

http://maya-entertainment.com/about-us

Moctesuma Esparza is the President of Maya Entertainment, a movie media conglomerate that focuses on Hispanic movie productions. His movies, interactions with famous Hispanic artists are well known. He was a good but intense speaker. In my opinion he was also part of that original Hispanic struggle of the 1950s in California. He had very good points about other examples of successful communities like the Jewish people in the US. But he ultimately used that Jewish paradigm of self-protection (Jews seeking business with other Jews) to promote his business. He came with a payload; to encourage the participants to buy and rent the movies he produces. I’m not sure it was necessary for him to make the connection between consumers and his goals as a producer. He belongs to the old guard of Hispanic men that grew up in a time of great segregation.

The Diverse mind using innovative thinking to succeed in a changing nation
Tina K.... (motivational speaker and personal coach)

I went to a coaching presentation by Tina K and Associates. Unfortunately, the title of the presentation didn’t allow me to realize that this was a high school level presentation to encourage Hispanic high school students to attend college. I noticed that her last name was Balderrama, but it was only stated on the USHLI pamphlet. Her corporate presentation didn’t use the last name Balderrama. So I ask to myself: Why did she hide it on the name of her consulting firm? Why was it convenient to make reference to the last name during the presentation, but not in her private enterprise? Her presentation had many overused clichés and thinking exercises, thus I’m not sure I belonged here.

She did talk about the Hispanic scholarship fund.
http://www.hsf.net/
Nina Vaca Recognition Dinner (speaker)

I attended a presentation and speech by Nina Vaca, the CEO of Pinnacle. Her life story was good. I was able to locate a good article about her life. She is the president of a very successful company in Texas. Pinnacle is a custom software developer in Texas. She is the top Hispanic woman leader in the nation. She was very young and good looking and very high energy.  
Her advice came with this payload:

1. A leader is someone that can change minds.
2. Treat people, as they ought to be treated.
3. If you are in control, they are in control.
4. You define you.
5. Showing up is half of the battle.
6. “Dime quienes son tus amigos y te diré quien eres”. Show me your friends and I will tell you who you are.
7. Leadership is doing what we say we are going to do.

Note:  The best advice she gave was to “not self-segregate” (which I agree to a point). She also expressed that success is directly related to self-perception. 

National Issues Forum II: With its Different Shades of Red and Blue, what will congress do? Two opposing view: Mr. Juan Williams vs. Sr Ruben Navarrete.

I was looking forward to this presentation because I have read both journalists. I know Juan used to work for NPR but lost his job over “racist” comments made about his nervousness seeing Muslims in planes during his travels. His termination was controversial, but he now works for Fox News. I expected a right wing spin to his comments, but he came off as honest and educated on the topics.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/21/juan-williams-fired-npr_n_770901.html

Ruben Navarrete is a Mexican American, double Harvard graduate, and a syndicated journalist from San Diego. He is a self-proclaimed centrist, but gets a lot of criticism for his opinion on immigration and politics. He approaches the topic of immigration from an economical and political issue, not a cultural one. I get the chance to read his column on CNN every Tuesday.

http://www.rubennavarrette.com/

Both provided their opinion on what is to come with the redistricting based on new census information. It will have an impact on Hispanic’s ability to share their voice to congress. They talked about who was at fault of the failure of the Dream Act. It was interesting to see that Republican voted against it, but more importantly, a handful of democrats voted against it as well. So Hispanics should not be so quick to point out that if it weren’t for the republicans, the bill would have passed.

It was expecting a debate, but it turned into a “mano a mano” of agreements on political posturing shared by both parties. I was happy to be in the presence of people I read often.

Conclusion

Attending the USHLI provided me with a great opportunity for refreshing my perception of multiculturalism and Latino life in the US. I think it gave young people attending a new perspective of what their responsibilities will be and how their political and professional legacy will have an impact on the future of the US. Despite my critical analysis, I’m grateful for the opportunity to attend and experience this important event.

Further Thoughts on Leadership Strategy

by Victor Alatorre

Observations

The purpose of this blog entry is to explore my perception on what it takes to be a strategic leader in the area of information technology.  

Successful organizations will invest in people. An investment in human capital will enhance value. According to research, employees only engage 10 to 15 percent of the skills within their organization. Successful organizations allow individuals to expand the application of knowledge, skills and abilities. IMHO, the structure of the organization (like in the State) limits what individuals can do or should do within their job responsibilities. It was true 10 years ago, and it is true today. The added factor today is attrition and cost cutting measures dumping more and more responsibility on those strong enough to sustain the effort.

Organizations will be successful if they are capable of sustaining intellectual capital. We tend to connect intellectual capital with organizational knowledge which is (in itself) fueled by human capital.

In the last few years, those companies that have invested on innovative intellectual assets and human resources have had the most success (Apple, Facebook, Google, etc), however the economy has placed pressure on budgets associated with professional development and research and development.

The "Jack Welsh" strategy was the gold standard which included a philosophy of selecting the right people and allocating resources, while watching the talent rise up. 

Well, 20 years ago, Mr Welsh was regarded as the top manager of GE and one of the top leaders in corporate America. Jack was successful at learning the ways of his corporation and identifying talent and opportunities. He had a strong ability to see strategic value to mergers and acquisitions and to apply the GE way to cut the bottom “10 percenters” every year. This approach included the application of statistical theory to improve process (lean sigma), quality improvement through applied statistical analysis and the HR removal of those that lacked the motivation to improve shared value.

There is enough research covering the complexity of managing “knowledge workers”.  So we ask "What motivates technically savvy people?" Without getting too political, I believe our current employment structure and compensation plan fails to identify value and recognize talent for what is worth to the organization. It limits flexibility and opportunities for growth. I believe our current employment structure provides rigid structures that protects silos for better control and management.

The truth about managing knowledge workers goes beyond compensation and moves into the realm of opportunity, professional development and respect. The respect generated by the work knowledge workers do on daily basis. Respect takes many forms like: recognition an awareness of value provided, ability to get buy-in from administrators, the ability to spend time on new ideas or correct old ones, be allowed to learn new skills, etc.

Essential Leadership attributes were identified as:

• Technical Competence: Hopefully most people in IT have some technical skills, the article fails to identify the depth of technical skill required to be successful. I would add that ability to learn new technical issues is more important than established technical focus on area. All of us face obsolescence, so keeping up with technical skills is important.
• Conceptual skill: strategic thinking does not come easy to even upper managers. I have experienced it at many levels. They are too busy managing tangibles. I believe strategic thinking is problem solving on steroids for problems that have yet to be identified. Day dreaming, puzzle solving and skills that are not easily perceived
• Track Record: A track record is a history of performance or individual action. If the track record is good, then it can “perhaps” forecast future ability. A track record can deceive people into believing that if your track record as a technical specialist can translate into a positive track record as a manager.
• People Skills: As technical people, we tend to gravitate towards electronic, non verbal communications. I do believe that the promotion process favors extroverted technical people. Good looking extroverts is what fuels the lines of upper management promotion. It is also called presence.
• Taste: Lets call it “talent development”. The ability of a leader to provide professional development opportunities and challenges is important. Sometimes this goes against the very nature of a manager’s propensity to control and limit. I believe talent development to be the most important element of leadership development.
• Judgement: Technical people tend to be problem solvers, problem solvers tend to be analytical people, however decisions some times have to be made with limited information. This is where the gut instinct comes to mind. The ability for technical people to make sound decisions in a finite time allocation is important. Sometimes people avoid making decisions, specially obsolete technical managers.
• Character: I believe this is your value system which is a byproduct of family interaction, childhood and professional experience, and personality. Character is not easily identifiable by interviews or communication, It’s what people do that defines them, not speech. Character cannot be acquired.

I believe the most successful leadership factor has to be character. While we may agree with this statement, character is not something that can be put on a resume or easily identified during an job interview. Character is what drives individuals in an organization to do the right thing when others simply do not play by the same rules. Character is sometimes the missing element in management, so organizations suffer due to the flaws of those leaders driving them. Character is what you do for others when they have no power over you or your future.

In my interpretation, knowledge workers demand the following:

• Meaning or direction: A leader that knows and communicates where the organization is going, perhaps sometimes shares anxieties without sounding too negative.
• Trust in and from leader: Ability for managers to back off when needed and step up when an expectation of recognition is needed. Authentic interactions between management and process holders.
• Hope and optimism: Ability to provide a sense of accomplishment and optimism during a tough implementation and while providing a sense of progress. The energy to stay the course and motivate others for a common cause. 
• and Results: What is the bottom line’s value and perhaps lessons learned.

Passionate leaders are effective leaders if...

A strong point of view is perhaps one of the factors identified as an elements of a successful leader. However in my opinion POV may also be detrimental to the long term success of an organization. Steve Jobs had a strong POV regarding Apple’s product, however I wonder if many were capable to speak up against his opinion. There are various degrees of passion that without “checks and balances” can be catastrophic to an organization. So we have to ask ourselves the following question: What is the meaning of what we do, what is the value we provide and how do we measure it?

Generating Trust: candor, congruity, perhaps integrity.

We believe in humble leadership which is the ability to manage your ego when dealing with information flow and decision making. The author’s example states that “the face you use at home should be the same face you use at work”. I go further by saying that: Congruity is the correlation between what you say and what you do.

Another term we tend to use is “Candor”. Which is one of those that can cut both ways. It’s the ability to trust that the truth will not get you fired. Candor allows for truthful communication when issues arise that require the honest contribution of all parties involved. In my opinion candor can be problematic because it puts you at a disadvantage when issues arise. Candor works when all parties involved play by the same rules, but it can disadvantage those that show their end game.

Moral Compass:

It is defined as the ability of the individual to use resources and influence for the greater good of an organization. Moral compass is what is missing at many levels of our organization. It is what we need to have to be a long term successful leader. I conclude that organizations often elevate individuals with a moral compass deficits; I call them destructive achievers. In my opinion, while their reigns of “terror” are “sometimes” short lived but, they tend to have a long term delaying effect on progress.

More ideas later.....

Social Media (What is it?)

By Victor Alatorre

The purpose of this document is to serve as FYI for social media enthusiast and beginners. Social Media is a general term to describe electronic mechanisms of communications that allow interaction between people. Social Media is the evolution of communication mechanisms that provided interactions for the purpose of information dissemination, customer service exchanges, technical expertise exchanges and customer services. I will focus on how social media can be used to enhance your organizational marketing strategy. Social Media is not a replacement for directed organizational mechanisms and branding. Social Media includes a handful of new technologies, sites and services, but the most prevalent are: Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Google+, Pinterest and Foursquare, etc.

Facebook
Facebook has become the most established mechanism of communication for students, employees and people in general with a network that includes 845 million people as of February of 2012. As of today, Facebook should be one of the pillars of communication and interactions with current and future customers. You can begin this experience by establishing a page that includes basic information about your program, product and/or service. Once your page is established, it is your goal to create credibility but establishing relationships (awareness) with people in your program and encouraging other to share and “like” your page. Credibility is established by maintaining regular content updates and by getting people to visit your page regularly. Content flow requires discipline and strategy. So it is your goal to maintain updated tidbits of information about your services and events.

Facebook allows for people to interact, share personal information, pictures, updates, information, etc. Facebook for organizations is a marketing and promotional tool; a gateway for “tangible” and “measureable” interactions with business constituents. Having a Facebook page is not a strategy in itself. It requires for all business units and process keepers to come to a common platform for branding and promotion strategy. The what’s, where, when, how’s and who’s have to be established before a credible presence can be established. Content priorities and workflows (outside of Facebook) have to be determined prior to trying to convey a message or idea. A person with Public Relations ability/skills is also a requirement as conversations about your ideas/services/products may quickly spin out of control. The quick and proper handling of concerns by customers is an important element of a social media strategy. Answering questions for subpar services and products in an honest and proactive approach is essential to the management of the online presence.

Twitter (http://twitter.com)
In 2006, twitter was established as an experimental micro-blogging tool allowing users to send (broadcast) 140 character tweets (messages). As of today 300 million users have created an account on this service to share small messages to people “following” them. Twitter has been particularly popular due to its perceive “lightweightness” (agility). The concept of following and followed is important to understand to measure your clout. Clout is the impact on the broadcast of these tweets. The learning curve of tweet requires an understanding of the mechanics behind twitter. An individual tweet allows you to broadcast your message to a virtual room. In order for you to be effective, you need to identify strategies to get people to follow you. You do so in two ways:

Using “#” and “@” tags
Your tweets are information/funny/creative/controversial in nature and have appropriate hash tags. A hash tag is the symbol “#” attached as a prefix to the idea or noun you want to convey. So if you are talking about “Ferraris”, you can use the hash tag to allow the word “Ferraris” or “Italiansupercars” become a trend on the public timeline. If your idea is important to those that read it, you message will trend. The other approach is to use the “@” sign as a prefix to a user you follow or want to respond to. If person wants to respond to a technical question you have, they will add the “@” before your username triggering an identification mechanism.

Following people/organizations/accounts
Another strategy to get people to follow your twitter account is by identifying users that may have similar “interest” or “services” as yours and selecting their accounts to follow. This will create a response from some users to start following your account. Many twitter users do not post much or post too much. A happy balance has to be identified.

Things that could go wrong
Things that you could do to derail the strategy:

• Too much twittering may turn people (followers) off as their timeline (message queue) may become overwhelmed with your messages.
• Too many messages about nothing may create a sense that you have nothing to offer. People posting information about when they went to eat or sleep or party may be OK for celebrities and close friends, but it is not a useful or measurable strategy.
• Too many harsh responses to others. As people scan the public timeline for associated responses to ideas, causes, services and product; people have to be careful not to alienate others with abrasive language.
• Unless your ultimate goal is political, religious or ideologue in nature; you should limit how much controversial information is shared by you. Anything that is controversial, religious, hate-speech, blunt-coarse, etc. should be left out of your timeline. Once you post something on twitter is there for good. While you can delete messages on your timeline, if others repost your messages, they become part of the broader twitter timeline, which is searchable, and identifiable (traceable).

How do organizations use twitter?
Organizations scan the overall timeline for hash tags associated with their name, products, services and/or befriend people/accounts that are perceived as the topic experts. Technical companies identify questions shared on twitter by end users and respond directly or indirectly through the various mechanisms available. Gurus and experts sometimes respond to people following them when using appropriate hash tags for their topics of expertise. Twitter can create a sense of community by allowing people to react to information in a very decentralized way. People have used twitter to organize people to action as seen in the civil unrest in the middle east, a tool for communication and updates for catastrophic events (japan earthquake) as they take place, sharing of instant communication as events take place allowing for geography/distance to be a non issue.

News bureaus have used the twitter as a stopgap for content as issues or opinions arise. Formal news workflows have been replaced with end users news reporting. So anyone can become an instant celebrity if your contributions on twitter are deemed of value.

YouTube
(http://www.youtube.com)
Former PayPal employees created one of the most successful and controversial tools for video content deployment in 2005 as a place where people could upload video content. The company was acquired by Google in 2006 which allowed for the survival of this website. YouTube is the vehicle most people are familiar with the hosting of video. Prior to YouTube, a person/company would need a pretty substantial infrastructure investment to share video content, as it required enormous amounts of bandwidth. YouTube has had to deal with litigation related to the legality of the distribution of copyright material by non-copyright owners. As large copyright owners realized they could not contain the end user effort to share distributed video material, some content owners establish channels to distributed high quality content in an effort to curve down the distribution of unofficial material.

How can organizations use YouTube
YouTube provides any end user the ability to share, host, provide comments, and qualify video. Organizations create channels where “official” content can be distributed. The use of tags similar twitter allows for content to become popular and become relevant. If the video shared through this mechanism is perceived as noteworthy, popularity may allow for the content creator to become an instant celebrity and jump into more formal channels like TV networks.

Google+
(http://www.google.com/+/learnmore/)
Google launched Google+ in 2011 in an effort to compete with Facebook. I further believe that Google+ is Google’s effort to create a single point of entry for all content it holds on your behalf. If you are a Gmail user, Google created a single login interface for other services it provides like: Google Docs, Blogger, YouTube, Mail, Calendar, Images, etc. Its approach has been controversial because it gives Google the ability to scan your content inclusive of pictures, phone interactions, locations, phone/email directories and brings them to you in a single point of reference. Users create circles where information can be shared with specific people in those groups. It allows for a mechanism of identification based on previous email interactions. So while it doesn't determine who you provide access to your content, it does suggest based on access to your user email directories, who may be of interest to you. Content streams are information flows created by you and those that you follow. Its user experience is a more robust experience than twitter, but adoption requires “trust” and promotion. So far only certain content keepers, organizations and technical people are using Google+ on regular basis. I believe that unless, Facebook makes a user interface experience or privacy mistake, Google+ will be relegated to a second level contender. Organizations are beginning to set pages and content through this channel. Its integration with other services like blogger and YouTube may give Google+ leverage. Furthermore their Hangout (video conferencing) implementation is a very serious contender/alternative to more established video conferencing services like WebEx, etc.

Pinterest
(http://pinterest.com/)
Pinterest is a pinboard style content pining service that became “fully” operational recently with an optional interface with Facebook to provide a rich content experience where people can organize and share photo based content with friends. It allows for people to “Pin” a certain picture or creative idea and to share or choose to “like” the element shared with others. It has been incredibly popular because it allows non-technical people to share and distribute fashion, technology, humor, fitness, and food creations through very simple mechanisms.

Instagram
(http://instagr.am/)
Is a product and a service that allows users (through specialized software) to take, share and modify digital pictures while creating an interface that shares those pictures with twitter or Facebook. It allows non-professional photographers create extraordinary and sometimes nostalgic photographic material. The instagram hosting service allows for people to share, follow others, add comments and like material. In terms of organizational use, instagram is simply another tool for content manipulation and distribution.

Linked-in
(http://www.linkedin.com/)

Linked launched in 2003 is the professional version of a social network site like Facebook allowing for people to associate with each other based on professional role. Inclusive of meeting people, the site allows for the creation of professional groups or associations. It has been the instrument of choice for many marketers that identify potential customers based on perceived role within an organization. People can ask to associate with you and begin written exchanges. It is a very useful tool for people seeking employment, professional advise on specific topics, and professional introduction through third party connections. It has become the most pervasive form of business stalking used by aggressive businesses. The one thing that is different from other forms of social media is that allows for people to know when someone has been reviewing your credentials and public profile.


Blogger
(http://www.blogger.com)
Blogger is one of the oldest social media tools available today and it is owned and hosted by Google. The concept of blogging is simply the effort to maintaining public topic specific content actualized with frequency. The concept of blogging has allowed non-technical people to become content publishers and content distributors. There are an infinite amount of topics and user currently using the technology to create, distribute content with the intent to attract attention and to set credibility for search tool placement. Google bases priority of websites based on influence… Influence is determined based on credibility. Top-level sites are those that can be perceived by the search engines as worthy of attention based on content. Blogging allows ideas distribution through mechanisms that allow content to be linked creating a mesh between content keepers and distribution mechanisms. People seeking specific information about a topic will search Google for information; content in blogs will rise up based on “hits”. The more hits a certain page gets, the more valuable its content will be for Google and its owner. There are many hosting services available for blogging interfaces (Content Management System) like Wordpress, Weebly, LiveJournal, TypePad, Xanga, etc. however Blogger is the only one tightly linked to Google’s overall content presence. One single point of entry for content hosted and distributed through existing mechanisms established by Google.

Transformational Leadership: The New Way for Management

by Victor Alatorre

Introduction

The purpose of this entry is to evaluate the differences and issues concerning transformational and transactional leadership. The management experts clearly define the steps for the development of transformational leaders in the new world economy. Business Management practices in the US have been going through an evolution from a transactional management style to a transformational leadership approach; the manager’s role should be moving from supervisory roles to advisory and visionary roles.

Originally, Adam Smith stated on his book: “wealth of nations” that in order to improve productivity, employee’s roles would have to be simplified. There was no delegation of authority and the default position was to keep the power in the managers and supervisors. Management took a very bureaucratic approach to mass production and employees lacked autonomy. This management style created many strong transactional leaders. Society and business schools brewed managers with this “alpha male” syndrome. The transactional leadership approach worked for about 50 or 60 years, however the US economy started experiencing quality and innovation problems. GM and US steel among others were no longer the leaders in innovation and quality. Their counterparts in Japan had been doing their homework and listening to Deming during their reconstruction periods. The US economy suffered because of this lack of vision. There was a strong need for change in the US management culture during the late 70’s and early 80’s


What is the difference of Transformational Leadership?

The concepts of transactional and transformational leadership were developed by Burns in 1978 to characterize different types of political leaders. Bass (1985) borrowed them to elaborate a new theory for organizational change. As implies Transactional leaders engage their followers in an exchange relationship; the leader give material rewards in exchange for performance and productivity. In many situations where innovation and change are important core capabilities of an organization; transactional leadership is not very effective. As stated by Bernard Bass, passive management by exception is particularly troublesome when managers only intervene when procedure and standards are not been met. He provided the analogy of guiding a train with the driver in the caboose; No one knows where they are going until they hit something on their way. Transactional leaders encourage a “fear-father-son relationship” that motivates employees to do the bare minimum. (Bass 1990)

Transformational leadership is more complex because it involves more than an exchange of work and rewards; it is a mutual exchange of beliefs, needs and values. (Yusuf 98) The primary difference between transactional and transformational leadership is based on a deeper believe system based on justice and integrity and not on punishments and rewards for creative work and performance. Through integrity and justice, the transformational leadership is able to indoctrinate their organizations to develop a new culture. This culture will foster innovation and quality while enhancing the employee capacity for empowerment and ownership. Transformational leaders will develop trusting relationships with all their employees while improving performance and innovation. Employees do not fear expressing concerns or ideas to their transformational leader, thus improving employee’s job satisfaction.

Transactional and transformational leadership styles are multidimensional concepts consisting of a number of sub constructs. Transactional leaders consist of behaviors such as contingent reward, management by exception and laissez-faire. Transformational leadership is based on charisma, inspiration, individual consideration and intellectual stimulation. (Yusuf 98)

• Previous research and several authors state that transformational leaders exhibit the following five behaviors significantly more often that most other managers: 
• Visioning: The leaders clearly communicate the vision of the future that is shared broadly by the organization’s members. This vision describes the ultimate outcome for people to achieve, and the leader expresses realistic optimism about the future, with strong expressions of personal confidence and enthusiasm. Transformational leaders lead by example, they serve as role models and behave in ways consistent with their vision. 
• Inspiring: The leader generates excitement at work and cranks up the expectations with symbols and images. In expressing their vision for the organization, they express their dream in highly motivational language. They give pep talks with high energy, optimism and passion. This behavior builds the confidence of the employees (followers). 
• Stimulating: The leader arouses interest in new ideas and approaches and enables employees to think about problems in new way (paradigm shifting). Intelligence and clear reasoning are encouraged in order to solve problems. 
• Coaching: The leader coaches, advises and provides hands-on help for others to improve their performance. The leader listens attentively and expresses encouragement, support and confidence in others’ ability to achieve the expectations of his vision. Leaders give positive feedback for strong performance and effort and give opportunities for other challenging activities. Errors are somewhat rewarded with second opportunities. 
• Team Building: The leader builds effective teams by selecting team members with complementary skills. They increase trust and self-confidence in the team by sharing information, giving positive feedback, using individual members’ skills and removing obstacles to team performance. (Behnke, Distefano 97) 

Transformational Leaderships Rewards

Transformational leaders are seen as:

• More effective and more satisfying to work for; 
• They are usually promoted more frequently; 
• Develop followers to higher levels of individual and group performance 
• Produce more innovative products; 
• Receive more patents for work produced by their people 
• Lead units that perform more effectively under stress; and 
• Generate greater risk taking, creativity and tolerance for different perspectives 

Who is a transformational Leader? Maybe Steve Jobs

In the late 80’s and early 90’s Apple had been plagued with ineffectual leadership and poor product lines. The innovation brought by their founders was gone, and their market share was diminishing to one digit numbers. After a series of musical chair CEO appointments and removals, the board of directors from apple made the decision to give Steve Jobs a second chance. Steve was ousted in the 80’s due to incompatibility in management style. He left the company and created PIXAR studios and NEXT Corporation. Both of them had their ups and downs until Steve returned to Apple in 1997 as a consultant and then CEO. NEXT Corp's core capability (Next Step operating system) became the main building block for the development of the next MacOS. PIXAR Studios has been working with Disney Corp on the creation and promotion of high tech computer generated animated films. Both of these projects were part of Steve Jobs’ vision for the future of Apple and PIXAR.

A clear example of transformational leadership behavior and strategy can be seen during the presentations of the Apple’s interim CEO for life. He comes in presenting and introducing new product lines and motivating the crowd and employees. There is however a fear factor against Steve Jobs because many employees still see him as a transactional leader that pouts when things are not done with his vision in mind. There are several books (infinite loop) that speak about his compulsive and sometimes childish behavior in Cupertino during the early 80’s. I feel that his management style has change a lot since he was forced to remove himself from Apple’s headquarters in the mid 80’s.
The Charisma Factor

Charisma is an important element for the development of transformational leadership, however Bass conceptualizes it as purely behavioral phenomenon and an idealized influence. This influence is defined with respect to the follower’s reaction to the leader as well as to the leader’s behavior. The followers identify with and emulate the managers that exercise transformational behaviors. Transformational leaders are seen as having and attainable, trustable mission and vision. (Yusuf 98) Charismatic leaders inspire and excite their employees with the idea that they may be able to accomplish great things with extra effort. Transformational leaders will not stereotype and generalize the demands and needs of their employees. Customization is an important factor for individualized consideration. The third factor is intellectual stimulation by providing the employees paradigm shifts on the way they perform their objectives.


According to the readings and the leadership experts, the concept of Charismatic Leadership is fairly new and can be traced back to the early 70’s. Oberg (1972) proposed divesting charisma of its religious roots and applying to the business management. At the time of political turmoil in the US, Oberg stated that America needed to foster the concept and creation of a new vision in theory of charismatic leadership. Charisma draws its motivational power from the follower’s adoption of the mission and vision of the leaders.

Transformational Behavior Measurement Systems

• The most extensively used measure for transformational leadership is the multifactor leadership questionnaire (MLQ). Bass’s original measurement instrument contains six items for measuring charisma: 
• Transmitting a sense of joint mission and ownership (empowerment) 
• Expressing dedication to followers 
• Appealing to the hopes and desires of followers 
• Addressing crisis head on 
• Easing group tension in critical times 
• Sacrificing self gain for the gain of the group 

Richard Harris develop a survey to gather information on what senior R&D managers do to make the work of teams more effective. Specifically, they investigated three set of variables: Management Practices, Company Characteristics and Result Measures based on innovation, speed, reliability, quality, cost effectiveness, morale and customer satisfaction. He concluded that there were two sets of teams: Low performance and High performance groups. He studied the correlation of leadership behaviors on the high performance groups and found the following patterns ranked in significance level:

Teams

• We view customer’s satisfaction as our number one priority 
• We communicate frequently and informally 
• We expect people at all levels to be capable of process improvement 
• Our formal systems and procedures reward team performance 
• Our informal systems and procedure (culture) reward team performance 
• We reorganize quickly and with minimal stress 

Management Objectives

• Clarify responsibilities among related teams 
• Assessing the effectiveness of team to team coordination 
• Facilitating resolution of conflicts between teams 
• Organizing information flow among teams 
• Ensuring teams have access to the right people at the right time 

Harris concluded that in order to achieve successful organizations and leadership styles, management must assume a longer view as they strive to improve the context and climate for teams and so help to build a team oriented company. Key behaviors associated with this part of their role are: building a shared purpose with all the team’s stakeholders, creating a vision of how the team’s work tie to the organizational strategy and making the best use of a team’s time and energy. (Harris 98) All this concepts are associated with the original idea stated by (Bass 1990) and (Boehnke 1997) for the creation of transformational leadership.


Differences in Culture in transformational leadership

Karen Boehnke and Andrea Distefano among others, evaluated the pattern differences between the US, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Latin America, The Far East, etc. The main finding was that transformational behavior are universally associated with exceptional performance, with no significant differences in how often the visioning, coaching, and stimulating behaviors were cited. There was a lack of avoidance behaviors that was consistent across cultural groupings. There were some exceptions to rules applied to the concept of transformational leadership. Among them, American groups reported more correcting behaviors associated with exceptional performance than the Far East and Latin America. Americans also included team building more frequently in their explanation of exceptional performance than the Asian counterpart. The Americans also engaged in stimulating behaviors more often than the southern Europeans. Finally, The Far East’s frequency of including recognition was significantly less than the southern Europeans. Managers working on multiple cultural environments should be aware of the limitations of customized leadership styles that may work on the manager’s home office, but may not be appropriate elsewhere. (Boehnke, Distefano 97)

Transformational Leadership in Mexico

Mexico still lives in a Transactional Leadership School of Management. Our workforce is not as educated as their counterparts in the developed world, and the vast majority of Mexican corporations are privately owned. Manager for the most part come from wealthy families, where class status and wealth are more important than empowering employees and giving them ownership of their job objectives. There was a lack of innovation and quality improvement, stemming from government control, strong monopolies, and cultural myopia.

Based on conversations with friends and family currently employed in Mexico, I’m able to determine that management teams do not want their employees to think about empowerment and ownership. Management has a very strict code of conduct and protocol that enables them to cohesive control and monitor the work force at all levels. Only multinational corporations coming from the US and Canada have been able to somewhat implement some level of quality improvement through ISO certifications and such.

Historically speaking Mexico has always been dominated by a strong invisible cast system of haves and have-nots. Mexican people and managers are amazed about the level of innovation in technology coming from the US, yet they do not understand that innovation and quality improvement can be achieved through reforms in the leadership styles and not through ISO certifications. We need to move from supervisory and transactional roles to transformational and empowering roles.

Conclusion
US corporations practicing transformational leadership behaviors are way ahead of their counterparts using transactional supervisory roles. Leadership experts have defined the characteristics of transformational leadership and the steps to achieve a transformational organizational culture. This transformational leadership enables better working environments, and fosters creativity through innovation and quality.



Bibliography

Bernard Bass, From Transactional to Transformational Leadership: Learning to share the vision, Organizational Dynamics Winter 1990 pp 19-32

Karen Boehnke; Andrea Distefano; Joseph Distefano; Nick Bontis Leadership for extraordinary performance, Business Quarterly v61 p56-63 summer 97

Albert Canella Jr.; Martin Monroe, Contrasting Perspectives on Strategic Leaders: Toward a more Realistic View of Top Managers, Journal of Management v23 no3 p213-37 97

Richard Harris; Jan Trescott Lambert Building Effective R&D Teams: The senior Manager’s Role, Research Technology Management 41 no5 28-35 S/0 ‘98

DA Nadler; M.L. Tushman What makes for Magic Leadership; Contemporary Issues in Leadership (Boulder, CO: West View Press 1989): 120-145

W.Oberg Charismatic commitment and Contemporary Organizational theory, MSU Business Topics 20 (1972): 18-32

Philips Podsakoff; Scott B Mackenzie; William Bommer, Transformational Leader Behaviors and substitutes for leadership as determinants of employee satisfaction and commitment, Journal of Management v22 no2 p259-98 96

Francis Yanmarino; William Spangler et al, Transformational and contingent reward leadership: Individual, dyad and group levels of analysis, Leadership Quarterly Spring 98 Vol 9 Issue p27 28 4 charts

Reengineering Management

Reengineering Management
by Victor Alatorre

Summary
Issues of purpose: Managers need to constantly question the “status quo”. Managers should question “why”, “how” and “what for” constantly in order to see successful for continuous improvement. There are three core elements affecting organizations: Paradigms Shifts in the Industry, Communication-Robotic Technology and Government policy and deregulation. Continuous change in the market means continuous change in the organizational needs, thus mangers must seek the constant improvement and redefinition of business purposes in order to remain competitive.

Issues of culture: Successful reengineering requires a change of organizational culture. This organizational change needs to be promoted, applied and sponsored from the top-down. Managers need to change themselves in order to change the organization otherwise BPR efforts will fail.

Issues of process and performance: How do we apply the processes necessary for worker, employee, manager and machine performance? They are what constitute the day-to-day work and must now be subject to the same scrutiny. Champy outlines five core management processes: mobilizing: distribution of human resources around the organization to improve business performance, enabling: empowering and redesigning work in order to meet business objectives and performance, defining: clearly stating the companies goals and objectives from management’s perspective, measuring: determine non-financial ways to measure performance in order to determine employee accountability, and communicating: managing the organization as an open book, while “honestly” expressing the issues and steps necessary for change.

Issues of people: How and where we find the right people to share the vision and mission we need to operate the organization successfully. Questions of hiring, promotion, development, and deployment will need to be addressed by the whole organization and not left to Human Resources People.

The book was written to address Business Process Reengineering (BPR) from the management perspective. It was written to explore Champy’s recent findings on reengineering. The book explores methodology for changing management’s perspective on the way managers think, work, organize, inspire, deploy, enable, measure and reward the value adding operational work. His original book (reengineering the corporation) was written to improve business performance by showing managers how to revolutionize their key operational processes-product development and/or order fulfillment processes. Champy collected testimonies from 150 business managers, and gathered over 18 months of research. Some of these BPR implementation issues are complex and not easy to answer; however Champy uses case studies and corporate surveys to facilitate understanding of corporate reengineering.


His book covers four broad issues:

Note: Champy confirms that these four questions are tough to answer and once answered, tough to accept. People and organizations have a difficult time accepting change.


Champy explores the historical implications of (outdated) management philosophies. Many business people believe the US business world would foster an eternal “smooth sailing” concept, however global competition, technology, market freedom and informed customer choice has turned the business world into highly competitive environment. Customers are educated and unwilling to compromise their choice for quality, service and price. Champy calls it the “Dictatorship of Customariat” or “Market Democracy”. Those corporations unwilling to change would suffer and ultimately die from their lack of vision to face adversity and change.


Champy claims that organizations need to leave behind perfectionist processes for experimental approaches. Dismissing the concept of “getting in right and keep it going” for “getting right and make it better and better every time.” Let go of the control issues associated with upper management, and understand that mistakes are good for the organizational learning process. Managers need to trade the ex-officio authority style for an existential authority. Overthrowing the conservative approach for measuring and control systems based only on financial systems and understanding that some radical new paradigms in measurement and control systems need to be there to provide added value for the consumer. Managers need to let go of the old (adversarial-competitive) approach for management betterment and introduce supportive systems for employee professional development and education. Remembering that some elements of the business world and human behavior can sometimes be unpredictable, vague and a great source for creativity. Management needs to seek multilevel-pluralistic skill levels, multi-goal level enterprising. Moving from corporate protocol and discipline to learned willingness and individual accountability.

Champy’s book is very relevant to this course because it outlines and integrates the following concepts:

Leadership: Champy explains the new role for management. Managers should move from transactional leadership to transformation leadership roles. He defines the new enterprise manager as someone that holds up both a mirror and a lamp to everyone connected with his organization. He shows them how they are now, and lighting the way to what they can become. Champy encourages the new management to abandon the old paradigm of internal focus.

Champy also defines the expertise manager as one who takes responsibility for directing the people and technology in the corporation and integrating them to make his vision a reality. Every organization has a few process experts whose primary contribution to the organization resides on their expertise application. These process managers are good teachers, thus enabling organizational knowledge integration. He promotes the idea of self-management by taking responsibility for one’s own performance and accepting accountability for this newfound freedom. This is probably the most important value that a corporation can promote during a BPR.

Power and Decision Making in the Context of Change:
Champy covers the new decision model based on empowerment by the redefining management work. Old control systems do not work in the new system because they do not measure the same processes. He states that the biggest problem for BPR comes at the level of senior management. Most senior managers refuse change because they believe that organizations change will deny access to the old paradigm of power. If senior management doesn’t comply with the new rules, the BPR effort will dwindle to nothing in matter of months. The CEO will need to reassess the situation and intervene against management in deep denial.

The Nature of Planned Change and Organizational Diagnosis: his book defines organizational diagnosis and change as opportunities for success. If the organization needs reengineering, these big changes must come from a top-down approach and driven by those whose vision is the sharpest. A genuine paradigm shift in reengineering occurs when managers change the way they think and work. Champy states that some business people believe that the old way will not fade away until older managers retire or get ousted. He states that a well-planned BPR effort will probably take a long time (5 to 25 years), however technology is pushing change so quickly that companies cannot afford to remain passive. The dynamic organization needs to rethink the business models for management. Reengineering effort should be based on the notion that organizations are living entities that need constant evaluation and modifications in order to remain competitive.

He is the chairman of CSC index, is the leading authority on the implementation of business reengineering initiatives. CSC index is based in Cambridge Massachusetts and is the management-consulting firm that pioneered the development and practice of reengineering. James Champy is the coauthor of the NY times Best Seller “Reengineering the Corporation” which was published in 1993. His book is one of two required reading materials for Dale Feinauers’s Process and Quality MBA course. Dale is an expert on BPR, thus his assessment and opinion on the quality of our readings provide validity to Champy’s books.

His rationale for writing is based on the need to incorporate a number of things he learned since his first book was published in 1993. It allows him to address some of the questions raised by readers of the first edition. Many people wrote him back with questions regarding the application of his methodology for Business Process Reengineering.

This book’s target market is people in management who are experiencing a reengineering process in their organizations. Champy gives solutions on how to keep the BPR effort alive and how to fix possible downfalls.

In order to appreciate this book, the reader needs to read the first book, which outlines the methodology for Business Process Reengineering. He brings back some of the elements and methodology, but it would be difficult to understand without the other book as a base for personal research.

His observations are based on real business world research and not on virtual business models. Every chapter has a “cases in point” subchapter that outlines real world concept issues and solutions.


Internal Validity
Doesn’t apply because Champy wrote the second book by himself, however he received a lot of editorial constructive reviews from the Harper Business editors.

The author is an expert on BPR. He has been able to experience and apply his knowledge of the subject with many organizations going through reengineering.

I don’t work for a large corporation. It is impossible to BPR in an organization like the Department of Residence Life-Management Information Office because of our size, however some of the concepts could be applied to business processes in my organization. I’ve already applied some of the concepts of empowerment, business process improvement, however my intervention and concept application has been minimal.

I feel that the author’s writing style is very comprehensive. I was able to read the whole book in two nights, and I felt that he reinforced some of the concepts from his first book. I’m extremely interested on BPR, because I hope some day to be involved in a reengineering process for a large corporation.

James Champy clearly understands organizational change and the factors affecting BPR from the management and organizational perspectives. He takes BPR concepts to a new level, while taking into consideration the realities affecting organizations. BPR is a steady long process that requires understanding of all the issues affecting management and organizations going through a reengineering project.

James Champy, Reengineering Management, Harper Business, 1995.