EXECUTIVE STRATEGY by Timothy C Daughtry,PH.D and Gary R. Casselman, PH.D

Title; Executive Strategy

Author; Timothy C Daughtry, PH.D. Gary Casselman, PH.D

ISBN; 978-1-933102-75-7

Pagination; 225

Published By; Capital Books Inc., Year 2009

Review by; Iroabuchi Onwuka, S

Theme

The book centers on a management question, on how strategy in any company begins? The author tries to show that it begins with a company's necessity to size up a field of bad performance. What does that mean? it means that a company can identify a kind of failure in its operational environment and then proceed with a case study to identify the cause of the failure. The company will go the distance in thoroughly coming to grips with the problem through board meetings, research meetings among other things which usually lead to a plan. And from that plan a new plan is likely to emerge. However simple, or technical the plan is, the failure and success of the whole business lies with the execution of the strategy and not necessarily the eloquence of the plan.

The advent of work problems of 2008 means that sooner or later the issue would have to be dealt with. In this book, the authors were motivated to illustrate the reasons why business management can sometimes be problem to itself and therefore reason exist on how you can remedy the situation. Research in 2003 cited by Kaplan and Norton indicated that CEO failure is due mainly to the execution and not necessarily 'flawed strategy'. The Book tries to mention that out of 100% well developed plans only 10% were actually carried out. For this, the attempt to use their investigatives study from the cases of failed companies and CEOs and explain away the reason why it was the case.

Body

Dr.Casselman and Dr. Daughtry are convinced that failure in any business is due to matters arising from poor execution of strategy than the fact of planning. The blue print discovered over the years while employed at 'Tyco Electronics' 'RFMD INC.' 'Bush Brothers and Company' 'Gap INC.,' 'Henredon Furniture Industries' 'RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company' 'South Carolina Bank and Trust' 'Checkers Corporation' and 'Volvo Cars of North America' and are currently presiding over the CCG Inc., a leadership and organization development.

In this book the authors try to share their experience in approaching the problem of the company upside down in exchange of barten, a process not too far from the rely races, a process that draw out the combating role within the rabks of transition and a process that is not relay races. The author is quick to remind us that "there is a critical difference between the baton in a relay race and the baton of strategy. With each pass of the strategic baton, strategy has to be tranlsated into the language and actions appropriate to each level in the organization.

Senior management man take a strategic decision that "providing the lowest prices in our marekts" is the organization's best hope of sucees. This decision to compete primarily on price has to be translated into functional plans and priorities at the middle-management level".

What seem the more important aspect of Relay races is not the man, the first runner out of the four that started the races is as important as the man that finished the races. Yet the main function of the 'Finish' in the relay races is to cover up the lapses from previous runners and this is where the issue of leadership is fully displayed. It is not the head start that means everythig rather the one to finish it. Whether or not we agree with the loosing strategy, we can credit the book on one account that attention must be paid to what happens to these folks within the ranks as much the attention is lavished on the first and when that position finally make it to the end of the rope, that attention determines the degree of necessity and degree of function. Yet function on the many departments of management is the leading light especially in terms of pay as a way to encourage the workers on tail end and non management category.

Executive Strategy allows us to undertstand that every business has its own attitude and its own learning curve. The book offers us a view into what happens when anyone decides to open for buisness. The competeive environment give way to dynamic leadership and that leadeship often the case of failed businesses is always due to lack of relevant attention to serious aspects of the business management. The big picture is usually the first man/the big man but the final picture which shed light on the whole group and product is the one at the end/the bottom one.

In most cases of business failure, it is always the business that failed to pay the necessary attention to right people and right department that go the distance of failing as the time of competition. Such case is mainly the case when business shift from local to international scene. Success, the book is intent of saying, does not always take our highest intellectual ability but well practiced dynamic routines.

Executive Strategy illustrated the four basic parts of management and leadership in the following way (1) Directional leadership (2) Inter-Personal leadership (3) Implementional (4) Implementional leadership.

1, Directional leadership - by directional leadership the authors of the book refered to 'strategy' 'corporate philsophy' 'Big picture' and figuratively refering to the heads of the organization/the boss and the over arching presence of the heads.

2, Inter-personal leadership - by interpersonal leadership they suggested 'team member' 'coaching' 'mentor' 'modeling' and figuratively the counselors, the ones to guage the rate of performance, the go betweens/middle managers, translators of corporate ideas, co-Bosses, the Boss's men and women and enhance competitiveness.

3, Personal leadership - by personal leadership those who are the face of the industry, who are the 'role models' and their job include representing the industry and company, and they are supposed to be trusthworthy, self confident and ability to know the better way to execute the wish of a company with the company and this according to the authors "describes the ability to understand...and manage onces ego. In particular it involves management of stress and emotional reaction. Ethics/Intergrity.

4, Implementational leadership - by implementational leadership they mean the people who handle 'big projects' the 'Tangible' construction, the review and the follow up more like the finish version of the business, the technocrats. This comprises skills needed to influence others both in the company and outside. It involves ability to implement the plans and tasks set aside.

Executive Strategy allows us to understand that this is the current market dynamic in the world and in American business, this is the currency of management levels. The range of management is from top to bottom and it refers to the years that America was readying to launch itself in the world following the era of reconstruction. The bosses were very useful in discharging the very particulars of business and the ranks of that department and success was top and bottom. Timothy C Daughter and Gary Casselman try to demonstrate that this picture has now changed and that the picture is wrong incurrnt market circumstances, that the technical parts of world markets and its demand has no made more room for techinically adept partners and specialist. The authors of Executive Strategy goes on to say that the mistake had been there for a long time, that the more important of these groups is the implementational as with sprinters to a finsih lane, the 'finish' upon whom the success and failure of the business or product is entirelty due.

If the book Executive Strategy tried to argue that the 'four dimensional leadership' presented above is inversely related to the four management style of the order Top management, Middle management, Frontline management, non-management.Yet it goes that extra mile in explicating why these management positions are also leadership positions and why they matter. How each level of management is expected to handle a six performance huddle; expections, commitment, skill, confidence, personality and motivation, organization. The authors indicated that the last group of leadership;implementational leadership, is of greater importance in a company's success, since this group more than embody all the six dimensions of the management presented above.

From the case above in reverse relationship of classic cadre of leadership versus managment, apoint gradually appears that what is considered relationship between management success and responsible leadership exist in disappearing order, to such degree that as management assume the face of leadership it is understood as upside down of management. Leadership gradually yield ground to Management. The reverse case of management can best be suited in dealing with the six important aspect of succesful business as such much more important than the intellectual statusquo.

PLAYBOOKS AND CHECK BOOKS; The introduction to the economic of sports by Stefan Szymanski

Title; Playbook and Check books; Introduction to the economics of Sports

Author; Stephan Szymanski

Publisher; Pinceton University Press

Year of publication; 2009

ISBN; 978-0-691-12750-7

Pagination; 225

Language; English

Review By; Iroabuchi Onwuka


Theme

There is no evident 'thematic' continuity in this book, no specialist feature nor the presence of great Schools of Thought in matters regarding curacy of Sports marketing and of leading econometrics of Sports.

But from the opening pages we are forced at once to confront the neglected 'this' and 'that' of sports history, enabled to life from its earliest probable years to the inevitable fact of sports as a constant feature in the lives of all peoples of the very world.

But the book is not about the history of sports, the book is seriously about money and about the very management of money, as such the author attempted to provide a broad probable outline for the rise of the games humble beginning to its attractive appendages and then on to daily business of sports.

In other language, this book is an introductory missive on the economics of sports as demonstrated through its History and also a way to embrace embrace a Macualay view on the whole culture of receipt and coupon distribution, both of which are part of resource continuum in the very rotation of money and the attempt on its indepedence of funded enterprises.

Matters arising from Commercials and Advertisement are a constant part of the Book and are well treated, so is in the impart of English society and its Empire in generating the organization sweep for modern sports, enduring as with the case for Cricket and then to other Sports and sponsorship in that order.

Body

The Author Stephan Szymanski begins Chapter one with Al Spalding and Alcock featuring in a london Cricket game, the game was sponsored by English genteel and thier royalty personages. The game was played to a stand still with Alock and company stealing the show. Al Spalding however was the one who begin to see the need to creat identity in the Sports and in Merchandise, the very need to provide each team with a superb selection of cloths and materials leading in and out of the game.

Thus, his buiness to put his name against his team and in creating the supply side of market, Spalding, the grand Patron of the brand name and Alcock the tiket master became richer and went the whole lenght of sponsoring the Crickets games and the officianados without much support of the Royalty.

Szymanski indicated that the rules of game did not come as a matter of rights and wrongs but a constant necessity born out of the issue of merchandising and of players welfare in matters of competition and organisation. When the rewarding side of the whole business began to interfere with the game in itself, rules had to be mandated but from this whole setup, the theory of who gets what, why and when took a whole new face; human face especially.

That issue of the 'facebook' so to speak of the game added another dimension to Sports as a form of rewarding endeavor camotose by ancient and modern popularity. From the book 'Playbooks and Check Books' we can understand the transistion in sports through the years, we can understand that nature of sponsorship as a mocking jest at the psychology of surviving and of the fitter, and how care must be taken to avoid such exorcism of the human passion as ploy for the laboriously rich.

But in reality the book goes beyong that since money promotes the newer curves of competition, so does facility and therefore spur the direct attraction of spectators who sometimes bait agianst the stronger team fulfilling the speculators thrift and the 'Ruminator'.

The main even in deciding what team or teams of interest to support in competitive environment is the Popularity's lasting impression which increasingly changed the game of Cricket and from then, the rest of the story was how modern sports gave life to itself through Sponsorship and how Chartels of ambitions forced other rules of participation negating such as threats as 'invariance priciple'.

On Chartels, the author argues against the efficacy of some of the rules since NCAA in very late times and even the NBA is nothing else than Chartel. So there is the issue of popularity and the suppor of Godfathers, most of whom use a dyke of advisers represented in organsing committee, some of whom chairs in the Chartel. But the impact of Chartel as it spells Sherman's Act in modern day sports.

Stephan Szymanski talked about Monopoly, about the political gambit of siding the running chartel of sports franshises and for political reasons at best, the author tried to play down the tension between passions for teams of ambitions and matters of Chartels who also want a piece of the winning action. For this, the author tend to argue that "critics believe that such arguments mask the true motives of the clubs, which is to maintain a cartel for the purpose of generating larger profits than...in the face of economic competition". Popularity of the winning team was a good omen for larger profit so to speak.

Stephan Symanski highlighted the issue of popularity in changing the face of sports as much as money, changing rules, is not the first time in the history of sports. In the book, the author cited instances of such occassion going back to the time of the Greeks. In Greek repertoire and Olympics, the author began to show how the necessity to perform at such a stage as in Olympic and at the highest point is normally a receipe for bait and for celebrity status.

For instance the author cited Exaenetor of Apgrigentum "winner of the Olympic footrace is in 412 BCE, was driven through the City in a four horse chariot followed by the city's three hundred most prominent citizens". Such attention is not without financial merit and the idea of studying the merit of popularity in terms of sports is not sports marketing but salesmanship altogether.

The Olympiad and the era of coupon, collective bargaining and the modern era of deals, deal break and sponsorship, are matters very necessary to complete the faith in the business. Then licensing and merchanising, Radio and television and stadium receipt occupy the rest of the story about modern sport which some eagerly believe as root for the emergence of super groups of the business of sports and probably its future decline in profit.

Symanski also maintained that reach through broadcast reach or what we call audience reach may be a lasting playing card as problems of spectorship of smaller sports disappear. Then the issue about right competition and of sports, forces a new dimension of gametime as children suffocated on main event are reduced to no event as they take it out on thier laptops and computers. The Book indicated howver that the bidding of airtime and television is seriously out of reach of useful businesses.

'Playbooks and Check books' also spoke of Sports organisations like FIFA, FIBA, English FA, the Italian Seria A, PGA, the NFL, the Cricket Club, MLB, NBA and other sports franchises are proving the market year on year and does away with serious demand for audience in many sports. As such broadcast of games bridges that gap but is the same manner creat its own challenges.

The book attempts to open the floodgate of issues and possibility within the sports industry and why it remains a lucrative industry for young upstarts. How the such sports earn itself through the discipline of economics, through the Media, through the license of players and product, through entitlement and even subsidy and through demographics of number is also maintained in the discourses.

Stephan Szymanski alluded to the impact of statistic within the game, this is the way we can understand the impact of each player and rate their performance. He brought to bear the initial discussion of the formation of football and how the rules of baseball is derive from Knickerbocker club of New York hed by Alexander Cartwright.

Only few games has as many rules World Football, American Football and baseball, much more indicative is the baseball RBI introduced by Gerald Scully in 1970, which has helped to inprove the pay check of individual performance. Baseball also began the rights of players and enhancement of money for players, a process that will overtake players of World soccer/football and help to promote business in the
sports and revolutions of playbook and checkbooks.

The world however is far from flat and that world is full of abbreviation and full of curces. If the world is flat or curved is seriously of no consequence in sports since deeper problems of monetarisation still occur. The book compels us to see the possible, the improbability of such revolt is entirely a reverse case of the book and its common sense since Olympic bidding alone cost millions, if not billions. The issue will take time but econometrics of Sports are now a constant discipline of everyday business and the book, merely a drop in the bucket.

Conclusion.