Ex Libris is a reader's club for organizational leaders who are interested
in coming together to examine and discuss current leadership and
organizational development issues. Each month a current book on
leadership and organizational development is selected for reading and a
one-hour telephone forum is held in which club members engage in
collective inquiry and discussion around key concepts and ideas as
presented by the author(s) of these selected texts. Reader forums are
held on the third Tuesday of each month.
The selected book for September is:
The Living Company:
Habits for Survival in a Turbulent Business Environment
by Arie de Geus
Harvard Business School Press
To order: 1-888-500-1016
Publication Date: May 12, 1997
$24.95; 223 pp; ISBN: 0-87584-782-X
The September Reader's Forum will be held Tuesday, September 16th from
1:00-2:00 EST.
Below is a brief synopsis of this book. If you would like to receive a
more in-depth summary of this book, please e-mail a request to
exlibris@quanah.com.
Finally, those individuals interested in participating in September's
Reader's Forum need to complete the Registration Request form that follows
this summary and e-mail it to exlibris@quanah.com. In order to ensure a
highly interactive forum registration is limited and is provided on a
first-come, first-served basis. Confirmation of registration along with
telephone bridge information will be provided.
September 1997
Synopsis
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In his book, The Living Company: Habits for Survival In A Turbulent
Business Environment by Arie de Geus argues that human beings have learned
to survive, on average, for 75 years or more. Yet the average life
expectancy for companies, regardless of size, is only 12.5 years. Even
very large corporations suffer surprisingly high mortality rates - a full
one third of the companies listed in the 1970 Fortune 500 had vanished by
1983-acquired, merged, or broken to pieces.
WHY DO SO MANY COMPANIES DIE PREMATURELY?
In The Living Company: Habits for Survival in a Turbulent Business
Environment, Arie de Geus suggests that most corporations fail because
managers are too narrowly focused on the economic activity of producing
goods and services--forgetting that their organization's true nature is
that of a community of humans.
In The Living Company, de Geus draws from his almost 40 years of
experience working at Royal Dutch/Shell, and from the remarkable stories
of companies that have literally survived centuries of change--such as:
7 the 700-year-old Stora Company
7 the 400-year-old Sumitomo
7 the 200-year-old Du Pont
in order to reveal four special qualities that enable some companies to
live longer and reach their full potential.
Registration Information
========================
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Ex Libris Reader's Forum
Registration Request
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Instructions
Please complete the following registration information*
and e-mail it to exlibris@quanah.com. Attendance is subject to
space availability. Confirmation will be provided.
*If you have either attended a past Reader's Forum or are an
official member of Ex Libris, you only need to type in your
first and last name.
__Yes! I would like to attend the September 19th Reader's Forum.
__ No __Yes. I would like my contact information to be included
in the September 1997 Reader's Club Directory, which will
be shared with other club members participating in the
September Reader's Forum.
Registration Information
========================
Name:
Position:
Company:
Street Address:
City:
State/Province:
Country:
Telephone:
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About QUANAH
============
QUANAH is an Idaho-based consulting firm that specializes in leader-
ship and organizational development. Established in 1991, QUANAH's
mission is to provide professional consulting services and high
quality leadership development programs that enhance the effectiveness
of client organizations within the western United States. For more
information about QUANAH, please e-mail info@quanah.com
Thank you!
Laureen Quick
President & Senior Consultant
QUANAH
QUANAH
Leadership & Organizational Development Specialists
website: www.quanah.com
phone: 208-939-0970
fax: 208-939-1530
mail: 1657 E. Highgate Court, Eagle, Idaho 83616
--Laureen Quick <laureen@quanah.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>