Management Practices of Successful CEO’S 9781734641417 Desert Haven Publishing copyright and written by James O. Armatas.
This is a Memoir of a Psychological Consultant to Management and consists of the usual dedication, preface, Introduction, The Genesis of Psychological Consultation including Background of Training, the Assessment Procedure and 8 Chapters. Number 1 presents three entrepreneurs; #2, Conglomerates (IBM Corporation and Colt Industries; #3 CEO’s of several Multidivisional Companies; #4, some CEO’s of Legal Monopolies; #5, Service Companies; #6, Restaurants; #7, Manufacturing Companies; #8, Final Comments (a summary – each group having its own pertinent comments); My Memoir; Postscript; Appendix that includes a variety of relatively pertinent material; About the Author” and endnotes.
Discussion: The author’s summary notes at the end of each chapter are quite explicit in some, and either general or selective in nature, of traits of others. He describes some of the entrepreneur’s characteristics as demonstrating dominant control and total commitment to their companies. One employed a conservative approach while another was willing to take bold risks. The third personally raised venture capital, spent it wisely on reduced operations functions/salaries to establish competitive contracts. The conglomerates he declares recognized the need for a tightly controlled central organization with proper status maintenance and system/department heads reporting to the proper superior. Many of the leaders in The Conglomerates exhibited supportive developmental training. With respect to The Legal Monopolies he presents most interesting pictures of AT&T and TWA and the different paths taken as a result of regulatory changes affecting their management. Other CEO’s success depends in large part on their social skills especially in acquiring and maintaining clients. Some had an inordinate ability to monitor and remember details, as a ‘turnaround specialist’, or even by employing a dedicated commitment to self-improvement to his advantage. Still other characteristics exhibited as the bases of their success in their particular field of endeavor was honesty and leadership, instilling integrity to an entire workforce as the basis upon which the entire business functioned, ability to meld all facets of a business into predictable, controllable monopolistic enterprise that generated extreme profits with controllable expense.
He has noticed that most of the characteristics of CEO’s have changed greatly as American business structure similarly has been changing substantially because of, and along with, a huge social revolution toward democratization in American and international institutions, Workers feel they have entitlement to greater job and management involvement. Additionally, technical advancement has been huge and entrepreneurs exist both within and outside working industries. Smart CEO’s keep the organization simple and basic with minimum hierarchy and bureaucracy and don’t lose their entrepreneurial perspective. Generally speaking, successful CEO’s are intelligent, conceptual, competitive and ‘managerial’ but flexible, adaptable and quite socially versatile exhibiting no narcissistic or autocratic tendencies. Some positions call for a greater or lesser amount of some characteristics and the author has presented the apparent differences most helpful for CEO’s to have to be able to be successful in each of the types of industries described.
Amusingly, perhaps, he brings forth the statement so often set forth, but frequently ignored (especially by governmental agencies) – “You can’t run a business, or anything else, on a theory”.
This reviewer also found the short discourse on well-known, non-Freudian psychologists Carl Rodgers (nondirective development of the individual’s ‘self-concept’). Abraham Maslow (humanist a requirement to satisfy an ascending group of needs’, Frederick Herzberg, Douglas McGregor and Kurt Lewin, interestingly pertinent.
Conclusion: The material presented here by the author is quite essential for individuals in, or contemplating entrance to, a position in the areas discussed. It also provides interesting material for any reader with eclectic interests.
5* Must read for participants. Fascinating for other eclectic readers.