High Commitment High Performance

MICHAEL BEER is Cahners-Rabb Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus at Harvard Business School and chairman of TruePoint, a research-based consultancy. Beer is the author or coauthor of nine books including Managing Human Assets and the award-winning The Critical Path to Corporate Renewal.

• Preface xi1 Introduction 1Part One: The High Commitment, High Performance Organization 172 Pillars of High Commitment, High Performance Organizations 193 Principled Choice and Discipline are Essential 514 Building the High Commitment, High Performance System 79Part Two: What Stands in the Way 915 Hidden Barriers to Sustained High Commitment and High Performance 93Part Three: Leadership and Learning Change Levers 1196 Lead a Collective Learning Process 1217 Enable Truth to Speak to Power 157Part Four: Organization Design Change Levers 1878 Manage Organizational Performance Strategically 1899 Organize for Performance and Commitment 22310 Develop Human and Social Capital 255Part Five: Transforming the Organization 29311 Embrace E and O Change Strategies 29512 Epilogue 327End Notes 333Acknowledgments 369Index 373The Author 391

"Beer, author of High Commitment, High Performance, a book on business ethics recently published by Josey-Bass, posited three core reasons why Wall Street failed so badly in the fall of 2008: The firms lacked a higher purpose, lacked a clear strategy, and mismanaged their risk." (Business Week, August 17, 2009)