The Collaborative Enterprise: Managing Speed and Complexity in Knowledge-Based Businesses [Hardcover]

This book was a bear to read. I still cannot figure out why a book with only 275 pages of body needed a 25-page introduction with 8 subheadings. The short answer is that it didn't. I think the book could have received a reasonable star rating from me if the Introduction, chapters 3 and 7, and the Appendix were omitted, and Chapter 10 was moved to the front of the book. Furthermore, each of the chapters had way too many subheadings and subsubheadings for my liking. The author edited a similar book in 2006 entitled The Firm as a Collaborative Community (ISBN: 0199286035), and the instant book seems to be an attempt to synthesize that 608 page tome into something less. While this book is something less in page count - it doesn't seem to be a synthesis.

This book has the following chapters:

0. Introduction
1. From bureaucracy to collaborative enterprise
2. Strategies and structures: varieties of collaborative enterprise
3. Citibank esolutions
4. The culture of contribution
5. Collaborative infrastructure
6. Two unresolved problems
7. Crossing the collaborative frontier
8. Journeys: winding paths to collaboration
9. Leadership: the interactive approach to change
10. Recapitulation
11. But is it good?

What I learned from reading this book can be summarized as follows:

Regarding Chapter 1, when a company moves from a bureaucratic enterprise to a collaborative one great results will exist if done well. However, if not done well, then chaos will exist.

Regarding Chapter 2, not all organizations are built alike. And different collaborative strategies drive the different organization types.

Regarding Chapter 4, bureaucratic organizations thrive on a culture of loyalty and collaborative organizations thrive on a culture of contribution.

Regarding Chapter 5, the more the employees can do, i.e., wear many hats at work, the more likely the organization has a collaborative infrastructure. The lean and mean company is typically a collaborative enterprise.

Regarding Chapter 6, when employees wear many hats at work two problems arise: accountability and careers. How does the owner of a company provide employees an incentive to work when it hard to hold them accountable? How does an owner keep the employee when no career track seems to exist?

Regarding Chapter 8, it's tough changing the work world from a bureaucratic model to a collaborative one. We're not there yet.

Regarding Chapter 9, leaders must create a shared purpose in those they lead. And they must build a network out of those they lead. If they can do this, then they'll have a collaborative enterprise.

And regarding Chapter 11, if a person believes strongly in the bureaucratic way of doing things, then a collaborative enterprise will not be good. However, if a person can let the bureaucratic way of doing things creep into history and allow collaboration to be the way of the future, then yes - a collaborative enterprise will be good. 3 stars!

This book provides an excellent insight into organization collaboration. It is scholarly, accessible, and a great treatment of the subject. One of the few business books I highly recommend.

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