Peters and Waterman - Excellence

Peters and Waterman – Excellence

Who are Peters and Waterman?

Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman were two consultants, who in 1982 published a book called ‘In Search Of Excellence,’ advising companies to embrace what they called ‘the eight attributes of excellence.’

How did their research start?

The authors research started in 1977 when two groups of people at McKinsey & Co. were asked to research a general concern with the problems of management effectiveness and a particular concern with the nature of the relationship between strategy, structure, and management effectiveness. One of these groups was asked to review thinking on strategy, the other was asked to review thinking on organisational effectiveness. Peters and Waterman were the leaders of the project on organisational effectiveness. They were basically told to travel around the world and speak to as many interesting business people as they could about the subject of Organisation, Structure and People. They set out to discover the real secrets of management. They examined 43 successful American companies including IBM, Procter & Gamble, Boeing, Delta Airlines and McDonald’s. In their research they looked for key attributes that most of these companies shared and that made them successful. They were asked to do a 700 slide, two-day presentation and then condense it down. When condensed their research provided us with the ‘eight attributes of excellence’ that I spoke of a minute ago.

What are the ‘eight attributes of excellence?’

They are the following:

A Bias for Action: This is about getting things done. There must be a free flow of information and open communication. The open and informal organisation is more flexible and is able to take quicker action to changes needed to keep up in today’s business world. Successful companies who want to get things done are not afraid to try new things and experiment.

Close to the Customer: Customer satisfaction is very important throughout all the roles that the business ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

What are the ‘eight attributes of excellence?’

They are the following:

A Bias for Action: This is about getting things done. There must be a free flow of information and open communication. The open and informal organisation is more flexible and is able to take quicker action to changes needed to keep up in today’s business world. Successful companies who want to get things done are not afraid to try new things and experiment.

Close to the Customer: Customer satisfaction is very important throughout all the roles that the business plays. Many companies forget about their customers, whereas successful companies have an obsession with their customers. Excellent product quality and reliability will make a satisfied customer. Great service will keep the customer coming back.

Autonomy and Entrepreneurship: This is about encouraging risk taking and innovation.

Productivity Through People: This means that everyone is respectful and enthusiastic towards each other. This creates an atmosphere that enables good work.

Hands-on, Value-Driven: This is about company philosophy and values being discussed openly. The right values, clearly expressed, will help define an organisation. Leaders in the organisation are also positive role models.

Stick to the Knitting: This is about the company focusing on doing what it does best.

Simple Form, Lean Staff: This can be hard particularly in large organisations. But you need to work at making things understandable for the tens, hundreds or even thousands of people who are making things happen, i.e. the employees. Also, authority is shared as much as possible between these employees.

Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties: This is about excellent companies holding tight to their core values. It is about good planning and controlling that still allows for worker autonomy and a less rigid atmosphere

(http://64.233.183.104….)

What else did their research show?

In their research Peters and Waterman found that in many companies the customer is either ignored or considered a nuisance. In their observations of excellent companies, and specifically the way they interact with customers, ‘what Peters and Waterman found most striking was the consistent presence of obsession with quality and service. The companies observed seemed to be more driven by their customers than by technology or by a desire to be a low-cost producer.’ (http://www.vivid.ro) Service, quality and reliability were strategies used by these ‘excellent’ companies, aiming to increase loyalty, long-term revenue and growth, compared to the short-term sales-oriented approach we see so often in companies. ‘Another one of their conclusions was that the excellent companies had a distinctive set of philosophies about human nature and the way that people interact in organisations.’ (D.Boddy, p61) Peters and Waterman saw people as ‘emotional intuitive and creative social creatures who like to celebrate victories, however small, who value self-control, but who also need and want the security and meaning of achieving goals through organisations.’ (D.Boddy, p61)

‘In Search Of Excellence’ had a huge impact on business management and practise and according to Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, if their eight basic principles are put into practise, then any business can not help but succeed. For those who do not agree with this, Peters and Waterman give several examples of small businesses that became huge businesses based on these 8 principles. These include Walmart, Hewlett-Packard and McDonald’s. Although it was published in 1982, the book and ‘the eight attributes of excellence’ are still very relevant today.

Bibliography

The Eight Attributes of Excellence, Internet WWW page at URL: http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:FKyz16IuUJ:www.jpec.org/handouts/jpec84 .pdf+ peters +waterman+excellence.htm (accessed 10/11/05)