An Introduction to the Business-Within-a-Business Paradigm: A Vision of How Organizations Should Work

Governance. Inspiration. Alignment. Control. Value. Empowerment. Performance. In just 42 pages, this monograph draws together many of the topical issues of leadership into a compelling vision of how organizations should work. It challenges executives to think in new ways: Organizations as networks of entrepreneurs, rather than hierarchies of power. Governance by designing the right influences into the organizational fabric, rather than by bureaucratic, disempowering policies and controls. Leadership by building organizations in which everyone can succeed, rather than by personally making all the big decisions. The vision it presents can be used to guide day-to-day decisions about organizations and business processes toward a consistent long-term goal; or it can provide the foundation for a breakthrough transformation process. You'll wish your vendors worked this way. You'll wish your government worked this way. You'll wish your staff thought this way. You'll wish your bosses believed in it. An understanding of this vision characterizes -- perhaps even defines -- the new-think leader. It's a quick, stimulating read for executives in corporations, not-for-profit institutions, and government.