Avoiding the corporate death spiral : recognizing and eliminating the signs of decline

Nowhere is it written that a company, regardless of how large it is or how successful it might seem to be, will survive. There have been too many highly visible and painful reminders of this fact over the last several years. While many of these companies fall apart seemingly overnight, the reality is that the decline is a process that usually takes several years and results from a number of actions, decisions, and behaviors that contribute to the demise. The purpose of this book is to present the warning signs of organizational decline, and provide a method for leaders to identify and eliminate them before the organization enters a death spiral. It provides detailed explanations of each warning sign, including an explanation regarding how the sign contributes to the decline, and also an assessment tool to determine the existence and extent of the signs within an organization. The principles and concepts present are equally applicable to healthcare, manufacturing, or service organizations. Contents: Part One: The Corporate Death Spiral Chapter One: The Corporate Death Spiral Part Two: The Warning Signs Chapter Two: Lost Purpose Chapter Three: Number Obsession Chapter Four: Supplier Squeezing Chapter Five: Undervalued Employees Chapter Six: Dirt, Clutter & Damage Chapter Seven: Operational Fragmentation Part Three: Addressing the Warning Signs Chapter Eight: Improving the Organization Appendix I: The Assessment Appendix II: Statistical Process Control Appendix III: Quality Function Deployment Appendix IV: Organizational Reflection Glossary