Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/57462
"Gender is a business issue, not a 'women's issue," write Avivah Wittenberg-Cox and Alison Mait- land in Why Women Mean Busi- ness. But corporate leaders persist in treating gender as an issue that only affects women—which is why, the authors say, companies do such a poor job of recruiting, retaining, and promoting women. "Broad, inclusive approaches don't need to be gender-neutral. They need to be gender-bilingual," they write. Wittenberg-Cox and Mait- land draw on dozens of interviews, case studies, and research reports to offer evidence of how well companies can perform once they integrate women into the manage- ment structure and consider women as consumers. They also provide specific advice on how companies can do a better job of including women at all levels. Because women around the world are becoming better-educated, accumulating more wealth, and forming a bigger part of the workforce, they write, "It's time for CEOs to get serious about sex." (Jossey-Bass, $34.95) The 21st-century business model is as different as it can be from the 20th-century version. Gone are the days of mass production and vertical integration when one huge company owned all resources and decided what items to manufacture. In today's world, customers expect to co-create products that suit their personali- ties, needs, and individual styles; corporations draw on an astonishing global web of talent, services, and raw materials to make and deliver their products. Not surprisingly, controlling this vast new enterprise requires a new way of conducting business, and C.K. Prahalad and M.S. Krishnan explore the changes in The New Age of Innovation. The "More important, it will lead to rad- ical changes in the technical archi- tecture of the firm. . . . It will also challenge the managerial processes, skills, and attitudes of managers." In short, everything will change, and no industry or firm will be exempt, the authors say. As a peek into the future, the book is both exhilarating and a little unnerving, but it's essen- tial reading. (McGraw-Hill, $29.95) new paradigm of focusing on the needs of individuals while drawing on global resources will challenge "established management practices in talent management, product development, manufacturing, pric- ing, logistics, marketing, and brand management," write the authors, both of the University of Michigan. Organizations big and small often harm themselves by insisting that everyone must adhere to strict rules and hier- archies that allow no deviations— and restrict growth. That's Steven S. Little's premise in The Milkshake Moment, an engagingly written book about the perils of bureau- cracy. "Only when organizations get out of their own way can they achieve real, sustainable growth," he writes. "Only when we remove our own self-imposed barriers can individuals seize new opportunities in an organizational setting." Little, a frequent traveler, rewards himself with a room service milkshake at the end of every day on the road. A hotel that doesn't have milk- shakes on the menu—and doesn't empower its employees to create one for Little, using ingredients already in the kitchen—exemplifies for him an organization that limits its own opportunities to shine. His descriptions of institutional idiocy are sharply focused and painfully familiar, but his proposed solutions are equally clear. Organizations need leaders who can articulate the com- pany's purpose, who can instill that sense of purpose in employees, and who can create "an environment where human beings can thrive." A tall order—but then, sometimes, so is a milkshake. (Wiley, $19.95) ■ z BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2008 65