Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/470545
18 BizEd MARCH | APRIL 2015 research+insights THE ATTACKER'S ADVANTAGE "Taking control of uncertainty is the fundamen- tal leadership challenge of our time," de- clares business advisor Ram Charan. He believes that the most suc- cessful future leaders will be able to look ahead to see what's coming, recognize opportunity in uncertainty, manage the transition to a new path, and create more ag- ile organizations. He describes how sophisticated algorithms that deliver massive amounts of data are reshaping every industry and predicts that only the "math houses" that understand how to use such computations will survive. Overall, he notes, "The advantage now goes to those who create change, not just learn to live with it." (PublicAffairs, US$23.99) BOARDS THAT EXCEL B. Joseph White has seen boards from both sides. He's studied them as an academic in his positions as dean emeritus at Mich- igan's Ross School and president emeritus of the University of Illinois; he's also served on boards for both publicly and privately held companies. Here White explores what a board member's true responsibil- ities are, how an individual should deter- mine when to accept board service, and what defines an excellent board. "The bookends, or starting and ending points, of great governance are high aspirations for and great results by the company or organization the board is overseeing," he writes. It's a highly personal account of a deeply important topic. (Berrett- Koehler Publishers, US$29.95) CRITICAL KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER When key employees leave, how do managers make sure their "deep smarts" about company products and processes don't leave with them? Dorothy Leonard of Harvard, Walter Swap of Tufts, and consultant Gavin Barton offer strategies that help managers elicit everything they need to know from knowledgeable employees before they depart. Then they present a case study about the knowledge-transfer program in place at GE's Global Research Centers. "Loss of proprietary know-how can actually crip- ple a company's ability to produce the next generation of products," they write. They're here to stanch the flow. (Har- vard Business Review Press, US$32) CREATIVE CROSS-DISCIPLINARY ENTREPRENEURSHIP "Entrepreneurship has always existed with hu- man civilizations," writes Dianne H.B. Welsh. "It is tied to human survival and success." For that reason, Welsh believes entrepre- neurship skills can be taught within any discipline and will be essential in many industries in the future. But she doesn't just present strong arguments for why business schools should offer their own entrepreneurship courses and cross-dis- ciplinary programs. She also provides a detailed template for how she launched an entrepreneurship degree program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, including everything from books ORGANIZED INNOVATION "Innovation is the prima- ry economic battleground of the twenty-first cen- tury," write Steve Currall of UC Davis, Sara Jansen Perry of the University of Houston-Downtown, Emily Hunter of Baylor, and author Ed Frauenheim. But they believe inno- vation is on the decline, at least in the U.S., because fewer corporations are funding basic research and universities haven't stepped forward as hoped to fill the gap. They believe that universities, government policymakers, and busi- ness executives must pull together in an organized fashion to innovate and commercialize new technologies that will provide breakthrough solutions to world problems. (Oxford University Press, US$29.95) CHANGING YOUR COMPANY FROM THE INSIDE OUT In 2008, a former Peace Corps volunteer now working at IBM pro- posed creating a service organization within the company that paired top managers with nonprofits in emerging economies. Initially derid- ed, the Corporate Service Corps has be- come a valued tool in helping IBM both gain access to new markets and retain key talent. The University of Michigan's Gerald Davis and Christopher White offer many other examples of "social intrapreneurship," which they define as grassroots change within an organiza- tion that aligns with core business ob- jectives while advancing a social cause. The two authors expect to see more of it—and they offer tools and techniques to bring it to any boardroom. (Harvard Business Review Press, US$28)