Welcome to this 10th edition of Management Mistakes and Successes. It has now been around for almost twenty-five years, and its sister book, Marketing Mistakes, for over thirty years. Who would have thought that interest in mistakes would have been so enduring? I know that many of you are past users, and hope you will find this new edition a worthy successor to earlier editions.
After many years of investigating mistakes, and more recently some successes as well, it might seem a monumental challenge to keep these new editions fresh and interesting and still provide good learning experiences. But the task of doing so, and the joy of the challenge, has made this an intriguing endeavor through the decades. It is always difficult to abandon interesting cases that have stimulated student discussions and provided good learning experiences, but newer case possibilities are ever competing for inclusion. Examples of good and bad handling of problems and opportunities are always emerging. But sometimes we bring back an oldie, and with the updating a new perspective and new learning insights often result.
For new users, I hope the book will meet your full expectations and be an effective instructional tool. Although case books abound, you and your students may find this somewhat unique and very readable, a book that can help transform dry and rather remote concepts into practical reality, and lead to lively class discussions, and even debates amid the great arena of decision making.
In contrast to the early editions, which examined only notable mistakes, and based on your favorable comments about recent editions, I have again included some well-known successes. While mistakes provide valuable learning insights, we can also learn from successes, and we can learn by comparing the unsuccessful with the successful.
We have taken a close look at how some firms have handled the economic crisis, and have reintroduced Great Comebacks that had been deleted from recent editions. From your comments, Great Comebacks with its three intriguing examples may be one of the best sections. But perhaps it is surpassed in Part 3 by the great inspirational entrepreneurial successes of Google and Starbucks. Some of the cases are so current we continued updating until the manuscript left for the production process. We have tried to keep all cases as current as possible by Postscripts, Later Developments, and Updates.
Some of you have asked that I identify which cases would be appropriate for the traditional coverage of topics as organized in typical management texts. With most cases it is not possible to truly compartmentalize the mistake or success to merely one topic. The patterns of success or failure tend to be more pervasive. Still, I think you will find the following classification of cases by subject matter to be helpful. I thank those of you who made this and other suggestions.
Table 1. Classification of Cases by Major Management Topics
Topics | Most Relevant Cases |
|---|---|
Change and Crisis Management | MetLife, United Way, Maytag, Firestone/Ford, Boeing, Herman Miller, Euro Disney, Procter & Gamble, Vioxx |
Great Comebacks | Continental Air, Harley-Davidson, IBM |
Planning | Euro Disney, Boeing, Vanguard, Hewlett-Packard, Southwest Air, Walmart, Google, Starbucks |
Leadership and Execution | Continental Air, Harley-Davidson, IBM, Vanguard, Hewlett-Packard, Walmart, Southwest Air, Maytag, United Way, Herman Miller, Boston Beer |
Controlling | United Way, Maytag, MetLife, Firestone/Ford, Walmart, Boeing |
Global Applications | Euro Disney, Boeing, Harley-Davidson, DaimlerChrysler, Maytag, Firestone/Ford, Walmart, Starbucks |
Entrepreneurial | Google, Starbucks, Boston Beer |
Ethical | United Way, MetLife, DaimlerChrysler, Walmart, Vioxx, Firestone/Ford |
Customer Relations | Vanguard, Maytag, Euro Disney, Starbucks, Harley-Davidson, Firestone/Ford, United Way, Southwest Air, Continental Air, IBM, MetLife, Walmart, Vioxx |
Outsourcing | Boeing, Walmart, Herman Miller, Maytag |
As a supplemental text, this book can be used in a variety of courses, both undergraduate and graduate, such as introduction to business, principles of management, management skills, and strategic management. It can be used in courses in business ethics and organizational behavior. It certainly can be used in training programs and even for those nonprofessionals who look for a good read about well-known firms and personalities.
As in the previous editions, you will find a plethora of teaching aids and discussion material within and at the end of each chapter. Some of these will be common to several cases, and illustrate that certain successful and unsuccessful practices are seldom unique.
Information Boxes and Issue Boxes are included within each chapter to highlight relevant concepts and issues, or related information. Learning insights help students see how certain practices—both errors and successes—cross company lines and are prone to be either traps for the unwary or success modes. Discussion Questions and Hands-On Exercises encourage and stimulate student involvement. A recent pedagogical feature is the Team Debate Exercise, in which formal issues and options can be debated for each case. New in some cases is the Devil's Advocate exercise, in which students can argue against a proposed course of action to test its merits. A new pedagogical feature in this edition, based on a reviewer's recommendation, appears at the end of the Analysis section: students are asked to make their own analysis and draw their own conclusions, and defend them, thereby having an opportunity to stretch themselves. Where a case involves considerable updating, a new feature invites students to Assess the Latest Developments. Invitation to Research suggestions allow students to take the case a step further, to investigate what has happened since the case was written. In the final chapter, the various learning insights are summarized and classified into general conclusions.
An Instructor's Manual written by the author is available electronically to provide suggestions and considerations for the pedagogical material within and at the ends of chapters.
It seems fitting to acknowledge all those who have provided encouragement, information, advice, and constructive criticism through the years since the first edition of these Mistakes books. I hope you all are well and successful, and I truly appreciate your contributions. I apologize if I have missed anybody, and would be grateful to know such so I can rectify this in future editions. I welcome updates of present affiliations.
Michael Pearson, Loyola University, New Orleans; Beverlee Anderson, University of Cincinnati; Y.H.Furuhashi, Notre Dame; W. Jack Duncan, University of Alabama-Birmingham; Mike Farley, Del Mar College; Joseph W. Leonard, Miami University (OH); Abbas Nadim, University of New Haven; William O'Donnell, University of Phoenix; Howard Smith, University of New Mexico; James Wolter, University of Michigan, Flint; Vernon R. Stauble, California State Polytechnic University; Donna Giertz, Parkland College; Don Hantula, St. Joseph's University; Milton Alexander, Auburn University; James F. Cashman, University of Alabama; Douglas Wozniak, Ferris State University; Greg Bach, Bismark State College; Glenna Dod, Wesleyan College; Anthony McGann, University of Wyoming; Robert D. Nale, Coastal Carolina University; Robert H. Votaw, Amber University; Don Fagan, Daniel Webster University; Andrew J. Deile, Mercer University; Samuel Hazen, Tarleton State University; Michael B. McCormick, Jacksonville State University; Neil K. Friedman, Queens College; Lawrence Aronhime, John Hopkins University; Joseph Marrocco, Boston University; Morgan Milner, Eastern Michigan University; Souha Ezzedeen, Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg; Regina Hughes, University of Texas; Karen Stewart, Stockton College; Francy Milner, University of Colorado; Greg M. Allenby, Ohio State University; Annette Fortia, Old Westbury; Bruce Ryan, Loyola; Jennifer Barr, Stockton College; Dale Van Cantfort, Piedmont University; Larry Goldstein, Iona University; Duane Prokop, Gannon University; Jeff Stoltman, Wayne State University; Nevena Koukova, Lehigh University; Matthew R. Hartley, University of California, Berkeley; Cindy Claycomb, Wichita State University; Pola Gupta, Wright State University; Joan Lindsey-Mullikin, Babson College.
Also: Barnett Helzberg, Jr. of the Shirley and Barnett Helzberg Foundation, and my colleagues from Cleveland State University: Ram Rao, Sanford Jacobs, Andrew Gross and Benoy Joseph. From Wiley: Kimberly Mortimer, Carissa Marker, Sarah Vernon.
Robert F. Hartley, Professor Emeritus
College of Business Administration
Cleveland State University
Cleveland, Ohio