In business, as in other aspects of life, we learn and grow from the examples set by others. Imitation can lead to innovation. But in order to grow innovatively, how do businesses decide what firms to imitate? And how do they choose what practices to follow? "Learning by Example" takes an unprecedented look at the benchmarking initiative of a major financial institution. David Strang closely follows twenty-one teams of managers sent out to observe the practices of other companies in order to develop recommendations for change in their own organization. Through extensive interviews, surveys, and archival materials, Strang reveals that benchmarking promotes a distinctive managerial regime with potential benefits and pitfalls. He explores the organizations treated as models of best practice, the networks that surround a bank and form its reference group, the ways managers craft calls for change, and the programs implemented in the wake of vicarious learning. Strang finds that imitation does not occur through mindless conformity. Instead, managers act creatively, combining what they see in external site visits with their bank's strategic objectives, interpreted in light of their understanding of rational and progressive management. "Learning by Example" opens the black box of interorganizational diffusion to show how managers interpret, advocate, and implement innovations.
Preface ix Introduction 1 Section One: Setting the Scene: Benchmarking and a Bank 25 Chapter 1: Benchmarking as a Management Technique 27 Chapter 2: Global Financial and Team Challenge 55 Section Two: The Process of Benchmarking: How and Who? 79 Chapter 3: Practical Reasoning and the Case for Change 81 Chapter 4: The Construction of a Reference Group 109 Chapter 5: Interorganizational Influence 142 Section Three: The Results of Benchmarking: Proposals and Programs 171 Chapter 6: Common Moves in Organizational Reform 173 Chapter 7: Personal and Programmatic Impact 194 Chapter 8: Global Financial's Corporate Quality Initiative 215 Chapter 9: Some Lessons from the Search for Best Practice 247 Bibliography 265 Index 281
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