Feb 12, 2002 12:12 PM
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(Updated Feb 12, 2002 12:12 PM)
Harold Geneen, a legend, is one of the greatest corporate honchos, a manager, leader and visionary par-excellence, and rightfully occupies an important place in the hall of fame in the ranks of Alfred Sloan, Lee Iococca, Craig Barett, Jack Welch etc.
For the benefit of younger generation: Geneen after being VP of Raytheon (who make patriot missiles), took over as CEO of ITT in 1959 when the telecom giant had sales of $766 million and profits as little as $29 million. By 1977, when he stepped down, he had bulit ITT into a global conglomerate with 250 profit centres all over the world clocking sales of $ 16.7 billion and profit of $ 562 million! The group included Wonderbread, Avis, Sheraton chain of Hotels, Hartford Insurance. Geneen in his reign bought and absorbed over 350 different businesses.
Geneen became an Icon and a symbol of excellence in Professional Business Management.
This book of his makes a fascinating read. It contains not only biographical details but also glimpses into how he made ITT into what it became.Geneen shares with readers his various ideas, theories, formulae and observations which generally are not taught in business schools.
After having worked over 30 years in various capacities and in various organisations , as a practicing manager, I found Geneen's observations and ideas so accurate and relevant to India as well. I have seen the kind of situations and the people described by Geneen, and find myself in full agreement with Geneen.
This 300 page book is a must read for all the Managers as well as managerial aspirants.
