The most important, and indeed the truly unique, contribution of management in the 20th century was the fifty-fold increase in the productivity of the manual worker in manufacturing. The most important contrubution management needs to make in the 21st century is similarly to increase the productivity of knowledge work and the knowledge worker.

Peter F. Drucker

The wealth of nations is increasingly based on the creation and exploitation of knowledge. The best possible advantage must be taken of this new form of progress available to community firms since it is an area in which the community enjoys a substantial lead.

ICIMS News

Current global developments require a keen, pleasant, and ethical way of working within organizations. In turn, organizations should be characterized by vision, self-guidance, learning, and a balanced relationship between the personal ambition of individuals and the shared organizational ambition.

In my work as a management consultant, I have noticed that many companies have not yet comprehended the importance of these aspects. In most cases, improvement and development projects are handled with the traditional methods previously mentioned, and the results are usually temporary and cosmetic. Subsequently, many opportunities for the achievement of durable competitive advantage are missed. I developed this book, the learning objectives of which are mentioned in the boxed text, to meet the need for a more inspiring approach to organizational development and learning.