Alchemy for a Leader: Combining Western and Japanese Management Skills to Transform Your Company

The book that shows you how to blend the world's best management skills to outperform your competition "Alchemy of a Leader provides practical and useful interpretations for many of the most intriguing contrasts between Japanese and Western management styles. Rehfeld has drawn upon his substantial experience as an executive within the U.S. operations of Japanese companies to create a thoughtful, experience-based guide. He correctly asserts that synthesizing powerful, productive practices across management cultures will be an important skill for tomorrow's winners in the global economy. Alchemy is well worth reading." - Kenichi Ohmae Managing Director, McKinsey & Company, Inc. author of The Borderless World "Alchemy of a Leader shows us a new and unique global leadership style. John Rehfeld has held senior management positions in both business worlds and he shows us what works and what doesn't work in the unique marriage of the opposing truths of the Western and Japanese management cultures." - Spencer Johnson coauthor, The One-Minute Manager "John Rehfeld's book is a quick and easy read. Based on his personal experience as an executive at Seiko and Toshiba, Rehfeld uses business practices of successful Japanese companies as a mirror to reflect on the problems of Western management." - Michael Brimm Professor of Organizational Behavior and Management, INSEAD The European Institute of Business Administration "A practical, earthy, no-nonsense approach to business." - Irvin W. Maloney President and CEO, Dataproducts Corporation " John Rehfeld clearly articulates why the best way is not OUR way or THEIR way but an intelligent combination of the two." - Edward M. Esber, Jr. President and CEO Creative Labs, Inc. "As companies continue to globalize, the search for a world management style' will continue. What may well emerge is something along the lines suggested in Alchemy of a Leader." - Dennis Laurie, Ph.D. The Peter F. Drucker Graduate Management Center Claremont Graduate School "A delight to read and filled with just plain good stuff. It is experience and wisdom shared. John Rehfeld provides a fantastic learning experience on how to do things better." - Walter F. Beran Ernst & Young

Table of Contents:
Julius Caesar's Ghost: Rethinking Time and Budget Cycles. A Race Without a Finish Line: Continuous Improvement and How to Make It Work. Real Work: Why the Art of the Relationship Comes Before the Art of the Deal. A Collective Identity: Blending the Company "We" and the Individual "I". The WA Factory: A Highly Empowered Personnel Department. Money: ...And Other More Subtle Forms of Communication. Aggressive Patience: The Alchemy of Decision-Making. Putting the Performance Horse Before the Fiscal Cart: Making the Start-Up Mode Permanent. Marathon Management: Building Products and Markets. In Diversity There Is Unity: The Western Advantage. Index.

About the Author :
About the author Described in a Wall Street Journal profile as "a trailblazer among American executives of companies fathered in Japan," JOHN E. REHFELD is the President and CEO of ETAK, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. He has also held positions as president of Seiko Instruments USA and, prior to that, as vice president and general manager of Toshiba America. He has also served at other leading global companies such as IBM, ITT, International Data, and Arthur D. Little. He lives in San Clemente, California.

Review :
"Alchemy of a Leader provides practical and useful interpretations for many of the most intriguing contrasts between Japanese and Western management styles. Rehfeld has drawn upon his substantial experience as an executive within the U.S. operations of Japanese companies to create a thoughtful, experience-based guide. He correctly asserts that synthesizing powerful, productive practices across management cultures will be an important skill for tomorrow's winners in the global economy. Alchemy is well worth reading." - Kenichi Ohmae Managing Director, McKinsey and Company, Inc. author of The Borderless World "Alchemy of a Leader shows us a new and unique global leadership style. John Rehfeld has held senior management positions in both business worlds and he shows us what works and what doesn't work in the unique marriage of the opposing truths of the Western and Japanese management cultures." - Spencer Johnson coauthor, The One-Minute Manager "John Rehfeld's book is a quick and easy read. Based on his personal experience as an executive at Seiko and Toshiba, Rehfeld uses business practices of successful Japanese companies as a mirror to reflect on the problems of Western management." - Michael Brimm Professor of Organizational Behavior and Management, INSEAD The European Institute of Business Administration "A practical, earthy, no-nonsense approach to business." - Irvin W. Maloney President and CEO, Dataproducts Corporation " John Rehfeld clearly articulates why the best way is not OUR way or THEIR way but an intelligent combination of the two." - Edward M. Esber, Jr. President and CEO Creative Labs, Inc. "As companies continue to globalize, the search for a world management style' will continue. What may well emerge is something along the lines suggested in Alchemy of a Leader." - Dennis Laurie, Ph.D. The Peter F. Drucker Graduate Management Center Claremont Graduate School " A delight to read and filled with just plain good stuff. It is experience and wisdom shared. John Rehfeld provides a fantastic learning experience on how to do things better." - Walter F. Beran Ernst and Young