Thursday, January 3, 2008

From Media Tampa Bay

http://mediatampabay.com/article.php?id=32


SOUL OF THE CORPORATION NEW BOOK IS A PRAGMATIC GUIDE TO DIAGNOSING AND MANAGING CORPORATE IDENTITY
12/28/07
Philadelphia, PA – In the Age of Identity, the basis of competitive advantage is shifting from what the product is (intrinsic features of a product or a service) to who (the identity of the firm that markets it). Leaders who realize the potential of identity as a competitive weapon will be far ahead in the race to create sustainable advantage. THE SOUL OF THE CORPORATION: HOW TO MANAGE THE IDENTITY OF YOUR COMPANY (Wharton School Publishing, $29.99, ISBN: 0131857266) by Hamid Bouchikhi and John R. Kimberly, gives them a systematic, accessible, management-oriented way to treat their organization’s identity.
Drawing on stories from organizations such as McDonald’s, Lenovo, Ford, and the Catholic Church, THE SOUL OF THE CORPORATION argues that while identity can be an extraordinarily valuable asset, it can also become a huge liability when not managed properly. Using the strategies illustrated by the authors, readers can discover how their organization’s identity is related to and different from its organizational culture, brand positioning and reputation. Readers will also learn how to manage the unconscious shared beliefs that give their organization coherence and how to face the identity challenges that arise in mergers, alliances, spin-offs, and acquisitions.
Identity is everywhere, but the “average” business manager is poorly equipped for sensing and dealing with it. If they don’t want to suffer the detrimental consequences of identity in their organizations, managers need to master this additional, very challenging, dimension. THE SOUL OF THE CORPORATION opens the “black-box” and offers business leaders a set of “actionable” ideas and guidelines they can use to enhance their ability to diagnose and manage identity issues in their organizations.