Download or read book Corporate Dandelions written by Craig J. Cantoni and published by AMACOM/American Management Association. This book was released on 1993 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like the dandelion, bureaucracy is a deep-rooted malady that pollinates easily and is tough to kill. In this witty, yet dead-serious book, Craig Cantoni sends out an urgent warning to businesses: bureaucracy may fester at the very heart of your organization. And although it might seem nothing more than a benign background, in fact, bureaucracy is a penetrating poison that chokes productivity, innovation, and competitiveness. With intriguing vignettes and case studies, Corporate Dandelions peers down the corporate corridors of some of the worst offenders - and shows the destruction that bureaucracy (and bureaucrats) can perpetrate. The good news is that you can stop bureaucracy's pernicious spread - if you know what to look for. Corporate Dandelions explains that red tape, foot-thick policy manuals, and endless paperwork are merely the outward symptoms of much deeper problems. You know you're in trouble, says Cantoni, whenever your company exhibits any of these danger signs: unnecessary activities that add no value to the enterprise; conditions of cautiousness, conservatism, and entitlement; loss of contact with customers and with the employees at the "bottom" of the organization who serve them; and an unquenchable thirst for perks, power, and politics at the highest levels of the organization. Specifically, Corporate Dandelions shows how to recognize and conquer the "11 Iron Laws of Bureaucracy." It aids companies of all sizes in weeding out the true enemy - the bureaucratic state of mind. Moreover, this pathbreaking book will help you create an environment where bureaucracy simply can't flourish, by providing the specific tools to help keep it in check. Following Craig Cantoni's bold yet sensible guidelines will yield a crop of positive changes, including the renewed ability to build risk-taking and creativity; hire, promote, and compensate workers for their productivity and ideas, rather than their tenure; realize the full value of empowerment and team building; cut white-collar overhead (equivalent to 26% of sales in the U.S., versus 21% in Western Europe and 18% in Japan); and reduce cost and waste at all levels. Corporate Dandelions demonstrates that bureaucracy need not be part of the business landscape. Use this book to root it out for good - and to clear the way for corporate growth that flourishes and bears fruit.