Talent: Making People Your Competitive Advantage [Hardcover]

The source of competitive advantage has shifted in many organizations from reliability to innovation and flexibility. But what does it take for an organization that innovates to then manage effectively? In this follow-up to Built to Change, Ed Lawler argues that it is a combination of the right structure and the right people. First, organizations must decide what structure they are: are you a high-involvement organization that has products and services that require a high level of coordination and cooperation among employees? Or do you have a more global competitor structure in which you are constantly bringing in new talent and technological expertise? Are you a mixture of both? Lawler outlines the unique human capital strategy for each approach, shows what it looks like in action, and provides the foundation and tools for creating competitive and innovative organizations.

Foreword vii?
Dave Ulrich

Preface xv

1 Talent Matters 1

2 Making the Right Management Choice 14

3 Designing Organizations 36

4 Managing Talent 63

5 Managing Performance 99

6 Information and Decision Making 126

7 Reinventing HR 151

8 Governing Corporations 175

9 Leading 196

10 Managing Change 220

?Epilogue 237

?Notes 243

?References 255

?The Author 261

?Index 263

Voted Best Book of 2008 in Human Capital, Strategy + Business Some boards do have committees on human resources, but they typically focus on CEO and executive compensation and perhaps succession planning at the executive level, not on the overall talent strategy and effectiveness of the organization...What is needed is a human capital committee that addresses succession pll#Ø