21 mars 2010

Dead souls (French version below)

A concept introduced in 1970 by John Nemiah and Peter Sifneos
The alexithymy comes from Greek and means: "alpha" to indicate the hardship, “lexis" for word and " thymos " for humor. It is in fact about met difficulties concerning the verbal expression. Certain patients presenting psychosomatic symptoms tend to show an alexithymie, what is translated by very marked clinical criteria:
• Description of the physical symptoms;
• Difficulty to communicate verbally the feelings;
• Repetitive Speech;
• Poor fantastical and dreamlike production;
• Interpersonal relations marked by a strong dependence.
This concept, applied to the management field, can lead to dramatic and heavy consequences for the firm. First compulsive companies, centred on themselves, are at risk. Those who are depressive (bad results (profits) and forecasts, no clear strategy, etc.) are also in danger. It is thus necessary to keep this type of profiles far from the management of a company because their behavior can influence in the long run on the overall profile and climate of the company.
As usual please comment in: geraldkarsenti@live.fr

Version française (french version)
Les âmes mortes … un concept introduit en 1970 par John Nemiah et Peter Sifneos
L’alexithymie vient du grec et signifie : « alpha » pour indiquer la privation, « lexis » pour mot et « thymos » pour humeur. Il s’agit en fait de difficultés rencontrées concernant l’expression verbale. Certains patients présentant des symptômes psychosomatiques ont tendance à manifester une alexithymie, ce qui se traduit par des critères cliniques très marqués :
• Description inlassable des symptômes physiques ;
• Difficulté pour communiquer verbalement les émotions ;
• Discours répétitif ;
• Production fantasmatique et onirique pauvre ;
• Relations interpersonnelles marquées par une forte dépendance.
Ce concept, appliqué au management et à l’entreprise, peut entrainer de lourdes conséquences pour la firme. Les entreprises compulsives, centrées sur elles-mêmes, sont à risque. Celles qui sont en mode dépressives (résultats en berne, stratégie pas très claire, etc.) le sont également. Il faut donc garder ce type de profils loin de la direction d’une entreprise car leur comportement peut déteindre à la longue sur le profil de l’entreprise. Comme d’habitude vos commentaires sont les bienvenus sur : geraldkarsenti@live.fr

03 mars 2010

A book to understand how one can establish a link between learning processes and competitive advantages.

 
“Organizational learning and competitive advantage”, a book edited by Bertrand Moingeon (HEC Paris) and Amy Edmondson (Harvard School).
(Un livre qui permet de comprendre comment établir un lien entre les processus d’apprentissage et la mise en évidence d’avantages compétitifs).
"Integrating thinking and acting is the name of the game in today's dynamic marketplace. . . . This book takes an important first step towards integrating theories of competitive advantage and . . . . organizational learning, a rapprochement which can come none too soon for the management practitioner." --Peter Senge, Director, Center for Organizational Learning, MIT Sloan School of Management "The chapters in this volume provide many important insights into how to integrate the different managerial functions and thus overcome one of the chief barriers to organizational learning." --Chris Argyris, Harvard Business School "This book unlike many others, odes not fall into the trap of simply regurgitating established ideas and theories. . . . it is rare for a group of authors to be able to unite tow paradigms: strategy and organizational learning." --Bernard Ramanantsoa, Dean of HEC-- Paris Organizations facing uncertain, changing, or ambiguous market conditions need to be able to learn. Organizational Learning and Competitive Advantage explores organizational learning as a key factor in achieving competitive advantage and links two disciplines together--strategic management and organizational behavior. In a lively transatlantic dialogue the contributors to this work forge a link between the strategic theories of management and the behaviors that affect their implementation. As the field of strategic management shifts to embrace a new emphasis on organizational capabilities and their development, organizational learning occupies an increasingly central place within the field. The diverse, multidiscplinary approaches contained in the volume are an important step toward providing and integrative theory of management. This book will appeal to a wide range of students in strategy and organizational behavior and management studies. From a learning standpoint, this volume is truly original, from a strategy standpoint, this work is visionary.
As usual, feel free to contact me and send me your remarks at: geraldkarsenti@live.fr
Comme d’habitude vos commentaires sont les bienvenus sur : geraldkarsenti@live.fr