Review of Book   : What Management is 
Author                 : Joan Margretta, Professor at HBS. 

Read the book “What management is” to get nuances of management with minimal effort. Why should I care about management when I am not a manger? Management has percolated into every aspect of our lives. For example: management touches the pay check that one carries to home, management in non-profit organisations decides the kind of world we would like to live in. When something touches our lives is so important, we need to give enough focus to understand it. The book talks about four things: What management is not about and three broad themes that management encompasses. : Purpose: Why are we doing something, Strategy: How are we doing things differently from others, Execution: Walk the talk.

First, a good management starts with knowing what management is not about. Management is not about supervising people, it’s about value creation. Joe put his house on sale and awaiting prospective customers. His reach is limited to people who pass by and people in his circle. Joe values increasing his prospective customer base. Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay, delivered this value to customer and created an 8 billion$ enterprise ebay. You understand what customer values by analysing customer behavior patterns which appears common sense when looked backward. Not everyone see this value exceptional one becomes good entrepreneurs and good managers.

Second, purpose is knowing why you want to deliver the value. For example, It is half past two and I’m hungry I really value information about restaurant around me. Google gives me this value in lieu with its vision. Google’s vision/purpose is to organize world’s data to make it useful for everyone. McDonald’s purpose to serve a family meal fast. Purpose gives a clarity in chaos. Should Google get into real estate business? Probably not because it doesnt have competency but because its purpose is different. When managers clarify purpose to employees they feel empowered. They can’t take their decisions to achieve purpose.

Third, simply put  strategy is the story that you want to tell how your business earns profits, which is bottom line in business jargon. Strategy sets you apart from competition. Dell was market leader in computer for almost a decades mainly because of  Michael Dell’s shrewd strategy. Dell saw that laptops are priced higher as middle men are adding their costs to end price. Dell cut this additional costs by selling laptops directly to consumer. Customer gives specifications and Dell makes it and ships it. Dell’s story is to take existing value chain and eliminating one unnecessary cost. But, this strategy did not work forever in improving Dell’s bottom line so Dell switched tables to servers and cloud business. This is because in the times of prosperity with enough money, people don’t value an economic product but most suitable product to their needs. An organisation and a successful manager keeps reinventing strategy from time to time.

Finally, Execution is walking the talk. You have a great strategy how do you roll it is execution. It encompasses hiring talented people for right positions. Execution begins with giving clear measurable goals. For example, improving customer served per hour will be a great metric for restaurant business, goal of improving EBITA for a business unit will channelize its resources in the right direction. Just as strategy metrics also need to be reinvented from time to time. There is no one single metric that encompasses all the facets of an organisation. The most suitable metric is one that goes with your strategy and vision.  

In sum, management is proving value to customers and stakeholders through an innovative approach. Just play your game. Key is to know why you are playing(purpose), and keep inventing new ways to play the game(strategy) and you get results on translating ability into results(execution).