The Fiefdom Syndrome

Turf wars and bureaucracy can undermine even the strongest corporate strategies. Drawing on lessons learned throughout his distinguished career, Bob describes innovative and practical ways to tackle this pervasive problem and beat The Fiefdom Syndrome. --Bill Gates, Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Microsoft Corporation A vitally important business book. As Bob Herbold, longtime COO of Microsoft makes clear, the battles over territory and turf stem from basic human behavior. Uncontrolled, they can be incredibly destructive, yet they are inherent in every organization. In The Fiefdom Syndrome, Herbold shows how fiefdoms can hamstring a company's operations, and how to break through them. I strongly urge people of all organizations, large and small, profit and non-profit to read this book." --John Chambers, President and CEO, Cisco SystemsThe turf battles and territorial fiefdoms that undermine so many companiesand how to break through them, by long-term Microsoft COO Robert J. HerboldThere is a potentially infectious condition inside virtually all organizations that can cause more damage than economic downturns, management upheavals, and global business shifts. Until now it has had no name. But it has impacted some of the worlds leading companies, including Procter & Gamble, IBM, Coca-Cola, and Microsoft. Robert J. Herbold, the COO who brought corporate discipline to a young Microsoft organization and helped to transform it into a mature global giant, calls it the Fiefdom Syndrome. And it happens at organizations large and small, profit and nonprofit, at the individual level as well as the group and divisional level. It can undercut a companys effectiveness, and in extreme cases it has shaken entire industries and taken down major corporations.The problem begins when individuals, groups, or divisionsout of fearseek to make themselves vital to their organizations and, unconsciously or sometimes deliberately, try to protect their turf and others perceptions of them. It is a natural human tendency, dating back to the origins of our species, but if it isnt managed properly, the damage caused by these fiefdoms can spell the death knell of what should have been a strong and vital organization.People who create fiefdoms can become dangerously insular, losing perspective on what is happening in the world outside their own control. They hoard resources. They are determined to do things in their own way, often duplicating or complicating what should be streamlined throughout the company, leading to runaway costs, increased bureaucracy, and a loss of agility and speed.In The Fiefdom Syndrome, Bob Herbold exposes the myriad ways such fiefdoms can compromise a companys effectivenessas well as show what managers, companies, and individuals can do to break up fiefdoms and conquer the turf wars. Illustrated with countless examples from Microsoft, Pro"


Review: "An important book for any leader who is responsible for sustained business growth." --A.G. Lafley, Chairman, Chief Executive and President, The Procter & Gamble Co.âWith... thorough analysis and practical insights, this book will help you recognize, eliminate and prevent the cancer of individual agendas.â --Michael Dell, Chairman, Dell Inc. âIdentifies the causes, symptoms, and cures of one of the great diseases (scourges) that insidiously destroy large corporations in America.â --Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO, Bank One Corporation"A must-read... All institutions need a clear, unified mission and Bob Herbold's new book will help managers achieve it." --Hank Paulson, Chairman & CEO, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc."The Fiefdom Syndrome tackles a pervasive and seldom discussed problem - namely, why organizations tend to become slow-footed, fragmented, and mediocre. " --John Doerr, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers"Takes on the bureaucracy and turf battles that... Sam Walton fought his whole life to overcome. I strongly recommend it." --Rob Walton, Chairman of the Board, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.â Identifies a critical business problem... few have been able to solve - until now... Should be required reading across corporate America.â --James I. Cash, Jr., Ph.D., James E. Robison Professor of Business Administration, Harvard University Graduate School of BusinessâThe reader will highly value the powerful, useful learnings... told via great âwar storiesâ by a very experienced practitioner.â --Adrian Slywotzky, author of the acclaimed books Value Migration, The Profit Zone, and The Art of Profitability"Provides valuable insights on how to... avoid the pitfalls of decentralization that goes too far (ie. fiefdoms)." --Dick Kovacevich, Chairman and CEO, Wells Fargo & CompanyâWhether you are in business, government, education or...non-profits, I urge you to read this book, and... take its advice.â --Jack

Author / Editor: Herbold, Robert

Category: Business, Finance

ISBN: 9780385514194

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