ABSTRACT
Popular books on business management, of the self-improvement genre, have lent credibility to those distortions by describing success stories of what have become known as "excellent companies." That would most likely include erroneous perceptions of university and college graduates in business administration who continually study case histories about companies like Bell, General Motors, IBM, 3M, HP, Matsushita, Texas Instruments, P&G, Eastman Kodak, and other such market leaders. Big performers are news. The ordinary, smaller enterprise is unlikely to be spotlit by the media unless it performs so well that it becomes extraordinary. Does management style play a significant role in success or failure? Clearly styles will differ according to the size or complexity of an organization, where requirements and skills differ. There are industry differences too. But perhaps the biggest differences in management style are found where cultures and values differ. The chapter also discusses four case studies based on marketing evolution.
