The performance of the company along the above dimensions determines its Organizational IQ, which Mendelson and Ziegler's research shows is a strong indicator of financial performance. I find this Organization IQ concept very useful and practical, especially since the book provides guidelines for diagnosing IQ deficiencies and setting directions for improvement. The wealth of real company examples and case studies make the concepts in the book concrete and actionable.
I highly recommend the book to all senior managers, and anybody else interested in understanding what it will take to meet and successfully overcome the challenges of the information age.
I suppose that the book is in the tradition of academic research paper rather than overblown business hyperbole. As with any academic oriented publications, they make less than interesting reading, but valuable nevertheless.
1 EXTERNAL INFORMATION AWARENESS, ie each part of our organisation captures external information (customers, technology opportunities, competitors' actions) quickly and accurately
2 EFFECTIVE DECISION ARCHITECTURE, ie in our organisation decisions are made at the right level (by the people with the best information and perspective). As a result decisions : are made quickly, have high quality, instill ownership and accountability
3 INTERNAL KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION, ie each part of our organisation knows what it needs to know when it needs to know it. Effective information flows 4-dimensionally: Horizontal, cross functional Top-down, org-wide goals and priorities Bottom-up, operational challenges and opportunities Learning, review over time of all of above
4 ORGANISATIONAL FOCUS, ie organisation systematically fights overload and complexity by: Limiting scope of the business; focusing on core competences; simplifying processes
5 CREATING AN INFORMATION AGE BUSINESS NETWORK, ie Organisation maximises the value of eternal partnerships by applying the above 4 High IQ factors to the entire business network
Would love to share experiences with anyone working or reading up on how to improve organisations IQ factors
chris macrae, chief infomediary, brandknowledge.com e-mail wcbn007@easynet.co.uk