April 1, 2004
Semler, the Brazil-based CEO of Semco, believes corporations and employees can become successful by bucking tradition and thinking wildly outside the box. He attempts to explain Semco's success (a company with $212 million in annual revenue and"no official structure... no organizational chart... no business plan or company strategy") and how its principles can be applied in other companies to make working environments more appealing and opportunities for growth and achievement limitless. Nine chapters (one for each day of the week, as well as one for"Any Day" and one for"Every Day") explore the ways in which the traditional workweek stifles creativity and fosters distaste for working days. But Semler also looks at how to shake things up. The Wednesday chapter leads off with the following to-do list: attend a board of director's meeting; dump a deal rather than pay a bribe; tell the company it sucks. While Semler's ideas often seem counter-intuitive, the idea is not to provide specific guidelines but rather to encourage readers to view their organization and professional lives in a new way. The book's premise is promising, but the actual steps to achieving a seven-day weekend still seem unattainable.
April 1, 2004
Using as a case study his own company, Semco, maverick CEO Semler demonstrates how relaxing managerial control and allowing workers to use technology such as laptops, cell phones, email, and pagers can strengthen a company, eliminate the work-week drudgery, and increase revenues. Some of his ideas are certainly progressive, e.g., self-management is better than control from the top, don't buy into growth for growth's sake, and give employees the freedom to set their own hours, to dissent, and to roam from department to department. The most radical concepts may be to ditch mission statements and five-year plans. Semler develops here his corporate organizational strategies, advocating that if workers have the freedom to get their jobs done on their own terms and to blend work life and personal life, which is naturally happening anyway because of technology, they will be happier and more productive. Semler, an alumnus of the Harvard Business School, is a visiting scholar there for spring 2004. This important, readable volume on an employee-friendly management style will be valuable to executives, managers, students, and researchers and is a welcome addition to any current business collection.-Susan C. Awe, Univ. of New Mexico Lib., Albuquerque
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