Performance Without Compromise

by Charles F. Knight, Davis Dyer

In today's volatile marketplace, it's rare for firms to last—much less consistently increase earnings—for more than four decades. That's what makes the story of 115-year-old global manufacturing and technology leader Emerson so remarkable, and so valuable, for today's managers. How does Emerson do it? And what can other companies learn from its success? Celebrated business leader Charles F. Knight—who was CEO of Emerson for 27 of its 43 consecutive years of increased profits—says the secret behind Emerson's long-term competitiveness is a dynamic management process carried out with unrelenting discipline. In Performance Without Compromise , Knight breaks down the key components of the Emerson management process in detail for the first time, and shows how this core process enables Emerson to address and overcome major challenges ranging from technological discontinuities to intense global competition. A remarkable success story, Performance Without Compromise is filled with insightful lessons about leadership, management, and competitiveness that can be applied in any company or industry.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published August 25, 2005

Reviews

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a required book to read for all the managers up in the company I am currently working for: Emerson.

There is a danger of being dismissed if I say anything bad about the book or if I rate this lower than 5 stars so please bear with me. No, I am just kidding.

But the boss of my boss has been reminding us to read this book every meeting and I said to myself: if I could read 23 books a month or 250 books a year, why not squeeze this business book in?

I am glad, I did just that. This book, Performance Without Compromise tells the story of Charles "Chuck" F. Knight particularly his work experience at Emerson from 1973-2000 as its CEO. Well, I joined the company in 2004 so I neither had the chance to shake his hand nor read any of his president's messages. However, the book shows the foundation where Emerson is built on: excellent management process. This process anchors on good planning, belief that good managers are assets, world-class products, sufficient E&R (engineering and research) investments to be leaders and not fast followers, innovative marketing strategies, ability to react to changes in external environment especially the impact of globalization, transparent and thorough succession planning and... having fun. Well, those are the things that I actually retained in my corporate (not literary) brain while typing this review without opening the book.

My favorite part is the passing of the CEO baton from W. R. "Buck" Pearsons in 1973 to Charles "Chuck" F. Knight who in turn passed it on to the current CEO, David Farr who is several (6-7) layers from me in the org chart but I am just still grateful for having shaken his hand once in my almost 7 years with the company. You see, he is based in the US while I am here in the Philippines and the last time (my supposedly second chance to shake his hand) he visited, it was nighttime (the night owls were the ones who had the chance to tour him around) and I was in my bed dreaming of when I can be a CEO myself. Oh, this is part of having fun.

Now, when the boss of my boss talks about the secret of Emerson's success, Emerson Management Process, its 6 elements, 10 keys to business leadership, EPS vs ROTC, the history why shared services are in Manila, the history of ASTEC and other acquisitions, etc. I think I have something to share instead of just being silent in the meeting. As the late Ernie Baron used to say: "Knowledge is power!"

Thank you, boss of my boss, for making me read this book!

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's an interesting book, but once it just became, "so, we realized that we needed to improve this, so we just bought this company..." it became less useful to me. Some good points about planning, but not every organization can just buy the companies that will help them improve.

[Deanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

How Chuck Knight, CEO of Emerson consistently achieves results.

This reads more like a textbook, and misses catching the charisma and inspiration of the man who ran the company.

[Dan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just happy I never got my MBA. I am not into ameliorating the CAGR (Cumulative Annual Growth Rate.) over the ROTC (Return over Total Capital). I'd just rather write code.

[Karla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Assigned reading for leadership training. Good insight into the rigorous Emerson planning process.

[Itsjunalene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Currently reading this book!