Implementing Value-Added Change in an Organization

Viva EVA

The EVA Challenge: Implementing Value-Added Change in an Organization

By Joel M. Stern and John S. Shiely

John Wiley & Sons, 2001, $29.95

Economic value added (EVA) is not a new concept, nor is it short on big-name adopters (among them The Coca-Cola Co., Siemens and the U.S. Postal Service). What has been lacking is a how-to guide for chief executives who want to customize and implement an EVA program in their own organization.

As a discipline, EVA not only helps companies measure financial performance in a way that’s more accurate and relevant to shareholders than, say, earnings per share (EPS), it also changes corporate priorities. This book is a readable discussion of the three systems?measurement, incentives and financial management?essential to any EVA program. It provides an implementation road map, discusses potential pitfalls, answers common questions and gives recipes for success with the real-world examples.

The authors occasionally bog down in excessive explanations of basic business concepts. And they tend to describe EVA as a methodological nirvana. Yet most of their discussion is concise, relevant and practical. If you think EVA may be on the horizon for your organization, make sure you read this book.

?Katherine Noyes

And….

The Passion Plan at Work: Building a Passion-Driven Organization

By Richard Y. Chang

Jossey-Bass, 2001, $24.95

Yes, yes, all companies should be steered by a big purpose. Let the heart prevail; Ben & Jerry’s?that’s the goal. Although my inner cynic demurs, there might still be hope. Slip a copy of this book into your CEO’s briefcase. And retitle it Making Big Changes in Small Minds at the Top.

?Janice Brand

CIO Best-Seller List

5. The HR Scorecard

by Brian E. Becker, Mark A. Huselid and Dave Ulrich

Harvard Business School Press, 2001

4. Creative Destruction

by Richard Foster and Sarah Kaplan

Doubleday, 2001

3.Now, Discover Your Strengths

by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton

The Free Press, 2001

2.First, Break All the Rules

by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman

Simon & Schuster, 1999

1.Who Moved My Cheese?

by Spencer Johnson

The Putnam Publishing Group, 1998

Source: April 2001 data, compiled by Amazon.com, Seattle

What They’re Reading

Jim Woolen, executive director and CTO, Gwinnett County (Ga.) Public Schools Spencer Johnson, Who Moved My Cheese? (The Putnam Publishing Group, 1998) “While this is not a new book, its parables about change were timely reading [for me because] my organization is undergoing dramatic change. CIOs must be change agents, not merely custodians of the infrastructure.” Chris Anne Wheeler, executive partner, ActivMedia Research, Peterborough, N.H. “In today’s volatile business environment, Who Moved My Cheese? helps keep you focused on the ultimate prize. I often think about the reminders it gave me.”

Editor’s note: While professional reviewers have been less than approving, it’s clear that readers find a lot to like in Who Moved My Cheese? In the three years since its publication, it has sold more than 4 million hardcover copies and has come out in paperback, audiocassette, CD-ROM, and foreign-language, large print and Braille editions. And it has inspired at least two parodies.