In 1977, a failed research project at McKinsey & Co. set in motion the wheels that would lead Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr. to publish In Search of Excellence, a controversial bestseller on organizational change.
Forty years later, what have we learned about what can make a company great and how to get it there?
The University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management will explore this topic in the January edition of its MBA Conferences series on Saturday, Jan. 28. In Search of the New Excellence will feature three companies with local operations that have achieved excellence each in their own way. What can we learn from organizations that are doing excellent work and achieving superior results in their specialty?
This intent is to go beyond “best practices” and identify the universal messages that can apply in any organizational context, said Richard Clayman, Sessional Professor and Executive-in-Residence for Leadership Development at Telfer.
“How do we recognize the need for improvement and the building blocks by which we answer that challenge?” said Clayman. “How do we recognize it, frame it, bring resources to it, think our way through it and then how do we test and measure how well we’ve done?”
The three featured companies all hail from different industries and have different pedigrees, but Clayman is confident what consistent themes will emerge.
“I think speakers will focus on the key factors of having quality HR resources within their organizations and having strong relationships between those people and the people who bring revenue in the door – understanding customer wants and delivering on them,” he said.
The speakers
Who are the speakers and the companies they represent?
– Dominique Jones, Vice-President and Chief People Officer, Halogen Software
– Dan Casey, Executive Vice-President, Future Electronics
Register for this free event
In Search of the New Excellence takes place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 28 at the University of Ottawa, 120 University Private, room FSS2005.
All MBA Conferences are open to students, alumni and the community at large. But space for this free event is limited. To confirm your spot, please RSVP before Jan. 26, 2017.
To learn more or to register, call 613-562-5800 ext. 4684 or visit www.telfer.uOttawa.ca/mbaconferences
