DESIGNING THE CUSTOMER-CENTRIC ORGANIZATION: A Guide to Strategy, Structure, and Process
by Jay R. Galbraith (Jossey-Bass, a Wiley Imprint)

Organizational design expert Jay Galbraith draws here on his many years of helping clients become truly customer-centric—"particularly when they think they already are." As companies trudge the rocky road of corporate reinvention, Galbraith acknowledges the hesitation to move away from a traditional, "keep-it-simple-for-us" management style; but he insists there is little downside in the attempt. He offers a roadmap of how to organize, and a "strategy locator" helps readers determine how customer-centric their organizations should be. He examines processes and corporate structures and highlights examples of successful customer-centric organizations—such as IBM, which Galbraith calls one of the best.

SATISFACTION: How Every Great Company Listens to the Voice of the Customer
by Chris Denove and James D. Power IV (Penguin Group)

Companies wear a J. D. Power & Associates award like a badge of honor—but authors Chris Denove and James D. Power IV warn that customer satisfaction is a moving target; you can never declare victory. Their book weaves together thirty-five years of product quality data and buyer behavior anecdotes to make the point that, ultimately, your company is nothing more than what your customers say it is. Denove and Power draw a link to the bottom line: customer satisfaction affects loyalty, word of mouth, price premiums, operating costs, and deal-close rates, for multinationals and the local plumber alike. Also here is advice on how to develop an infrastructure built around the voice of the customer, from top management to front-line employees.

THE TEN FACES OF INNOVATION: IDEO's Strategies for Defeating the Devil's Advocate and Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization
by Tom Kelley with Jonathan Littman (Currency/Doubleday)

Tom Kelley—IDEO general manager and author of the bestselling The Art of Innovation—once again challenges organizations to drive creativity through innovation, insisting that your company's product or service is only as compelling as your vision for it. He identifies "personas"—the "faces" of his title—that every company needs on its teams, people who can infuse an enterprise with the spirit of continuous creative evolution. "Anthropologists," for example, study the customer experience up close—such as videotaping hospital experiences to suggest operational improvements. "Experimenters" at 3M and Apple risked their jobs in skunkworks operations that ultimately paid off big. And "Experience Architects" have turned ordinary bottled water into a mood and sensibility wrapped in design, storytelling, and humor—perhaps the ultimate example of a powerful designed experience. Innovation, Kelley asserts, is the pivotal management tool across virtually all industries and market segments.

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