The Great Game of Business & Open Book
Management
If you want to
improve your company's results (and who doesn't?), please take
a few minutes to read this ...
In 1982, International Harvester's engine
rebuilding plant in Springfield, Missouri was facing closure. Instead,
plant manager Jack Stack and 12 of his
fellow managers borrowed $9 million and bought the place, renaming it SRC
(Springfield Remanufacturing Company.) The loan payment was big and the
team was inexperienced, so they opened the books and got everyone in the
company focused on the financials, so all the employees could help the
company make money and survive. They created a business of business
people. The concept known as "Open Book Management" was born.
 Other companies started hearing about SRC's success and began trekking to Springfield to learn more. Jack Stack
wrote his now-classic book The Great Game of Business and it became
(and remains) an international sensation. SRC has since grown into a $400
million company with 7 subsidiaries. One of those divisions is also called
The Great Game of Business, and they help businesses teach their employees
to think and act like owners - a proven path to business success and a
common-sense way to run a company.
I personally discovered The Great Game of
Business in 1993, about 5 years after starting my electronics company,
which was still struggling at the time. We implemented open book
management and went on to enjoy years of growth and success, culminated by
every entrepreneur's dream - selling the business and cashing out in 2005.
That same year, I wrote my own book and started Collier Business Advisors.
In 2007, I purchased a Great Game of Business franchise and am now
helping businesses in the St. Louis region use our methods to achieve
success.
What is Open-Book Management?
OBM is NOT about full financial
transparency. OBM IS about giving employees the key measures of business
success and teaching them to understand those measures and use them to
improve business performance. It’s about fully engaging employees in the
business. It’s about teaching employees how the business works and what is
critical to success. It’s about getting employees to openly discuss wins
and losses so they can keep learning and getting better.
OBM works because employees get a chance
to act – to take responsibility rather than just “doing their job”. Each
employee knows and understands how they can contribute to the financial
performance of the company – and understand that they have a direct stake
in the company’s success.
Great Game Services:
- Coaching & support
programs -
Whether you're just getting started or already playing the Great Game in
your company, we have a program tailored for your situation.
PDF
brochure
- Business and financial literacy
training - help your people understand how the company makes money,
why it's in their best interest for the company to succeed, and most
importantly, how everyone can help. We can bring these workshops to your
company, and we periodically run public workshops.
- Open Book Forums - peer advisory
roundtable groups. Your fellow members become an informal and
confidential advisory board. Learn from each other, hold each other
accountable for success, and solve your toughest challenges - all in a
confidential environment.
PDF brochure
Resources & More Info:
Call Bill at 314-221-8558 or
email for more info.
Not in the St. Louis area? Visit
www.greatgame.com
for more info. You'll be glad you did!
Here's what Jim Collins, author of
Good to Great, has to say about The Great Game of Business:
“A rare & wonderful contrast to the
short-sighted, undisciplined thinking that has infected our modern
business culture.”
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