Leadership Imperative

Heller (The Super Chiefs) is appalled that many large companies are stumbling in the marketplace, and he blames CEOs for clinging to outmoded, ``boss''-centered hierarchies. While insisting that CEOs must accept an open, ``horizontal'' team system to attack this drift, he stresses there is no single cure-all. Effective leaders must accept the challenge of global markets and put in place global managers, while adopting pragmatic measures such as ``outsourcing'' tasks and reformatting corporate cultures, along with instituting Total Quality Management procedures. The author's message is explicit: reinvent management or perish. Heller's lucid ideas and profiles of major corporations (Intel, Microsoft) enrich this leadership study. (Mar.)