Certain
recurring themes form what is now the prevailing wisdom based on these various references. First, because of globalization and technolou, the competition for customers is growing increasingly intense. Second, only those firms that can generate the outcomes of superior customer service will emerge as winners from this competition. Third, certain management and human resource development policies and practices are required if an organization is to produce these outcomes. Finally, it is the talent, knowledge, and abilities of employees-both as individuals and as members of organizations-that will likely fuel the competitive advantages necessary for being successful.
Jumping the Curve is another addition to this body of literature. As such, two questions come to mind. First, does this volume offer anything new to distinguish it from the previous works and, therefore, commend it to the reader's attention? And second, what implications does this approach have for human resources development researchers and practitioners? The answers are several. The authors have done a good job integrating much of the existing literature along with their own research into a new framework for understanding the importance of service quality and organizational learning and change. They have embedded their recommendations within the larger historical context. And even though this book is written at a higher level of scholarship than typically found in such works, it is still a good read. The authors have seamlessly woven views on service quality and organizational learning into a series of applications-what they call initiatives-for operating managers. Finally while specific directions for human resource development are not as immediately evident as in some other texts, the authors' perspective should nevertheless contribute much.
The purpose of this book is twofold: to persuade managers and executives of the need to make radical change and to direct the kinds of change that are necessary Imparato and Harari present their argument in two main parts. First, they call for radical changes; that is, they call for jumping the curve in how business is conducted. The specific curve to be jumped is the S-curve model of organizational growth, maturity, and decline (Foster, 1986). Second, the authors offer a number of specific "curve-jumping" suggestions, grouped under four organizing principles for managing.