Our market system has evolved in line with capitalist philosophy,
and at its heart is profit. But while profit can be a powerful
motive, it is not always used responsibly and, in the worst cases,
this can have damaging effects at a wider level. The calls for a
corporate conscience grow louder, but no one has yet suggested an
alternative to profit that people find as compelling. Profit is
here and now.
In this climate, the solution is to refine the profit motive,
not replace it. We all value things, and we’re all motivated
by what we value. If value could replace the profit motive, it
would reconcile the interests of CEOs, shareholders, citizens and
government. Profits would still rise but at the same time society
would gain value. This book is a call to manage for maximum value
– to follow The Value Motive.
Kearns Endorsements
‘In ‘The Value Motive, ‘ Paul Kearns clarifies the confusing
concept of ‘value’ and shows how it can be used to transform
thinking and action in organizations. Paul’s books are always
stimulating and controversial, and this one is no exception. If you
are interested in creating more value in your organization and
willing to have your existing mental models challenged, then you
should read this book!’
–Dean Spitzer, Performance Measurement Thought Leader, IBM
Research, and author of ‘Transforming Performance Measurement’
USA
‘I have worked with a host of HR professional over the years. To
date I know of noone that compares to Paul when it comes to
presenting the issues and challenges of managing human capital and
providing practical approaches for doing so. Like his past books,
The Value Motive, brings clarity to a world of HR, which often is
filled with disarray and recommendations that tend to be driven by
political correctness rather than by the intent to produce value.
Paul’s discussion of value as a driving force in organizations (in
addition to profit) brings together the worlds of for and
not for profit organizations. It also provides an
overarching theme that includes the best interest of all
stakeholders, customers, community and shareholders alike. This
certainly represents a very much needed approach.’
–Finnur Oddsson, Ph.D., Director of MBA Programs &
Executive Education, Reykjavík University, Iceland
‘This is a timely, forward-looking, and convincing exposition
delving into why value is a better determination of sustained ROI
than profit. Paul provides simple, yet valid methodology regarding
how much value is added by any organizational activity. His
writings are a must for anyone measuring the true effectiveness of
people development, an organization’s primary value-added
activity.’
–Tery Tennant, Attainment, Inc, USA
Зміст
About The Author ix
Preface xi
Introduction xix
1 Profit Is Not a Dirty Word But Value Is Much Cleaner 1
Is profit the best way to allocate scarce resources? 1
Profit can be a very emotive word 7
The Microsoft Paradox 11
Not-for-profit? Does that mean not-for-value? 17
Profit is an increasingly unpopular king 22
2 Value – A Very Slippery Word Indeed 29
Defining value 29
A working definition of value 34
Basic value 37
Moving on to added value 41
Private equity partners – value adders or asset strippers? 44
The value motive already exists 47
Value as a distillation process 51
Declaring value in a public statement 54
The value agenda 62
A value statement for a commercial company 63
A value statement for a public sector organization 68
‘Intangibles’ confuse the issue of added value 71
3 This Powerful Motive Force We Call Value 77
Harnessing the power of motive 77
Value means output, not input 80
Defi ning value as an economic system 85
Does the capitalist system deliver the best value? 88
When we say value we should really mean it 92
A holistic value system for everyone 96
4 Value Has to Be The Raison D’être For Every Type of Organization 101
All value is good 101
Value is the raison d’être of all organizations 103
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the ‘triple’ bottom line 106
Social enterprise 117
Is the public sector an obsolete construct? 120
5 Organizational Performance Measurement Has to Measure Value 127
Turning human activity into value 127
The advent of the scorecard 130
The EFQM business excellence model 134
Agreeing value priorities using the 3 Box System 136
The gulf between performance measurement theory and practice 142
Activity, performance and added value measures 150
Taking a fresh perspective on the purpose of performance measurement 153
Measuring and managing ‘intangibles’ 156
E-valu-ation 161
6 Value Is Essentially A People Thing 167
A fresh approach to people management 167
Measuring the value of people 171
Debunking the employee-customer-profit chain theory 176
Replacing performance management with value management 178
Managing value holistically 185
Valuing people ‘intangibles’ 187
7 The People Measurement ‘Box’ 193
Only meaningful measures count 193
People measurement is a really serious matter 199
Does diversity add value? 205
Human capital management, a revolution in management thinking 210
People – are they personnel, human resources, assets or capital? 214
Human capital measures and indicators of value 216
8 How The Value Motive Could Upstage The Profit King 223
The value motive is leadership 223
The politician’s definition of value 231
The first, second and third sectors have to become one 236
Value special cases and dead losses 241
Value management education 245
Auditing the value motive 249
A new management discipline – valuing the human contribution 252
Index 259
Про автора
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PAUL KEARNS started his career specializing in industrial relations management in 1978. He then moved into human resource management roles in engineering, construction and manufacturing businesses. His last corporate role in 1991 was sitting on the management team of an automotive business where he became acutely aware, for the first time, that managing value and managing profit were two entirely different objectives. He found, in particular, that managing the human aspects of organizations to create value had become probably the biggest management issue of modern times and one that had no easy solution and no single, coherent methodology.
Since then he has been working in this field as a consultant, writer, teacher and business conference speaker. His writing has drawn a great deal of attention from both the business and academic worlds, although he has always regarded himself, first and foremost, as a pragmatic practitioner. As a consequence he regards his work as bridging the divide between academic theory and management practice. He teaches on MBA programmes and trains managers to understand the wealth creating opportunities presented by a more enlightened approach to people management. He has written eight books and is a regular, thought-provoking contributor to both academic and professional journals.
Paul was born in 1955 in Leicester (UK) and has a degree in economics and economic history. He is married to Nuala and they have three grown-up children.