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''In Search of Excellence'' is an international bestselling book written by Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr.. First published in 1982, it is one of the biggest selling business books ever, selling 3 million copies in its first four years, and being the most widely held monograph in the United States from 1989 to 2006 ((WorldCat ) data). The book purports to explore the art and science of management used by several 1980s companies. ==Background== ''In Search of Excellence'' did not start out as a book, as Tom Peters explained when interviewed in 2001 to mark the 20th anniversary of ''In Search of Excellence''. In the same interview, Peters claims that he and Waterman were both consultants on the "margins" of McKinsey, based in the San Francisco office.〔https://www.fastcompany.com/44077/tom-peterss-true-confessions〕 In 1977 McKinsey director Ron Daniel launched two projects; the first and major one, the Business Strategy project, was allocated to top consultants at McKinsey's New York corporate HQ and was given significant resources, but could not manage to effectively implement strategy. Peters states that directly after graduating with a PhD from Stanford, and returning to McKinsey, Daniel handed him a "fascinating assignment."〔http://tompeters.com/2011/03/a-brief-history-of-the-7-s-mckinsey-7-s-model/〕 Motivated by the new ideas coming from Bruce Henderson's Boston Consulting Group, Peters "was asked (Daniel ) to look at 'organization effectiveness' and 'implementation issues' in an inconsequential offshoot project nested in McKinsey's rather offbeat San Francisco office."〔http://tompeters.com/2011/03/a-brief-history-of-the-7-s-mckinsey-7-s-model/〕 While Daniel's first project was focused on Business Strategy, this second project was concerned with Organization, which Peters defined as involving "the structure-and-people side."〔https://www.fastcompany.com/44077/tom-peterss-true-confessions〕 This "Organization" project was seen as less important, according to Peters in a Fast Company interview. Despite being described as "marginal," the project "had an infinite travel budget that allowed () to fly first class and stay at top-notch hotels and a license from McKinsey to talk to as many cool people as () could all around the United States and the world."〔https://www.fastcompany.com/44077/tom-peterss-true-confessions〕 Peters admits that "There was no carefully designed work plan. There was no theory that I was out to prove. I went out and talked to genuinely smart, remarkably interesting, first-rate people."〔https://www.fastcompany.com/44077/tom-peterss-true-confessions〕 In addition to Karl Weick and Einar Thorsrud, Peters notes that Douglas McGregor's theory of motivation known as Theory X and Theory Y was directly influential on the direction of the project. In a 1978 article, "Symbols, Patterns and Settings," Peters argued that "shifting organizational structure" and "inventing new processes" - structure and system, respectively - were only two tools of organizational change. Peters then outlines eight "mundane" tools that every manager has at their fingertips. He described this article as a "tentative presentation" and the "the first public expression of these ideas."〔http://tompeters.com/2011/03/a-brief-history-of-the-7-s-mckinsey-7-s-model/〕 In 1979 McKinsey's Munich office requested Peters to present his findings to Siemens, which provided the spur for Peters to create a 700-slide two-day presentation. Word of the meeting reached the US and Peters was invited to present also to PepsiCo, but unlike the hyper-organised Siemens, the PepsiCo management required a tighter format than 700 slides, so Tom Peters consolidated the presentation into eight themes. These eight would form the chapters of ''In Search of Excellence''. In 1980, Waterman joined Peters, and, along with Waterman's friend Tony Athos and Richard Pascale - both academics - came together at a two-day retreat in San Francisco to develop what would become known as the 7-S Framework, the same framework that would organize ''In Search of Excellence''. In June of 1980, Peters published an op-ed in the ''Manager's Journal'' section of the ''Wall Street Journal'' titled "The Planning Fetish."〔Peters, T. (1980). The Planning Fetish. Manager's Journal," Wall Street Journal.〕 In this article, he "stressed the importance of execution and dismissed the whole idea of strategy."〔https://books.google.com/books?id=kAKZBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA151&lpg=PA151&dq=%22stressed+the+importance+of+execution+and+dismissed+the+whole+idea+of+strategy.&source=bl&ots=MUacCLx0MD&sig=tNqvcmnyNdO5IsfJ9cuEFMmx8iU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAGoVChMIiPTpzbiDyQIVw6keCh2v2QyS#v=onepage&q=%22stressed%20the%20importance%20of%20execution%20and%20dismissed%20the%20whole%20idea%20of%20strategy.&f=false〕 As strategy was McKinsey's main operation at the time, this was seen as a "frontal assault" on the company, leading Mike Bulkin, the head of the New York office, to demand that Daniel fire Peters. The primary "innovative" theme that under-girded what would become ''In Search of Excellence'' was that "structure is not organization." This also happened to be the title of a 1980 journal article authored by Bob Waterman, Tom Peters, and Julien Phillips in which they argue that the "picture of the thing is not the thing...An organizational structure is not an organization."〔Waterman, R. H., Peters, T. J., & Phillips, J. R. (1980). Structure is not organization. Business Horizons, 23(3), 14-26.〕 This article also introduced what would become the McKinsey 7-S Framework. In December of 1981, Peters left the company, after agreeing to a fifty percent royalty split with McKinsey. Later co-author Waterman stayed at the firm for three more years, but received no royalties from ''In Search of Excellence'' 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「In Search of Excellence」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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