The Halo Effect: .and the Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers - Hardcover

"In "The Halo Effect," Phil Rosenzweig has done us all a great service by speaking the unspeakable. His iconoclastic analysis is a very welcome antidote to the kind of superficial, formulaic, and dumbed-down matter that seems to be the current stock in trade of many popular business books. It's the right book at the right time."-- John R. Kimberly, Henry Bower Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Why do some companies prosper while others fail? Despite great amounts of research, many of the studies that claim to pin down the secret of success are based in pseudoscience. The Halo Effect is the outcome of that pseudoscience, a myth that Philip Rosenzweig masterfully debunks in THE HALO EFFECT. The Halo Effect describes the tendency of experts to point to the high financial performance of a successful company and then spread its golden glow to all of the company's attributes - clear strategy, strong values, and brilliant leadership. But in fact, as Rosenzweig clearly illustrates, the experts are not just wrong, but deluded. In this irreverent and witty book, the author shows readers how to truly understand business performance. Readers will learn about the Delusion of Single Explanations, the Delusion of Absolute Performance, the Delusion of the Wrong End of the Stick, and other fantasies lovingly held by managers that ultimately destroy business success. Rosenzweig also suggests a more accurate way to think about leading a company, a robust and clearheaded approach that can save any business from ultimate failure.