To the Desert and Back: The Story of One of the Most Dramatic Business Transformations on Record

by Karen Ayas, Philip Mirvis, George Roth

Book Overview

Dove, Lipton, Knorr, Ben & Jerry's, and Slim*Fast are a few of the brands that are part of the $66 billion global empire known as Unilever. When the story opens, one of its divisions is in deep trouble- declining volume, eroding margins, critical quality problems- and is close to being sold off. Then Tex Gunning, its visionary new division chairman, takes the stage, an expanding circle of young leaders takes charge, and once-skeptical workers embrace...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0787966770
• ISBN13: 9780787966775
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

An engaging narrative

Most books on change management describe concepts and principles with some examples. This one went several steps further and provided me with a story that was rich in details and lessons learned. I could appreciate the nuisance and subtleties involved in change and transformation because of the fineness with which the business case was narrated. The authors should be commended for unraveling for the benefit of both business and non-business readers what goes on at the top management and various levels in a mammoth organization as it tries to change with the times.

To the future and beyond...

In you are interested in linking innovative methods and models to bottom-line results, seeing the view of an organiziation's story as it unfolds and with the perspective of time, experiencing the transformation from those who lived it, or just a good read; then TO THE DESERT AND BACK is for you. I don't think it is exaggerating to say the organization time and again was faced with its very survival. And each time it set the goal higher and invented the means to accomplish it. It is a tribute to the importance of leadership, vision, creativity, and participation. While not many organizations may have the resources to play out the metaphor on such a grand scale, every leader and organization can take away the impetus to aim high, think big, and see beyond.

Required Reading for Leaders

Mirvis, Ayas, and Roth make an exciting story accessible to a wide range of readers. Not only are the lessons of this story applicable to the business world, they carry over to relationships of all kinds. The dramatic story of Unilever's turn-around had this reader turning the pages. It is rare to come across a book with the potential to have such a far-reaching impact on organizations and the people in them. "To the Desert and Back" ought to be required reading for leaders young and old.