The Science of Success: How Market-Based Management Built the World’s Largest Private Company

Charles Koch may very well be the most successful businessman you’ve never heard of. Under his leadership, Koch Industries has become a dynamic and diverse enterprise that Forbes called “the world’s largest private company.”

This groundbreaking book includes the same material used by the leaders and employees of Koch companies to apply Market-Based Management (MBM) to get results. In it, Charles Koch outlines the unique management methodology developed and implemented by Koch Industries. Koch credits MBM for its 2,000-fold growth since 1967, with today having 80,000 employees in 60 countries and with $90 billion in revenues in 2006. MBM is a scientific approach to management that integrates theory and practice, and provides a framework for dealing with the ongoing challenges of growth and change. There really is a science behind success, and it can be applied to any organization.

MBM is rooted in the Science of Human Action, and is defined by five dimensions:

• Vision—Determining where and how the organization can create the greatest long-term value
• Virtue and Talents—Helping ensure that people with the right values, skills and capabilities are hired, retained and developed
• Knowledge Processes—Creating, acquiring, sharing and applying relevant knowledge, and measuring and tracking profitability
• Decision Rights—Ensuring the right people are in the right roles with the right authority to make decisions and holding them accountable
• Incentives—Rewarding people according to the value they create for the organization

When these dimensions are applied in an integrated, mutually reinforcing manner, they create continuous transformation and positive growth. Any organization—corporation, small business, nonprofit, government agency—can apply these proven principles.

In addition to an in-depth discussion of MBM’s five dimensions, this book also draws on Koch’s candid examples of his company’s successes and failures. Born out of a life-long study of economics, science, philosophy, psychology, political theory and history, MBM is essentially a practical business application of the principles that have led to innovations and the most prosperous, peaceful, robust economies in history. Let this book show you how to apply the same management philosophy that has served Koch Industries so effectively. MBM will benefit you, your company, your customers and your employees.

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