January 10, 2002 | Read Time: 1 minute
“The Most Effective Organization in the U.S.”: Leadership Secrets of The Salvation Army
edited by Ben Brown and Robert A. Watson
Peter F. Drucker, a management expert, once declared the Salvation Army to be “the most effective organization in the U.S.” In this book, Robert A. Watson, a recently retired national commander of the organization, and Ben Brown, a newspaper and magazine reporter and editor, examine the characteristics that have helped the Salvation Army provide high-quality social services in the United States for more than 120 years.
One key to the Salvation Army’s success, Mr. Watson and Mr. Brown say, is that it fosters a culture in which information is passed readily from “the front lines” — those who are in direct contact with the group’s clients — to those who make high-level decisions. This helps the group incorporate feedback from its employees and its clients and enables it to adapt to the changing needs of those it serves.
Chapters describe ways in which the Salvation Army’s spiritual mission, emphasis on helping people and building alliances, decentralized system of responsibility and reward, and willingness to act boldly, among other qualities, contribute to the group’s effectiveness.
The lessons drawn in “The Most Effective Organization in the U.S.” are applicable, the authors say, to the management of other nonprofit institutions as well as corporate entities.
Publisher: Crown Business, 299 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10171; (212) 572-2600; http://www.CrownPublishing.com; 243 pages; $25 cloth, $19.95 paper; I.S.B.N. 0-609-60869-X.
