In Search of Excellence

In Search of Excellence

Course Overview

Aristotle once said: "Excellence is an art won by training and habituation." As design professionals, engineers, architects and land surveyors are constantly in search of excellence and innovation in their work. This course helps you understand how the organization of a company influences everything from its productivity, creativity, culture to working environment. Through this course, you will learn how to become a more effective manager by learning the secrets of excellent companies as well as the mistakes of average companies.

This course is based entirely on the bestselling book In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr. The authors researched top companies (both in long-term profitability and continued innovation) and conducted extensive interviews with business leaders to develop their attributes of excellent companies. They also discuss shortcomings of average companies and how to avoid their mistakes. Overall, with a straightforward and effective message, Peters and Waterman are able to convey how excellent companies manage to stay on top.

For your convenience, this course also includes a summary of all the important principles presented in the book. The course has a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objectives

By the conclusion of this course, the student will learn:

How to apply the McKinsey 7-S Framework to spot weaknesses in the company ;
The importance of "soft" or "human" aspects of management;
What the shortcomings of traditional management techniques are;
How company values affect performance;
How to better motivate employees;
How to support product champions to promote product development;
How a single highly motivated employee can effect change throughout the company;
What is the most efficient way to organize a company ;
How does organization affect company performance ;
What the eight attributes of successful companies are;
How to avoid common mistakes made by typical companies;
How excellent companies apply the eight attributes to ensure continued success;
Why the eight attributes make theoretical and practical sense.

Intended Audience

This course is designed for entrepreneurs, project leaders, business managers who wish to optimize the organization of their business in a way that produces lasting success.

Course Content

In this course, you are required to study the entire book In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr., which is available in your local library or from Amazon.com. An ebook is also available in the Open Library. To access the ebook, you need to register as a user through the following link (free registration):

Open Library Sign Up

Once you sign up, you may search for the book "In Search of Excellence" and check out the ebook for your study.

We also have a few copies left (used) if you happen to need one (Please call 703-988-0088 if you need a copy. It may take up to 14 days to be delivered). For your convenience, we have summarized the important aspects of the book in the quiz section of this course.

Course Summary

This course focuses on Peters and Waterman’s Eight Attributes and how organization (structure and people) determines the success of a business. In their book In Search of Excellence, the authors discuss both the mistakes made by average businesses as well as the methods used by excellent companies. Throughout the book, the authors illustrate their findings with anecdotes, statistics, and other research data from leaders of the business world, which helps readers recognize that companies that dominate in their fields are the ones that work out what they uniquely can give to the world, not just growth or money but their excellence, their respect for others, or their ability to make people happy.

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.