Published Works
Latest Title
The Ombudsman Handbook: Designing and Managing an Effective Problem-Solving Program. McFarland, April 2011.
Public and private organizations can benefit from the creation and implementation of an ombudsman program designed to problem-solve at the organizational level.
This timely book presents the ombudsman in concept and in practice, offering full design and operational details from start-up to key activities and roles, as well as the benefits for the top executives, the employees and the customers. Case studies from numerous fields are examined to illustrate how a strong ombudsman program is vital to avoiding litigation, resolving conflicts and assisting management.
Selected Titles on Strategy and Futures
Creating America’s Future: Stopping Decay with Citizens, Students and Strategies. Rowman & Littlefield/University Press. August 2008.
American citizens assume that the future for this country will be a future much like the past – beautiful in many respects. This optimistic view is now countered by those who see a country in decay, struggling to address problems in health care, education, the environment, international affairs, and other sectors. This book calls on citizens and their leaders to build the future they most desire.
Strategic Planning: Cases, Concepts, & Lessons. Rowman & Littlefield/University Press. October, 2006.
Relearning Strategic Planning: Lessons of Philosophy and Procedures. Lawrence Kansas: Allen Press, November 1996. Excerpt in Across the Board (March 1997).
Designing Organizational Futures: A Systems Approach to Strategic Planning with Cases for Public and Non-profit Organizations. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, IL (1989).
Selected Titles on Quality and Organization Development
Customer Friendly: The Organizational Architecture of Service. Rowman & Littlefield/University Press, May 2007. (CHOICE award; IIAS award)
The need for customer friendly organizations exists across fields and industries. Corporate leaders have long known the value of customer support. Even public agency leaders increasingly recognize the need to offer better service to citizens. This book helps us understand how we develop high performance organizations that consistently deliver high quality service.
Organization and Management Problem Solving: A Systems and Consulting Approach, Sage: 2002.
Organization and Management Problem Solving is an insightful text designed to improve the application of organization theory and systems thinking in teaching and practice. This book illustrates five key themes in the nature of organization and management systems -technical, structural, psychosocial, managerial, and cultural- through the analysis of measured incidents and cases tested by students.
The Organizational Path to Health Care Quality. Health Administration Press, Ann Arbor, MI (1993).
Organizational Troubleshooters: Resolving Problems with Customers and Employees. Jossey Bass, San Francisco (1988).