This document summarizes the key ideas from the book "The 80 Minute MBA" by Richard Reeves and John Knell. The book argues that a new type of leadership and business is needed in response to the financial crisis, recession, and global warming. It focuses on five main areas: sustainability, leadership, culture, cash, and conversation. Sustainability involves considering climate change, ethics, and environmental impacts. Leadership requires knowing direction, understanding people and teams, and focusing on execution over strategy. Culture depends on engaged employees who contribute and make improvements. Cash relies on accounting fundamentals. Conversation means moving from one-way marketing to two-way engagement through social media and customer interactions.

1. Book: The 80 Minute MBA
Author: Richard Reeves & John Knell
Category: Business
Summary: You can get the main ideas of an
MBA course worth thousands of dollars/euro
by reading this book in 80 minutes.
Rating:
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The writing of this book has been
heavily influenced by the financial
crash, recession and global
warming.
The authors feel that a new type
of leadership and way of building
businesses are needed.
This book is focused on five main
areas: Sustainability, Leadership,
Culture, Cash and Conversation
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3. Sustainability:
Climate change, population
growth and resource scarcity form
part of the sustainability
imperative.
It makes business sense to think
green.
Ethics – moral reform is also
needed in the post-crash world.
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• Businesses should be aware of
their exposure to risks from
climate change.
• They should disclose their
impact on the environment.
• They should set targets for
carbon reductions.
• They should press
governments for more
regulation to create a level,
green playing field.
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4. It is essential to develop our
numerical skills in order to
understand the world around us.
This is especially true for statistics
– where we have to understand
the concept of statistical
significance (where something
does not happen due to co-
incidence) and the difference
between correlation and
causation.
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5. Leadership:
Most ideas and writing on
leadership is rubbish.
4 things great leaders know:
1. Where we’re going – direction
of the company.
2. What’s going on – it’s necessary
to manage the company, “sweat
the small stuff” and read the
emotional temperature of the
organisation
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3. Who am I? – leaders know their
own strengths and weaknesses.
4. How to build a strong team –
They are motivated by what
they build instead of what
they get.
They also understand that
execution is more important that
strategy.
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6. Culture:
“People are simultaneously the
most valuable factor of
production and the most difficult
to engage effectively”.
The commitment dividend stands
from the benefits accrued by
having employees who “care
about the organisation’s aims,
who willing make improvements,
contribute ideas and take
decisions”
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The importance of micro-
behaviours reflects the fact that
the day-to-day behaviours have to
create and reinforce the official
culture.
Solidarity stands for a community
with a purpose. Important to
have both.
Energy is the essence of an
organisation and a great leader
knows how to inject it.
Autonomy – set employees free.
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7. Cash
4 Golden Rules:
1. A double entry system involves
recording the effects of each
transaction as debits and credits.
2. The left hand side of an account
is the debit side and the right
hand side is the credit side.
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3. Total Debits must equal total
credits.
4. The accounting equations is:
Assets = liabilities + capital.
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8. Supply chain management has
changed due to advances in IT and
the sustainability imperative.
The essential element of
economics is basically the
intersection of what people want
and demand with what
organisations are willing to supply
at a given price. Where they
intersect is called the equilibrium
point.
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9. Conversation:
Move from one-to-many
communications to many-to-
many as a result of social media.
“New marketing which leverages
scarce attention and creates
interactions among communities
with similar interests.”
The traditional 4Ps of marketing
are no longer enough.
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Influence of customer in a controlled
way has changed to a more dynamic and
chaotic flow between the organisation
and consumer.
What is important now are the 4 Cs.
Community – have to engage with foes
as well as friends.
Customisation – technology now means
that the personalisation of products is
possible for all customers at an
affordable price point.
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10. Co-creation – the organisation
and the customer work together
to build the service and the
product.
Conversation – companies will
have to learn the art of dialogue –
communication as a two way art
between the company and the
consumer.
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