A summary of the 25 principles of good management described in The Puritan Gift book by K. and W. Hopper.

1. The Puritan Gift
Triumph, collapse and revival of an
American Dream
Kenneth Hopper & William Hopper
Reviewed by Olivier Dardalhon

2. Forewords (1)
I read the Puritan Gift in 2008 after watching an interview of one
of the authors.
It was at the beginning of the financial crisis that threatened a
total collapse of the economy, especially the US companies.
I wanted to understand what was wrong in the business of the
21st century. How was it possible that a country so powerful as
the USA after WWII was on the edge of collapsing 50 years later.
I had some clues about it like the short sight view of western
organizations but it was only when I came through the book that
I had a real and well-documented insight how what had made
the US organizations so performing in the past.

3. Forewords (2)
The book topic is not about religion as the title might induce. It is
about a state of mind that was brought by the Puritans in the 17th
century and spread throughout the country until the 1960’s.
This state of mind produced one of the most efficient management
system that allowed the USA to become the first economic power
after WWI and win a war on 2 fronts during WWII. After the war
these principles were successfully adopted by Japanese companies
like Sony or Toyota.
Unfortunately the principles of good management were abandoned
in the 1960’s. The result was a progressive deliquescence of the
entire society: companies, education, military or healthcare
systems that led to the 2007 crisis.

4. Forewords (3)
In this slideshow I have basically tried to sum up the 25
management principles.
These principles are divided in sections:
• Systems and routines
• Structure and hierarchy
• Decision making
• Finance
• Training
• Employment

5. 25 Principles of management
• 25 principles underlying good practice from
the golden age of management in the USA.
• Still accurate in the 21st century.
• Declined from a certain “Puritan” mentality
but applicable to any cultural environment.
• Originally designed for the industry but
adaptable to any business.

6. SYSTEMS AND ROUTINE

7. SYSTEMS AND ROUTINE
1/ All successful organizations, however simple, consist of
systems within a system.
This is the Master Principle.
The organization itself is the Grand System. Once its objectives
have been defined, the next task is to create, and to determine
the objectives of the sub-systems.
The approach of any manager to his/her work has therefore to
be systemic.

8. SYSTEMS AND ROUTINE
2/ All systems are nurtured by routines, which must be regularly
reviewed and refreshed.
Routines liberate : when they are functioning smoothly, the
manager can concentrate on those key activities that cannot be
subjected to routine, like the design of new products or closing
complex deal with a customer.
No good systemic routines = employees burnout

9. STRUCTURE AND HIERARCHY

10. STRUCTURE AND HIERARCHY
3/ The most important sub-system in any organization is the
managerial hierarchy.
Hierarchies permit the systematic delegation of functions, roles
and tasks.
Delegation never means delegation of responsibility : “Always
remember, your man’s failure is your failure”.
Hierarchy doesn’t inhibit the creation of cross-departmental
teams. In fact these teams can only be effective if they report to
a person whose position in the hierarchy is strong enough to
ensure that their recommandations are put into effects.

11. STRUCTURE AND HIERARCHY
4/ The best type of hierarchy is “bottom-up”.
“Bottom-up” management goes far beyond the simple
delegation of tasks to appropriate levels.
This means it superimposes an additional, informal structure
which permits de facto operational responsibility to be pushed
down to the lowest level capable of accepting it.
In a crisis or when a major change of direction is required, this
allows a senior manager to reassert control over a subordinate at
the drop of a hat and without upsetting the relationship.

12. STRUCTURE AND HIERARCHY
5/ Leadership should as far as possible be collective or
“collegiate”.
At the very top of the managerial ladder it is good to find what
the Japanese call “two men in a box”.

13. STRUCTURE AND HIERARCHY
6/ The middle manager is the keystone of the managerial arch.
The middle managers are best positioned to :
• Ensure that the first-level managers are behaving as they
should,
• Act as an intermediary in the exchange of information
between top and bottom,
• Act as the organization’s “corporate memory” – at least for
long-serving middle managers – making it unnecessary to
address problems that have been solved in the past,
• Constitute a reservoir of tested talents from which future
senior executives could be drawn.

14. STRUCTURE AND HIERARCHY
7/ “One person, one boss”.
Without this principle there cannot be a proper line of
command.
Only if each executive reports to one single person can the
information flow freely up and down the line of command.
Matrix management = Conflict and Confusion

15. DECISION MAKING

16. DECISION MAKING
8/ Meetings are “the medium of management work”
Meetings should be as long or as short as the agenda requires.

17. DECISION MAKING
9/ “Integrated decision-making” leads to right conclusions
The implication of any important policy are to be worked out in
great detail before a decision is taken to proceed or not.
The same group of people has to be involved in all four phases of
managerial process: planning, decision-making, execution and
follow-up.
Careful provision has to be made aigainst the contingency that
some of the original asumptions might be incorrect.
The makers of the decision (and only them) have to be
recognized as being responsible for its success or failure.

18. DECISION MAKING
10/ Planning should be for the short term (say 1 to 4 years), the
medium term (say 5 to 8 years) and the long term (say 9 years up)
Success in achieving the objectives of the plan would not be
measured simply in terms of profit and loss account but by
looking at a whole range of indicators, including rising cash
balances and satisfying the customer.

19. DECISION MAKING
11/ You should make a careful study of the mistakes and
successes of the pioneers in your field and learn from them.
Pay particular attention to your competitors mistakes as well as
your own.

20. DECISION MAKING
12/ Excellent internal communications in all directions – but
above all upwards – are necessary in any successful organizations.
The upward flow is not only the most important; the entire
structure of a good managed company is geared to it.

21. DECISION MAKING
13/ The manager must be a leader in both a practical and a moral
sense.
Managers cannot be dull, gray administrators, they must be able
to lead.

22. DECISION MAKING
14/ You should use consultants sparingly – and “strategic”
consultants never.
There are proper uses for consultants – for example, to perform
one-off tasks for which it is inappropriate to hire permanent staff
or to teach a skill that new circumstances require and that is not
availalble within the existing organization.
However, a dangerous frontier is crossed when consultants are
asked to determine, or even discuss, what the strategy of a
company should be.

23. DECISION MAKING
15/ A manager should be aware of his/her responsibilities to
society as a whole, including to his company’s employees as
human being.
People are not commodities to be bought and sold like a pound of
sugar.

24. DECISION MAKING
16/ If it ain’t broke, you should try to make it work better.
A passionate desire to do and make things better is one of the
most abiding characteristics of American society.
The Japanese have a name for it: kaizen, or continuous
improvement.

25. FINANCE

26. FINANCE
17/ Avoid debt like the plague – or, if that is impossible, use it
sparingly.
Debt-free balance sheet enables your company to “roll with the
punches”, paying large dividends in good times and little or none
in bad.
The assumption is that an organization should be designed for
survival and that bad times might be around the corner.

27. TRAINING

28. TRAINING
18/ A manager should possess, or acquire a “domain knowledge”.
Domain knowledge = profound understanding of the technology
and business of his/her company, which can normally be gained
only through a long apprenticeship in that company or in the
same industry.
Management is not a skill that can be learned from a theoretical
point of view in an academic setting (ie Business Schools) and
thereafter exercised in any kind of organization.

29. TRAINING
19/ The testing and training of managers should be pragmatic and
continuous.
Psychometric testing leads to select “high flyers” only good at
passing tests.
Those selected “high flyers” promoted quickly into a senior
position are not adequately prepared by a period of training in a
lower position.

30. TRAINING
20/ Managers who wish to reach the top should start at or near
the bottom
Meritocracy.
Even graduates start at the bottom, often as foremen mixing with
the non-graduate foremen, and then work their way towards the
top. Only this way could they acquire the thorough familiarity
with the business that is required if they are to occupy the highest
positions.

31. TRAINING
21/ Job rotation (or intra-company mobility) is desirable to create
“rounded” executive
A rising executive has to pass through all or most of the
organization departments.
If he/she reaches the top, he/she will have a full overview all the
implications of his/her decisions.

32. EMPLOYMENT

33. EMPLOYMENT
22/ Employment should in general be for the long term – by
which is meant, at least 8 and, if possible, 10 years.
A long term commitment has 3 advantages:
1. The manager can build up a sufficient knowledge of his/her
company’s business for him to be able to play a useful role.
2. The expense of training could not be justified if he/she is
expected to leave within a short period of time.
3. The company has time to know an employee well enough to
decide whether he/she is suitable for promotion.

34. EMPLOYMENT
23/ Complementarity is one of the keys to making appointments
Each manager has his/her strengths and his/her weaknesses.
Even a “rounded” manager cannot reach perfection.
Hence the doctrine of complementarity. This means among other
things, building teams to balance skills.

35. EMPLOYMENT
24/ The remuneration system should promote and reward group
effort.
Incentive systems that over-reward senior executives have no
place in any company that practices collegiate decision-making –
and/or “bottom-up” management; where much of real
responsibility is passed down the line, so should much of the
reward.

36. EMPLOYMENT
25/ Avoid ostentation like the plague.
A good manager must be aware that any success he/she achieves
is due to his/her entire team.