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Corps Business: The 30 Management Principles of the U.S. Marines Paperback – April 24, 2001

by David H Freedman (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 101 ratings
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Fast. Motivated. Hard-hitting.

That's what every business wants to be. And that's why the U.S. Marines excel in every mission American throws at them, no matter how tough the odds. In Corps Business, journalist David H. Freeman identifies the Marine's simple but devastatingly effective principles for managing people and resources -- and ultimately winning. Freedman discusses such techniques as "the rule of three," "managing by end state," and the "70% solution," to show how they can be applied to business solutions.

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  1. Print length
    240 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    April 24, 2001
  4. Dimensions
    5.31 x 0.54 x 8 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    9780066619798
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0066619798
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"An excellent book...David Freedman's analysis of the management principles of the U.S. Marine Corps offers a compelling guide...Reading it reminded me how much I have relied upon what I learned in the Marine Corps to build FedEx."-- Frederick W. Smith, founder and chairman, Federal Express"This outstanding work reveals the leadership secrets that make the Marine Corps the world's most motivated and successful organization. The lessons are universally applicable."-- Robert A. Lutz, CEO, Exide Corp., and former president, Chrysler Corp."Mr. Freedman accurately captures the essence of Marine Corps leadership and thoroughly describes our unique approach to leadership training. Clearly, there is common ground between Marine leadership and business management." -- General Charles C. Krulak, 31st Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps"Don't let the title fool you -- the book doesn't suggest telling sales reps to drop and give you twenty. ... Freedman takes the basic operating principles of the Marines and translates them into building blocks for management success."-- Andy Cohen, "Sales & Marketing Management"Freedman has hit upon a novel approach to management guidance. By examining the techniques of one of the most tightly run organizations on the planet, he is able to highlight universal truths about leadership while at the same time offering some unique tips about motivating underlings and boosting morale."-- David Lazarus, the "San Francisco Chronicle"How can you make your office more flexible, more adaptable to new situations and quicker to react with a higher level of performance? Think and act like the Marines, for one thing."-- "St. Louis Post-Dispatch"For the current business world ...the Marines do indeed have a better idea."-- The "Wall Street Journal

About the Author

David H. Freedman is a journalist specializing in business and technology. He is a senior editor at Forbes ASAP, and his work has appeared in Inc., the Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times, Wired, Science, and the Harvard Business Review. He is the author of two critically acclaimed books on artificial intelligence and (with Charles C. Mann) on computer hacking.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0066619793
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Business; Reprint edition (April 24, 2001)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780066619798
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0066619798
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.54 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 101 ratings

About the author

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David H. Freedman

David H. Freedman

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David H. Freedman is a contributing editor for Inc. Magazine, and has written on science, business and technology for The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Science, Wired, and many other publications. His newest book, Wrong, about why experts keep failing us, just came out in June, 2010. He last book (co-authored), was A Perfect Mess, about the useful role of disorder in daily life, business and science. He is also the author of books about the U.S. Marines, computer crime, and artificial intelligence. Freedman's blog Making Sense of Medicine takes a close, critical look at medical findings making current headlines with an eye to separating out the frequent hype. He lives near Boston.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
101 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Paul S
5.0 out of 5 stars this book is straight to the point
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2024
Verified Purchase
the ideas in this book are still holding true today and can be adapted to any business . This is the third time I have bought a copy because I lent it out and the people asked to hold on to it. I just said keep it and bought the others
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Randy
5.0 out of 5 stars Practical Approach to Planning
Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2013
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Corps Business is an entertaining read. I was turned on to the book by our corporate attorney a few years ago. It provides a practical approach to the anxieties and pitfalls of planning. It provides guidance on how much planning is enough and provides clear insight into the do's and don'ts of planning. An interesting side benefit is the insight it sheds on the Marine Corps for those who might not be familiar with the organization. This book applies to anyone. This last copy I bought went to the minister in training in our congregation who is struggling with planning programs and events.
One person found this helpful
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Wryfox
5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorites of all time
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2016
Verified Purchase
This is one of my favorite books, a great guide for new leaders. I particularly like the simple aspects like its not good enough to plan for success, you have to plan to avoid failure. That lesson alone has served me well in leadership positions over the past 20 yrs.I have just bought this book again (4th or 5th time now I think) because whenever I loan it out, it never comes back.
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Richard Mclaughlin
5.0 out of 5 stars Second Copy
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2014
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this is the second copy that I bought for myself. I used to work for Microsoft, and while there I bought 30 copies for my team and made it a required reading. there are some things not taught in the business world today that the Marine Corps teaches even its youngest members - like taking direction and doing what's best to reach the final objective. I am tired of my present team coming to me and asking for instructions on Every Single Thing.
Recommended to any new college grad, new manager, new director or person new to a business.
3 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars A great book, but not necessarily a great business book
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2002
As a U.S. citizen with no armed service background, it is easy to appreciate the value, but sometimes difficult to understand the nature of, the U.S. Armed Forces. From the outside, they appear to contain overlap in capabilities, particular with regard to the U.S. Marines. The author quickly dispels that myth as well as others, illustrating subtle differences that distinguish the Marine Corps from other services. Today, its importance as an agile force mirrors the modern threat facing the world, and perhaps represents our best model for success in future conflicts.
As a profile of the Marine Corps organization, the book is a great read, but as an organizational study, the viewpoint feels compromised and devoid of any real analysis. Eventually objective criticism is introduced but even then it is relatively mild; on discussing the subject of the Marines offering a cult-like or street gang experience to its members, the author chooses to dismiss what would appear to be a central aspect of their organization out of hand - and conveniently the one aspect that would be difficult to repeat in a lawful business setting. In the final paragraphs of the book, we discover how wide the gulf is between the two worlds. The author discusses a Marine visit on Wall Street to help them better understand how financial traders deal with the fast flow of information through monitors in a scenario similar to that of future battlefield engagements. To quote from the book: "The traders are happy as long as they win more than they lose... When losing means you bring home bodies, that's not good enough". This aspect - how little was gained by the Marines from the experience because of the differences in organizational objectives - illustrates what was generally left out of the book: the challenge of applying these structures to the business world.
The meaningful insight the book does succeed in driving home is this: the U.S. Marine Corps is not a business, and if it is, it is like no other; its economy consists of life and death; its objective is not profitability but rather avoiding any loss. It is necessarily a risk-averse activity, quite different from the risk-seeking challenge of capitalism.
No doubt, some organizational aspects mentioned are worth attempting, if only because they run against the grain of conventional business wisdom. Others, such as managing by intent and end state rather than through detailed planning and micromanagement, open up bigger issues related to corporate liability given the litigious business climate today, and this is acknowledged by the author. Many examples of these techniques applied in the business world are dubiously weak - can Webvan (now out of business) and the others mentioned here be considered successful and good application of Marine-style management techniques? What are the long-term benefits of such an approach in business? Does organizational scale have an impact on the success of these principles?
The book is most successful and insightful when it sticks to the topic of how the U.S. Marine Corps operates, and for that it is a great book that I highly recommend, but it is not necessarily a great business book.
12 people found this helpful
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DG
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for any 'get it done' businesses and consultants
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2013
Verified Purchase
People often balk at reading a book based on the military but EVERYONE I have given this book to have loved it and use it. Corps Business and Semper Fi are excellent reading and demonstrate basic and time tested management and leadership approaches without the typical BS from 'flavour of the day' consulting books.
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Wally Bock
3.0 out of 5 stars Sound Techniques, but not the Essence of the Marines
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2005
This book will help you improve your results. It's filled with sound advice. But you can read the whole book and not understand the essence of what makes the Marine Corps great and if that's what you're looking for, this isn't the book for you.

What makes the Marines a great organization isn't 30 management techniques. It's a culture of excellence, inculcated first during initial training and then reinforced every day.

So you can use any or all of these techniques and not get the results that Marines get. Marines apply them with the leverage of tradition and culture which gives them a big advantage.

Let's consider principle 13: "Manage by end-state and intent. Tell people what needs to be accomplished and why and leave the details to them." Marines will respond to this because of their training, their experience and 230 years of tradition and war stories.

But, start applying this principle in an organization where employees have never been allowed to make their own decisions and the results are more likely to be confusion and fear than improved performance.

This book has good techniques but misses the Marine culture. That may be OK for you if you're looking for a list of good management techniques with examples of how they're applied in the US Marines.

But if you really want to know about how Marines get great results and how you can apply those principles to a business, I suggest Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way by Dan Carrison and Rod Walsh.
10 people found this helpful
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Dick
5.0 out of 5 stars Only For those That Can Handle The Truth
Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2012
Verified Purchase
This might not be the "management guru advisory" that some academics would recommend but when you look at 235 years of developing one of the best managed and most successful fighting forces in the world it just might have something in it for how we manage business and our own lives. There is a lot more to it than just "search and destroy". Civility, support, purpose, flexibility and common sense have a lot to do with it.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Cliente Amazon
1.0 out of 5 stars Letras borrosas en todo el libro
Reviewed in Spain on September 25, 2022
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No se en las fotos pero en la vida real es ilegible. Hay que devolverlo
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Cliente Amazon
1.0 out of 5 stars Letras borrosas en todo el libro
Reviewed in Spain on September 25, 2022
No se en las fotos pero en la vida real es ilegible. Hay que devolverlo
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AK
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent management principles from a perhaps surprising source
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 1, 2013
Verified Purchase
David H. Freedman's 'Corps Business' is an excellent collection of management principles, based on the more or less current practice (most examples go up to 1999) of the US Marine Corps. While the 'business' the US Marines engage in is fundamentally different to that of most private sector companies, the principles are both broadly applicable, as well as reasonably timeless - and as such well worth knowing about.

The book is organized into a storyline of US Marines management practices, following areas such as training, recruiting, tactics, etc. The principles are then distilled along the way, and always demonstrated with sufficient examples to make them plastic enough for the reader to follow. On top of this the author attempts to produce mini cases of the same principles being successfully used in the private sector. While I definitely applaud the approach, some of the examples certainly raise eyebrows, as quite some of these praised companies have either vanished, or fallen into disrepute in the meantime.

While the author - like the Corps - is a believer in case studies as a learning method, I find the conclusion that this is the best way to learn in a business environment problematic at best. The reason being that unlike organizations like the Marine Corps, most individuals in private business never get much opportunity to experiment and learn from cases constantly in a 'safe' learning environment before applying them live in the real world and consequently often have a dangerously limited repertoir of cases to base their analysis and actions on.

Another small criticism is that the author clearly has next to no understanding of the military and that his research focused more on the primary purpose of the book - the management principles - and not at all on getting the equipment details right.

In spite of this, I find the book an excellent guide for managers from various fields - from senior management engaged in organizational design, to HR or HR development managers looking to improve the training, recruitment and retention practices in their company. What is especially refreshing is seeing a well rounded, holistic and sustainable concept, which demonstrably works even under difficult conditions (and without the benefit of many private sector inducements). That the book reads fairly well and that the depth and scope are very well atuned to the purpose at hand, are just added benefits. The book may not suffice as an in-depth change guide per se but will provide enough food for thought for an experienced management team to make helpful adjustments to their own organization after studying it.
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Mueller
3.0 out of 5 stars Mostly ok
Reviewed in Germany on April 24, 2024
Verified Purchase
but a little bit to bombastic
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