A top manager puts himself on the line and gives a unique and forthright glimpse into the work he does. Guust Verpaalen is a member of the Philip Morris management team. He describes his original and tried and tested way of going about the business of management and the problems he has encountered during his work. Daniel Ofman has been closely associated with that work in his capacity as a consultant. He provides a commentary on these real-life accounts and places them within a theoretical perspective.

In this joint work they do something quite unique: instead of presenting the reader with pre-digested conclusions they invite him along in their quest for solutions. Both manager and coach demonstrate that success is not a matter of looking clinically at people and processes but a matter of integrated approach.

Daniel Ofman is a management coach and consultant, and director of the consultancy firm Core Quality. He was responsible for developing the highly successful and much used Core Quadrant model and the game of the same name. His books, notably Core Qualities: a Gateway to Human Resources, are bestsellers. Guust Verpaalen has had various managerial positions with Philip Morris and is currently Area Vice President, Northern Europe. At the time of the events described in this book he was the general manager of the biggest Philip Morris factory outside the United States.