Leadership concepts and applications

Leadership- "Moments of Truth" by Jan Carlzon

Among the literally millions of business books that are in print, there are those which stand out as pivotal works, not only for the valuable information they teach, but also the fascinating insight they offer into the minds of the stars of modern business. Such is the case in the book "Moments of Truth," by Jan Carlzon. This paper will provide an overview of the book, and perhaps more importantly, the mindset of the man who not only wrote the book, but breathed life back into a dying company through his hard work and innovative business style.

Background of "Moments of Truth"

As was mentioned as this paper began, "Moments of Truth" is not only an interesting business book, but also the tale of a sort of resurrection of a dying company. More specifically, in "Moments," the story is told of Scandinavian Air Service (SAS) and how as CEO, Jan Carlzon turned the company around, making it a vibrant and successful organization which was, before his tenure, literally ready to implode.

Also tied into the story line of Carlzon's book are his philosophies on modern business and tales of his earlier victories as an executive of other airlines before coming to SAS. Overall, what come across in "Moments of Truth" are stories of business success, combined with the practical strategic pieces that the reader can adopt in their own business pursuits. This being said, a further look at Carlzon is in order.

The Achievements and Innovative Business Style of Carlzon

As important and pivotal as the success story of "Moments of Truth" is, likewise, what Carlzon has achieved, as well as his unique style of doing business, are also quite important and noteworthy. Early in the book, Carlzon makes a statement which speaks volumes about his business style:

We have reoriented ourselves to become a customer driven company - a company that recognizes that its only true assets are satisfied customers, all of whom expect to be treated as individuals, and who won't select us as their airline unless we do just that...Scandinavian Air Service (SAS) is not a collection of material assets, but the quality of the contact between an individual customer and the SAS employees who serve the customer directly" Carlzon (1987, p. 2).