They were there through the ups and downs and they are closer to this organization than anyone can understand, unless of course you read their book. Their book gives you (what this reader beleives) is the "real" story with no punches or marketing hype.

A must read for anyone in business and an honest straight forward dialogue of what it takes to build a collaborative and powerful organization such as Harley-Davidson.

What took you guys so long to get this story out?

15 of 16 found the following review helpful:

If you are a consultant: BUY-BUY-BUY  Sep 25, 2000
By JR Geoffrion
The story (the ups and downs) behind the decade-long change process to move HD from a command-and-control organization to one where employees not only have their say but also their accountability in the overall success of the company.

If you are a consultant, you might learn a trick or two in what to do and not to do in a large change management engagement.

In addition, Lee's (consultant and co-author) move from consultant to Rich's (CEO and co-author) coach/partner in this journey is particularly interesting. Another interesting topic throughout the book is how to deal with unionized workers.

A GREAT BUY FOR ANY CONSULTANT (strategy, change management, operations, etc.). YOU'LL NEVER LOOK AT A HARLEY THE SAME WAY...

The reviewer, is currently a Senior Director of eBusiness Strategy at Xpedior and has worked at Gemini Consulting, IBM, and General Mills. He earned his MBA from York University and completed the Wharton School Multi-National Marketing and Management Program at the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Engineering from the University of Toronto.

5 of 5 found the following review helpful:

Great Case Study Material  Jan 13, 2001
By John D'angelo
I found this book when I was looking for turnaround case studies to recommend to a client. Because the client was in the transportation industry, the success story at Harley seemed like a natural choice. I was grateful to find this book, but surprised by the fact that this is the only book on the topic, and that it is so comparatively new. When I read the book I understood why - these guys have been very busy!

More than a motorcycle concentrates on the struggles at Harley over the past decade and a half, and how the Company has transformed itself into a learning, and continually self-improving organization...at all levels. At the heart of this transformation are the co-authors, the now retired CEO, and the consultant/coach that together helped to find and pave the path from near ruin to heady success.

The story is presented without boasting, and in fact, spreads credit for the (continuing) tranformation to those who helped define it, from the leadership, to the unions, to the line employees. It is a good lesson in what happens when you ask those closest to the problem, whatever that may be, to help define and solve it. And then ask them what else can and should be solved, and how to do that. But it's about more than just problem solving, its about asking people simple questions like what should be communicated, rather than assuming that you (management) know the answer. In fact, the section of the book that describes communication is, in itself, a good case study.

The story seems to be a fair and introspective chronicle of what went right, where mistakes were made, and how it happened. This is not one of those turnaround books, written by the CEO, telling you what a smart guy he is and how he single-handedly lead the company away from ruin and certain failure. It is a story about leadership and collaboration that can be applied to large and small companies, manufacturers and service organizations alike.

My only complaint with the book is the somewhat awkward transition from a chronology of events and actions, to a componentization of the story. Roughly the first half of the book is presented as a chronological journey, and roughly the second have is a dissection of major sub-stories. The authors warn you that this is going to happen, so clearly they struggled with how to present the information. I would like, however, to have read the whole chronology, and perhaps have the major components presented seperately. But this is the only reason that I didn't give it the full five stars.

This is a good book for both business leaders and consultants. Business leaders will likely find several ideas about how to mine your organization for good ideas and how to implement them. Consultants should find a story about how to work with your clients to ensure that you are providing appropriate services and that these services deliver value.

3 of 3 found the following review helpful:

Vroom... Vroom... A great book on managing change!  Sep 05, 2001
By Darin Hartley
The allure of the Harley Davidson Motorcycle is powerful as demonstrated by the 150,000 Harley enthusiasts who converged on Milwaukee, Wisconsin to commemorate the 95th anniversary of the legendary company in June of 1998. The Harley Davidson motorcycle has a special place in the American psyche. The most recent decade's successes with solid performing stock and market share hide from the uninformed the struggles Harley Davidson has faced as recently as fifteen years ago. Rich Teerlink, the former CFO of Harley Davidson and his consulting partner Lee Ozley, share some of their insights of Harley Davidson in their new book, More Than a Motorcycle. The duo share how the company transformed it's "command and control" hierarchy that was effective to overcome some of the market share pressures of the Japanese to a more employee-empowering structure. The book provides an interesting notion that could have appeal in many organizations and corporations across the globe.

The book is structured to provide the background on Harley Davidson and the call to action as foreign expansion created market share pressure.

In the chapter entitled, The Whole Package, Harley's compensation system is discussed. The authors realized that without looking at the compensation system in place and seeing how it did or didn't support the new models and/or behavioral change, the organizational change model would be incomplete. There were two primary goals 1) make a larger portion of the employee's compensation at-risk or variable and 2) to compensate all employees essentially the same way, i.e., create the same pay components that apply across the company. Harley's journey through motivational theory and best practices is shared. Harley realized that money doesn't equate to total compensation. The chapter describes the compensation models created for Harley.

Of special interest to folks in the training and development industry is the chapter on Lifelong Learning. Harley created a mantra for the organization: "Encourage intellectual curiosity," that was a stated value for the corporation. Harley's leadership group was looking to reinvent the traditional corporate training model and make it fit the corporation's focus on lifelong learning. To do this, it moved from a traditional bottom-down instructional designer created learning model to one that empowered all employees to become lifelong learners. This journey into lifelong learning is described including In-House Learning Centers and the use of Learning Maps. There is also a discussion of Motorcycle U, Harley's dealer learning organization.

The book also includes chapters on communications (a thorny issue in any large organization) and wraps up with some of the major signposts along the change that happened at Harley. The latter portion of the book provides a nice synopsis of the major change initiatives that occurred at Harley.

In summary, I think the title says it all about this book: More Than a Motorcycle. Harley Davidson is so much more than a motorcycle. It's an icon, a cultural identity, and also one of the most fascinating change management laboratories in existence today. I enjoyed the book and hope you find it as useful and enlightening as I did.

4 of 5 found the following review helpful:

A great how-to book for OD practitioners  Feb 03, 2002
By A. Cheney
I'm not sure most execs would have the patience to stay with this book, but for change agents, team facilitators, and other large-system OD practitioners, this book contains valuable, comprehensive how-to information.

In true STS style, Ozley (the obvious primary author) does a wonderful job integrating Harley's new systems and methods with the real-folks' feelings and reactions as they go through an extensive organisation and culture change.

More Than a Motorcycle could easily be a companion volume to Marvin Weisbord's classic Productive Workplaces, maybe even its sequel.

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