FOR FORTY-THREE YEARS, global manufacturing and technology leader Emerson achieved consecutive annual increases in earnings per share and dividends per share. This remarkable record, which spans varying economic cycles from the 1950s through 2000, ranks among the longest in American business. Today, Emerson remains one of the world's most admired, innovative, and successful companies. What is the secret behind its outstanding performance?

Celebrated business leader Charles E Knight--who was CEO of Emerson for twenty-seven of its consistently profitable years--argues that Emerson's long-term competitiveness is the result of a dynamic management process carried out with unrelenting discipline. In Performance Without Compromise, Knight reveals the Emerson management process in detail for the first time. Remarkably smart and simple, Emerson's system consists of six vital tenets that most companies fail to follow through on.

Preface

1 The Secret of Emerson's Success

The Management Process

2 Planning, Execution, and Control

3 Getting Things Done

Organization Approach and Leadership

4 Operational Excellence

5  From Technology Follower to Technology Leader

6 Acquisitions and the Management Process

7 The Globalization of Markets and Competition

8 Growth

The Ultimate Challenge

9 Leadership Succession

Epilogue, by David N. Farr

Appendix A

Emerson Business Segments and Divisions

Appendix B

The President's Operating Report--Page 5

Acknowledgments

Index

About the Authors