In spite of a current perception that the F1 industry is in a state of disarray following the disaster of the American Grand Prix at Indianapolis where only six cars took part from an original field of 20, Professor Mark Jenkins of Cranfield School of Management believes that F1 itself already holds the answer to these problems. In fact, the continuing disputes between the teams, the commercial rights holders, and the Governing body (FIA), draw attention away from the technical excellence and commercial acumen of the management teams that make Formula 1 a truly global, high performance and profitable industry.
In Performance at the Limit: Business Lessons from Formula 1 Racing, the authors suggest that Formula 1 is a model in which to study the strategies and disciplines required to achieve and sustain success in an environment where competitive pressures are relentless and where mistakes are both expensive and impossible to hide.
One of the most important lessons in their in depth study of successful and unsuccessful teams is the importance of a no blame culture where teams focus on solving problems rather than isolating individuals or organisations.
Says co-author Professor Mark Jenkins, "What happened at Indianapolis was a great example of what happens when a blame culture takes over; everyone expends energy on proving they are in the right and the other party is in the wrong, but everyone forgets about the customer. In a successful team everyone is focused on learning from mistakes and moving forward."
During their research, the authors - Mark Jenkins, Ken Pasternak and Richard West - were given unrestricted access to the 2004 San Marino Grand Prix and interviewed 24 leading figures in Formula 1.
Says Mark, " Our agenda was to examine a highly specialised industry in depth. We did this since we believe that this particular industry encapsulates many of the challenges faced by today's managers across many different types of organisations and sectors. Where we find parallels and possible learning for managers from other sectors are in challenges such as : increasing knowledge creation and transfer, working in global and virtual teams, managing across boundaries, enhancing innovation and creativity, accelerating speed to market, effective execution of strategy, creating transformational change and, above all, creating sustained levels of performance that competitors are unable to match."
Performance at the Limit: Business Lessons from Formula 1 Racing by Mark Jenkins, Ken Pasternak and Richard West is published in July by Cambridge University Press and is priced at £25. To purchase copies, please call 01223 326050 or visit www.cambridge.org
