Hammer, Michael 1948-2008 (Michael Martin Hammer)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born April 13, 1948, in Annapolis, MD; died of complications from a brain hemorrhage, September 3, 2008, in Boston, MA. Management consultant, educator, and author. Hammer's name was prominently linked to the radical management reorganization process that he called "reengineering." It was a term and a concept that he later claimed had been misunderstood, misused, and abused by managers and corporate executives whose greed for profit had led to brutal mass downsizing campaigns that Hammer found both grievous and offensive. When Hammer and colleague James A. Champy published Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution in 1993, they launched a revolution that far exceeded their original intentions. Hammer's idea of revolution was to simplify business processes by dividing them into their smallest components, then rearranging the pieces into a brand-new business structure, designed for maximum productivity. This included rearranging the hierarchy of directors, managers, and workers from a traditional division of labor into a new collaborative relationship, in which managers would facilitate the development of workers rather than supervise them. The workers would then become both competent and empowered to improve their own work processes on a continuous basis for the benefit of all. Hammer's book included examples of successful reengineering initiatives by leading American corporations, but still his premise was misused, all too often as an excuse for increasing efficiency primarily in order to reduce personnel levels, thereby reducing the cost of doing business and increasing profits. Hammer wrote several sequels to his bestseller, some to correct misunderstandings and redirect the misguided, others to address the constantly evolving business climate in America and offer a road map to continued organizational success. Hammer began his career as a professor of computer science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but after he established the management consulting firm of Hammer and Company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he occupied himself as a lecturer, consultant, and author. His writings include The Reengineering Revolution: A Handbook (1995), Beyond Reengineering: How the Process-centered Organization Is Reshaping Our Work and Our Lives (1996), and The Agenda: What Every Business Must Do to Dominate the Decade (2001).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

New York Times, September 5, 2008, p. C10; September 9, 2008, p. A2.