MURPHY, Mark A.

PERSONAL: Male. Education: University of Rochester, M.B.A.

ADDRESSES: Offıce—Murphy Leadership Institute, 1025 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 1012, Washington, DC 20036. Agent—c/o Prentice Hall Press, 240 Frisch Court, Paramus, NJ 07652. E-mail—info@murphyleadershipinstitute.com

CAREER: Author. VHA, Inc., vice president; Murphy Leadership Institute, president and CEO.

MEMBER: Beta Gamma Sigma.

AWARDS, HONORS: Healthcare Financial Management Association's Best Article and Research Award.

WRITINGS:

(With Emmet C. Murphy) Leading on the Edge ofChaos: The Ten Critical Elements for Success in Volatile Times Prentice Hall Press (Paramus, MJ), 2002.

Articles have appeared in USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and the Congressional Record.

SIDELIGHTS: Mark A. Murphy has spent his professional career studying issues of leadership and the challenges of business transformations. He is a pioneer in researching the effects of corporate downsizing, and for his efforts, he was presented with the Healthcare Financial Management Association's best article and research award. Together with Emmett C. Murphy, he has published Leading on the Edge of Chaos: The Ten Critical Elements for Success in Volatile Times, a book that Lucy Heckman referred to in Library Journal as a "timely and important work."

Murphy began researching the book in 1986, in an effort to identify the characteristics of some of the world's most successful leaders. His research was heightened after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, an event that not only caused wild swings in the economy but also provided Murphy with new insights into the personalities and skills of successful people under extraordinary pressure. Some of the topics he discusses in the book are how to maximize the individual's or the company's knowledge assets; how to out-position companies that are competing in the same market; and how to demonstrate a commitment to one's customers. Murphy uses examples of successful corporations that include IBM, Southwest Airlines, and Sunbeam. He also describes the leadership qualities that he found in New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani during the September 11 attack. Though a reviewer for Publishers Weekly observed that the book "breaks little new ground," the reviewer added that its "thoughtful . . . multiple choice quiz that assesses hiring practices, employee morale, customer care and organizational flexibility" was a helpful tool.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, July 2002, Lucy Heckman, review of Leading on the Edge of Chaos: The Ten Critical Elements for Success in Volatile Times, p. 93.

Publishers Weekly, May 20, 2002, review of Leading on the Edge of Chaos, p. 60.*