To hear some executives tell it, the traditional hands-on role of the senior manager is disappearing. The message seems to be: Get the processes right, and the company will manage itself. In fact, process-focused companies today need more top-down management, not less. Thomas M. Hove and John C. Carter explore the importance of senior executive activism in "Getting It Done: New Roles for Senior Executives."

HBR Case Study. At California vision tools, marketing vice president Jim Merrick is wondering how to sell the engineering-oriented executive staff on the need for a big campaign to launch the company's second-generation product.

Books in Review. Another view of markets comes in James Ogilvy's "The Economics of Trust," a review of Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity, in which Francis Fukuyama de-scribes the impact of cultural values on capitalist societies.