Book Description

This book using tools of industrial organization and business policy comprehensively examines how a firm can maximize short and long term gains for its stakeholders. This volume may be described as a book on industrial organization with a buisness policy perspective. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good, basic description but many questions arise
Though "Learning from Saturn" will undoubtedly not be high on the general public's reading lists, for those interested it is a book that adequately describes the basics of the Saturn system that has gotten a lot of media coverage over the last decade or so from conception to the present. The various innovative structures of Saturn such as teams, modules, business units, and councils are first described, but the book is far more concerned with the interactions among the Saturn management and the local UAW union and with GM and the international UAW. While the authors liberally point out the successes of the Saturn system, they are equally concerned with demonstrating the shortcomings principally in the areas of communications and decision-making among the various parties that have impacted the performance of Saturn. Despite Saturn's cars consistently scoring high on consumer quality ratings, internally Saturn has had difficulties with problem solving, productivity, organizational learning, and even quality.

The more discerning reader will have many questions while reading this book, especially in light of the fact that the authors are highly experienced labor relations academics. After the PATCO wholesale firings in 1980, US corporations declared war on unions. Yet why did GM agree to share management of a business with the UAW in the early 80s? The authors' explanation of a downturn in sales is insufficient. In actuality it was sheer panic, or desperation, on the part of GM coupled with the UAW being the strongest union in the US that prompted GM to go against its every instinct. That is not a trivial point.

The core production unit at Saturn is the work team consisting of 6 to 15 members with one of those individuals being elected as team leader. Teams have the responsibility of dealing with many aspects of production: work planning and scheduling, material and inventory control, budget constraints, repairs, training, quality, hiring, vacation scheduling, absenteeism, etc. Team members do receive several hundred hours of training in these areas, but it strains belief to find that this amount of expertise can be more or less equally imparted among disparate teams. With so much dependency on teams, a few teams that do not perform well despite their best efforts could easily interfere with overall results. Since teams essentially take on the role of HR management, they have to deal competently with such issues as discrimnation in hiring or discipline. What happens to union solidarity when team leaders are forced to discipline co-workers?

Certainly assembly is an essential part of the quality of an automobile but engineering would have to be more important. But the authors do not address the fact that engineering is not co-located with production and is not part of the UAW. How does the local union or teams determine that the highly technical aspects of the car design are correct? Again, expertise issues do not simply disappear with participation.

The authors do discuss organizational problems. They contend that the lack of communications or follow-up is the key to most problems. But not enough information is provided concerning the actual workings of teams to be sure that deeper structural problems do not exist.

The authors point out that the international UAW is concerned that the local Saturn union takes on characteristics much like the company unions that were essentially banned by the Wagner Act of 1935. But the authors could have indicated that unions are not necessarily even needed for substantial employee participation. For example, the legislatively mandated works councils of northern Europe provide for co-determination by employees in workplaces with resort to labor courts in the event of employer conflicts. It is not unions per se that is the key for employee input. There have to be channels for communications regardless of the system and there must be due process for workers that exercise voice. In addition, participation can occur with or without production teams.

It is surprising that the authors did not mention the efforts by some in the US Congress to pass legislation permitting employers to establish work teams on their own terms with no due process for employees. The authors are concerned with learning from Saturn. The authors are undoubtedly fully aware that the closest that most employers will come to a Saturn system is to install some sort of pseudo employee participation scheme.

I do find much to criticize about this book. But I do think that it is essential reading for anyone interested in labor relations and employee participation. ... Read more

Book Description

Designed to appeal to managers in any type of organization, uses Sun Tzu'sstrategy to address the challenges of directing people, resources, quality, and continual improvement in a modern organization. It follows Sun Tzu's original text line by line, with the complete text of The Art of War on the left-hand pages and The Art of Management on the facing right-hand pages. ... Read more

Book Description

Manufacturing Works will convince labor leaders, corporate executives, and those interested in public policy that America's manufacturing base drives its prosperity.

America's manufacturing drives the country's prosperity because of its size, its ability to generate innovation and value, its importance to national security, its role in meeting people's needs, and the dignity it provides 17 million American workers.Based on the landmark study they created to explore the American manufacturing landscape, authors Fred Zimmerman and Dave Beal inspect this often unappreciated section in 232 key counties.The book examines the appraisal of the U.S. industrial base, how American manufacturing survived despite pressures from home and abroad, and why a strong manufacturing sector remains essential to the long term survival of America's economy. ... Read more

Book Description

Used by IBM, 3M and hundreds of other corporations, the sales methods presented in this book follow Sun Tzu's principles line by line, with the complete text of The Art of War on the left-hand pages, and the sales adaptation, The Art of Sales, on the facing right-hand pages. ... Read more

Book Description

The objective of this book is to outline the best practice in designing, installing, commissioning and troubleshooting industrial data communications systems. In any given plant, factory or installation there are a myriad of different industrial communications standards used and the key to successful implementation is the degree to which the entire system integrates and works together.

With so many different standards on the market today, the debate is not about what is the best - be it Foundation Fieldbus, Profibus, Devicenet or Industrial Ethernet but rather about selecting the most appropriate technologies and standards for a given application and then ensuring that best practice is followed in designing, installing and commissioning the data communications links to ensure they run fault-free. The industrial data communications systems in your plant underpin your entire operation. It is critical that you apply best practice in designing, installing and fixing any problems that may occur. This book distills all the tips and tricks with the benefit of many years of experience and gives the best proven practices to follow.

The main steps in using today's communications technologies involve selecting the correct technology and standards for your plant based on your requirements; doing the design of the overall system; installing the cabling and then commissioning the system. Fiber Optic cabling is generally accepted as the best approach for physical communications but there are obviously areas where you will be forced to use copper wiring and, indeed, wireless communications. This book outlines the critical rules followed in installing the data communications physical transport media and then ensuring that the installation will be trouble-free for years to come.

The important point to make is that with todays wide range of protocols available, you only need to know how to select, install and maintain them in the most cost-effective manner for your plant or factory - knowledge of the minute details of the protocols is not necessary.

· An engineers guide to communications systems using fiber optic cabling, copper cabling and wireless technology
· Covers: selection of technology and standards - system design - installation of equipment and cabling - commissioning and maintenance
· Crammed with practical techniques and knowhow - written by engineers for engineers ... Read more

Book Description

Corporate Governance and Chairmanship: A Personal View, presents a practical guide to the way in which companies should operate.The author presents these two interrelated themes and explains how corporate governance does influence the overall structure and operation of businesses and organizations. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Authoritative Guide to the Cahirman's Role
This could hardly be bettered as a guide for chairmen and board members on roles, relationships, key tasks and how to accomplish them. The author chaired the UK review, The Committee on the Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance and is a world authority in the field. He provides clear and well-organized coverage of the essential features of good governance and how boards can achieve it, without getting lost in legal/accounting technicalities.
He also provides some discussion of the issues of governance arising in a changing world (social responsibilities, environmental issues, responsibilities to stakeholders other than shareholders), but covers these rather more superficially.
He also includes some interesting reflections on the differences between US and UK Board structures - at a time when US practice is changing towards the separation of the Chairman and the CEO roles. ... Read more

Book Description

The political and social predicates that make the large firm possible and that shape its form are not always taken into account, despite the fact that variation in the political and social environment can deeply affect which firms, which ownership structures, and which governance arrangements survive and prosper. Focussing on the US, the larger nations in continental Europe, and Japan, Mark Roe uses statistical and qualitative analyses to explore the relationship between politics, history, and business organization. ... Read more

Book Description

Are you ready to implement a just-in-time manufacturing program, but need some help orienting employees to the power of JIT? Here's a concise and practical guide to introduce equipment operators, assembly workers, and other frontline employees to the basic concepts, techniques, and benefits of just-in-time practices. Just-in-time manufacturing is an approach that can dramatically boost your company's competitiveness by eliminating waste from the production process. And although management determines the manufacturing approach, frontline operators and assembly people play a key role in making it happen. Included are discussions of elimination of process waste, leveled production and kanban systems, U-shaped cells and autonomation, standard work, and JIT support techniques. The just-in-time approach is simple and universal-it works in companies al over the world. Educating employees ensures their full participation and allows them to share their experiences and ideas more effectively. This in turn increases the chances for a successful JIT implementation. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Geoffrey Moore's first two books, Crossing the Chasm and Inside the Tornado, were gospel to a generation of high-tech managers. The challenge those books addressed was how to market and sell according to what he called the "Technology Adoption Life Cycle." In Living on the Fault Line, Moore takes his message to a very different group of execs, those who have never had to worry about marketing technology but who now face the biggest and most disruptive technology life cycle of all--the Internet.

Moore contends the Internet has changed everything, and he means it. As many companies are now discovering, market share is worth more than earnings; virtual integration trumps vertical integration; and the IT department, once relegated to a stuffy back office, is no longer "about the business--it is the business." The best proxy of a company's success? Try its stock price. Moore writes, "Stock price is in effect an information system about competitive advantage, it can help you sort through which markets to attack, which strategies to pursue, which partners to endorse, and which tactics to execute.... Capital, in other words, flows to competitive advantage and abandons competitive disadvantage."

For some, Moore's prescriptions may seem over the top. But those grappling for a handhold on the Internet economy will find much to ponder here. For example, managers faced with a scarcity of time and resources will find his analysis of core and context a powerful prism to manage by. He defines "core" as activities that differentiate a company in the marketplace and thereby drive its stock price. "Context" is simply everything else the company already does. His suggestion: assign your best people to the core and outsource as much of the context as possible.

If you've enjoyed Moore's previous work, you'll find Living on the Fault Line a must. If you've never read Moore before, get this on your bookshelf before your competition does. Engaging and highly readable, this one's a keeper. --Harry C. Edwards ... Read more

Reviews (18)

The culmination of Moore's business framework thinking
Geoffrey's Moore's latest book should be required reading for all executives in the age of the Internet. Rather than filling out a theoretically weak book with numerous examples, or building a detailed theory which cannot be applied, Moore has produced a brilliant work of practical business theory. Drawing on and extending his work in Crossing the Chasm, Inside the Tornado, and The Gorilla Game, Moore looks at various stages in the development of businesses, how to manage for shareholder value, how to create and sustain competitive advantage, and how companies with diverse cultures can effectively overcome the innovator's dilemma. Any executive feeling threatened by the Internet, or wishing to take full advantage of discontinuous innovations, should read this book.

High Concept, Limited-Detail Look at Technology Success
Living on teh Fault Line will mainly be of value to those who are new to working in technology-based businesses.

This book combines the perspectives of many different books into one. As a result of spanning so much material, the book operates at about 100,000 feet above sea level. Although the view is breathtaking, you can't see most of the details. For managers and executives, that means being left with concepts that they may have trouble implementing. The way to overcome that weakness is to go on to read other books that do address these issues in more detail like Built to Last and The Innovator's Dilemma.

The first part is familiar material about how the Internet is changing business. It goes on to focus on the IT department of a traditional company as the weak link in responding to Internet opportunities and challenges.

The second part repeats Moore's shareholder value perspectives from The Gorilla Game (a book I liked much better than this one). Basically, he feels that management and the board should look at the level and direction of stock price as a litmus test on the company's strategy and implementation.

Part three hits the high points of relating well in the middle of creating a competitive advantage while technology is changing.

Part four discusses how top performance changes at times during a technological wave. This is probably the most interesting part of the book. It is quite well done.

Part five examines the key concept of focusing on what creates competitive advantage internally, and getting rid of everything else by outsourcing and partnering. I thought this was a little too simple. In many cases, your internal perspective may be the worst place to try to do key activities. For example, Wal-Mart reportedly began to do better with Internet development after it did more outsourcing in this core area. Keep in mind though that apparently Wal-Mart is still struggling with the Internet. This section was really addressing The Innovator's Dilemma material and concepts.

Finally, how do you institutionalize the way your company will attack the Internet and future technologies? This is routine material from a variety of books, and you can skip it if you are well read in business.

If you like your business books highly condensed and simplified, you'll rate this book a 5 star. If you like more detail, you'll rate it lower. If you have to have lots of detail, skip this book. It is resistible for you.

After you read this book, I suggest you think about when you may communicate at too high a level of generalization. People need it simple. See the excellent book, Simplicity, more more ideas!

Same old baloney
The author himself clues us in to the value of this work in his own preface. At the top of page xiv his comments about his previous work include a telling sentence, "In sum, much of my celebration of a new economy was just a lot of old baloney". Well most of this new work is more of the same. CAP and GAP are a rehash of old concepts tried and true. Context and core is the 80/20 rule revisited. Rather than buying, or god forbid wasting your precious time reading this volume, wait till the author's next book, where hopefully he'll compliment you in his next preface for not having paid money for just a lot of repackaged baloney.

Some Major Points, A Little Carried Away
A good book, while not as important as Gorilla game and Crossing the Chasm.

The significance of it is, i think, on page 96, where the author states the several levels of competition:

1. Competition of New paradigms versus old paradigm (e.g. PC vs. MiniComputers and MainFrames
2. Competition between the new paradigms - Apple value chain vs. PC value chain, for example.
3. Competition for a spot on the value chain - Dell vs. Compaq; MS DOS vs. C/PM vs. Pascal; etc.
4. Competition for a bigger piece of the pie - Intel vs. Microsoft vs. Dell vs. CompUSA etc.

AS you can see, the two first stages involve "collaboration" whereas the 2 latter are concerned with Competition (Michael Porter Style).

There are other significant issues discussed in this book - i just thought i highlight this one as the one that stroke me as most important.

Good Hunting!

Great Framework for Understanding
Geoffrey Moore is the master at taking complex marketing questions and answering them with simple frameworks. These frameworks help you understand the forces at work in the market and help you make decisions about your own business.

In "Living..." he continues this tradition. This book extends the concepts of the "Chasm" and "Tornado" books and uses these new concepts to address real world questions in large companies. He clearly answers questions like "Should this task be outsourced?", and "How should I align my line functions to bring a new product to market?"

An essential read to a high tech marketer or leader. ... Read more

Book Description

Most manufacturing companies with batch-and-queue "push" production systems have been blindsided by today's consumer who expects quality products and services delivered on demand and customized to individual taste. In The Perfect Engine, manufacturing experts Anand Sharma and Patricia E. Moody describe for the first time how leading "pull" production pioneers build to order by reducing inventory, decreasing cycle time, minimizing floor space, and eliminating waste.

Drawing on scores of examples and detailed case studies of three leaders in the demand economy field -- Maytag, Pella, and Mercedes-Benz -- Sharma and Moody demonstrate how these companies achieved astonishing results using the pathbreaking LeanSigmaSM Transformation. Combining lean production and quality elements from the famous Six Sigma process, LeanSigma produces annual productivity gains of 15 percent to 20 percent. In addition, the authors show, inventory turns more than quadruple; cycle times drop by more than 70 percent; and floor space reductions of 30 percent to 50 percent are not uncommon. Sharma and Moody provide immensely readable explanations of key technical aspects of the process--for example, how cell-based one-piece flow can replace batch-and-queue with dramatically improved lead times and inventory turnover. A chapter on a revolutionary design technique the authors call Design for LeanSigma or 3P (product and production preparation) shows how to build flexibility into the product design and the production systems at very low risk, which will be especially helpful when forecasts and customer orders deviate from original projections, as they usually do. Further, the Design for LeanSigma method is devised to produce profitability at short-term volume projections, which makes it a perfect tool for the new demand economy. Essential, timely, and important, The Perfect Engine is perfect reading for this new manufacturing era. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Language Spanish
My company where i am working wants to buy this book for all the managers, but i would like to know if you have available this book in spanish? I hope you can give me an answer asap... Many thanks!

"Perfection" Is a Journey....
Don't be deterred by the title. (Initially, I was.) It was probably selected for marketing purposes. Sharma and Moody know better than to claim that the system they propose (what they call "LeanSigma Transformation Process") is in all ways -- and will remain forever -- a "perfect engine" by which to achieve "profitable growth that serves all the constituents of an enterprise." Any system is only as effective as those involved within it. We all know how many perfect workers there are. What Sharma and Moody present in this volume is a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective system by which to meet all manner of challenges by "building to order with fewer resources." Presumably they would be the first to point out that any such system, presented in a book, must be modified to accommodate the specific needs, interest, objectives, and resources of a given organization. Moreover, although the primary focus is on manufacturing, the principles are so sound that they can also be of substantial value to non-manufacturing enterprises such as those in retail merchandising, management consulting, banking, accounting, legal, insurance, and even advertising. All organizations need to improve cycle time and first-pass yield. Also, all organizations must do that with finite (sometimes severely limited) resources. Finally, all organizations most become (literally) obsessed with kaizen: constant improvement. Therefore, I highly recommend this book to decision-makers in all organizations (regardless of size or nature) but with the single caveat that appropriate modifications of the LeanSigma Transformation Process first be made.

Sharma and Moody carefully organize their excellent material within ten chapters. In the first, they suggest and then explain "A Better Way"; in the last, they shift their attention to "The Future." Throughout their book, they make effective use of the "journey" metaphor, correctly asserting that, once begun, the LeanSigma Transformation Process never ends. "This is a journey that concentrates the energy of an entire enterprise and focuses efforts to serve customers better, faster, with better quality products and responsiveness, ultimately leading to gains in market share." Several dozen mini-case studies (e.g. Maytag) demonstrate precisely HOW such objectives can be achieved. In the final chapter, Sharma and Moody offer these thoughts: "Keep the long-term perspective. This journey is part of a larger movement, just as kaizen breakthrough is the the enabler of LeanSigma Transformation, and Design for LeanSigma revolutionized process and product design for increased responsiveness and mass customization. [The current business circumstances worldwide] create a long-awaited window of opportunity, and it is our responsibility to be prepared, to have the best workers, the best tools, and the energetic leadership required because an opportunity like this comes only once in every hundred and fifty years."

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out David Maister's Practice What You Preach, Michael Hammer's The Agenda, Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan's Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, and James O'Toole's Leading Change.

The Perfect Engine is the perfect solution!
This book contains clear and practical guidance that anyone can use to turn a company around. After applying examples from the book to our factory we increased productivity and lowered inventory within weeks! LeanSigma is the new road to manufacturing success.

Taking the best from lean and Six Sigma methodologies to create LeanSigma is a brilliant idea. The Perfect Engine gives innovative examples that are easy to apply to any environment and quickly transform an organization into a more responsive and agile enterprise.

This book is a must read for line managers and other supply chain managers who want to stay competitive in today's market.

Strong Case for Lean
This is a very strong case for lean. There are plenty of old economy examples to provide real world validation, as opposed to all of the high tech fluff books that are out there. I recommend this to anyone in manufacturing or services as a bible to reinvent your company's operating strategy. ... Read more

Book Description

This book will provide quick and easy access to the important concepts found in Cleland's Project Management. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Real On-The-Job PM Tool
Finally, the PM profession has a follow-on to Linn Stuckenbruck's "The Implementation Of Project Management: The Professional's Handbook." Lew and Dave have packaged the esentials of the PM profession in one excellent book. The only thing lacking would be some templates for examples. I now have a replacement text, to accompany the "Guide to the PMBOK," for the PM courses I teach. This book is where the PM profession is going.

A Project Management "Must-Have"
David and Lew and achieved a great deal in project management. Now, they are practicing what they preach. This book, much like a Work Breakdown Structure, is a thoughtful, logical (and very readable) decomposition of the work to be done in establishing and maintaining individual projects or a vast project management enterprise.

The Best Feature? The annotated bibliographies are peerless in terms of adding value and pointing toward other quality project management information.

Good detail from the work package to the program level. ... Read more

Book Description

A major aspect of Japan's international economic success has been its industrial firms' ability to develop a system of subcontracting with suppliers. Through an exploration of the evolution of subcontracting in Japan as well as an analysis of its current practice in advanced economies, Nishiguchi reveals what he believes to be the shortcomings of existing theories of contractual relations. He shows that subcontracting can be described as the evolutionary product of complex historical interaction among social, political, technological, and company-level strategic plans--but not one constrained by culture. This makes it possible for other countries to use models similar to those employed in Japan, encouraging continuous improvement in product quality and cost reduction. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An Excellant analysis of Japanese sub-contracting system.
The book gives a very good background to the way the Japanese system ofsub-contracting developed over the years and how various factors includingGovernment support at right time and in specific areas helped in makingtheir system one of the main reasons for Japanese Success particularly inAutomobile & Electronic fields.The author has done a very wellstructured indepth study of working of sub-contractors in Japan as well asEurope & America and has hilighted the differences which helpedJapanese success.He has also clearly brought out the different reasons forsub-contracting for different sectors of the industry.The book is very wellsupported by large amount of actual data and foot-notes as well asunusually large Appendices give a wealth of information to a keenreader.A"don't miss" book for professionals in purchasingfunction. ... Read more

Book Description

Yield Management, an effective technique for the optimisation of revenue, used to be the exclusive prerogative of large companies such as airlines. Today, it is also accessible to entrepreneurs in the hospitality, distribution and restaurant sectors. This book offers insights into the creation and implementation of a yield management system for such businesses and solutions to the organisational and managerial problems that its application entails. It is written by tourism researchers, entrepreneurs and tourism consultants as well as experts from software houses who have designed operational tools for a successful yield management. ... Read more

Book Description

Foreword by Clayton M. Christensen

A Fortune 500 consultant's proven strategies for speeding innovation and getting to market

Innovation is a critical driver of organic growth in today's rapidly expanding markets. That's why the number one issue on most CEOs' minds is "How can we speed up our innovation process and get successful new products and services to the market more quickly?" In Fast Innovation, business expert Michael George explains why it usually takes so long for innovations to reach the market, and why they often fail.

More important, he coaches CEOs and senior managers in proven strategies for using innovation to drive growth in shareholder value.

Readers learn how to:

• Achieve faster, more controllable time-to-market
• Generate highly differentiated products, services, or experiences
• Reach a deeper understanding of customer needs
• Create a culture that drives innovation