Amazon.com

Other than the sobering fact that real lives are regularly at stake, running a navy ship is a lot like running a business: leaders of both must get the most out of their crews to operate at peak efficiency and complete the tasks at hand. As commander of the highly acclaimed USS Benfold, Captain D. Michael Abrashoff irrefutably demonstrated how progressive management can succeed at sea; in It's Your Ship, he translates his methods into an approach that can also be applied by land-bound captains of commerce and industry. Describing "the ideas and techniques that I used to win my sailors' trust and, eventually, their enthusiastic commitment to our joint goal of making our ship the best in the fleet," Abrashoff cites embarrassing failures along with subsequent triumphs to illuminate the keys to his accomplished 20-month tenure aboard the guided missile destroyer. His suggestions: lead by example; listen aggressively; communicate purpose and meaning; create a climate of trust; look for results, not salutes; take calculated risks; go beyond standard procedure; build up your people; generate unity; and improve your people's quality of life. While hardly original on the surface, Abrashoff's course should provide practical direction and inspiration for any leader hoping for similarly positive results in similarly rigid organizations. --Howard Rothman ... Read more

Reviews (48)

Inspirational and Practical
I was fortunate enough to hear the author speak once at work. He provides the inspiration and can-do attitude that empowers people that they can make a difference. He is so effective because he has done it. He could have never changed his part of the Navy unless, his employees, unless he led them through the change himself. He led from the front and backed up his employees. He could have never pulled things off without having the courage to make mistakes and learn. He provides excellent examples of managing up and down the organization...something every leader needs. It is also a skill every employee wants to see in their leader. It was refreshing to see Abrashoff apply his daily learnings to his work. Each time a new risk was taken, whether the risk was successful or not, the author applied the learnings for the next opportunity, readying his team to learn from their trials.

This book is easy to read and practical...a leadership guide that all leaders should read. This will be a must read for my team.

It's Your Ship, a floating leadership benchmark.
Whether your organization is on dry land or floating somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, if your performance levels rely on human beings, "It's Your Ship" is a must read.

In business, all too often the human element is overlooked. Human relations is generally reguarded as soft skills, which organizations do not value. However, it is my opinion and apparently Mike Abrashoff's also, that organizations have alot to gain by successfully implementing these so-called soft skills.

The author, Captain D. Michael Abrashoff, teaches what he refers to as grassroots leadership. He uses behavior modification, empowerment, and team building techniques to transform a mediocre performing group into the best damn ship in the navy.

A billion dollar naval warship is not the typical organizational setting. However, the author uses his experience as commander of the U.S.S. Benfold (a nuclear powered naval destroyer) to teach effective management skills to all who lead organizations on dry land.

Abrashoff also teaches the importance of putting the needs of your subordinates before your own. Throughout the book Mike continually challenges the status quo for the good of his group.
The author describes a practical but all too uncommon leadership style that decentralizes authority and empowers people to make their own decisions.

D. Michael Abrashoff is the kind of leader that we all want to have and to be. However, a lack of courage, resistance to change, and status quo keep many of us from attaining Abrashoff's level of leadership greatness.

"It's Your Ship" offers the answers to the valuable managerial question of, how do you motivate employees to achieve high levels of performance.

"It's Your Ship" is a truly inspirational story of how effective leadership can transform any organization into a high powered and high performing team.

It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Shi
I picked this up as I had been part of the Navy and was interested to see what Captain Abrashoff offered in Management philosophy. The reading turned out to be a great pleasure and an informative one. The techniques and processes he used, translate to different industry managements, not just the military. I am a CIO and have provided this book to the Managers of the department. Management techniques are not one time events, but need to be developed as part of the company culture, Captain Abrashoff's offerings are what we are trying to instill in our culture.

Best Damn Book on Leadership Ever Written
As a long-time Air Force Instructor who specializes in teaching leadership courses, I was stunned at the simplicity and wildly effective techniques described in this book. Captain Abrashoff simply followed his heart, and in the process, not only nearly transformed the Navy but created allegiances so herculean that you'd think you were reading Greek mythology. Nothing fancy here--a committed leader, determined to do what makes sense and what makes his people feel most empowered and personally satisfied. His eager crew knocked the socks off every existing comparable ship in the fleet, but that wasn't his best legacy. His greatest gift as a leader was his willingness to learn and to change as needed--and that, as uncomplicated as it sounds, created physical and emotional miracles. More than once, I reached for the tissue box, and more than once, I asked Providence to bless him and anyone else who was determined to lead as he did and does. Easy to read, brief, and magnetically compelling, this is a magnificent primer for every person who leads or who aspires to do so one day. I have read many dozens of books on leadership for my profession, but this one blows every single one of them "out of the water". Read and heed, and your abilities as a great inspiration and guide will multiply exponentially. Extraordinary!

Practical Experience
Captain D. Michael Abrashoff changed the way the Navy does business. He proved that by making the crew the team, his ship could outperform all the others in the entire fleet. While that didn't start as his goal, his leadership insights quickly spread throughout the US Navy based on the Benfold's operational performance. It's also a book about treating the members of the team as important contributors, and well as people. The book is about leadership, from a practical, reproducible point of view. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In the revised and updated edition of Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, authors James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones provide a thoughtful expansion upon their value-based business system based on the Toyota model. Along the way they update their action plan in light of new research and the increasing globalization of manufacturing, and they revisit some of their key case studies (most of which still derive, however, from the automotive, aerospace, and other manufacturing industries).

The core of the lean model remains the same in the new edition. All businesses must define the "value" that they produce as the product that best suits customer needs. The leaders must then identify and clarify the "value stream," the nexus of actions to bring the product through problems solving, information management, and physical transformation tasks. Next, "lean enterprise" lines up suppliers with this value stream. "Flow" traces the product across departments. "Pull" then activates the flow as the business re-orients towards the pull of the customer's needs. Finally, with the company reengineered towards its core value in a flow process, the business re-orients towards "perfection," rooting out all the remaining muda (Japanese for "waste") in the system.

Despite the authors' claims to "actionable principles for creating lasting value in any business during any business conditions," the lean model is not demonstrated with broad applications in the service or retail industries. But those manager's whose needs resonate with those described in the Lean Thinking case studies will find a host of practical guidelines for streamlining their processes and achieving manufacturing efficiencies. --Patrick O'Kelley ... Read more

Reviews (25)

Good Conceptual Overview of Eliminating Waste in Producing
Unlike most cost-reduction books, Lean Thinking has a strong conceptual underpinning for thinking about improving your operations. The authors move beyond the narrowest application of the lean manufacturing model (the original Toyota system) to explore key concepts like value (what do the customers want? as opposed to what do they choose from the limited options we give them?), flow (continuous production is faster and more efficient than batch processing), pull (letting immediate demand determine what is produced rather than sales projections), and perfection (thinking through the ideal way to do things, rather than just improving from where you are today somewhat). Providing this conceptual framework makes it easier to understand the benefits of operating a lean enterprise. People who did not understand the message in Direct from Dell would find Lean Thinking to be a useful framework.

One of the strengths of this book is that it is deliberately full of examples of companies which took traditional methods in existing plants and converted them into lean operations. I know of no other set of case histories half as useful on this subject.

The key limitation of this book is that most people new to lean manufacturing would not be able to implement solely using the book as a guide. The conceptual perspective, while being uniquely valuable, leaves the inexperienced person with few guideposts. Some of the key requirements are simply described as "get the knowledge" and so forth. As a follow-up, I suggest that the authors team with those who have done this work and write a hands-on guide. Much more benefit will follow.

If you are interested in understanding how a new business model of how to provide your products and/or services might work and what the benefits might be, Lean Thinking is a good place to start. Most executives and operations managers have never seriously considered going from batch to cell-based production. This will open your eyes to the potential.

Based on my many years of experience with improving business processes, you will actually need to go visit some of the companies cited to fully understand the issues and what must be done. I know that visits to Pratt & Whitney can be arranged and are very insightful. You might try to start with that one.

One area may turn you off. The cited examples moved forward pretty ruthlessly. That may not be your cup of tea. You may be reminded of some of the early reengineering. My own experience is that such changes can be done in a more positive and constructive way. Stay open to that possibility as you read the cases. They basically all use command and control to create more flexibility. You can also use other methods like those encouraged in The Soul at Work and The Living Company to create these kinds of results. Keep that in mind.

I recommend that everyone who uses batch and sequential operation methods read this book. It will open your eyes to great potential to grow faster and more profitably.

This is the business bible!
As a strategic planning consultant, I recommend 'Lean Thinking' to all of my clients. Some mistakenly view this book as a 'how to' for manufacturing companies. While it is, it is also much more. It is an attitude about business strategy. Waste, in any type of company, drains profits in one of two ways: as direct costs that they can see today, and as indirect costs when waste discourages repeat business. For any business manager worth his or her six figure income, this book is a must read.

Great, if you like stories about business.
I'm not sure who the audience is for Lean Thinking. Call me naïve, but I assumed it was written by Womack and Jones to help organizations analyze their business processes and eliminate muda (Japanese for "waste"), thereby improving overall performance. However, after reading almost 250 pages of anecdotal success stories, the chapter entitled "Action Plan," where one would assume resides the punch-line of the text, I was met by the profound advice to "Get the knowledge" by hiring one of the numerous experts in North America, Europe or Japan, and read some of the "vast literature" available on lean techniques. Reminds me of the Steve Martin joke where he tells you how to be a millionaire. "First, get a million dollars."

After reading Lean Thinking, I'm struck by the irony that while the authors recommend removing waste from the manner by which your products are delivered to the end customer, they don't take their own advice. The text could have been distilled from 384 pages down to five or six, since there's no real substantive instruction on how to implement lean principles. Then again, maybe I completely misinterpreted the intent of the authors as to their audience and it really was written for the business historian who enjoys reading about how Pratt & Whitney started in 1855. That must be it, because after I ponder the title, I realize that Lean Thinking is for just that, thinking. What I really wanted was a book entitled Lean Doing.

A Roadmap for Efficient Value Creation
Would you like to double productivity, cut development time by 60%, reduce inventory by 65%, reduce throughput time by 95%, reduce capital investment while doubling sales? Pre-existing assets, technologies, practices, organizations and concepts often cause enormous waste, i.e. activity which does not create value. This exciting book is about a way to do more and more with less and less - to create value instead of waste.

Lean Principles
1. Accurately understand VALUE (needs and preferences) from the customer's perspective.

2. Perform VALUE STREAM analysis. This will reveal three types of actions: 1) those that create value, 2) those that do not create value but are unavoidable in the present situation and 3) those that don't create value and are immediately avoidable.

3. After eliminating avoidable waste activities, make the remaining activities continuously FLOW. This requires the elimination of departmentalized "high speed" batch-and-queue "efficiency". It requires quick changeovers, "right-sizing" and close coupling of operations without buffers. The authors state that the results are always a dramatic reduction of effort and improvement in throughput.

4. Because of the radical reduction achieved in throughput time, you now are capable of Just In Time operations. You can now let the customer PULL the product.

5. Finally search for PERFECTION. Perfection is, of course, impossible. But the effort compels progress.

"Just Do It"
The lean approach is to "just do it" with dedicated cross functional product teams which often include suppliers and customers.

The beauty of this system is that it won't work at all unless everything works properly all the time. Thus 100% performance becomes an absolute requirement.

The authors present a number of very interesting case studies in which dramatic results were obtained. They conclude with advice as to how to get started - including a list of available resources. This book is especially well-suited to operations managers, but will also benefit any executive in a company that relies upon operational excellence as a part of their strategy.

(Robert Bradford is CEO of Center for Simplified Strategic Planning and co-author of Simplified Strategic Planning)

Russian edition of Lean thinking
This book was translated and published in Russia in January 2004. We find that it will be interesting and usefull for russian managers and companies. ... Read more

Book Description

The Wall Street Journal bestseller, now with new material.

The master teacher of positive change through powerful communication,Susan Scott wants her readers to succeed. To do that, she explains, one must transform everyday conversations employing effective ways to get the message across. In this guide, which includes exercises and tools to take you step by step through the Seven Principles of Fierce Conversations, Scott teaches readers how to:

€ Overcome barriers to meaningful communication
€ Expand and enrich conversations with colleagues, friends, and family
€ Increase clarity and improve understanding
€ Handle strong emotions-on both sides of the table ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Fierce as in True
If we have ever needed a book like this, now is the time. Just think what could have happened at Enron, WorldCom, etc. if people had been willing to talk to each other about what was really going on? This is both a "think about this" and a "here's how to use it" book that can give people the courage and tools to tell others what they are seeing and believing. Don't be put off by the title, Fierce does not mean you get to beat everyone up - it really is an invitation to, as the author says - interrogate reality. Susan Scott does an effective job in weaving her three big ideas about conversations through the book. The ideas are simple yet powerful and can change the way we talk both to ourselves and to others. She captured me right away with the first concept; that our lives (and work) succeed or fail one conversation at a time, including those conversations we don't have. The book is an easy read. The concepts are clearly presented both in theory and with amusing stories and, best of all, there are practical tips on how to use the information. I enjoyed reading it and putting the principles into action. I'll be giving copies to friends and colleagues. This is one of those books that belongs both at home and the office.

A Fierce (robust) Book
Fierce Conversation starts with the premise that "the conversation is the relationship" and we must have Fierce (robust) Conversation's in all of our relationships -- business and personal. It is far more encompassing then other recent conversation books on how to have "crucial" or "critical" conversations only.

It's a guidebook on how to make relationships meaningful and successful. It's simplicity of focusing on "one conversation at a time" avoids the pitfall of a relationship deteriorating in Scott's words "slowly then suddenly".

It's a book whose processes I am able to put into action immediately. I can readily see how starting with one conversation at a time will lead to mastery and enrich relationships. The examples are vivid and easy to visualize and remember.

I actually look forward to having Fierce Conversations with my colleagues, customers, employees, and family.

I highly recommend Fierce Conversations.

Philip E. Fine
Chief Executive Officer
Premier Distribution Services, Inc.
Somerset, NJ

What are you pretending not to know?
Most breakdowns in life have some connection to conversations -- conversations not had, conversations that go poorly, or conversations not yet even imagined. There are a number of good books on conversations and this is one of them.

I tend to refer my coaching clients to "Fierce Conversations" when they are having trouble getting motivated and avoid a lot of uncomfortable conversations (compared to recommending other books for those who botch difficult conversations).

Susan's section on "stump speeches" is good for gaining clarity on personal vision (i.e., where are you going, why, who is going with you, and how will you get there?).

Once clear on "where you are going," it's time to start noticing and speaking about what "you're pretending not to know" (otherwise known as breakdowns -- yours or others).

Although "Fierce Conversations" doesn't cover the underlying emotions like "Difficult Conversations" or "Nonviolent Communications" do, or the styles under stress (silence or violence) as "Crucial Conversations" does, it does have some good discussion on "interrogating reality" (with an emphasis on questions and remaining curious) and identifying your own role in conversational breakdowns.

Fierce, difficult, crucial, nonviolent -- whatever you call these conversations, they're at the core of all meaningful relationships. I can definitely recommend "Fierce Conversations" to the mix of books on skillful conversations.

Packed With Knowledge!
This book offers numerous useful principles that will help anyone become a better conversationalist and a more responsive listener. Read carefully because gems of very valuable content are scattered through the entire book, a sentence here, a quotation there, buried in long, interesting digressions about the author's life, people she's known and clients she's worked with over time. A judicious editor could have made a very sharp and effective pocket book out of this material, which is about managing intense, strong discussions with skill. As it is, you'll have to do some digging, but you'll have a perfectly good time doing it, particularly if you are a fan of New Age mantras and can handle a little touchy-feely vocabulary. We assure you that the lessons you'll learn about conversations - including fierce ones - will stand you in good stead.

Not as Helpful as "Difficult Conversations."
I listened to both this and "Difficult Conversations." I found that "Diffiicult Conversations" offered much more helpful, concrete advice, and the material was much better organized. I was disappointed that the emphasis of "Firece Conversatons" was almost entirely on business related conversations. Example after example focused on her executive clients. After listening to this program, I felt no more prepared for conversations with friends and family than before. There were a few helpful ideas, but they were presented much more clearly in "Difficult Conversations." "Difficult Conversations" gave me real, practical strategies that have made a big difference in my ease in bringing up tricky conversations and working through them with positive results. ... Read more

Book Description

When first introduced to the market in 1998, Contemporary Management, by Jones and George made a huge splash with its innovative voice, content, pedagogy, design, and package. The cutting-edge 3rd Edition continues to redefine what principles of management texts should look, sound, and feel like. Authors Gareth Jones and Jennifer George are dedicated to the challenge of “Making It Real” for students. As a team, they are uniquely qualified to write about both the strategic imperative for managers and organizational challenges that real managers face! Their combined research and text-writing experience is matched by no author team today. Contemporary Management is a comprehensive text that surveys the theoretical underpinnings of modern management thought and research and through a variety of real world examples from small, medium, and large companies shows the reader how those ideas are used by practicing managers. Of course, the organization of this text follows the mainstream functional approach of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling; but the content is flexible and encourages instructors to use the organization they are most comfortable with. The themes of diversity, ethics, and information technology have been greatly expanded in the 3rd Edition through in-text examples, photographs, “unboxed” stories, and the end-of-chapter material – all areas of importance that truly serve to bring to life the workplace realities that today’s student will encounter in the course of a career. ... Read more

Book Description

ANSWERS YOU NEED FROM EXPERTS YOU TRUST

How many times have you bought the latest and greatest management book and let it collect dust on your shelf? Management fads come and go, but leaders across the globe know that when they need substance, they’ll find it in Successful Manager’s Handbook.

Fully updated and revised, this 7th edition continues the PDI tradition of providing smart, practical ideas and suggestions that you can use immediately on the job.

Never simplistic, always relevant, Successful Manager’s Handbook is the ideal resource for you, your employees and the people you coach.

"A one-stop shop…a wonderful resource for improving performance." — D. Bradford Neary Director, Executive & Leadership Development Medtronic, Inc.

"No manager's toolkit should be without it…indispensable." — Greg Schaefer Manager, Curriculum Development Learning & Development Rockwell Collins

"Successful Manager's Handbook answers the perennial question, 'Now that I know what my strengths and development needs are, exactly what can I do about it?' This simple, action- and behavior-oriented tool helps everyone prepare specific, meaningful development plans." — Coleman Peterson President & CEO, Hollis Enterprises Retired EVP-People Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

"My team and I count on the processes and suggestions in PDI's Successful Manager's Handbook to help us focus the business and deliver on long-term strategies. The processes and suggestions also challenge me personally to become a more effective leader in our organization." — Andrew F. Nelson Vice President, HP & Executive Director HealthPartners Resource Foundation ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An in-depth, one-stop compendium
Now in an updated seventh edition, Successful Manager's Handbook is an in-depth, one-stop compendium packed with everything a manager absolutely must know. Written and compiled by Personnel Decisions International, a global human resources consulting firm specializing in building leadership talent, Successful Manager's Handbook is filled cover to cover with expert advice, from how to analyze issues and make sound, logical decisions to postively influencing others, fostering open communication, listen and write effectively, lead with courage, build trust, and much more. Point-by-point suggestions applicable to leaders of any scope in any field break down the most crucial concepts into easily accessible guidelines, and extensive lists of top-quality books and seminars offer further resources to pursue for tips, tricks, and techniques. Highly recommended.
... Read more

Reviews (5)

Great Book
As a former student of Dr. Bitner, her course and this book made up the foundation that the Services Marketing and Management MBA program at Arizona State Uni. built from. It's an extensive review of how customers are the most important part to a service oriented business, and to neglect them at any touch point is a service failure.
This book will outline the process by which any company, be it real or virtual, can develop world class service.
This book and the SMM program at Arizona State University are highly recommended.

Great!
The book is very clear in the format and structure. It talks about the solutions of the problems arising in service marketing step by step. It first describes what service is and the increasing importance of service. Then, it puts much emphasis on people, the very important marketing mix in service. It focuses on customers: how customers perceive and expect service. Next, it focuses on providers: how companies know what customers expect; how they select the right service designs and standards; how they deliver service to standards and how they match performance to promising.

It is also good to have a very detailed example (case) in the beginning of each chapter and the content will very often refer to that example, which make me easier to understand. But sometimes, I think it would be better if more different examples are used in the same chapter.

Besides, the GLOBAL FEATURE, the TECHNOLOGY SPOTLIGHT and the EXHIBIT make the book even more fruitful and let me know more about the related areas under that topic. Great!

this book may help you.
First of all, I like the structure of this book because it uses Gap Model to connect the content of the whole book. At the begining of this book, it first introduces the importance and tools of service marketing. Then it chooses Gap Model to divide this book into different parts. Under different gap problem, the book shows the ways to close the gap. I believe this structure helps to understand more easily and relate what should be done under different problems.

Secondly, many diagrams are used to describe the concept under service marketing. Service blueprint in the chapter 6 is a good example. It uses diagrams to explain how to draw, how to read and how to use the service blueprint. It is very clear and useful to explain in this way.

However, there are still some drawbacks. For example, when talking about the different kinds of strategies used under service marketing, sometimes the explanation is too simple and not in depth.

An important book for electronic marketers
Essentially everything that marketers do over the Internet, from the ASP to the online retailer, is a service. Services marketers face unique challenges. Today's electronic marketer will find useful lessons in the services marketing literature. You will find either Valarie Zeithaml or Mary Jo Bitner in the byline of almost every important piece of research on services marketing published in the 1990s. Together, they have produced a textbook that is very much worthy of their reputations.

This book is fairly comprehensive, although it does not include Bitner's most recent work on consumer response to self-service technologies. Still, as an electronic marketer reads through this book, they cannot help but find themselves asking new questions about their business and how they can make it better. The book is a relatively easy read, and it is not overly academic--the theories and frameworks presented are simply tools that lead to practical solutions to real problems. There are many examples in the text; often, the company is familiar but the business practices described here are not so well known.

I strongly recommend this book to e-marketers.

Customer as a competitor
All in our life,there are competition which must be handled. I'm sure that whoever feel about customer position's as competitor, but they were not aware it. Your book tells about it. That's good. ... Read more

Book Description

'Leader As Coach' is a straight-forward, practical book that can help you lead your people and your organization to greater success.

The tips and practices in 'Leader As Coach' will enable you to sharpen your coaching skills so that you can attract and retain the talent you need for success, foster growth in others, provide effective feedback, orchestrate learning opportunities, and groom high-potential performers. After all, your people are your most important asset.

Within these pages you’ll find:
--Five high-impact strategies for effective coaching.
--Useful insights on how to deal with resistance and motivate others.
--Hundreds of tips and action steps to make you a better coach. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Professional Coaching
Our company recently hosted a presentation from David Peterson, one of the authors of Leader as Coach. His audience was a small group of HR managers and Training consultants. He provided us with a no nonsense, credible approach to coaching managers and leaders. The title of his presentation was quite true to that title, providing us with a clear vision of the state of the art and insights into the state of the practice.

David and Mary Dee's book, Leader as Coach, is the foundation for one of the clearest and most well-reasoned approaches to Coaching I have seen after a decade in this business. But don't stop with this book. Go on from here to Personnel Decisions International's Development FIRST and Supervisor's Handbook

This book has been my guide for my active research project.
This book has been both inspirational and motivational for me. I love the quotes and have used them when sending memos to people involved in my Masters active research project. The few colorful pictures are beautiful and representative of reaching high for the stars. The texture of the paper used is similar to a magazine's. I almost felt I was reading one, which felt more like leisure reading. The book is short, easy to read, and to the point. I've taken much of the advise while I've engaged as a leader in my project. I've made efforts to become a better listener, give positive feedback, inspire people to take risks, and built a bond of trust. I learned that I have to model the good habits I'd like others to practice. The strategies suggested are a must for people in the business world and adminstrators or leaders in education. The book is practical for anyone who assumes a leadership role and does not know how to begin the process. Thumbs up! ... Read more

Book Description

From the most trusted voice on transition, a revised edition of the classic practical guide to dealing with the human side of organizational change.

The business world is a place of constant change, with stories of corporate mergers, layoffs, bankruptcy, and restructuring hitting the news every day. Yet as veteran consultant William Bridges maintains, the situational changes are not as difficult for companies to make as the psychological transitions. In the best-selling Managing Transitions, Bridges provides a clear understanding of what change does to employees and what employees in transition can do to an organization.

Directed at managers and employees in today's corporations, Bridges shows how to minimize the distress and disruptions caused by change. Managing Transitions addresses the fact that it is people who have to carry out the change. When the book was originally published a decade ago, Bridges was the first to provide any real sense of the emotional impact of change and what can be done to keep it from disrupting the entire organization. With new information and commentary on layoffs, corporate suspicion, and the increasing tumult in the business world, Managing Transitions remains the definitive guide to dealing with change. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change
Leading a full-time staff of 20 people and over a 1000 volunteers, and having read a number of books on change, I have found William Bridges book extremely helpful. Many talk about change without thinking about the people that change can effect. William helps us understand that change is situational, while transition is emotional. He puts flesh and bones on change.

This book is well organized, breaking down transition into three phases. Phase I: "The Letting Go Stage", Phase II: "The Neutral Zone" and Phase III: "The New Beginning" In each phase William helps us understand what to anticipate and gives us extremely practical advice and checklists.

I also enjoy the awesome quotes throughout the book. Here are some great qoutes from Phase II:

"It's not so much that we're afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but it's the place inbetween that we fear... It's like being between trapezes." Marilyn Ferguson

"It takes nine months to have a baby, no matter how many people you can put on the job." American saying

"An adventure is only an inconvience rightly understood. An inconvience is only an adventure wrongly understood." C.K. Chesterton

Get the book. It is well worth your investment. It will help you with your greatest asset: PEOPLE.

Answers the question: Why most organizational change fails?
William Bridges is one of the world's leading experts in the area of managing the human side of change. Bridges originally introduced the notion of "transition" in his first book, Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes (1980), which was a primer on coping with the tumultuous life changes we all face on a personal level. In Managing Transitions, Bridges applies the concept of transition within the context of organizational change.

Bridges asserts that transition is not synonymous with "change." A change occurs when something in the external environment is altered. In an organizational setting this would include changes in management, organizational structure, job design, systems, processes, etc. These changes trigger an internal psychological reorientation process in those who are expected to carry out or respond to the change. Transition is this internal process that people must go through in order to come to terms with a new situation. Unless transition occurs, change will not work.

Bridges believes that the failure to identify and prepare for the inevitable human psychological adjustments that change produces is the largest single problem that organizations encounter when they implement major change initiatives.

Unfortunately, many managers, when confronted with predictable change-induced resistance by those charged with implementing a change, respond in punitive and inappropriate ways that only serve to undermine the change effort. Due to their lack of understanding of transition, they do not possess the skills to facilitate it effectively.

Leaders and managers often assume that when necessary changes are decided upon and well planned, they will just happen. Unless the transition process is handled successfully by management, all that careful decision making and detailed planning will matter little.

We must face the fact that for a change to occur, people must own it. Unless people go through the inner process of transition, they will not develop the new behavior and attitudes the change requires. Change efforts that disregard the process of transition are doomed.

Bridges presents the reader with a simple three-phase transition model that eliminates much of the mystery surrounding the human side of change. He then provides would-be change agents with a series of checklists that serve as a road map for managing transitions in the real world.

Both research and experience remind us that although a change can be implemented quickly, the psychological process of transition takes time. Transitions can take a very long time if they are not well managed. Few organizations can afford to wait that long for the results.

The good news is that leaders can learn basic transition management strategies. Armed with these skills, they can lead employees through complex and difficult changes with renewed energy and purpose, and can actually accelerate the process of transition.

With as many as half of all major organizational change efforts failing, leaders must learn new strategies and skills that will increase the odds of success. Bridges has provided us with a toolkit for managing the human side of change that is well worth considering.

A Must Read!
This is one of the most succinct and clearly written business books you will ever read. Author William Bridges uses language with care and precision, delivering the goods without any superfluous jargon. He cites many welcome quotations on change and innovation from a wide range of writers and thinkers whose work is not usually found in business books. He places these quotations in context with aptly chosen examples of recent business transitions, bringing intelligence and sensibility to a subject too often addressed only with clichés and cant. Only those who have read many business books can fully appreciate the value of such an approach. Others will merely find that they are able to read this book from cover to cover without at any point having to wonder what the author really means to say. Managing transitions is really about helping people deal with fear and uncertainty - the key is to build trust and confidence. Everything Bridges says flows from that common sense insight, and seems obvious and necessary once he says it, though it may not seem as evident to you until you read his book. We highly recommends that you do so.

crap
if you think this book is good, then you are bad.

MANAGING change and more!
This book shows you how to MANAGE transitions and why transitions fail. It is an excellent read. If you want to know how to make the MOST of change, you have to be an Optimal Thinker. So read Optimal Thinking: How To Be Your Best Self too. ... Read more

Book Description

Brings together the disciplines of economics, political science, law, and ethics to address a class ofmanagement issues of growing importance to the performance of companies.Provides conceptual frameworks for understanding issues in the environment of business and their development; strategy formulation; analysis of the news media; political analysis; the economics and politics of government intervention in markets (regulation, antitrust, and torts); the economics and politics of international trade; the political economy of countries; and ethical analysis and decision-making.For all business professionals, including managers looking to enhance their knowledge of an ever-changing, increasingly global field. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The book for dilettante readers
The author provided some good examples to demonstrate some business's environments. The book is very readable. You will get bored if you have exposed to industrial organization or some applications of game theory.

Pretty Easy Reading
I've read a good chunk of this book during a B-school elective on non-market strategies, and found it imparted some valuable information. It's not very prescriptive if that's what you're looking for. But it made me feel like I got something out of the class despite an unstellar professor. ... Read more

Book Description

This comprehensive and massive 600 page new book will show you step-by-step how to set up, operate, and manage a financially successful foodservice operation. The author has left no stone unturned in explaining the risky business of running a restaurant. Operators in the non-commercial segment as well as caterers, and really anyone in the food service industry will find this book very useful.

The books nineteen chapters cover the entire process of a restaurant start-up and ongoing management in an easy to understand way, pointing out methods to increase your chances of success, and showing how to avoid the many common mistakes that can doom a start-up. The new companion CD rom contains all the forms demonstrated in the book for easy use in a PDF format.

While providing detailed instruction and examples, the author leads you through finding a location that will bring success, learn how to draw up a winning business plan, how to buy and (sell ) a restaurant, franchising, basic cost control systems, profitable menu planning, sample restaurant floor plans & diagrams, successful kitchen management, equipment layout and planning, food safety & HACCP, successful beverage management, learn how to set up computer systems to save time and money, learn how to hire & keep a qualified professional staff, brand new IRS tip reporting requirements, managing and training employees, generate high profile public relations and publicity, learn low cost internal marketing ideas, low and no cost ways to satisfy customers and build sales, learn how to keep bringing customers back, accounting & bookkeeping procedures, auditing, successful budgeting and profit planning development, as well as thousands of great tips and useful guidelines.

The extensive resource Guide details over 7,000 suppliers to the industry, this directory could be a separate book on its own. This Restaurant Managers Handbook covers everything that many companies pay consultants thousands of dollars for.

This book is also ideal for professionals in the hospitality field as well as newcomers who may be looking for answers to cost containment and training issues. There are literally hundreds of innovative ways demonstrated to streamline your restaurant business. Learn new ways to make the kitchen, bars, dining room, and front office run smoother and increase performance. Shut down waste, reduce costs, and increase profits. In addition operators will appreciate this valuable resource and reference in their daily activities and as a source of ready-to-use forms, web sites, operating and cost cutting ideas, and mathematical formulas that can be easily applied to their operations. Highly recommended! ... Read more

Reviews (26)

Fabulous Book
This comprehensive 600 page book showed me in detail how to set up, operate, and manage a restaurant business. The author covers everything there is to know about the very risky business of running a restaurant.

As a caterer looking to open a restaurant I also found the book very helpful. I didn't need recipes or help in sales - I needed help in running the financial aspects of my business.The chpater on computers was very helpful as well.The book is very easy to read and understand. Complicated accounting subjects are simplified, easy to understand and ( almost) fun to apply.

The books nineteen chapters cover the entire process of a restaurant start-up and ongoing management.The companion CD rom which contains all the forms is worth the modest price of the book alone. I would highly recomend this book to anyone in the industry now or who wants to get started with sound financial planning. Also the extensive resource guide in the back of the book helped me locate a manufacturer I needed a part from - I will use this book often.

Hospitality News November 2002
This comprehensive and massive 600 page new book will show you step-by-step how to set up, operate, and manage a financially successful foodservice operation. The author has left no stone unturned in explaining the risky business of running a restaurant. Operators in the non-commercial segment as well as caterers, and really anyone in the food service industry will find this book very useful.The books nineteen chapters cover the entire process of a restaurant start-up and ongoing management in an easy to understand way, pointing out methods to increase your chances of success, and showing how to avoid the many common mistakes that can doom a start-up. The new companion CD rom contains all the forms demonstrated in the book for easy use in a PDF format.There are literally hundreds of innovative ways demonstrated to streamline your restaurant business. Learn new ways to make the kitchen, bars, dining room, and front office run smoother and increase performance. Shut down waste, reduce costs, and increase profits.

If you know the restaurant business, this book is not for u
This book has a lot of information, however it does not go into great detail for those who are familiar with the principals listed inside but are looking to expand on those ideas. If you are an experienced restaurant manager or owner, this book is a waste of money.

Superb!!
The books nineteen chapters cover the entire process of a restaurant start-up and ongoing management.The companion CD rom which contains all the forms is worth the modest price of the book alone. I would highly recomend this book to anyone in the industry now or who wants to get started with sound financial planning. Also the extensive resource guide in the back of the book is superb - we will use this book often.

Generic Junk
This book is an elementary guide, definitely not one I would reccommend fo an upscale restaurant owner. Plenty of outdated material that has no relevence for todays operator. ... Read more

Book Description

This streamlined volume covers the principle concepts of management to provide readers with a solid foundation for understanding key issues. Organized around the four traditional functions of management—planning, organizing, leading, and controlling, it reflects current trends in management and organizations, and presents the latest research studies in the field.The authors address managing in today's world, foundations of planning and decision making, basic organization designs, staffing and human resource management, foundations of individual and group behavior, leadership and trust and foundations of control and value chain management.For managers of all kinds. ... Read more

Reviews (54)

I recomend this book to any potential business students.
I feel that the textbook, Fundamentals of Management by Stephen P. Robbins, is a good tool for the beginning management student. Throughout the course, I learned many different approaches to becoming a successful manager. The book made use of illustrating it's points by using graphs, charts, and tables. This is important for the students who are having a hard time understanding what the author is trying to say. The author made it very easy to understand his teachings. However, I believe that there are two sides to management. These are the "good" and "bad" or "ethical" and "unethical" sides. The book touches briefly on the unethical side and the side is just as important. It's hard for someone to succeed at something if they do not understand the different aspects. This is my only complaint. In conclusion, I would recommend this book to anyone who is planning to chase a career in business. I know I plan on keeping this book for future reference.

Learning Tool
Fundamentals of Management 2nd ed. by Robbins and De Cenzo was the text use for my Management course at Hannibal-LaGrange College. While using this book, I noticed that it had many definitions in the side margins. They were helpful to me to better understand and comprehend the material I was reading. The many exhibits through out the book made the material applicable to the business world. The exhibits helped me to learn visually. To test my comprehension, the text had helpful "Testing Your Comprehension" Quizzes at the end of each chapter. I found these helpful after taking in a lot of material, I was able to sort everything out and refresh the newly learned material. Though this book's good out weigh the bad, I would like to have seen the text and the corresponding exhibit on the same page, so that page flipping would not take place. Page flipping can cause the reader to lose interest and even concentration. My only other complaint was that it is in serious need of a face-lift, something that would attract the eye. The books overall appearance has the ability to make the reader want to read it more. Some suggestions would be to put a photograph on the front, use computer graphics in the book, and hardback to be more durable and more presentable. When writing this book, I believe that the authors did a wonderful job of making the difficult to understand material, easy for people to read and learn from it. Many different majors were in the class that I took and I do believe that each took with a better understanding of Management and how Managers function in the business world. In comparison to other books that I have used in other courses, I think that the material inside was excellent, but as I mentioned before, I think that it could use a face-lift. After studying the material that was inside the book, I believe that I will keep this book. The reason being, is that I think that once I get out into the work place, I will need to know how to work with others and how others work best together. This book has encouraged me to keep pursuing my career as an accountant. In my future profession, I assume that I will placed in a management position. I will be a "boss"/manager and have to know how to motivate my employees, make sure that the task is completed in an effective and efficient way and all the while encourage my employees to be innovative in the work place.

Review of Fundamentals of Management
I used this text book in an Introduction to Management course in College. I felt that the text did a great job explaining the different concepts and functions of management. The examples made it easy to understand. I also felt that the exhibits were very helpful and easy to understand. The tables and diagrams were all easy to interrupt. I also found the end of the chapter summaries very useful. I would reccomend this book to anyone who has an interest in understanding the basic fundamentals of management.

Book Review
I found this book to be very informative and helpful as an introductory management text. The order of the book was clear and precise with smooth transistions between concepts. I appreciated the use of relevent stories to follow the concepts and also the Ethical Dilemmas in Management. They forced me to apply the concepts being introduced so that I would really learn them. This is an excellent book to use and follow and will help any student who is taking an introductory management course to successfully learn the material.

Fundmntls of Management: Essential Concepts and Applications
I used this book in my Fundamentals of Management course at Harlaxton College. Of the two textbooks used for this class, I thought this one was much more useful. My favorite aspects were the definitions in the margins, the quizzes at the end of each chapter and the various exhibits throughout the chapters. I felt these learning tools made taking notes easier, let me see what exactly I did and did not know about the material and helped me better understand some of the more difficult concepts being taught. I also enjoyed the short "real world" managerial examples at the beginning of each chapter. I felt these stories helped me ease into the material I was about to read and give it a little more meaning in an outside the classroom situation. Overall, I found this textbook as helpful and informative. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

decent book
This book is an ok book. The cases are very interesting and they were the best part of the book. The readings in the first half of the book were random at times and generally not that good. Mintzberg has a great grasp of the concepts, but the book does not do well at conveying them.

Excellent business book
This is the kind of book that everyone who wants to be a business administrator should read. It is a compilation of diferents articles most of them from HBR and each unit has some real cases which explain the theme better.

Very good book.
I managed to read it throughly and study most of the cases presented on this book. This book is a very actual source of information to learn and expand existing knowledge. I give 5-stars due to the fact that it is rich in its contents. ... Read more

Book Description

The most comprehensive Six Sigma reference available, now revised and expanded

Completely rewritten and reorganized, this second edition of The Six Sigma Handbookcovers all the basic statistics and qualityimprovement tools of the Six Sigma quality management system. This new edition reflects the developments in Six Sigma over the past few years and will help maintain the book's position as the leading comprehensive guide to Six Sigma.

Key changes to this edition include:

• New chapters on DFSS (Design for Six Sigma); Minitab, the most popular statistical software for Six Sigma; Six Sigma philosophy and values; flowcharting; and SIPOC
• Coverage of the core problem-solving technique DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control)
• Dozens of downloadable, customizable Six Sigma work sheets
• New material on important advanced Six Sigma tools such as FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis)

Reviews (13)

The Complete Guide to Six Sigma
The title says it all. Thomas Pyzdek covers everything that one needs to know to successfully implement six sigma concepts. After a brief introduction of the history behind six sigma, Pyzdek provides a detailed summary of the tools, methodologies and techniques necessary to successfuly tackle a six sigma project. Both "soft and hard" tools are described. The methodology is understandable. Pyzdek takes special care to explain where specific techniques can (and cannot) be applied. This is especially helpful for the reader that has forgotten more then they remember about statistics.

Pyzdek is ideallly suited to write this book. He is one of a limited few authors that has a strong statitical education coupled with an in-depth knowledge of business. PLUS he can write.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone that is serious about making improvements through the application of six sigma methodology. Everything that ones needs to know is here in one book. And for those that need additional information the references are excellent.

Not Just Another Statistics Tome
I have been doing Six Sigma projects for GE worldwide for over six years. I was very pleased to find a book that doesn't pontificate about the benefits of Six Sigma without telling the practitioner what to do on a Monday morning. The organization of the tools using the DMAIC framework is especially useful for the beginning BB who is trying to make sense of the weeks of training while they are executing their projects.

Some sections, such as the TVM and Risk and Reliability analysis, are missing from the usual BB training and are welcome additions for extending the traditional Six Sigma methodology to 'Lean' type projects.

Screen shots of Minitab and Excel make it a useful resource for refreshing techniques learned long ago.

The application of reliability analysis to call center abandonment rates is an interesting application of known techniques to a new area.

"The Six Sigma Handbook" is one of only a few reference books on Six Sigma that I have at my desk.

Reviewing for CSSBB? - use Breyfogle
If you are studying for the Six Sigma Black Belt certificate I recommend you use Breyfogle's book as your general reference. Breyfogle's book is more complete and structured in the exams format so its easier to study and reference during the exam.

Good luck.

Complete and Helpful
We have taken the time to extensively read and assess the best selling texts on the topic of Six Sigma. We find this text to be the most complete and helpful for those who desire to be certified as a six sigma professional and for those who are certified and need a complete manual to use as a reference. Our firm uses it for all three levels of Six Sigma Certification training. The value ad of this text is that it also includes valuable topics all managers need if they want to improve the performance of their divisions, departments or lines of supervision. Thumb through it and let your own curiosities be your judge. You will not be disappointed.

Six Sigma Handbook That Gets Used 6 times a week
I've had more than a few occasions to use this text. It is excellently
written and provides a great mix of pragmatic and technical topics that
have helped me on several different 6S teams I'm working. Can't say that
I've read it cover to cover, but can say that it is an excellent handbook.
I'll bet I'm averaging a half-dozen accesses a week.

Joe Maciulla
Manager, Engineering and Advanced Programs QA
Raytheon Missile Systems ... Read more

Amazon.com

Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman expose the fallacies of standard management thinking in First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently. In seven chapters, the two consultants for the Gallup Organization debunk some dearly held notions about management, such as "treat people as you like to be treated"; "people are capable of almost anything"; and "a manager's role is diminishing in today's economy." "Great managers are revolutionaries," the authors write. "This book will take you inside the minds of these managers to explain why they have toppled conventional wisdom and reveal the new truths they have forged in its place."

The authors have culled their observations from more than 80,000 interviews conducted by Gallup during the past 25 years. Quoting leaders such as basketball coach Phil Jackson, Buckingham and Coffman outline "four keys" to becoming an excellent manager: Finding the right fit for employees, focusing on strengths of employees, defining the right results, and selecting staff for talent--not just knowledge and skills. First, Break All the Rules offers specific techniques for helping people perform better on the job. For instance, the authors show ways to structure a trial period for a new worker and how to create a pay plan that rewards people for their expertise instead of how fast they climb the company ladder. "The point is to focus people toward performance," they write. "The manager is, and should be, totally responsible for this." Written in plain English and well organized, this book tells you exactly how to improve as a supervisor. --Dan Ring ... Read more

Reviews (172)

Common sense leadership
First Break all the rules addresses leadership from a common sense perspective. The twelve questions that reflect on your ability to effect productivity at the most intimate level of any process (the individual team member), are the common thread for discussion throughout this book.

With level of productivity as the measuring stick, leaders are encouraged to ask themselves if among other things, they provide direction, praise, materials, support, guidance, and opportunity for growth.

Buckningham and Coffman assert that good leaders don't try to make a silk purse from a sows ear. They suggest that you hire a sows ear where you need one and find silk to make the purse that you need. They contend that you can't change human nature, so why try. Trying to fill a deficit is more work than working with the positive aspects of your organization.

The authors also assert that good managers focus outwardly for change, and ask "why not." They focus on the strengths and manage around weaknesses. Good leaders know what types of talents that are needed at various levels of an organization; recruit to fill these positions, and develop those that you recruit.

The most useful part of this book is based on the lessons that mom taught you. Be nice. Treat people as individuals. Be flexible. Assert authority when necessary but more often than not, take a personal interest in those who are in control of how well your organization will measure up.

Must read for managers of all levels
If you think you can change people, think again. If you think one of a manager's job is to help people improve upon their weaknesses, think again. If you think climbing the corporate ladder is the best way to improve one's position in the corporate world, well, you got it, think again.

This book, written by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, and based on 25 years of research by the Gallup Organization, on over 1 million respondents, has debunked a number of management "myths". I put myths in inverted commas simply because they were "truths" -- until First, Break All The Rules (published by Simon & Schuster, London, New York, 1999, ISBN 0-68486138-0) came along.

The Gallup Organization discovered, after asking one million people hundreds of different questions on the subject of managing others, that people excel only when their talents are put to use. Talents are the recurring patterns of thought and behavior that can't be turned on and off at will. They can't be created or altered. According to the authors, people don't change much. Managers should not waste time changing their subordinates, or making them into what they are not. You cannot give new talent to a person.

The books suggests that every human being has talent, and all roles/functions/jobs in a company require talent. You cannot train or develop talent, but you can train, develop and enhance skills and proficiencies. Talent leads to interest; interest leads to motivation; motivation leads to a desire to learn; a desire to learn leads to skills and proficiencies

As for the corporate ladder, the authors suggest that you should throw it away. For example, good sales person might not perform well if she is promoted to sales manager position. She might not have the talent to manage others. Instead, let her continue in the sales position, but improve upon the salary and benefits.

Finding the right fit
This book has become priceless to my business. I highly recommend it to any manager who is having trouble motivating and keeping key employees in today's business environment. Happy employees are productive employees and this book gave me ideas that I had never considered when it came down to placing and hiring the right employees . I also recommend Rat Race Relaxer: Your Potential & The Maze of Life by JoAnna Carey as a corporate gift to keep employees motivated throughout the year.

Great Managers help make great employees great
This is by far one of the best management books that I have ever read. The Gallup Organization puts a whole new spin on what makes a great manager great - helping their employees to succeed as well as finding the right "fit" for their talents. This books put a strong emphasis on the different between skills and knowledge, which can be trained and learned, and talents, which cannot. Talents are unique to every individual and will drive all of us to be better at different things. It is the managers job to help us identify and build on these things.
Buckingham and Coffman do a fantastic job at incorporating wisdom and advice from the 80,000 managers that they interviewed which makes this book much easier to relate to. Whether a manager who is looking to enhance their management style, or an employee who is looking for ways to improve themselves and their organization, this is tremendous and very quick read.

A Great book on Common Sense Management
When did we lose our common sense? In college? Whenever this happened (and whatever the cause), this book helps to reclaim our common sense when applied to the world of managing employees of small, medium, and large-based companies.

This book is essential reading for economics majors, MBA students, and those working in management. It cuts through the jargon and helps people realize that management requires an understanding of human nature. It returns us to psychology. After all, the business world is bound by the rules of psychology. Violate the rules and you may harm your business.

The book delivers harsh facts. Not all employees are going to do well at every task. Managers: stop thinking that everyone can do anything. They can't. It's unreasonable to believe it. It's better to create incentives -- both monetary and prestigue -- on the idea that someone may want to continue working in a similar capacity. The book cites attorneys who start out at a law firm at junior associate, associate, senior associate, and then work on to junior partner, partner, and senior partner. Throughout the process, the attorney does not radically change what he or she is doing. Instead, their work merely becomes more interesting and their pay (and equity in the firm) rises over time. That is, rather than promote someone to a position that is radically different from what they are doing, offer perks and monetary advantages as time goes on to your employees.

The book says to promote strengths rather than overcome employee weaknesses. Some people are just never going to be able to do well at certain tasks. The book's realistic edge says we ought to understand this and move on. We can't strive for perfectin in every avenue. Make sure that your employees are doing what they do best at. Therefore, the goals of the firm -- and the employees' morale, will coincide, allowing harmony to exist in the firm. This book has many golden nuggets of wisdom, and it definitely is a keeper.

Michael ... Read more

Book Description

This text is unique in its first-person, discovery learning approach using a 4-step decision-making model throughout. It truly conveys a management perspective, by including coverage of topics such as ABM, the value chain and balanced scorecard evaluation techniques. It is also the first managerial text to incorporate coverage on knowle