Book Description

Offering a sound theoretical base supported by relevant and current examples, this practical, detailed, and well-documented guide takes readers through all phases of developing and conducting international marketing research - from analyzing the nature and scope of the research, to the preliminary stages, gathering data, designing the questionnaires, sampling, analyzing the data, and more - plus includes numerous country-specific examples and provides valuable training in using the Internet for research purposes.Presents broad and comprehensive coverage of the most current information on research methodologies available. Contains examples and references from ongoing international marketing research projects, and offers country-specific information to aid researchers in conducting studies in an international market. Shows how to use the internet as an effective resource. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Decent overview of international marketing research
I used this book in a class I took on International Marketing Research. It offered a decent overview of international marketing research concepts, but also was fairly dry in parts. ... Read more

Book Description

``Solution Selling is the most comprehensive sales and sales management process available today. Mike Bosworth has the best understanding of sales process in corporate America.''Jeffrey M. Fisher, Vice President, Symix Computer Systems. ... Read more

Reviews (26)

This book is Your Advantage over other sales executives.
I have been in sales for over 15 years. This book explains in detail what goes on during a sale and offers profound insight to the art of selling complex products. It is true that selling is just a simple name for the complex mental wars that happens between the buyer and the seller. This book helps one strategize his selling and predict customer behaviors. It also helps any sales person to be less emotional because he or she knows what stage is the customer in and can anticipate customer reactions. Great book, must read!

Better Sales Practices
Bosworth sells us all on solution selling. He teaches us how to sell everything from shoes to software. IBM recommends this book as the definitive guide to their sales strategy. Bosworth provides numerous examples, case studies, and most importantly he explains and analyzes each of them. But perhaps the best example of solution selling is the book itself -- it solution-sells the concept of solution selling, from catching our attention, demonstrating that a problem exists, asking us questions, and finally prescribing a solution: solution selling. A must read for anyone in sales or business in general

Good book
I liked SPIN SELLING better as they both covered the same ground with similar approach, but SPIN SELLING seemed better researched and had 4 steps where this had 9. Spin Selling was a better read too.

However, it is entirely possible that had I read this before reading Spin Selling, I would have gained more from this, and hence liked it more.

bit disappointed
I gave this book one star only to indicate that it was not for me, it may well be for people in other fields of selling. I actually work in the timeshare-business and since timeshare is also a "big ticket"-item I thought this could be the right book for me. First of all, let me state that I have read many books on sales and this is by far the most boring one that I have read so far. "Scripts", descriptions of specific sales-calls and so on, I personally don't like that AT ALL. If you find yourself in pretty much the same situation on every call you may find this book could be too versatile for you, it just covers too many different scenarios in order for me to find how it could benefit me. If you wanna find out about how to do a proper intent-statement on the phone etc. or sell stuff to companies, then maybe you should go for it, but a tough, not very inspiring read. And every book on sales should be inspiring. Selling is a creative process, this book is only technical. I really wanted to like it. I just couldn't.

The book to read and the book to keep!
Once you have read it, you would want to share it with others. This is how good Michael Bosworth's book "Solution Selling" is. From clarifying the difference between Features, Advantages and Benefits (which a lot of sales people still mixed up), to complex solution selling process, the book has given losts of good illustration with practical examples. Especially in "3 levels of buyers needs", "10 faces of buyer pain", "Price Negotiation" etc.

The book uses the buyers' prespective to help readers to understand what the buyers think at each stage in their decision process which is a good way to demonstrate his theory behind.

Solution selling is a long and complex process, with the approach and process Bosworth described, it helps a lot in defining the actions and precautions we need to take in day to day solution selling process.

If I can only pick one of the chapters in the book, I must recommend you to read, at least, how Bosworth uses the "9-block vision processing model" to see solution selling in the buyer's viewpoint, steps by steps showing what a solution sales/consultant should react in response to different level of the buyer's pain.

If I have knew/bought this book earlier, I might not need to spend my last few years going through the hard way. It is definitely a book to read and the book to keep ... ... Read more

Book Description

The sixth edition of Terence Shimp's market-leading Advertising, Promotion, and Supplemental Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications fully integrates all aspects of marketing communication. While continuing to focus on the time honored, IMC methods, the text has undergone a significant revision to reflect new academic literature and practitioner developments in the field.Comprehensive treatment on the fundamentals of advertising and promotion combine with the Internet's impact on IMC.A major focus of this revision, Internet issues have been seamlessly integrated throughout the text to highlight the dynamic relationship between basic marketing communication concepts and the power of the Internet. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

i love this book
Cheung Yin Fan, Octo from City University of Hong Kong, Department of Marketing

Advertising is what my favorite study in University. Indeed, advertising plays a critical role on promote the products and brands, therefore, a well integrated marketing communication plan can help organizations to promote the product and service in the market effectively.

This book, which is written by Terence A. Shimp, provides a basic knowledge and information on design the well integrated marketing communication plan. And the book is divided into six parts as follows.

Part one
It is a introduction of the IMC program in the market and its role in brand equity enhancement.

Part two
It will consider the IMC in the customer¡¦s perspective. Since the main role of IMC plan is communicating the message to customers and persuade the customer to make a purchase decision. It is necessary to understand how the customers think, therefore, auditor introduce the consumer processing model and hedonic experiential model.

The book mentions that a well IMC plan should identify the brand image first, and then understand the target customer needs and wants. It can help the marketers to know what the target customers concerns to make a purchase decision; therefore the marketers can design promotion strategy, which match the customers¡¦ preference, provide some information and satisfy the customers¡¦ requirement.

Part three
The auditor introduces the adoption and diffusion process with the broader issue of how an innovation is communicated and used to promote the new brands in the market.

Also it considers some factors that would affect to promote the new brands. They are opinion leadership, word of mouth, brands name, logos, packages, and point of purchase materials.

Part four
This part concerns about how to implement and manage an IMC plan. It consists of introducing the creative advertising strategy, endorsers and message appeals, the promotional channel, media planning and its analysis.

This part would be the main focus of the books since each task above would be the critical success factors on how the messages deliver in the market and persuade the customers.

Part five
This part consider on the sales promotion management, marketing oriented, public relations and sponsorships. The auditor introduces the promotional devices such as coupon and premiums which would help to implement the IMC plan. In the sponsorship marketing, the auditor introduces how to select the sponsorship events and its benefit on promotion.

Part six
Some external factors would also affect the effectiveness of IMC plan such as regulatory, ethical and ¡¥Green¡¦ issues. To have further understood on those external factors, the auditor describes the factors deeply by providing with examples MarCom.

Due to the study scheme, I just concern about a several part from part one to three in order to prepare the report and tests. Indeed, I love to read its book very much since it has a lot of pictures and examples to explain the comprehensive theory that can attract you to keep on reading. Moreover, the book contains broaden contents to help the reader to plan the IMC program.

And I would also like to recommend the auditors to add more globalize company as an example. Since there are all American companies as an examples in the book that it is not practical in Hong Kong. Moreover, I would suggest the auditor to do an overall summary with a chart or diagram so that the reader can get the focus of the book easily.

Moreover, I like the part of ¡¥creating advertising strategy¡¦ more even it does not have enough colorful pictures. Personally, I love to create advertising; therefore, I like to learn how to make a creative advertising. The auditor just introduces some styles of creating advertising strategies in general; however, it can stimulate me to think out of the box to create an advertisement.

Advertising and promotional tools are very important
Teresa Tsang from City University of Hong Kong, Marketing Department

Nowadays, companies need to differentiate them from other competitors in this competitive environment. Advertising is one of the important tools to communicate with customers that your company is different from other companies in terms of brand personality, product quality, service quality and other benefits, etc. Moreover, other promotional tools such as coupon, point of display, premium, etc. also can help to attract customers to buy the products. But advertising is the main communication tool to communicate with customers about the company¡¦s offers and promotional campaign. Therefore, learning how to apply different advertising techniques and other promotional tools is a must in this competitive market.

Actually, my university uses this book as a textbook for the subject of ¡§Integrated Marketing Communications¡¨. I found that this book gives us very useful information about advertising and promotion strategy. This book divides the content into six parts. Each part explains different concepts for readers. Part one is about the overview of integrated marketing communications (IMC) and its role in the brand-equity enhancement. It explains what IMC is and how IMC helps to enhance the brand equity.

Part two talks about positioning and targeting for marketing communications efforts and the communication process between the sender (marketer) and the receiver (customer). Moreover, Shimp explains the differences between consumer processing model and hedonic experiential model since marketers need to understand these models in order to use different advertising and promotional tools to appeal customers.

Part three is bout the marketing communications¡¦ role in facilitating new product adoption since different marketing communications methods are used in different stages of product adoption. Moreover, Shimp also explains the roles of brand names, logos, packages, and point-of-purchases in promoting companies¡¦ products and assisting sales.

Part four involves advertising management. It includes creative advertising strategy, endorsers and message appeals in advertising, and media planning, etc. Since advertising is very important in this competitive marketplace, learning how to apply advertising really can help companies to have better communications with customers about companies¡¦ offers. Moreover, media plan can help marketers to plan which media is the most effective channels to deliver the persuasive messages to customers.

Part five explains trade-oriented and consumers-oriented sales promotion management, marketing public relations (MPR) and sponsorships marketing. Actually, public relation is also important to foster goodwill between the company and the public. Shimp has given different examples to explain proactive MPR and reactive MPR which help readers to understand the concepts easily.

Part six talks about the external pressures which include regulatory, ethical, and green issues on marketing communications. For example, there should not have misrepresentation, omission, or practice that is likely to mislead the customers acting reasonably in the circumstances. Therefore, there is a need for marketers to practice ethical advertising; otherwise, it will damage companies¡¦ reputation and lose customers.

We can see that this book can teach us much useful knowledge about advertising, promotion and other marketing communications approaches. I believe that better use of marketing communications can project better image and deliver clearer messages to customers. Moreover, successful advertising can project a good impression in customers¡¦ hearts for a long time. Therefore, this book can help readers to grasp the knowledge of integrated marketing communications and apply in real situation to build companies¡¦ reputation and gain more customers. I hope that all readers can also enjoy reading this book and find useful knowledge from this book.

A Comprehensive and Useful Book
To communicate effectively and efficiently with the customers, only advertising, the most common way people think of, is not enough. Supplemental tools have to be integrated with it to implement the most relevant form of persuasive communication program. How? The book "Advertising, Promotion and Supplemental Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications" can help you a lot.

This book is very clear and comprehensive. Shimp first explains why IMC is very important in modern marketing and defines what IMC is. Then, he focuses on the perspective of customers and provides us with different useful tools including promotion, packaging and branding strategies, point-of-purchase communication, market-oriented public relations, event-and-cause oriented sponsorship and personal selling, to write an IMC plan in order to communicate with the target audience with the right message and the right methods, so that resources will not be wasted in the irrelevant areas.

This book is very rich in content. Examples and applications are widely used. A detailed example is given at the beginning in each chapter. And there are a lot of articles quoted in the parts of IMC FOCUS and GLOBAL FOCUS from different journal and research that can let us know more about the related topics.

It is easy to understand as well. Some theories are illustrated by charts and diagrams. And sometimes advertisements are shown to make the theories more concrete. The advertisements can also enhance the visual impact and arouse our interest to read the book.

Marketing communication is very important for the success of a company. Want to know more about it. Read the book!!!

Useful to a marketing student
I believe this book is worth reading for a marketing student. This book provides us with clear concept and many useful examples. It helps me to understand the theories much more easier. Actually, it is much easier to explain advertising by showing us different ads. For example, when talking about sign and symbol in advertising, it is great to show us that how sign and symbol used in different ads. Besides real life examples, this book can also make use of many flow charts or diagram to help exam the theories and the concept in IMC and advertising. These flow charts help me to under and remember the logic very easily. I have to say I learn a lot from this book.

Simply outstanding
This book is giving quantity of useful tools. This is not only on how designing efficient communication strategies but how to use it efficiently in Brand Management! ... Read more

Book Description

For advanced undergraduate and MBA courses in Supply Chain Management. This book brings together the strategic role of the supply chain, key strategic drivers of supply chain performance, and the tools and techniques for supply chain analysis. Every chapter gives suggestions that managers can use in practice and all methodologies are illustrated with an application in Excel.Fully updated material keeps the book on the forefront of supply chain management.Distribution networks (Chapter 4); Sourcing (Chapter 13), discusses different sourcing activities including supplier assessment, supplier contracts, design collaboration, and procurement; Price and revenue management (Chapter 15); Early coverage of designing the supply chain network—after developing a strategic framework, readers can discuss supply chain network design in Chapters 5 and 6 and then move on to demand, supply, inventory, and transportation planning; Information Technology in the Supply Chain (Chapter 17).For business professionals managing the supply chain. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Good reference material for practitioners
I found this book to be a great source of reference for managers. It is not really a good teaching source, as I thought it already starts with a fair amount of assumed previous knowledge and jargon.

The sections that are most well developed are the ones on inventory management and transportation logistics, where I found examples that were directly applicable to situations I encountered in a retail environment. The portion on forecasting was not as useful, and the part on e-business seemed somewhat contrived. Overall, this is the best reference I have found that does not require a heavy amount of mathematical familiarity.

Excellent book overall but...
I refered and used this book in 2 grad level courses. The first was a business school course on SCM (with an above average quantitative focus for a B-school course) and again for a fully quatitative SC Engineering course. While I was initially very impressed with the book, using this over 2 semesters has raised a few gripes.

For the qualitative issues on SCM {make no mistake, these 'fluff' aspects are very important} there is no other equal. Chopra and Meindl do an outstanding and comprehensive job. They also bring out the importance of using scientific, quantitative techniques for SCM. This however is where my gripes start.

Having brought out the importance of quantitative tools for use in SCM, they do only a moderate job on explaining these tools. For example, the chapter on forecasting (only the most simple and commonly used models are explained) is unnnecessarily complex and confusing. The topics covered are adequete but need revision. Treatment of inventory management also could be more detailed and better explained.

This is an excellent book but for more comprehensive learning (if you want an understanding of the quantitative aspects too), I think this book needs supplementing (say with course notes) or another book like "Modeling the Supply Chain" by Shapiro.

Peter Meindl - The Godfather of modern supply chain mgt
Written by one of the leading minds in the field, Peter Meindl of I2 technologies has a lot to teach. This is an excellent text and as a fellow Dallas/Ft. Worth resident, I would enjoy meeting him. If you are an MBA student with a concentration in Operations Management, this text should be required.

Meindl, a management team member of I2, has helped develop I2 into the undisputed champion in enterprise software. While SAP may have the market share with their archaic DOS based application, I2 has windows functionality and everything that matters. They have raised the bar with their supply chain knowledge, leading solutions, and collaborative knowledge in supply chain strategy. This text will give you a big step forward in becoming a Supply Chain leader.

CLEAR AND CONCISE TEXT WITH GOOD CASES
Although this book is written more for MBA students, the flow and texture of this book should be well-received by those who are not at post-graduate level. For practising managers, like me, I find a great deal of my knowledge gap is filled when reading this book. As the first reviewer mentioned, this book complements a rudimentary text and a more detailed one available in the market, perhaps I may add that it also compliments well with a latest supply chain textbook "Modeling The Supply Chain" which also pairs well with Chopra and Meindl's book because the former offers quite a good spectrum of case studies that supports the text. Some of the numerical exercises seem to come from live cases, too, which led me to appreciate that exercises built in this text are not neccessarily academic ones. I strongly recommend this to international practitioners and students alike since the cases that flow along with the textbook are of international genre.

Tactical approach for Supply Chain
While Handfield and Nichols book may be over-introductory, the better analytical book must be "Designing and Managing the Supply Chain" by Simchi-Levi (1999). Some researchers want more mathematics might jump to "Logic of Logistics" by Simchi-Levi directly. To fill the gap of those 3 books (Handfield vs. Simchi-Levi (SCM) vs. Simchi-Levi (Logic of Logistics), Chopra and Meindl compile almost every issues in Supply Chain Management (SCM) that you can find in publications in this single book. This book is the best compromise between tactics and strategics. Cases and analysis are presented with respect to the topic of each chapter. Only high school mathematics are more than enough to understand the analytical tools they proposed. Readers may opt for this book either the first book in SCM or supplementary book for your further research/study. Chopra and Medindl book is a good support to your "Design and Managing SCM" by Simchi-Levi and I think it can be substituted if you need only one book. Good for both practitioners and educators. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In What Clients Love, marketing maven Harry Beckwith offers valuable lessons about capturing and keeping clients. (As Beckwith puts it, "Competence gets firms into the game that relationships win.") Using snappy examples from Absolut Vodka, Kinko’s, Starbucks, and Ian Schrager’s boutique hotels, he organizes his advice by describing four significant social trends that shape client needs and loyalty. Beckwith’s strategies for coping with information overload focus on getting to the point--using a shorter sell and fewer superlatives. He makes a clever and convincing case for giving both testimonials and blurbs the death penalty. He details the decline of client trust with a plan to eliminate cold calls, dress for success, and a spot-on critique of PowerPoint ("Lincoln had no slides at Gettysburg.") Other chapters explore the limits of the Internet and offer nongimmicky ideas about creating a brand, including 20 questions for choosing a name for your business.

Beckwith’s advice is fresh, funny, and strategic. He is a master of anecdote and metaphor whose examples range from television’s Sex and the City to nihilistic philosopher Nietzsche. Yet the book’s clarity is sometimes undermined by its too clever formatting. It's best to enjoy its wisdom one chapter at a time, over coffee. Consider it the caffeine in your cup. --Barbara Mackoff ... Read more

Reviews (19)

The Greatest Business Book Ever Written
What Clients Love is a timeless book that enlightens the reader through short lessons, personal and professional. Not only do the teachings apply to business, they can be carried over into your life outside of work as well. Businesses are built and strengthened through partnerships and good relations, so are close families and friends. This book works to bridge the gaps that most companies will overlook (such as boring job titles that send the wrong message) and Beckwith does it in a clear and concise manner. Buy this book! I wish I had more time to extoll the book, but I don't. Whether you are in a Fortune 500 company or a hermit with no interest in the outside world, you need this 278 page gospel! Also, if you get a chance to meet Harry Beckwith, ask him about his wonderful son Harry IV.

Worth ten time the selling price!!!!
This book is short, sweet, to the point, and reads like a daily devotional book. I plan on using at for discussion groups at work to get non-marketers to understand how to make customers happy. The book is written in a clear, concise, but extraordinarily interesting manner than lends itself to discussion and implementation. Each section contains at least one example of each point - and this is stuff you are going to remember. Many books in this market are pure fluff - you can't remember a darn thing they said two hours after you put the book down. Not so with "What Clients Love."

Highly recommend for those whose business depends on developing business and keeping customers happy. Whether selling hardcore tangible products or professional services, this book should be on your required reading list. Truly transformational.

Not Useful
After reading 10 pages I quickly learned that this book is useless in helping me and my company develop customer service.

In one example, Beckwith insults the reader's intelligence by suggesting that you answer "Swamped!" when someone approaches you and askes how you are if you suspect that they are going to ask you to do a task that you don't want to do.

Don't waste your money on this book.

Another Excellent Book by Mr. Beckwith.
This is another incredible contribution to the literature on marketing of service-oriented companies. Beckwith provides anecdotal accounts of what marketing techniques work; for instance, he talks about how he has helped to name certain companies that are descriptive, are memorable, and are not full of cliches. His account of Nike's rise to fame through the use of celebrity characters is also an intriguing account of the need for someone we can trust to help share our services. Beckwith's main point is that services are not like products. With services, we have to develop trust and believe in the person. Beckwith provides the techniques--such as providing some slightly negative, but truthful, information about yourself that will help to gather integrity. People like someone who has integrity and is believable.

Another very important principle of Beckwith's is that when you are selling a service, you are really building a relationship with your clients. If you appear to be focused on money or work in a truly impersonal basis, the clients will notice. There is a lot of psychology in this book. Almost every page is about "feelings" of one sort or another, which is necessary because people do not follow rigid rules of conduct. Instead, people often make decissions on irrational feelings, which, if one reads Harry Beckwith's book, they will be ready. And they will deliver exceptional services.

-- Michael Gordon

Reset
This book is the "reset" button that needed to to be said. People may argue that this book is common sense but in the decade of unrealistic expectations and unprecedented white collar low's getting back to the basics is very timely. For beginner's this book is a gold mine for superstars, this book is a reminder of all the things that we sometimes forget as success blinds us. Quit judging and start reading. The entertainment value alone will ensure that you are glad that you did. ... Read more

Book Description

The exciting new edition of Marketing continues the established tradition of adding value far beyond the expectations of learners.Extensive research has been done to ensure this edition provides a comprehensive, up-to-the-minute introduction to the field of marketing.Key principles are illustrated by hundreds of fresh, new examples, while the latest concepts and theories are covered in detail with numerous illustrations. Organized around the marketing mix, this thoroughly revised text provides students with an exhilarating first introduction to the dynamic world of marketing. ... Read more

Book Description

This market leader has established itself as a classic through seven previous editions by presenting superior, balanced coverage of both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of marketing research. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Marketing Research from a Project Based Perspective
This is the new edition of the book we used in the marketing research course at the Michigan Business School.It was great then and is even better now that they have tightened it up and slimmed it down a bit.It reads clearly, is focused, and doesn't pull any punches about the benefits, tradeoffs, and limitations of the various problems and methods involved in this subject.

Rather than focusing on decision support systems or marketing information systems, this book is focused on a project based approach.The authors help you recognize a problem, how to formulate it clearly, present it to decision makers for approval, designing the research to be done, data design and collection methods, they offer sample designs which is very helpful.They then do a fabulous job on data analysis and conclude by showing you how to present a proper research report.

There are several helpful appendices providing statistical values for those calculator based problems, but, really, who doesn't use a spreadsheet or SPSS or some similar package anymore?

There is also a glossary, a subject index, and an author index.

This is a standard text on the subject, and it is terrific.

Expensive but worth every penny!
This is a huge work of marketing research, both in terms of volume and importance.Although intended as a grounding in the foundations of marketresearch, the book takes you further than that.As a result I was using itas a text at post-graduate level.

The book sets out to explain how to:Formulate your problem. Determine your research design. Design yourcollection method and forms. Design your sample and collect the data.Analyse and interpret the data. Prepare your research report.

It is thensubdivided into sub sections.I was particularly impressed with thesection on ethics, which was so clearly laid out that I used it as a guidewhen writing a pure ethics paper.

The book is amply supplied withexamples and case studies to illustrate the text and make it useful in amore practical sense.

All in all a clear, accessible, well laid out andwell indexed textbook.

A complete detailed theoritical and analytical book
An excellent work both theory and analysis. Provides an insight about the math requirments for the Marketing Researcher. In certain areas it gives the basic ideas - pp 752,753 - Fig.13.1 Histogram and Frequency Polygon of Incomes of Families in Car Ownership study.The Preface states- this edition, is designed to avoid such extremes by providing the student with a thorough treatment of the important concepts, both simple and complex - This aspect is proved in every section of the book. Really it will help the student to develop their creativie and analytical marketing skills. A very good work. ... Read more

Book Description

Boone and Kurtzs Contemporary Marketing has proved to be the premier introduction to marketing text and package, edition after edition. With each edition, this best selling author team builds and improves upon past innovations, creating the most technologically advanced, learner friendly, instructor supported text available. Contemporary Marketing 2005, paperback edition, continues this tradition by providing the most current and up-to-date content including updated opening vignettes and boxed features that cover events that have taken place in marketing over the past year. ... Read more

Book Description

This is the only book available today that provides a very readable, step-by-step guide for managing an incoming call center. The book combines theory with practical advice and is filled with over 100 charts and graphs, several case studies and an extensive glossary and index. ... Read more

Reviews (25)

Book for all business people
This book is for everyone in the business world, not only for call center managers. All organizations of all sizes are closing the gap between businesses and customers. And the main customer contact point, call center, is coming into a spotlight as the centerpiece of businesses. This book introduces readers to call center management practices, the good and the bad. It also point out the factors that are changing call centers, their functions and people who work in them. Its insight into some of the technology changes help readers grasp their importance in the context of everyday operation. Fast reading.

An excellent overview in Call Center Management
I love this book, it provides an excellent overview on a myriad of call center topics, including staffing, forecasting, metric assessment and performance review. It definitely proved to validate some of the observations and concerns that I had regarding my own call center.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a reference on call center management, or any person new to the field of call center management. The book is very well formatted to be used as a stand alone reference or a cover to cover read, each chapter is very thorough in explanation without going into excruciating detail or debate.

This book will help you do your job better!

Wow! So This is How Call Centers Work!
I've generally been an IT Director and Project Manager, so I read this book to get a better idea of my customers' needs. I was pretty excited to discover that there's at least one good summary of what call centers do and how they do it. For my own sake--and perhaps yours--here's my summary of Brad and Julia's summary:

1. Incoming call center management is the art of having the right number of skilled people and supporting resources in place at the right times to handle an accurately forecasted workload, at service level and with quality.

2. Though average call load may be predictable, calls arrive randomly--which means that they often bunch up.

3. A service level is defined as "X percent of calls answered in Y seconds", not as "X percent answered" or "Average Speed of Answer". (The ASA is skewed by the bad times when calls bunch up.) Abandonment rates matter, too, but fixing abandonment problems usually means fixing service levels.

4. Service level and quality don't conflict. If you try to fix service level with poor quality, it comes back to bite you with more calls and demoralized reps.

5. A good forecasted call load--including talk time, after-call work, and volume--is critical for budgeting people and circuits. Often, a good forecast should predict load by the half hour, using previous data, knowledge of upcoming plans, and good judgment.

6. To determine staffing needs, use a variation of the Erlang C formula. Its input is the number of reps, number of callers forecasted, and the time to serve each caller; its output is a prediction of waiting time. (Even better, add an input for response time, and you'll get the percentage who'll wait longer than that!) If agents have different skills, you'll need forecasts and calculations for each set of agents.

7. More staff, less waiting, fewer phone lines for people on hold. Less staff, more waiting, more phone lines. Formulas exist for phone lines, too.

8. Not everyone scheduled is always working on customer service. Schedule accordingly. Be clever about work schedules to get the right number working at the right time. Service level results tell you whether you got it right.

9. If you have too few reps on duty, queues get long (service level goes down), more circuits are needed, and customers get frustrated, sometimes abandoning the call. If you have too many reps on duty, you spend too much paying for them to wait.

10. Give senior managers good reports, but make sure they understand the points above.

11. Monitor the number of calls in the queue and the longest current wait. Service level and other metrics tell more about the past than the present. Be ready with plans for unexpected load (reassigning, rerouting, delay announcements, busy signals).

12. There are lots of tools and graphs to measure aspects of quality. Use them to identify root causes, not beat your employees. Reps should adhere to schedules, and do good work. Use monitoring capabilities to coach. Measuring based on "calls per hour" is unreliable, and invites cheating.

13. Customers are getting more demanding, automated systems are taking the easy calls, so reps have to be better trained and more skilled.

14. Create a good environment that uses technology well.

The book was written in 1997, and I don't know whether it's been updated. The authors have some commentary about email-based, web-based, and CTI-based systems, but the next edition might want to say more about the similarities and differences between those and the traditional call center.

Overall, I'm happy to understand more about the math and science behind this discipline. As another reviewer commented, it's clear that IT Help Desks have something to learn from the Call Center experience.

Call Center Management ~On Fast Forward
We were in the process of re-organizing our call center and based on the excellent reviews that I read, I choose this book. Well, the reviews were right. This book is excellent. It is very well written and explains all aspects of organizing and analyzing a Call Center. We have ordered a total of 6 copies and they are being utilized by the V.P. of Operations, Operations Manager, IT dept, and the Customer Service Dept.

Comprehensive handbook for management
The perfect book for the people that are managing the call centers. Especially when call center is just a part of your responsibility and you need a comprehensive and ehhaustive in-depth description of call center activities. Great book. Good for both excecutives to understand what the call center managers are doing (even in terms of languages they speak, very usefull, if you are not able to undestand sometimes the cc managers you need the book) and call centers managers in order to understand how to present their work to the executives. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

How to Select, Focus, and Dominate
The message of this important book is that "no company can succeed today by trying to be all things to all people. It must instead find the unique value that it alone can deliver to a chosen market. Why and how this is done are the two key questions the book addresses." The authors focus with rigor and precision on three different "disciplines": operational excellence, product leadership, and customer intimacy. It remains for any company (for any organization, for that matter) to determine which of the three should be its primary discipline but all are obviously important...indeed interdependent. Nonetheless, one discipline should be pre-eminent. The authors examine dozens of companies which have concentrated primarily on one of the three "disciplines" so that they can select their customers and then narrow their focus inorder to gain and sustain dominance within their respective marketplaces. I think this book will be of substantial value to executives in any organization but of greatest value to those in organizations which are small-to-midsize. Unless they have dysfunctional management and/or defective products, their mastery of that discipline will enable them to compete more effectively against larger organizations which (obviously) have greater resources available. My own view is that as B2B and B2B2C continue to increase at exponentially greater velocity, leadership of ANY market will require mastery of customer intimacy and at least one (but preferably both) of the other two disciplines. In that event, the insights which Treacy and Wiersema share will be even more valuable.

Common sense marketing perspective
Winning firms focus on one of three customer value disciplines: product leadership, customer intimacy, or operational excellence. Trying to be all things to everybody is tantamount to being nothing for anyone. If your firm can't get its act together, you'll find this an inspiring book that makes a compelling case that success is only possible by having the courage to focus on specific tasks & disciplines. This seems very elementary, but I've observed many firms that refused to choose what they wanted to be, ensuring that they became nothing. This book is helpful in positioning exercises.

I have two concerns about the book. 1, it doesn't need to be this long in order to get the central idea across. 2, I'm becoming increasingly convinced that this model is counterproductive in a Geoff Moore tornado period. If you're in a high-tech tornado, wait until Main Street before applying discipline.

Aside from these caveats, I still find the simple model presented in this book as being useful in analyzing market approaches. You have to understand the model in order to know when it isn't appropriate. Product Managers, sales, marketing and product development staff need to be aware of this book and its ideas.

Not just for the sales and marketing folks!
This business book should be in EVERY marketing and sales professional's library. In one reading of less than four hours you can understand the distinct value disciplines that define your company. And, just as important, you can recognize the value disciplines of your customers and competition. But, you don't have to be strictly a sales person. I'm my company's Chief Technology Officer and I felt the book was very valuable - after my CEO made me read it!
The message of The Discipline Of Market Leaders is that no company can succeed today by trying to be all things to all people. It must instead find the unique value that it alone can deliver to a chosen market. Why and how this is done are the two key questions the book addresses,
Three concepts are introduced that every business finds essential:
1. the value proposition - implicit promise to deliver a particular combination of values - price, quality, performance, etc.
2. value-driven operating model - combination of operating processes, manage-ment systems, business structure, and culture that allows a company to deliver on its value proposition.
3. value disciplines - three desirable ways in which a company combines operating models and value propositions to be the best in their markets. THIS is the key take away from this book.
Three distinct value disciplines:
1. operational excellence - provide middle-of-the-market products at the best price with the least inconvenience - value proposition is low price and hassle-free service.
2. product leadership - offering products that push performance boundaries - value proposition is offering the best product, period.
3. customer intimacy - delivering NOT what the market wants but what specific customers want - value proposition the best solution for the customer with all the support needed to get the maximum value from our products.
The selection of a value discipline is a central act that shapes every subsequent plan and decision a company makes, coloring the entire organization, from its competencies to its culture.
If a company is going to achieve and sustain dominance, it must decide where it will stake its claim in the marketplace and what kind of value it will offer to its customers.
markets, the only established way to improve value to customers is to cut process. If you haven't started thinking about cutting your way to leanness, it's going to cost you later.
High quality is the cost of admission to the market. Without it, you're not even in the ballpark.
Four new premises underlie successful business practice today:
1. companies can no longer raise process in lockstep with higher costs
2. companies can no longer aim for less than hassle-free service
3. companies can no longer assume that good basic service is enough
4. companies can no longer compromise on quality and product capabilities
These four points are critical to the book and to how you must think about value. It is true - we can no longer charge for high quality - it IS expected. By delivering superior value, companies change their customers' expectations. In effect, these companies became market leaders NOT by fulfilling old-fashioned ideas of value, but by getting their business to master one band in the value spectrum. They believed in three important truths that characterize the new world of competition:
1. Different customers buy different kinds of value. You can't hope to be the best in all dimensions, so you choose your customers and narrow your value focus.
2. As value standards rise, so do customer expectations; so you can stay ahead only by moving ahead.
3. Producing an unmatched level of a particular value requires a superior operating model - "a machine" - dedicated to just that kind of value.
Four rules that govern market leaders' actions:
1. Provide the best offering in the marketplace by excelling in a specific value disci-pline.
2. Maintain threshold standards on other dimensions of value.
3. Dominate your market by improving value year after year,
4. Build a well-tuned operating model dedicated to delivering unmatched value.
The operating model is the market leader's ultimate weapon in its quest for market domination. Value comes from choosing customers and narrowing the operations focus to best serve those customers. Customer satisfaction and loyalty are simply the by-product of delivering on a compelling value proposition - not the drivers behind it. When a company selects and pursues one of the value disciplines, it ceases to resemble its competitors.
Customer-intimate companies demonstrate superior aptitude in advisory services and relationship management. This is an incredibly difficult concept for sales and marketing professionals to grasp. They want the largest market possible. If you are customer-intimate, your market is one company at a time. This calls for hard work. Customer-intimate companies don't deliver what the market wants, but what a spe-cific customer wants. The customer-intimate company makes a business of knowing the people it sells to and the products and services they need. It continually tailors its products and services, and does so at reasonable prices. The customer-intimate company's greatest asset is, not surprisingly, its customers' loyalty.
Customer-intimate companies don't pursue transactions; they cultivate relationships.
They tailor their mix of services or customize the products, even if it means acting as a broker to obtain these services and products from third parties or co-providers.
Where to begin? Start with the last chapter and take a close look at Figure 11. From that point I realized my company's value discipline. The rest fell neatly into place.

A Must for Every business owner
In Business studies, we were taught that to succeed with our business we should be able to provide best product/service, best prices and superb customer service. The results are mainly unsatisfactory because while we try to master all three aspects, we fail in all of them.

This book will teach you for the first time how to succeed with "imperfection" along with customers blessings.

You dont have to provide your customer with the best product AND best price AND best service, just choose one of those values (depending on your target market and long term objectives) and focus all your resources on developing this value. The book is backed with real life stories from some of the leading firms and the values they have chosen to focus on.

This book is a must for every business owner.

Highly Recommended!
Authors Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema make it clear that market leading companies all concentrate on creating value for their customers. Then they focus on specific cases from Nike to Johnson & Johnson. No company, including yours, can succeed by trying to be all things to all people. Companies must ascertain the unique value - be it price, quality or problem solving - they can deliver to a specific market. The book proves that comparisons are not odious if they are interesting, and the comparisons it offers are intriguing indeed. Anecdotes and case histories cover companies that are market leaders today - AT&T, Intel, Airborne Express - and companies that used to be market leaders. The authors offer you three choices: lead with low costs, great products or outstanding ability to solve customers' problems. But if you are going to lead, you have to pick a direction and implement a management strategy that supports it, a lesson eased along by the clarity of the writing. We from getAbstract recommend this book to executives who are seeking advice on trumping their markets. ... Read more

Book Description

For nearly two decades, Don Dillman's Mail and Telephone Surveys and the Total Design Method it outlined has aided students and professionals in effectively planning and conducting surveys. But much has changed since the TDM was developed in 1978. Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method, Second Edition, thoroughly revised and updated by the author from his classic text, addresses these changes and introduces a new paradigm that responds to the recent developments that affect the conduct and success of surveys.

In this new edition, Dillman introduces a new paradigm called "Tailored Design," which expands TDM to account for-and take advantage of-innovations such as computers, electronic mail, and the World Wide Web; theoretical advancements; mixed-mode considerations; the increasing acceptance of self-administered surveys; our better understanding of specific survey requirements; and an improved base of social science knowledge. As insightful and practical as its classic original, Mail and Internet Surveys, Second Edition is a crucial resource for any researcher seeking to increase response rates and obtain high-quality feedback from mail, electronic, and other self-administered surveys.

Topics covered include:

• Writing Questions and Constructing the Questionnaire
• Mixed-Mode Surveys
• Personal Delivery of Questionnaires
• Surveying When Speed Is Critical
• Government Surveys of Households and Individuals
• Business Surveys
• Internet and Interactive Voice Response Systems
• Questionnaires That Can Be Scanned and Imaged

Praise for the previous edition . . .

"Required reading for anyone who wants to diversify research procedures."
-Contemporary Psychology

"An excellent reference tool and valuable addition to any serious practitioner's library."
-Public Relations Journal

"The book is packed with practical suggestions that cover each task in designing andimplementing a survey."
-Social Forces

... Read more

Reviews (7)

Light on the technical side
For those of you who do survey research and struggle with getting an acceptible response rate, this is the book for you. It truly is an amazing resource for a method that can get one to near a 75% response even on mail-only surveys. Highly recommended.

For those of you looking for any help on statistics, this is NOT the book for you.

For those of you interested in increasing the validity and reliability of your surveys, this is could be the book for you. It does have an effective treatment of writing questions and effective survey design.

If you wish to become an expert in coverage, sample frames, sampling, etc, look elsewhere. That topic gets just 10 pages.

No book can do it all of course but I would have left out some of the "fluff" chapters Dillman included for some discussion of the more technical side of the statistics of analyzing surveys after you have designed them the way he suggests.

Still lots of great wisdom on survey research.
Dillman's text was the classic for so long that many of us think of him as the guru of survey research. I would guess that is why the Census Bureau hired him as their lead consultant for the 2000 Census.

As has been pointed out, Dillman does not present as much theoretical material as he might. But, I don't think that that detracts from the strengths of this book. There are other books out there that cover the cognitive and social psychology behind survey answers, and there are other books that give you guidance on the scientific method, experimental design, sampling, etc. (I would recommend Babbie's Practice of Social Research) And Dillman even has a more hands-on book (How to Conduct Your Own Survey) for non-scientists.

But, the real strength of Dillman's book might be how well he instructs on how to put together a great questionnaire - the design, layout, order, question design and implementation.

I find his take on internet surveys to be controversial and a little out-of-date. But, my concerns might be viewed as those of a skeptic - I'm not yet convinced that internet surveys are viable for all that many situations. And, I think Dillman does a good job of laying out some of the challenges and promises of internet surveys.

Strong book but doesn't cover software
This is a good book, but it doesn't offer much help picking an Internet survey tool, and there are a lot of choose from: perseus.com, raosoft.com, inquisite.com, scantron.com. I would have liked to see some discussion or analysis of the types of tools that could be used.

Misnamed, Lacking Scientific Methodology
Well, this may be "the book" when it comes to surveys, but it still lacks a lot. First, I found the chapters on writing questions and organizing a questionnaire to be very useful. However, it looks like the author only added a couple chapters about Internet surveys, instead of reviewing his decades-old book in terms of the impact of the Internet. For example, I don't find it particularly useful to discuss how to fold a survey, or how to distribute it by mail, when it's being administered on-line!

Furthermore, this book is lacking any real scientific methodology. I suspect this is a result of the nature of the field, but survey designers should at least try to employ some good experimental design approaches. For example, this book does not help me at all to ensure that the survey actually gives me information that I need. While he does give information on writing interpretable questions, he has no recommendations on how to determine the goals of the survey, how to design questions that will address those goals, how to arrange questions in the survey to ensure good data that addresses those goals, etc. And what about statistical accuracy, and how certain types of questions are easier to measure? Any suggestions on how to evaluate free-response questions? Why isn't there an entire chapter on "How to avoid bias and inaccuracy in responses", instead of having suggestions scattered around the text?

This book has a lot of useful sociological hints on how to increase the response rate from a population. However, this isn't the most important aspect of surveys---it sorely lacks the scientific basis for the design and evaluation of the "experiment" that is the survey. Without this, it doesn't matter how many people respond, because the data will be useless.

So much to say, even to those who think they know
I have close to 20 years of experience in market research; yet with the move that many are making to conducting their research over the Internet, I knew I needed to get a lot of learning quickly, in order to better understand the trade-offs being made between cost savings and research quality. Dillman's book fills that need. Building on an earlier edition, which focused on the issues surrounding interviewing by mail, Dillman confronts issues surrounding lack of randomness, need for clarity in a self-administered-survey world, and issues of internet coverage, in drawing conclusions. Also, he has a very helpful discussion on the issues surrounding combining data collected through different methodologies at once. Dillman also discusses the need to recruit within the context of a social exchange; we are, after all, collecting information with the respondent's approval, and our generalizations are stronger when we have a good sampling plan and can maximize co-operation.

Highly recommended! ... Read more

Book Description

The first guide to creating the word-of-mouth magic that breaks through the skepticism and information overload of today's consumers, and drive sales--and profits--to new heights.

As Newsweek recently proclaimed, "Buzz greases the great conveyor belt of culture and commerce, moving everything from movies to fashions of the body and mind faster and faster."

Now available in paperback, The Anatomy of Buzz, written by former marketing VP Emanuel Rosen, pinpoints the products and services that benefit the most from buzz and offers specific strategies for creating and sustaining effective word-of-mouth strategies. Drawing on interviews with more than 150 marketing executives who have successfully built buzz for major brands, Rosen describes the ins-and-outs of attracting the attention of influential first-users and "bigmouth" movers-and-shakers, and discusses proven techniques for stimulating customer-to-customer selling–including how companies can spread the word to new territories by taking advantage of customer hubs and networks on the Internet and elsewhere.

Recent surveys show that 74 percent of young people rely to some extent on others when selecting a car, that 56 percent of moviegoers follow the recommendations of friends, and that 65 percent of the people who bought a Palm Pilot were inspired by the enthusiasm of others. With The Anatomy of Buzz, business leaders have what they need to reignite excitement about an existing product or service or turbocharge the launch of a new product. ... Read more

Reviews (30)

Invisible but Powerful Human Networks
Think about it. How many times have you been asked "Seen a good movie lately?" or "What's your favorite Italian restaurant?" or "Where can I get the best deal on an air conditioner?" The single most powerful but least understood form of marketing is word-of-mouth and yet, until now, no one has devoted to it the attention it deserves. In the Foreword to this book, Everett M. Rogers observes, "New products and services spread among the consumer public through interpersonal communication networks. These networks are for the most part invisible. They often operate in mysterious ways.. Thus we are largely blind to this very powerful marketing process. No wonder that we fail so often in our efforts to diffuse innovations." He's right.

Rosen explains how to create effective word-of-mouth marketing with material organized within three Parts: How Buzz Spreads, Success in the Networks, and Stimulating Buzz. It is important to stress that Buzz results only in combination with a superior product or service. As Jeffrey Gitomer correctly points out, "customer satisfaction" is achieved only on a per-transaction basis; the objective is to achieve and then sustain "customer loyalty." It is not only possible but common for a new product or service to generate Buzz initially but if the quality is not sustainable (preferably enhanced), what I call Positive Buzz can become Negative Buzz. (Even under Rosen's personal supervision, no matter how much perfume you pour on a pig, it's still a pig. The only buzz it generates will be provided by insects.) The "interpersonal communication networks" to which Rogers refers can just as effectively (and probably more quickly) "get the word out" about a defective product or unsatisfactory service. Obviously, no Buzz is preferable to Negative Buzz.

Rosen is talking about Positive Buzz. He explains HOW to take full advantage of the marketing opportunities it permits. In Chapter 16, "Buzz Workshop", he asks and then answers a series of very basic but profoundly important questions. (All by itself, this final chapter is well-worth the cost of the book. I strongly recommend that this chapter be re-read on a regular basis. Competitive marketplaces do have a way of changing, don't they?) Once having read the book, the reader is well-prepared to select and then implement those concepts, strategies, and tactics which are most appropriate to her or his own situation.

This book will be especially valuable to small-to-midsize companies with limited resources but the success of any marketing efforts (Buzz or otherwise) will still depend upon the quality of the product or service offered. All of us now actively involved in marketing owe a substantial debt to Rosen. Revealingly, the quality of his thinking and the originality of his ideas created Buzz long before his book was published. The acclaim he continues to receive is richly deserved.

Bustling Buzzers Busily Boost Business
This is the first book I recall that looks at the word-of-mouth phenomenon as a management activity for modern marketing. While Edward Bernays often recounted fascinating tales of how public relations helped move products by setting fashion, he never focused on the face-to-face aspects of how new ideas spread. Robert Cialdini has done remarkable work on describing how influence is created, but does not squarely focus on the word-of-mouth aspects of that influence.

Mr. Rosen has done a sound job of providing a number of interesting, behind-the-scenes examples as well as a context for thinking about word-of-mouth marketing. (I actually ended up trying some products describe here that I probably wouldn't have otherwise, such as the novel, Cold Mountain). The book's main weakness is that it focuses on word-of-mouth about products rather the broader question of how word-of-mouth creates opinions in all areas of society.

Mr. Rosen defines buzz as "the sum of all comments about a certain product that are exchanged among people at any given time." Naturally, you can have either good buzz ("It's great!) or bad buzz ("Avoid at all costs.").

It is easy to us to underestimate the power of these comments before we consider our own experiences. For example, if audiences hate a new movie, the word soon gets out and ticket sales plunge. You have probably seen people waiting in line to buy tickets asking those leaving a theater how the movie was. Here you have an example of perfect strangers advising each other and making purchase decisions based on these interactions. Naturally, this occurs much more frequently with authority figures (like Oprah for books) and people we know well (our family, friends and neighbors). For example, I always ask my older son before seeing any movie. He will have already seen the movie and knows my tastes. I will always have a good experience if I follow his guidance.

The examples in the book formed the core of the interest for me. The concepts in the book were familiar to me from my days as an executive in the alcoholic beverage industry. Because of significant limitations on selling liquor with advertising, new brands are built almost totally through buzz aided by bar parties and other activities. I was surprised that there were no substantial stories from liquor or cigarettes (remember the cartoon of Joe Camel?), both of which depend heavily on creating buzz.

In addition to learning more about how buzz works, this book also offers guidance on how to encourage and accelerate that buzz.

The book is divided into three parts: The first looks at how buzz spreads (a small percentage of all the people do all of the connecting together of information networks); the second examines what makes for success with buzz (having things people want to talk about and encouraging that talking); and the third details how to stimulate buzz for your business (this is summarized in a workshop for you in chapter 16).

Publishers, book authors, music companies, companies that provide breakthrough technology (the Palm Pilot), and people who make exciting consumer goods (like the BMW) will get the most benefit from this book. The examples and lessons best apply in those markets. People with limited marketing budgets should consider the book also to help organize the questions to ask oneself for stimulating interest in a product.

I also suggest that you read up on Edward Bernays, Robert Cialdini (Influence), and Ernest Dichter. A recent book, Networlding, is a very helpful complement to this book in describing how to create more effective and meaningful relations with others to transfer information and assistance.

After you have finished reading this book, I suggest that you step back and consider how you could improve the value of what you make for your customers and potential customers, reprice it to make it more accessible, and reduce your costs so that you have more resources to share with your customers and other stakeholders. In that way, you will have something better to buzz about!

Provide great products first!

Interesting Stuff
This is a wonderful book that goes into legitimate, real-life methods of how Word of Mouth(buzz) is created. A great read...The Anatomy of Buzz is full of interesting stuff for the general reader, but even more helpful for the businessperson, beginning marketer, advertising executive, etc., very thought-provoking.

Read as a complement to "The Tipping Point"
Emanuel Rosen's 'Anatomy of Buzz' has some worthwhile stuff about what he calls 'information hubs,' those people who seem to know more about certain subjects and make it their business to pass the word to the rest of us. However, Malcom Gladwell dissected this phenomenon in great detail in his outstanding work, "The Tipping Point." Gladwell tells us that the Hub persona is actually comprised of three different indivduals: mavens, connectors and salesmen. You don't really get down to that level of detail here.

Not to say Rosen's book is without merit. I was fascinated by Gladwell's research and thought 'Buzz' would be a good complement to that. With those expectations, I enjoyed the book and found it to be a worthwhile read. I'll keep it on my bookshelf (for me, that's the litmus test of a book's worth).

Great Book!!
An extremely interesting book. Lots of concepts that can be applied to real life situations. Read it, you won't regret it... ... Read more

Book Description

"The authors technical skill and work-environment experience are abundantly apparent in the real-world methodology they bring to the study and understanding of the importance of project management to the success of any organization."–From the Foreword by Norman R. Augustine. Chairman of the Executive Committee, Lockheed-Martin Corporation

Effective project management is an essential skill in virtually every professional and technical setting and, like any skill, it is best mastered through the right combination of in-depth, expert training and hands-on experience.

Visualizing Project Management, Second Edition is todays best resource for both. Delivered by a trio of authors whose combined project management experience is unequaled in the field–a team that has been an integral part of the development of project management from the 1950s to the present–the processes and techniques in this landmark book have been confirmed through the experiences of over 30,000 working project managers and over 100 corporations.

Profound in its simplicity yet unique in its completeness, the integrated approach presented in Visualizing Project Management focuses on the four essential elements of project management:

1. Common Vocabulary: Terms and jargon are defined as they are introduced, minimizing the vocabulary problems that can lead to conflict and undermine otherwise successful teamwork.

2. Teamwork: Each of the fundamentals of real teamwork–from common conduct to shared rewards–is discussed, along with strategies to strengthen this vital component.

3. The Sequential Project Cycle: Valuable lessons are provided to enable you to develop a template for project-unique tactics as well as achieve project-to-project continuity.

4. Management Elements: The authors provide all the techniques and tools you need to guide a project to its successful conclusion–the achievement of stated objectives, within budget and time constraints.

Visualizing Project Management shows you how to breathe life into each of these inanimate project elements. The result is a working guidebook for total project management success–and a tangible model for moving your organization and career forward into the exciting new millennium.

An Integrated Approach to Results-Oriented Project Management

Better . . . Faster . . . Cheaper . . .

Todays take-no-prisoners competitive environment has made this the project management mantra for 2000 and beyond. Enlightened project managers know: Unless you can identify accurately the correct benchmark and correctly isolate how to surpass it, your organization will succeed only in producing a better, faster, cheaper failure.

The bestselling Visualizing Project Management first set the standard for effective project management in 1996, and introduced models that have been adopted by over 100 leading government and private organizations. In this Second Edition, the authors have revised the tools and techniques that changed the foundations of project management in order to help you better understand, compete, and win in todays lightning-fast global business arena.

A few short years ago, the insights and ideas in Visualizing Project Management invented the wheel. Now, its pioneering authors refine your understanding of the project management wheel, as they simplify and clarify the complexities of project management and system engineering.

Also includes a dynamic CD-ROM–Visual Project Management (Visual PM)–providing an interactive software version of the books revolutionary process model, a guided tour of a commercial project cycle, vocabulary definitions, sample document templates, and more. ... Read more

Reviews (22)

Weighty in its Simplicity
Rarely do I read a book that is weighty in its simplicity while being exhaustive in its subject treatment. Visualizing Project Management succeeds where many have failed.

The book focuses on the five common elements of every successful project: a common vocabulary, teamwork, a plan, leadership and management.

Starting with the project requirements, it details the correct way to plan, schedule and control projects. These elements do not naturally occur, particularly in complex technical projects. The techniques and tools presented are applicable throughout the project lifecycle.

The book is full of illustrations, which clarify the techniques being discussed. The best idea I found book was the Cards on the Wall technique, which calls for each team member to attach each WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) to a wall and interconnect the dependencies with yarn. The resulting interaction, I found, encourages group thinking and project buy-in, while anticipating the unanticipated.

There is also a great section on Earned Value, a powerful and effective tool for the early detection of slippages and cost overruns. As the authors correctly note, "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it."

Aspiring project managers and executives responsible for supervising it in their organizations should read this book. It will help them successfully understand and apply the project management process in their pursuit of "better, faster, and cheaper."

Comments by Max Wideman
Visualizing Project Management: A Model for Business and Technical Success" by Kevin Forsberg, Hal Mooz and Howard Cotterman, second edition, has much added material since the first edition. It is still my recommended first choice for those seeking a better insight into the role of project management, and I have read quite a few books on project management since that first edition. The book introduces many new concepts to the discipline, including an "orthogonal" model of the project management life cycle and its related processes which provides a conceptual basis for the book. It draws distinctions between the technical, business and budget aspects of project management work, one often confused for another by many would-be practitioners, yet it emphasizes the need for close alignment of these three aspects. The author's "Vee" model nicely bridges the gap between those whose primary focus is on the decomposition of the project for definition and control purposes during the project's planning period, and those whose focus must be on the integration of the various components during the production period of the project. But perhaps Chapter 4 warmed my heart the most - dedicated, as it is, to "Project Vocabulary" and the need to communicate clearly! I find the book easy to read, well illustrated, and very sensible. It is a valuable resource for students and practitioners alike.