Book Description

Keiretsu, the Japanese word for "group" and one of Japan's secret competitive weapons for years, can lead to improved competitve position, market share, and profits for American companies able to harness its power. The American Keiretsu explores each facet of strategic supply management. You'll find reliable approaches for reducing supplier risk and building-and sustaining-your company's competitive advantage. This pioneering book helps you use the best of Japanese supply management techniques within an American business framework to: eliminate incoming defects; reduce costs of purchased materials by as much as 20 percent; cut product time-to-market by as much as 25 percent. ... Read more

Book Description

Buying a business is the most viable and exciting alternative available for those seeking a way out of the traditional corporate world, and for those eager to become entrepreneurs.In fact, more people will go into business for themselves in the next 5 years than in the last 2 decades combined.Buy Your Own Business is a comprehensive field guide that shows how to define goals and map out sure-fire strategies for finding, and ultimately buying, a business that will work for the buyer.Mitchell B. Stern, an expert attorney practicing in the field, covers all you need to know when buying a business:assembling a team of professionals to assist in the deal; negotiations; due diligence; judging worth; creating a business plan; re-starting a business under the buyers new leadership; and making it a success.

Written in a reader-friendly manner and complete with a quiz, checklists, sample documents and sourcelists, Buy Your Own Business is sure to help all those interested in changing their lives by becoming the boss and owner.Mitchell B. Stern is an attorney practicing in New York City who is active in the acquisition, creation and representation of small and medium-sized businesses.Mr. Stern has written for such magazines as Personal Finance Magazine, Working Woman, and New York Magazine. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A good book
Out of all the books I have read on this subject, this is one of the better ones. Unfortunately, there needs to be better books on this subject. There is so much left out of all the books I read, that I still didn't have a high level of confidence in making the purchase, and relied a lot on my previous business experience. However, this book did a good job of getting the process started, and sent me in the right direction. I eventually found a business. Someone needs to write a book on all the details to pay attention to in the acquisition process, and why. It would be a good alternative to the expensive price of paying professionals to educate you.

Buy Your Own Business
I found this book very helpful. From a first time business buyer, this book was great. It won't explain how to do every individual thing while searching for a business, but it will point you in the right direction. It was the first book I bought once I started any research, but defenitely not the last. ... Read more

Book Description

The global supply chain is a vital part of modern business. Presenting a global view of the scope and complexity of supply chain management, this book reflects the rapid change that has taken place within the supply chain and its environment.

Schary and Skjøtt-Larsen have fully updated their successful first edition, giving readers of this new edition an insightful overview of the conceptual foundations of the global supply chain. The book has been completely reorganized toward a customer orientation and rewritten to include the new changes in technology and practice.

'Managing the Global Supply Chain' is based on three parallel elements: structure, process and organization to build a supply network that includes distribution, production and procurement within one integral system.It moves beyond concepts from business logistics to emphasize inter-organizational networks and the strategic role of the supply chain in corporate strategy. A separate section on management and strategy examines organizational forms and management tools. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Purchasing Careers
Opportunities in Purchasing offers a discussion of the transition in the field. The book describes the functions of the department, the importance of purchasing and the organization of companies. Described are purchasing positions and opportunities in the field. Included is changes to computerization, strategies, and centralization versus decentralization. Included is a University listing of purchasing programs, salary information and interviews with purchasing executives. ... Read more

Book Description

A complete guide to making outsourcing work for your company

As leading companies worldwide have discovered, delegating responsibility for strategic functions such as IT, sales and marketing, and manufacturing to outside vendors often leads to improved quality, increased efficiency, and added value for companies and their customers. Now, in this first comprehensive guide to outsourcing, expert Steven Bragg provides the practical information corporate decision-makers need to take full advantage of today’s outsourcing opportunities.

Outsourcing provides expert guidance on every crucial aspect of outsourcing. It covers all recognized organizational functions, including accounting, IT, customer service, sales and marketing, engineering, manufacturing, clerical, administration, maintenance, and more. Drawing upon his experience as an outsourcing consultant, Bragg closely appraises the benefits and risks involved in outsourcing any or all functions and provides detailed, easy-to-follow guidelines on:

• Deciding which functions you should and shouldn’t outsource
• Selecting the best outsourcing partners for your company
• Bidding, legal and contractual issues, organizational restructuring, personnel, and general management issues
• Maintaining quality control and managing outsourcing partners’ performance
• Measuring supplier performance and the achievement of expected cost benefits

Outsourcing is an indispensable guide for all managers interested in taking advantage of one of today’s most valuable business resources. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A Guide to....wasting your money
Absolutely worthless book. An attempt to make a guide for all possible outsourcing situations -and as a result it gives few ideas and nothing really useful.

A Great Book -- As Far As It Goes
This volume is a fine guide for streamlining your business, for carving away all the non-core funtions staffed by people who don't add any value to your company -- human resources folks, accountants, info technology workers. Once you rid yourself of the burden of dealing with such activities, except as arm's-length, third-party service providers, you free up massive resources to grow your core business and prosper.

What this book does NOT reveal is the true effect of outsourcing those functions. When the outsource process begins, you will have to lie to the employees you are outsourcing, to convince them they are headed for a better life. At the same time you are freezing their wages and gutting their benefits, you must persuade them to buy into the core-business vision; you must fool them into thinking they will have more control over their careers after they are no longer chained to just one company. You will tell them they can now be free to work for any other firm in the industry, to build a huge client base and gain exposure to myriad new practices and policies. You will be lying to them.

Once they realize they have been duped, that there aren't really any new clients, that they are no longer receiving the benefits they once did, that they indeed still are chained to just one company (though out in the back yard, like a dog), then you will reap the true consequences of outsourcing. Your outsourced service providers will stealthily work to become as efficient as possible at secretly minimizing their workload. Their innovations won't be to maximize YOUR return on investment, but to minimize THEIR labor, to perform the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM. Since they are not earning raises or bonuses any more, why exert any extra effort? And believe it, they will have innovative ideas for improving your business -- but they will never tell you about them, since you think they add no value. Well, they DEFINITELY won't ever again add value to YOUR company, chump, after you've booted them to the outsource pit.

The textbook model for outsourcing is wonderful, but it gets a lot more muddled in the real world, especially after you dump on a bunch of your formerly loyal employees. Good luck with your core business now, chump.

A Very Topical Subject - Outsourcing
This is a great book to understand Outsourcing, why you need it, when you need it and how to do it successfully. The book guides you through;

(1) The Advantages and Disadvantages of Outsourcing. (The basic rationale of the decision) (2) Contract-specific issues. (Legal, strategic impact, etc) (3) Transition issues. (Employment contracts, timelines, personnel) (4) Creating Control Points. (So you know what's going on) (5) Measuring the outsourced function. (Milestone events and performance tracking) (6) Managing the outsourced function. (Show optimal management type for every function) (7) Potential customer service issues. (Also applies to Internal Customers, the employees) (8) Getting out of the outsourcing arrangement. (You need to put it in the contract)

Interestingly enough, every function can be outsourced, either partially or completely. (Yes, even YOUR job!). Take a proactive approach. Buy the book, absorb the knowledge and be part of the solution rather than the problem. In addition to being an excellent author, Mr. Bragg "walks the talk". He's not an academician telling us how things could be but rather an experienced professional who understands how things work in the real world. A rare talent. You need this book. Rated A+++

Great guide and reference
Outsourcing has proven to be a very effective guide and reference tool. We use a variety of reference materials and publications, and this is the most complete work on outsourcing in our Library. Thorough coverage on reasons to outsource, potential pitfalls, and management strategies makes this book invaluable. A useful tool for both decision makers and advisors.

Most complete book on Outsourcing
This book is the most complete and organized book written on outsourcing to date. While other books of the same topic focus specifically on one job function, Steven Bragg expertly discusses the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing for each business unit, from Accounting to Engineering to IT, and so on. Whether you're a General Manager, CFO, CIO, or a Materials Manager, no other text can substitute for the wealth of knowledge found this book. Bragg also provides the reader with an excellent analysis of detailed legal and contractual issues for each department. Every manager responsible for making an outsourcing decision must keep this book by his or her side! ... Read more

Book Description

Everyone deserves to pay the lowest prices on everything they buy! Not just the select few! This book will show you how to save a minimum of $1,000 over the next 12 months or you get every dollar you paid back.

You'll learn how to get the best deals on everything from groceries to houses, from copies to insurance.

This book is the ultimate reference guide for anyone who wants to save money on a daily basis. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Terrific!
A terrific handbook. It gave me all of the information I needed and in a manner that was easy to understand. Highly recommended. I agree with the reader from New York. Decisions like this require expert advice.

Excellent
This book is an excellent overview of a complex subject. Written in a clear, straight-forward style, Smith's book can be an indispensible companion to buying a first or last home. I haven't read the House Buying for Dummies book that was mentioned by an earlier reviewer, but, when I'm confronted with the bigeest purchase of my life, I'd rather stick with someone who has a bit more obvious expertise.

Informative, but wordy
Reading this book was much like reading a college textbook. The information therein was helpful, but the style was wordy and technical. The book could have been more concise. As a reference guide, I preferred the book House Buying for Dummies. ... Read more

Book Description

For anyone purchasing a business phone system, this book covers detailed specs on the four major types: SOHO, key system, PBX, and CTI/LAN -- plus buying tips and questions to ask vendors. ... Read more

Book Description

This book is a key to mastering the demand chain concept. ... Read more

Book Description

Looks at people in the act of consumption and consumed by the act of consumption, combining academic analysis with a discussion of the possibilities for consuming people in the future.Previously only available in hardback. ... Read more

Book Description

With a growing market currently in excess of $150 billion, outsourcing hasbecome a critical boardroom agenda. Meeting this challenge, Andrew and Nada Kakabadse answer key boardroom questions. As one of the largest international surveys on outsourcing, Smart Sourcing highlights what it takes to be "outsource ready" and thus become a high performing company.
... Read more