Reviews (20)

Great book for any leader or manager
This is an excellent book on situational leadership. It outlines what would seem to be a simple process to becoming a situational leader. The examples given are relevant and the book was very easy to read. The most valuable concept I learned from the book was the concept of "different strokes for the same folks," meaning that you can use different leadership styles with the same person depending on the task at hand. The only thing I didn't really care for about this book was the way in which it was written. The whole book consists of conversations between "the entrepreneur," the "one minute manager," and the subordinates of the one minute manager. It was kind of cheesy at some times, but it got the point across loud and clear.

The Best of the "One Minute Manager" Series
Don't let the title or the number of pages fool you. This small volume packs substance. Situational management was not a fad. As recently as 1999, Peter Drucker (in his book "Management Challengers for the 21st Century") emphasized that despite the apparent hunger for learning "the one best way to manage, one such method does not exist." Producing desirable results is the goal of management; how to manage varies tremendously according to differences in situations.

This book goes well beyond espousing the idea of "different strokes for different folks." Becoming a situational leader involves:

1. Starting with goals that are clear to both the manager and the people who will help accomplish them.

2. Working with her people to diagnose their "competence" and "commitment" to accomplish those goals. Diagnosis preceds effective management methods.

3. Contracting with each person on each of the tasks and jointly deciding which leadership style will likely be most effective.

4. Following through to provide the agreed-upon leadership style until either (i) enough progress or (ii) lack of suitable progress warrants a change in leadership style.

The book presents a practical model for diagnosing each person's level of development with regard to achieving each major goal.

One other note: Despite its "leadership" title, the book addresses one-on-one supervision methods. If you're looking for a book that addresses how to create and sustain a "vision" that will drive your organization forward, this is not that book. It is, however, the most practical presentation of situational management that I've read.

Clear and simple book on situational leadership
I am a fan of the One Minute Manager series, having read "The One Minute Manager" and the "The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey." This book tells the story of an "entrepreneur" who seeks advice from the One Minute Manager. In the process, it covers the basics of situational leadership in a concise, easy to read style. The text covers the four basic leadership styles -- directing, coaching, supporting, and delegating. It also discusses matching a leadership style appropriate for various development levels. Like the other One Manager Manager books, I see myself re-reading and referencing this text. Highly recommended.

Treat Right!
Always a great fan of Ken Blanchard, I find this book with its Teaching Techniques to the Leaders who need to understand the basic style of 'Treat Right' to its employees and not walk blind to the belief 'Everyone should be treated Equally'. One Minute Manager hit the stands but this book has additional skills to increasing Effectiveness through situational leadership.The authors focus on enhanced motivation to individual employees and apply better management skills to get the most desired results from them. To begin with 'Goal Setting' brings in a commitment for accompliment and make the individual understand their duties to reach target goals. Written in a conversational manner, easy to read and understand, the book makes manager bring out the best by 'Be competitive and commited' motto. Like a stand-by Guide to Leaders, the contents help Leaders to derive best performance. How to delegate, support and direct them is the key factor that nevertheless motivates for better fruitful results. Apart from this book, I also recommend 'First Break All the Rules'. A good Pick for any Leader and to be used as quick reference and must to be on office-bookshelf. Nice Guide.

Getting the basics right
Even though it is a quick read this book still is a very worth while read for managers and assistant managers alike. It is not a book about intricate system building or a new innovative style. It is all about doing basic management the right way. About how to get your mind set for looking at people as potential heroes in stead of hawking after peoples failures, while also being honest with them. And yes! It does work. People are happier and they become more productive. If you are caught in the trap of focusing on weakness and failure, this book could change your world around - and make you a much better and more productive manager. If you are already tuned in on trying to get the best out of your people, this book can offer you some easy steps to how to stay on the right track. I have the audio book and play it every day on my way to/ from work (together with "First - break all the rules"). Not that I cannot remember the simple and easy to follow steps that are suggested - but to make sure that I never - ever - slip over to the dark side. The book may seem common-sense to some. However, in my view trying to focus on the basics, just makes the book better. Maybe one small caution - do not expect to be able to mange your team literally "one minute" at the time. There are other important (and time consuming) aspects of managing than the ones covered here. But one-minute-managing may be just what you need to free up some of your time for those other tasks. ... 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

Electronic Commerce 2004 describes the essentials of electronic commerce—how it is being conducted and managed as well as assessing its major opportunities, limitations, issues, and risks. It is a clear, simple, well-organized book, and provides all the basic definitions as well as logical support. Using extensive, vivid examples from large corporations, small businesses, government and not-for-profit agencies from all over the world, it makes the concepts presented come alive for readers.Beginning with a comprehensive introduction to E-commerce, the book explores internet marketing, B2B and C-commerce, E-marketplaces and internet consumerism, E-government, mobile commerce, auctions, security, electronic payment systems, and strategy and implementation to launch a successful E-commerce business.Written by experienced authors who are well-versed in real-world practices, this book will prove invaluable for managers and professional people in any functional area of business; as well as those in government, education, health services, and other areas that can benefit from a knowledge of e-commerce. ... Read more

Book Description

You work hard -- really hard -- but it seems like there's never enough. Never enough to cover all the bills. Never enough to relax and have some fun. Never enough to save some real money. What has gone wrong? What is the secret that you haven't figured out?

In All Your Worth, Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi -- mother/daughter authors of the acclaimed The Two-Income Trap -- tell you the truth about money. They lay out the new rules of money -- the ones nobody talks about. They show you how to get out of debt, cover your bills, and start getting ahead -- without needing to carry a calculator everywhere you go. All Your Worth will help you get control over your money once and for all so that you can finally start building toward the life you've always wanted.

All Your Worth isn't based on lucky guesses or gut reasoning; it is the result of more than twenty years of intensive research. As a result, the authors don't offer you a few quick fixes destined to fall apart, and they don't waste time trying to solve problems you don't have. Instead, the authors lay out a breakthrough approach for getting control over your money. And they use this approach to help you conquer your financial problems, step by step. They help you create a plan that isn't just for a week or for a month; this is a plan that lets you master your money for the rest of your life.

The secret? It's simple, really: Get your money in balance. Warren and Tyagi show you how to divide and conquer. You will learn to balance your money into three essential parts: the Must-Haves (the bills you have to pay month after month), the Wants (some fun money for right now), and your Savings (so you can build a better tomorrow). No complicated budgets, and no keeping track of every penny you spend. Once you have the basics, it gets easy. You can put your money worries behind you and get on with what really matters -- living your life.

Whatever your struggles with money, Warren and Tyagi can help you get your finances on the right track. They will show you things about yourself that you have never quite seen. Are you an emotional spender? Is debt robbing your future? Do you spend too little on fun? Are you and your partner trapped in the Money Blame Game? After you read this book, you will never look at your money -- or yourself -- in quite the same way again.

Whether you are knee-deep in past-due notices or you just don't think you're saving enough, money worries can chew away at your life. Warren and Tyagi are here to tell you that you can stop the worry. You can change it all. You can have enough -- enough to cover the necessities, enough to put some real money in the bank and start bringing your dreams into reach. You can even have enough money to have fun. (In fact, they insist that you have enough for fun!) Best of all, with All Your Worth, you can have peace of mind for the rest of your life. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

The basics on how to regain control of money
Middle-class Americans are increasingly making minimum payments on credit cards because they can't pay more - and debt loads for all are increasing as paychecks cover less and less. All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan by Elizabeth Warren & Amelia Warren Tyagi offers the basics on how to regain control of money, from balancing money with needs to handling a money emergency, loosening the grip on credit cards and their debt, and understanding common pitfalls of financial planning. All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan comes from the authors of The Two-Income Trap: Elizabeth Warren is a chaired professor at Harvard Law School, Amelia Warren Tyagi is a writer. Their combined expertise is invaluable.

A few good ideas
This book has a couple of really good ideas, but overall I was disappointed. The 50/30/20 rule was the most useful idea in the book. Some things I absolutely do not agree with - like keeping a $1000.00 emergency fund in your regular "Must-Haves" checking account. That's a disaster waiting to happen. Let's face it -- if you're reading the book, financial discipline is probably not your finest quality. If that money is that available, it's TOO available.

The basic premise of the book is good, however, and bit more nitty-gritty than most books on the same subject. Many such books are written for those who already have some funds to play with - this one is to help you get to where you have those funds.With the exception of a few ideas that seem out of step with the overall concepts, the book is worth a read.

Not geared to the Silicon Valley Reality
I bought this book anticipating that I could use the charts and formulas presented to see if my wife and I could apply it to our situation. We are two working parents of a 3-yr old living in expensive Silicon Valley. We both make decent money, but we have a very high mortgage and property taxes. This is a reality if you own a house in this area. This put our "Must Haves" well over the recommended 50% of our income. Even making some of the recommended changes, we still would be above the mark.

This is a good book for setting important goals for getting your money in order, and for gaining some focus on what needs to be done. It just doesn't work in some areas of the country unless you have a reasonably high income.

We will pay down our mortgage to see if we can apply the formulas at a different time.

Wants vs Must Haves?
I read through this book in one day and faithfully filled out the worksheets.It did seem that at last I had found a fairly simple, flexible plan that our family could easily follow.It was only after mulling over the Wants vs Must Haves that I realized there is a flaw in the authors' logic (unless in my fast read I missed a crucial step).

The authors define Must Haves (which should take no more than 50% of your after-tax income) as bills that you would have to pay even if you lost your job and became disabled.These include mortgage, insurance, medical bills, groceries & a couple of other narrowly defined categories.After you pay these Must Haves and save 20% of your income you're supposed to be left with 30% of your income to "play" with for your Wants, worry-free.

I started thinking about our real life expenses though and realized that if we lost our jobs would we stop buying light bulbs & just sit in the dark as they burned out one by one?Would we stop buying toilet paper & raid our neighbors' recyclying bins for newspaper?Would we drop off our beloved 12-yr old family dog at the Humane Society when we ran out of dog food?

No to all of that so where are those expenses supposed to come from?Somehow the thrill of spending my carefree 30% diminishes when I have to spend it on toothpaste and toilet paper.While there is some discretion in these types of items (we could go to the Dollar Store for many of the items)the real world cost of these really mounts up.For instance, if my husband lost his job I think his job prospects would look pretty dim if he stopped shaving or using deodorant.
So this realization really deflated my excitement about this book.I still think there's sound advice to be found in it and I think breaking your budget into broad categories by percentages is a great idea.I just think that maybe the authors' plan is a little too simple and following it to the letter might cause a problem

Excellent Truths
This book is truthful and to the point.Not everyone has hugh bank accounts.Most of us are struggling every day to make ends meet.This is an excellent guide to help every day Americans with real financial issues.Another excellent book that I recently read is called Stop Working by Rohan Hall.Also, and excellent book that everyday working people can use to get to the next level. ... Read more

Book Description

Richard Daft's best-selling text, Organization Theory and Design, integrates the most recent thinking about organizations, classic ideas and theories, and real world practice, in a way that is interesting and enjoyable for learners. This edition includes many updates including a new chapter on international issues and revisions of other chapters to include the most recent ideas and events.While organization studies and real world examples are insightful for understanding organizations and solve real-world problems, Daft also integrates numerous features that give learners the opportunity to apply concepts and develop skills and insights. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

A Strong Guide in Organization Theory
This is a well-designed and comprehensive book in the area of organization theory. From introduction to the end, this book aims to teach the foundations of organization theory to readers.

There is a great awareness of new developments in the area of organization theory. The new developments such as team-based management models are integrated into the conventional wisdom wonderfully in the book. We are living in a world in which globalization and stiff competition dominates. We name this age as Information Age and corporations need new mentality and practices to adapt to challenging conditions this era brings about. This book presents some new approaches in global competition perspective to readers.

A Look Inside, Bookmark, In Practice, The New Paradigm and Case for Analysis are excellent peculiarities of the book.

Diagrams and other visual characterizations involved in the book give readers a big opportunity to digest topics recounted. Since this book is a detailed investigation of organization theory, you may miss some parts and feel confused. I can recommend another book, that is, Designing Organizations (Robey, D. and Sales, Carol A.), which is a summarized organization theory book with excellent cases.

If you want to understand organization theory with its basic foundations and details, this book is a must. You must exploit the rich knowledge of Professor Daft.

Strongly recommended.

Readable and great information
Daft out did himself in this edition of his text. He includes book reviews and company profiles throughout each chapter to illustrate the theories he's describing. I read this for an MA course and found it easy to learn from. I'm even putting the information into practice at work! Not all textbooks are that helpful. *grin*

team-based structure
Application of organization design about Team-Based Structures and The boundaryless Organization.

Gripping, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, watch out...
I'm using this text for my HRM course and it is, without a doubt, the most straightforward text I have ever read. Coming from a senior, whose read my share of textbooks, if you are teaching HRM, this book makes it conducive to learning the elementary ideas of HRM. This is one text I'll be keeping instead of selling back to the bookstore.

The most meaningful book I have ever read
As a student, I think this book is the most meaningful book I have read. it is easy to read, easy to grasp. If you are someone who wants to grap the most important ideas out of whatever you read, then this book is good one for you. If you like to dive in, and read in details, you also can do that. The way this book was written gave it this unique previlage. ... Read more

Book Description

Retailing has become a high-tech, global industry. Retailing Management covers the latest developments in information technology for retailers. It also covers current trends and practices in international retailing.

An interactive website offers additional resources for the reader.

Reviews (2)

Basic introduction with a few bright spots
This book serves as a basic introduction to retail, though it often feels like "baby talk". It basically describes, without much analysis, the types of policies retailers adopt in several areas including merchandising, inventory management, ordering, HR, finance, store layout, etc. Good as a reference to what others are doing, but not at the cutting edge of retail.

A realistic review of Retailing....
RMgmt is a great book with valuable case studies from people with REAL experience.

From concept to info systems, the book helps the reader really understand the critical areas of a retail business and the virtal measures ... Read more

Book Description

Imagine everything you'd ever need to start up and run your own small business packed into one convenient, easy-to-read book. Throw in a CD-ROM with more than 250 documents and forms, along with trial versions of great small business software programs, and you've got the new Small Business Kit For Dummies, your perfect resource for the daunting process of starting a small business venture.

Small Business Kit For Dummies is chock-full of information, resources, and helpful hints on making the transition from a great idea to a great business. This book has plenty of straightforward advice on things that an MBA degree won't get you, from the basics of mastering legal, financial, employment, and management hurdles to advanced topics on business plans and strategies, accounting, contracts, taxes, attracting investors, and putting your business onto the Web. Whether you expect your business to become the next Microsoft or you've set your sights on a more modest goal, you'll find comprehensive and authoritative counsel -- without all the confusing jargon and legalese -- in this fun and friendly guide to the world of small business success. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Good, but slowly being replaced by online resources
This a good book, don't get me wrong. However, having been edited back in 1998, and being -as it is- largely focused on the documents that you, as a Small Business Owner, are likely to be in need of, it now seems a bit outdated and old-fashioned when you compare if with the ease with which you can get (for free) similar formats (business plans, marketing plans, invoices, etc.) online (in office.microsoft.com > Templates, for instance). It is a good reference of what to look for, though, which is why I give it 4 stars.

Great for those starting their business
It's great to see a book written by an attorney who also understands business.

Too many other books out there are written by amateur business people who's real business is in promoting and selling lousy books.

The CD-Rom will save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars and time.

Also recommend "The Small Business Kit" and "How to Incorporate in any State" by J.W. Dicks, another attorney and businessman with real world knowledge.

Good luck with your business!

SmallBizBargains.com gives it a thumbs up!
A few of the staff at [online business] have used this book to help the start previous businesses. We feature it on our site because we have found it so helpful. It is both simple and comprehensive - a great book for those starting or running a business.

The basics of business
This book is helpful for those wishing to start their own business but are unsure where to start. The concise writing answers most of the questions one can think of. This book, along with Guerilla PR Wired by Michael Levine, should be all that a young entrepeneur needs.

The business basics, but it takes more to succeed.
The forms and basics are essential for getting your small business off to the right start. But entrepreneurs must also be aware that even the best business plan will not be effective unless it also includes a carefully crafted marketing plan that includes publicity. There are wonderful, easy-to-do and inexpensive ways for small business owners to promote their services and to distinguish themselves from the competition. This book and a solid publicity plan are a great way to start ! ... Read more

Book Description

This comprehensive text will introduce students to the many operations topics and issues faced by leading service and manufacturing organizations.An emphasis is placed on new developments in the field of operations management and new information resources available, such as the Internet, while retaining a strong focus on the fundamental concepts of operations management.The goal of this text is to help students gain an understanding of what operations management involves, how it relates to other functional areas in an organization, the types of problems that are faced by operations managers, and common decision-making approaches. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Rip off
All textbooks over $50 are a rip off, WRITE A LETTER TO YOUR STATE SENATOR TELLING THEM YOU WON'T STAND FOR THESE OUTRAGEOUS PRICES ON TEXTBOOKS FOR SCHOOL. MOST STUDENTS CAN'T AFFORD TO PAY THESE RIDICULOUS PRICES!!! WE CAN BEAT THE ENDLESS NEW EDITION CYCLES THAT PUBLISHERS RIP US OFF WITH IF WE MAKE IT KNOWN!! WE CAN'T AND WON'T STAND FOR THIS!

PERSONAL COMMENT
This book is a guide for all people involved in manufacturing processes. ... Read more

Book Description

What does it take to turn ideas into action? What are the elements of a perfect pitch? Howdo you win the war for talent? How do you establish a brand without bucks? These aresome of the issues everyone faces when starting or revitalizing any undertaking, and GuyKawasaki, former marketing maven of Apple Computer, provides the answers.

The Art of the Start will give you the essential steps to launch great products,services, and companies—whether you are dreaming of starting the next Microsoft or anot-for-profit that’s going to change the world. It also shows managers how to unleashentrepreneurial thinking at established companies, helping them foster the pluck andcreativity that their businesses need to stay ahead of the pack. Kawasaki provides readerswith GIST—Great Ideas for Starting Things—including his field-tested insider’stechniques for bootstrapping, branding, networking, recruiting, pitching, rainmaking, and,most important in this fickle consumer climate, building buzz.

At Apple, Kawasaki helped turn ordinary customers into fanatics. As founder and CEOof Garage Technology Ventures, he has tested his iconoclastic ideas on real- world start-ups. And as an irrepressible columnist for Forbes, he has honed his best thinkingabout The Art of the Start. ... Read more

Book Description

Improve quality and productivity in most any organization

Based on W. Edwards Deming's model, this guide offers an integrated approach to testing and improvement?one that is designed to deliver quick and substantial results. Using simple stories to illustrate core ideas, the authors?all active consultants?introduce a new, flexible model for improving quality and productivity in diverse settings. They draw from research conducted in a variety of areas?manufacturing, government, and schools?to present a practical tool kit of ideas, examples, and applications. What's more, they've included a Resource Guide to Change Concepts so even beginners can utilize the tested techniques of some of the world's most experienced practitioners.

... Read more

Reviews (6)

A must read for all Black Belts
This is a very practical and powerful guide for improvement.

1. The first revelation this book brings is: improvement is a change. From this viewpoint, the fundamental questions faced by the improver (e.g. Green Belts and Black Belts) are:

(1) What are we trying to accomplish? (Define phase)
(2) How will we know if a change will result in an improvement? (What are the key Y's?)
(3) What changes can we make that will result in improvement?
(What are the key X's and their settings to affect Y's)
Appropriate tools from '6-sigma' tool sets can be used to seek answers to (2) and (3).

2. The Guide emphasizes testing a change in small scale before full implementation so we can learn and improve the proposed change using the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle. This significantly improves our typical 'trial-and-error' approach.

3. The Guide classifies improvement into 3 categories:
(1) Eliminate Quality Problems (the aim of many '6-sigma' projects)
(2) Reduce Costs while maintaining or improving quality (the goal of many internally focused improvement efforts)
(3) Expanding Customer Expectations
Specific advises and examples are presented for each of these categories.

4. Best of all is a list of 70 Change Concepts categorized under 9 sessions, e.g. standardization under Manage Variation, Synchronize under Improve Work Flow.
Using these change concepts can significantly reduce the time to develop the specific changes.

This book is very easy to follow and contains a lot of examples. It is a must read for all improvement practitioners including Green Belts and Black Belts.

Improvement viewed as a science.
Whether involved with improving products/processes within a business or coaching little league baseball, The Improvement Guide provides a practical and fundamental approach for improving performance. The book serves as an excellent reference for those involved with change, specifically, change that will result in improvement.

A few of the items from the book which ring in my mind continuously include:

Improvement can be viewed as a science (in fact, some of us do!).

Three questions provide the framework for improvement: 1. What are we trying to accomplish? 2. How will we know if we if a change will result in an improvement? 3. What changes can we make that will result in improvement?

While there are many opportunities to change, there are only 70 change concepts (included in the Appendix) available to us today.

Any system for improvement will include five activities: 1. Establishing and communicating the purpose of the organization/team. 2. Viewing the organization/team as a system. 3. Designing and managing the a system for gathering information for improvement 4. Planning for improvement and integrating it with business planning. 5. Managing individual and team improvement activities.

Leaders are required to implement change that will result in improvement and they draw their power from three sources (the informal leader gets his/her power from sources 2 and 3 below). 1. Authority or position 2. Knowledge 3. Personality and persuasiveness (caring about people)

These items and many more, are introduced in the book via an easy-to-understand model that uses proven methodology for developing, testing, and implementing change that produces specific, identifiable improvements.

The Answer to Dr. Deming's question: "By What Method?"
Dr. W. Edwards Deming, whose management ideas and Profound Knowledge provide the theoretical underpinnings of this book, continually asked the question to anxious audiences: "By what method? How do you go about it?" As a professional in the quality sciences field, I believe this book has the answer to those questions as it relates to improvement. The Improvement Guide defines improvement and describes in complete detail workable, easy to use techniques that are effective and time-tested. The book is based around the Improvement Model, an expanded and improved version of the Deming-Shewhart cycle, whose historical roots trace are grounded in applications of the scientific method and applied scientists since Roger Bacon. The principle of testing on a small scale, learning using the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle, and building knowledge sequentially using the Improvement Model are some of the most practical and useful aspects of the book. Part I is written on an introductory level and provides lots of simple examples that guide the beginner through theory and practice. The heart of the book, and some of its most useful content, describes ways to develop, test, and implement a change. The insights provided, based on decades of experience and knowledge of the authors, are invaluable. They are followed up by thoroughly documented and easy to understand case studies that ring true using real life examples related to manufacturing, services, health care, and a variety of standard business and educational processes. Finally, the third section describes an integrated approach to various standard improvement goals and useful strategies for achieving them. This section also includes extremely insightful guidance for leaders trying to promote and enable improvement, and an innovative and thought-provoking section suggesting techniques for expanding customer expectations to increase demand for products and/or services. This section, too, is replete with examples and case studies to support and illustrate methods and concepts.

This book should be studied by anyone, beginner or experienced professional, interested in a systematic method for improving processes, products, or services. I strongly recommend it.

The definitive book on performance improvement
I think this is the most important and practical book available on performance improvement since Deming's "The New Economics". I found this book to be highly useful and well articulated around the practical application of Deming's system of profound knowledge, authored by some of the world's most preeminent thought leaders and practitioners in quality improvement. Chock full of relevant and easy to understand examples. The Model for Improvement, introduced in this book, is an amazingly simple way to bring about improvement in any undertaking. If you are interested in performance this book is a must.

A significant contribution to quality literature
In the extensive library of quality material, a select few items stand out for their practical approach to implementing powerful quality principles in such a manner to be understood by everyone. These authors, strongly tied to Deming principles, are consultants with Associates in Process Improvement, a national quality consulting firm, and have consulted on quality with numerous industries in the US, Canada, and Europe. They are heavily schooled in statistics and quality engineering and now add this valuable item to the elite group of quality tools. The book is driven by their simplified approach to the now well known PDSA cycle, preceding this with their three fundamental questions: What are we trying to accomplish?, How will we know a change is an improvement?, and What changes can we make that will result in improvement? After considering these questions, the authors then take the reader through the classic PDSA steps in this useful model of quality improvement easily adaptable in any business. Part 1 introduces and explains this model, part 2 further applies the model in exemplary business situations, and part 3 offers solid advice for leadership in a quality organization. The added resource guide, alone worth the investment in this work, further explains how different executives are applying in their business the numerous concepts that fill this excellent guide to improvement. This is a very useful addition to the library of any quality professional, and will be most useful to those newly entering the endless road to quality improvement. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Sometime during the last 30 years, the service economy emerged as the dominant engine of economic activity. At first, critics who were uncomfortable with the intangible nature of services bemoaned the decline of the goods-based economy, which, thanks to many factors, had increasingly become commoditized. Successful companies, such as Nordstrom, Starbucks, Saturn, and IBM, discovered that the best way to differentiate one product from another--clothes, food, cars, computers--was to add service.

But, according to Joseph Pine and James Gilmore, the bar of economic offerings is being raised again. In The Experience Economy, the authors argue that the service economy is about to be superseded with something that critics will find even more ephemeral (and controversial) than services ever were: experiences. In part because of technology and the increasing expectations of consumers, services today are starting to look like commodities. The authors write that "Those businesses that relegate themselves to the diminishing world of goods and services will be rendered irrelevant. To avoid this fate, you must learn to stage a rich, compelling experience."

Many will find the idea of staging experiences as a requirement for business survival far-fetched. However, the authors make a compelling case, and consider successful companies that are already packaging their offerings as experiences, from Disney to AOL. Far-reaching and thought-provoking, The Experience Economy is for marketing professionals and anyone looking to gain a fresh perspective on what business landscape might look like in the years to come. Recommended. --Harry C. Edwards ... Read more

Reviews (28)

Nardelli-led bounce gives book its just due
As I write this review on July 29, 2003, I see 'The Experience Economy' is ranked at #624 in amazon.com's constantly updated sales rankings. Pretty heady for a fairly esoteric business book published in April 1999.

The reason has to do with the latest (August 2003) edition of 'Fast Company' magazine. The editors asked a series of business leaders to pick one "book that matters," noting that "one book can change the direction of a company -- or a career." Bob Nardelli, ex-of GE and now CEO of the Home Depot, chose 'The Experience Economy.'

That's a great thing, because this excellent piece of work really got the short shrift - with its April 1999 publication date, its message of capturing the full potential of face-to-face retail got buried in the tsunami of e-commerce hysteria.

Now that we all recognize the Internet as just another viable sales channel, this fine effort by Pine and Gilmore has a second life. The fact that Nardelli picked it as his one book that matters tells you all you need to know about his vision for the future of Home Depot.

The Divergence of Theory and Reality
The book takes a very logical, reasoned approach towards the theoretical next steps of economic expansion. It reasons that margins drive profits and that by constantly searching for higher margin offerings, a company will naturally improve and increase its profitability.

The logic is understandable... Commodity goods have small margins, as they are undifferentiated from each other and relativly easy to reproduce. Manufactured goods take things one step further, providing higher margins due to some level of product differentiation and brand specificity. Above that are Services, where the products don't last long enough to be copied and are customized enough to prevent easy manipulation. The higher margins should lead to higher profitability and better staying power. Fair enough.

Where the book's logic becomes strained, however, is where it strethes out towards the next generation of higher margin offerings, "Experiences." While it is true that experience companies my be able to provide higher margins than can older economy companies, experience companies tend to suffer from a fatal flaw that has infected many of the companies praised in the book. That flaw is the utter lack of repeat business generated by most experience economy companies.

Take two of the companies mentioned in the book as companies to emulate -- Planet Hollywood, the restaurant chain, and Peapod, the online grocery store. Planet Hollywood is under bankruptcy protection, because people are simply unwilling to pay through the nose repeatedly for the same experience over and over again. Peapod ran out of cash and is limping along only after being bought out by a Dutch firm. Hardly two stellar companies to emulate when searching for ever expanding profits.

Throughout the book, by expounding the virtues of ever expanding margins, rather than focusing on goods, services, and 'experiences' that people would be willing to repeatedly pay to have, the authors make the mistake of ignoring the overall forest for the sake of a single tree.

In the real world, experience companies know their limitations and create their pricing scheme to represent that fact. Amusement parks sell season passes for less than the cost of two visits -- acknowledging the fact that people may pay more for experiences, but only once, and repeat business depends heavily on making the repeat worth the cost.

Had the book focused more on successful ways for experience economy companies to thrive, rather than spending its time drolling on about the virtues of failing companies with the right plan, it would have been far more believable and enjoyable.

Insightful Look at Business Today
This book definitely makes you stop and think about what today's consumer wants and expects. (In fact, it's easy, just ask yourself what you would want - what you're offering or what Walt Disney is offering). Businesses that don't make a lasting impression, offer an experience for the consumer will eventually go the way of the dinosaur.

a fresh and novel view of the current business trends
this book is definitely out of the ordinary: it proposes a novel (to me at least) view of the current economy trends and well illustrate an equivalence between the work environment and the stage of a theatrical play.
Worth reading it.

The ultimate product differentiator
This book really opened my eyes, and made me see my service offerings from a customer perspective. I've become incredibly passionate about the experience economy concept, and am constantly looking for real life examples or potential applications.
When I stand in a queue I'm thinking about how I would go about offering the service or product I'm queueing for.
When I speak to the beauracracy that provides me banking or insurance services, I'm forever demanding that they change the impersonal and inflexible way that they engage with me.
If you're looking for a new paradigm in selling what you have to offer, then this is the book for you.
I love it. ... Read more

Book Description

Bestselling Lean Six Sigma author Michael George provides the first pocket guide for deployers of Lean Six Sigma

The Lean Six Sigma Pocket Toolbook blends Lean and Six Sigma tools and concepts, providing expert advice on how to determine which tool within a "family" is best for different purposes. Packed with detailed examples and step-bystep instructions, it's the ideal handy reference guide to help Green and Black Belts make the transition from the classroom to the field.

• Features brief summaries and examples of the 70 most important tools in Lean Six Sigma, such as "Pull," "Heijunka," and "Control Charts"
• Groups tools by purpose and usage
• Offers a quick, easy reference on using the DMAIC improvement cycle
• Provides comprehensive coverage in a compact, portable format

Reviews (1)

Outstanding Quick Reference Guide
This pocket toolbook hits the "sweet spot" as a quick reference guide for lean six sigma practitioners.Don't expect this to be an in-depth treatment of the 70+ tools covered in this book.If you're new to the lean/six sigma disciplines, you need to start someplace else.However, if you are currently working in these disciplines and you need a reference with enough meat to remind you of how/why/when a particular tool should be used and also a little of the statistical foundations supporting the tool, then you will find this to be a very valuable book to own.I own just about all of the "pocket guides" and I often find them to be a little too cryptic and abbreviated to meet my needs.This book is a very nice middle ground between the often complex and verbose "learning textbooks" and the often times overly brief pocket guides.As with any first edition, there are some errors that slipped through the editing process, but I can still highly recommend this book as one to keep handy when your out there fighting those "quality and productivity" battles. ... Read more

Book Description

A Framework for Marketing Management is a concise paperback adapted from Philip Kotler's #1 selling book, Marketing Management.A four-part organization covers understanding marketing management, analyzing marketing opportunities, making marketing decisions, and managing and delivering marketing programs. Readers will be able to see how marketing managers have applied key principles in actual company situations, making explicit the connection between theory and implementation at leading firms such as eBay, NTT DoCoMo, Caterpillar, and Starbucks.For anyone interested in the field of marketing—and its relationship with the consumer. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A very good marketing book...
This is a very good book for those that don't have a marketing background. It is relatively short and concise, which made it a quick read. I has most of what is in the larger book (the reference style book), but really does a good job of condensing the material. This is one that I will keep, as it acts like an 800 page reference book, just smaller.

Compact, authoritative guide to marketing management
From the guru of marketing, this concise work covers all the essentials of how to manage marketing planning, strategy and tactics. Informative diagrams and tables clarify key points and guide the reader through important principles. A valuable tool for marketing students--and a worthwhile overview for any marketing exec. ... Read more

Book Description

Morse is not just a cost determination management text.Taking a much more strategic approach, this text focuses on the full range of cost drivers within the value chain instead of the distinctions between product/non-product costs and unit-variable/fixed costs. ... Read more

Book Description

Managing Human Resources retains its unique orientation to overall practicality and real-world application.Practical tips and suggestions provide effective ways of dealing with problems in communication, leadership, discipline, performance appraisal, and compensation administration. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Useful
This is a useful textbook. It is easy to read, informative, and well organized.

When it comes to learning , this book teaches well!
I am a mid-career professional, returning to the virtual classroom after 20 years of absence. With a study in management and leadership, this book was highly recommended and I must say, it did not disappoint!.

Of the books in my book cases, this is one I will turn to again and again for insight and wisdom, guidance and increased understanding. Well written, well read and well worth the investment!

Excellent!
Highly recommed this book.It's a good reference and very detail-oriented!!

Excellent, real-life examples in HR management.
I use this text to teach a Human Resource Management course and the students really enjoyed the real-life examples and case studies.The book gives web site address that complement the material in each chapter.Istrongly recommend this text as a solid overview of HR.

Excellent study material
This book is excellent for general college level study of the full range of human resources. It is also a great book to review in preparation for the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) or Senior Professional in HumanResources (SPHR) certification tests given by the Society for HumanResource Management (SHRM). ... Read more

Book Description

Hax and Mailuf offer a pragmatic approach to strategic management, offering practicing managers and business readers a disciplined process that facilitates the formulation and implementation of strategy.Most comprehensive, integrated, explicit approach to strategy formulation; Proctor & Gamble used as a running case throughout the text. Other real world examples include NKK and Merck; global perspective, companies are drawn from all over the world. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

The Strategy Concept and Process
Need to know about the fundamental concept and process in Strategy? read this book, you will find a comprehensive description in "easy to understand" language, even that you're a beginner in Strategic Management. This book is a usefull guide for anyone, no matter you're a undergraduate, Graduate or Doctoral student. A state of the art of Strategic Management.

Learn To Develop a Strategic Plan and Capture the Essence
Basically, this book aims at making strategy concepts and techniques very clear to readers. In this book, strategy concepts were translated into well-considered formulations.

While reading book, you will see this property many times and it will help you better understand the abstract concepts. When you finished the book, you will be able to place your strategy theory on a strong base. No longer you will think that "Strategy Is a Staff Work." This book will give you the framework in which strategic plans are developed.

And lastly, you will find a lot of cases related to the theory in this invaluable book. I higly recommend..

very usefull in the field
Very exciting knowledge from the expert

A clear and compehensive methodology to make a strategy
The book present a clear and comprehensive methodology to make a strategy at three levels: corporate, business and functional. Include the Porter and BCG analysis. The method explain each step to make a complete analysis of the business before the formulation of the strategy. Each step is practical and adaptive to any kind of business. ... Read more

Book Description

Timmons & Spinelli's, New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship For The 21st Century, 6/e is a perforated paperback text that covers the process of getting a new venture started, growing the venture, successfully harvesting it and starting again.Through text, case studies, and hands-on exercises, the book guides students in discovering the concepts of entrepreneurship and the competencies, skills, know-how and experience that are sufficient to pursue different entrepreneurial opportunities. The authors recognize that there is no substitute for actually starting a company, but believe that it is possible to expose students to many of the vital issues and immerse them in key learning experiences. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Earlier versions are better
This book includes numerous tear-out exercises and cases. It might be appropriate for a classroom but it is not ideal for prospective entrepreneurs.

Earlier versions of this book had good material on writing a business plan and determining appropriate sources of capital and less extraneous fillers. Save yourself a lot of money and buy a more practical book on the subject or the 1995 version if you want the business plan and financing materials.

Book condition
Very quick delivery. Book had some marks, but excellent condition. Would recommend strongly if you want the book right away.

Comprehensive "Owners' Manual" for Entrepreneurs
Like the previous reviewer, I too purchased the 4th Edition of this text (paperback), and was extremely pleased. Before starting my current business, I consulted extensively with this text, and was pleased with its comprehensive, practical nature - covering everything from a personality assessment of one's readiness for self-employment, to exhaustive preparation information for a business plan. The book also extensively covers financing an entrepreneurial venture, comparing both debt and equity (including Venture Capital) methodologies.

On a practical note, I also like the fact that all the pages are perforated...there have been several that I have taken out and used hands-on!

I cannot comment on the relative worth of this version vs. the newer version, as I only have the 4th edition.

Don't buy this version
If you are an entrepreneur, don't buy this 1998 edition, buy the 1995 version. This new edition is basically just a text book with cases and questions. It would be great for an MBA class but not someone who wanted to start their own business. The 1995 version of this book, also sold on Amazon, is fantastic for entrepreneurs. It has over 700 pages of information, worksheets and examples. Do yourself a favor, buy the older version. ... Read more

Book Description

This distinctive book features a running case study at the beginning and end of each chapter that explores the decision-making processes of managers within a hypothetical company. It creates a vivid, dynamic business setting that highlights microeconomic theory and the tools of quantitative analysis used in management decision-making. In addition, actual business examples from the popular press—including numerous international examples—are incorporated into the chapters to reinforce the connection between economic and real business situations.Chapter topics cover supply and demand, demand elasticity, demand estimation, forecasting, the theory and estimation of production, the theory and estimation of cost, competition and monopoly, monopolistic competition and oligopoly, special pricing practices, economic decision making in the 21st century, capital budgeting, and risk and uncertainty.For today's managers in government and industry. ... Read more