Book Description

Named by Inc. and Forbes magazines as one of the top ten essential books for small business, this fully revised and updated fourth edition of The Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies is a complete, step-by-step guide to researching and writing a fool-proof, perfectly formatted, knock-'em-dead business plan.

Required reading at America's top business schools, it's been called "the entrepreneur's bible," having helped hundreds of thousands of successful business people get the funding they need to launch their businesses.

With a foreword by legendary venture capitalist Eugene Kleiner, The Successful Business Plan is packed with insider tips and insightful advice on writing and formatting a business plan that will stand out from the crowd.

Book features:

99 worksheets to help you get started quickly, taking you through every critical section of a successful business plan

Sample business plan offering guidance on length, style, formatting and language

The Abrams Method of Flow-Through Financials, which makes easy work of number crunching — even if you're a numbers novice

Special chapters addressing issues of concern for service, manufacturing, retail, and Internet companies

Added help for teams and students preparing business plans for classes or competitions

Nearly 200 real-life insider secrets from top venture capitalists and successful CEOs – learn what truly impresses funders

New chapter on starting a business in a challenging economy ... Read more

Reviews (21)

The new 4th edition is outstanding.
This is simply the best business planning guide on the market. I teach entrepreneurship classes and have used prior editions in my classes, but I'm really impressed with this new edition and how it reflects the realities of business planning in the post-dot-com era. There's a new chapter on seeking funding in a recession, which is the most frequent question I'm asked by my students now.

The other thing I like about the new edition is the Excel templates for generating the business plan's financials. They work exactly like the worksheets in the book, which lessens the learning curve. BUT, you have to buy the templates separately from the publisher's website.

All in all, a great update to an already excellent book. Highly recommended.

Good starting point and reference
I have probably purchased 5 business plan books over the last year. I have also purchased a couple of business plan software programs (both unsatisfactory). None can be considered a definitive "best" book or resource. Each one has strengths and weaknesses, and anyone searching for a drop-in guide should re-think their goals. Abrams book, on the whole, is certainly one of the better business plan books. The advise and focus of the content are very salient to anyone out there looking for OPM.

Great for someone with little accounting experience!
I was so scared of writing a business plan that I put it off for as long as I could (nearly a year!). But my potential investor made it clear that I would have to bite the bullet. I owe Abrams a huge "thank-you" for making the business plan writing process something that could be done thoroughly, efficiently, and done well--and didn't take me too long at all. But the best part is that you can download finacial spreadsheet templates from the publisher's website!!

I am the kind of person who has an idea and just wants to run with it; I have a hard time figuring out specifics and financial realities. Between the book (which explained exactly what I needed to know about target markets, competition, cost-benefit analysis and the like) and the downloadable spreadsheets (which did all of the math, and carried the numbers through to all of the projection sheets and balance sheets and income statements and such, and took care of all of the formatting--just print and go!), I was able to write a top-notch, professional-looking business plan (if I do say so myself!) to present to my potential investor, and to the bank when I go to apply for a loan! And I won't feel embarassed by my lack of experience--at least, my business plan won't convey it. Plus, it's really important to go through the process of writing a business plan (and Abrams addresses this in the book) so you can really get a good, clear, structured idea of what you're doing, how you need to do it, and why you're starting a business in the first place.

Best business plan book out there
I was assigned this book for an Exec.MBA class, and it's one I'm going to keep after I sell a lot of my other books back. I've had to do business plans for the corporation I work for and for a friend's business, and I've looked at tons of books, and this is just the best one out there. If you go to the publishers website you can also get Excel templates so filling out the financial forms is straightforward and they're also best-of-breed. This is the book to use if you want to impress a boss, professor, or investor.

Not as helpful as I had hoped....
I did not find this book as helpful as I was hoping. First, and most importantly, I needed more examples. There was only one and it was a service organization and I needed to see an example of a manufacturing organization where the target customer was not so geographically limited. Also, I found that the way the book is organized was difficult. I felt the book was more oriented toward helping someone sort out their thoughts and feelings about starting a business than it was focused on actually structuring and writing a business plan. What I actually need are the hard, factual mechanics of writing a business plan and I did not find it to my satisfaction in this book. ... Read more

Book Description

Future success?or future shock?Only companies that plan ahead will survive the changes in business today--and tomorrow. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

A realistic plan for developing and implementing strategy
If you are looking for startling new insights on strategic planning, or gimmicky, buzzword-laden books aiming to be best-sellers, this one is not for you. This is ideal as a first book on strategic planning since it provides a realistic, carefully set out action plan for developing a competitive strategy and implementing it to produce results. Even if you have read dozens of books on strategy, the no-nonsense, concise guidance of this book makes it valuable. The book is the result of extensive work by the authors with small and medium-sized businesses. It not only presents the strategy process in admirably clear terms, it provides templates and guidance throughout the process. Simplified Strategic Planning will not make you gasp at new insights, stun you with incredible depth, or woo you with seductive writing. It will make it much easier for you to form and implement a definite strategic plan for your business.

An excellent guide to strategic planning
Finally, a book on strategic planning that makes sense! Bradford's process for helping organizations think about, plan for and implement strategic planning is straightforward and completely accessible. Whatever size your oganization, and whatever your background in strategy, this one is a must-read. Bradford offers an action-oriented approach that allows you to customize the process to meet your needs. In these days of leaner budgets, take advantage of this gem--it's almost like having Bradford in your company as you work through the process. His focus is on results, and his success with all kinds of organizations is very impressive.

Should be titled "Simple-Minded Strategic Planning"
This book seems more like recommended reading for a community-college based course than those seriously interested in concise information on strategic planning. This guide is definitely written by seminar teachers, full of simple one-liners and cheesy analogies that don't really add that much to your understanding of strategy. Possibly a good starter guide, but not recommended if you have already read anything on strategy.

Don't just read the book use it!
Yes the book "simplifies" a difficult process, but the real proof of its worth is actually using the plan set forth by the authors. We are well into year one of following the instructions and our 38 year old company has never communicated to the level it is now. We have already enabled ourselves to take advantage of two major opportunities that would have benn missed without planning by the book.

Read it sure - Use it for sure!

Practical, action-oriented guide to strategic planning
This book takes strategic planning off the shelf and into the realm of implementation. It makes strategic planning an inclusive, usable, adjustable tool to manage the growth of an organization. Too often, we hear the complaint that organizations have spent considerable time and money on creating a sophisticated strategic plan only to have it sit on the shelf for years without any action taken. Simplified Strategic Planning is just that, a process that retains the complexity inherent in creating a comprehensive plan for an organization while breaking it down into small, clear, actionable steps. Perhaps the best part of this book is that in addition to creating a strategic plan, underlying the process is a deep understanding of how to involve people in the work of gathering data, analyzing the data and then creating a customized strategic plan. ... Read more

Book Description

• ACT! organizes customer information in one place, providing instant access to names, phone numbers, addresses, appointments, call histories, follow-up activities, and more
• Explores ACT!'s features, including a ready-to-use contact database with search capabilities; Internet links; mail, fax, and e-mail merge; synchronization with Palm OS handhelds; integration with Outlook and other popular products; report generation; and a customizable database
• Latest edition of this successful title shows business professionals how to use ACT!'s new e-mail features, new active libraries, and improved Internet services and Outlook integration

Reviews (8)

CUT TO THE CHASE AND BUY THIS BOOK
ACT6! for Dummies is not only extremely informative, it is fun and easy to read. It is a great starting place to learn the many aspects of the program and it is a great reference once you are using the program regularly. If you can figure out how to use this program to its fullest by using the book supplied by ACT, you are probably not in sales, you have a lot of extra time on your hands, and you love to watch paint dry. Unless you are selling real estate in South Florida and one of my competitors, buy ACT6! for Dummies and get yourself on track fast.

Take me by the hand and show me everything
I'm not a computer buff so I bought this book and was gratefully taken through an overview of the basics of Act! 6 and then the details. It not only showed how to use Act! 6, but also how to maximize the use of Act! 6.

The important thing about the book is that it is written for the reader (not in tech-speak), with a wonderful sense of humor. In fact, it's as if the author is right there with you as you go through and learn/use the program. After having used Act! 6 for a while, if I have more sophisticated needs, I look them up in the book and have the answer quickly and painlessly.

I hesitated buying Act! 6 for a while, but once I bought the program, I also bought this book. Now I am a confident and effective user.

Excellent Book for ACT! Users at All Levels
As one of the leading ACT! trainers in the United States, I know what it takes to really teach people the program. And this book has it all. It's clear and concise, and the features are laid out in a logical fashion for incremental learning. The graphics are perfect references to the written text, and readers will have no trouble following along as they learn the features of the program. The author uses plain, descriptive language and doesn't get bogged down in "tech talk." If you want to learn ACT! on your own, this is the book for you!

This book totally rocks!
Karen's book is the best ACT! 6.0 book on the market. It's well written, full of tips & tricks, and funny. A lot of the 'funny' books out there tend to be sarcastic, but Karen incorporates humor into her book without crossing the line into sarcasm. The result is a great book that will show you how to get up and running with ACT! and get the most out of the product. I urge everyone to buy this book!

I'm an ACT! Certified Consultant and ACT! Premier Trainer and run the 4th largest ACT! reselling outfit in North America. I'm a contributing editor for the ACT! magazine, and I've written 23 course manuals 100 articles on ACT! and related issues.

The dummy above needs to buy the book
The purpose here is to review the book and not the software. However, I would like to suggest that with an attitude like that, no wonder tech support was rude. And, one wonders why 6 million users have successfully used ACT! over the last 15 years. I considered myself to have a high degree of expertise, yet I found the book to be invaluable. ... Read more

Book Description

This book is written for current and future general managers who have or will have overall responsibility for a business. The authors provide a set of frameworks, tools, and concepts to build this capability. The goal of the book is to provide insights into organizations and strategy that will help general managers make strategic thinking in their firms pervasive, effective, and rewarding. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Not the best book for self-learnig
In my case, I was looking for a good book on the subject in order to learn by myself, so I found this book. The result was totally disappointing, if you aren't taking a course based on this textbook I'd recommend to look anywhere else. The book and the software included are designed as a student's material for a formal class.

The content of the book is really wordy and boring however, the cases are interesting and the learning center is an excellent resource for practicing. I think that the results you'll get from this book will depend completely on your teacher's skills to translate the concepts in a more simple way.

I'd recommend "Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage" by Jay B. Barney if you want to learn out from the classroom.

The Best Textbook in Strategy
The book is crystal clear. The structures of the book was developed in a brilliant manner. It describes all relevant issues simply but with enough depth. It covers strategy from all relevant viewpoints as OT, IO. It even adds a final chapter on process. This last chapter is a fine summary of the advances in strategy-making process developed in recent years. I would recommend this book as must in any strategy course at undergraduate and MBA levels.

Pompous disappointment...
I really wanted to give this text a fair shake...I really did (and believe I am). However, the whole problem I had with it began in the first chapter, and five later, I'm simply disgusted. I'm an MBA student and along with classes in Import/Export and International Business Law, this is my last prior to graduation. In other words, this is the last of a multitude of texts I've read over the last six years of business study so I do have a clue. I also am graduate level in three languages other than English (and they are not my native tongue), so I'm well read overall...
Anyway, I immediately noticed as did another reviewer here, that this material is comprised of basic business concepts, but the twist lies in the fact that every simple concept was made into something extraordinary through use of flowery language. I've felt that every simple aspect of business design, structure and operation is developed into some enormously complex "concept" and the more I read, the more I am insulted. The text takes very simple examples of what an overall operation within the world of business might be comprised, and makes them difficult to understand and boring. I read a chapter, awake, read it again and mumble "so tell me something new...tell me something I don't know..." If you cannot improve upon the wheel, why try to reinvent it? I'm really sorry guys, but this is a miserable work. Don't take it too personally. I'm sure that people who want to sit around smoking fat cigars and talking about business "concepts" will surely be impressed, but I am a student who wants real-world advice about running real businesses. This is fluff pure and simple and presents nothing new in management strategy aside from other ways to word simple ideas. Perhaps my education has been so progressive that this is all old hat and so, my problem...I think not. Better luck with the second edition. Hope I haven't bruised any egos, but for the price of texts today, I want to learn something. If a professor falls short, this text is all a student has to fall back on for his time, effort and money.

The Best Strategic Management Book I Have Read
This is a book on strategic management written by three leading scholars at the Stanford Business School. I was therefore not surprised that the book has the latest academic concepts, nor that there are many current examples drawn from high-tech and electronic commerce. What did surprise me is how relevant the concepts are to my own company and industry which is a manufacturing firm in a fairly old-fashioned industry, and how balanced the examples are between the "old economy" and "new economy".

This is definitely a thinking person's book. You can get a lot out of it by going through it once fairly superficially. But what I like is that I keep get more out of it when I go back to any chapter and read it more carefully. The authors have simplified but clearly a lot of thought has gone into each paragraph so that if you read it with care you pick up the nuances.

The book balances consideration of factors internal to the firm (with a very nice treatment of what the authors call "ARC" - architecture, routines, and culture) and external factors. There is also a good, practical treatment of how strategy should be done, written by people who obviously have seen the process at work.

Great Overview of Strategic Management
This is a very accessible introduction to strategic management. The book has very good coverage, is current, and has lots of examples to illustrate the concepts. Easily one of the best management books I have read in a while. It can be approached at multiple levels. You can browse through for the main concepts, but it also has lots to make you really think about if you want. You won't regret buying it! ... Read more

Book Description

Management of Strategy in the Marketplace is designed to compliment Global Corporate Management in the Marketplace: An Online Simulation in Business Strategy.The text providing the theory base for understanding the behind the activities of the simulation. It follows the structure of the simulation, organized around the life cycle of a new business. Because chapter theories and tools coordinate with the specific decisions that teams encounter during specific quarters of simulation play, the textbook assures players that they won?t stumble out the blocks once simulation play begins. ... Read more

Book Description

As an international speaker and consultant to virtually every business sector over his more than thirty-five years of research and development in technology-based instruction, Michael Allen now speaks out about his frustrations with e-learning and brings fundamental issues to light. He shares specific, commonsense guidelines that reliably produce effective and practical learning solutions. From his pioneering work on learning management systems, to authoring systems, and now on instructional design, experts and buyers alike follow his leadership and respect his opinion:

"Every subject area has its bible. This is it for e-learning. This is the how-to book for both instructional designers and executives responsible for corporate e-learning programs. Especially well done and unique to this book are the chapters on learner motivation and how effective instructional interactivities are created. The bottom line, from our experience working with Michael Allen and his team, is the methods and principles defined in this book work–and work well."
–Mike Groszko, Manager, DaimlerChrysler Quality Institute

"Michael Allen has done it all. He has designed and developed huge amounts of effective e-learning. He has built several very successful businesses providing programs to sophisticated clients. He has managed development. He personally led the creation of Authorware, the benchmark authoring system used throughout the world. He has lectured. He has written. He has taught. His opinions and perspective are sought by many. But mostly, he thinks. And the results of that thinking are to the benefit of us all. I am glad he wrote down what he thinks."
– Gloria Gery, Gery Associates ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Emphasizing the essentials
This book takes e-learning to its core mandate, that of engaging and involving the learners, so that they learn the key skills and knowledge required.

An excellent and easy read, with lots of good examples and non-examples, nicely compared side by side.

Must have for new designers
This book is a must have for the aspiring e-Learning developer. It reviews enough theory to make the point and directs the reader quickly through the logic and science of good e-Learning design.

This book directly applies to your work!
Dr. Allen is a champion of learner-centric design - and has written a refreshingly reader-centric book about the topic. He understands that learning is an "internal, personal, and ultimately individual act." His words reveal his passions and opinions in such an authentic manner that you can quickly understand his perspective, and extract points of meaning that can directly apply to your work. As a producer and designer of interactive media, I continually find his insights an inspiration.

Guidance from the Master
This book is subtitled, "Building Interactive, Fun and Effective Learning Programs for Any Company" and I think that says it all. I've spoken on the topic of where's the fun in eLearning and know that most of what I've seen is "deadly boring."

I have known Mike Allen since I worked for Authorware in the 1980's. One of the things I always regretted was not working in the MN office, as he, along with the rest of the Authorware team, conducted critiques of the work in progress being developed for customers. The few I did attend were always insightful and thought provoking. Along with being pretty scary if your work was on the agenda, because you might have to listen to bad along with good feedback. Mike Allen is a kind person, but not one to mince words when it comes to what makes up good and bad eLearning. I've also had the opportunity to attend several lectures by Mike on eLearning.

This book shares his insight on what makes good elearning, particularly from the viewpoints of motivation and interactivity. I am starting a new project with a lot of possible impact and reading his book has helped me immensely. Also, it contains several little history lessons on eLearning and Authorware that I really enjoyed. Lots of examples of good projects are discussed and included on a CD-ROM that unfortunately is not included in the book, but available for free from his website. If you are really interested in learning more on what makes good eLearning, I would definitely order it soon.

It's about time we had this book!
I have been involved in what is now called eLearning since 1976. I wrote Making CBT Happen in 1987 to help implement eLearning... so I am familiar with this field. Michael Allen has provided us with what we need to design and develop powerful and effective and engaging eLearning. Finally... a solid, experience-based book is available to us all. I read the book and loved the specific guidance on when to do what. Michael moves beyond the technology to its use. Specific design strategies are revealed... and "virtual" templates are provided. So many designers are just given authoring tools and goals... but no direction, creative support or stimulus for ideas. This book fills that void.

This will surely be the baseline resource for eLearning Design for at least the next five years! Thank you, Michael Allen! We needed this. ... Read more

Download Description

"Globalization is a fact. You can't stop it; it has already happened; it is here to stay. And we are moving into a new global stage.

A radically new world is taking shape from the ashes of yesterday's nation-based economic world. To succeed, you must act on the global stage, leveraging radically new drivers of economic power and growth. Legendary business strategist Kenichi Ohmae¿who in The Borderless World, published in 1990, predicted the rise and success of globalization, coining the very word¿synthesizes today's emerging trends into the first coherent view of tomorrow's global economy¿and its implications for politics, business, and personal success.

Ohmae explores the dynamics of the new ""region state,"" tomorrow's most potent economic institution, and demonstrates how China is rapidly becoming the exemplar of this new economic paradigm. The Next Global Stage offers a practical blueprint for businesses, governments, and individuals who intend to thrive in this new environment. Ohmae concludes with a detailed look at strategy in an era where it's tougher to define competitors, companies, and customers than ever before.

As important as Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations, as fascinating as Friedman's The Lexus and the Olive Tree, this book doesn't just explain what's already happened: It offers a roadmap for action in the world that's beginning to emerge.

• New economics for a borderless world: Why Keynes' and Milton Friedman's economics are history¿and what might replace them
• Leveraging today's most powerful platforms for growth: From Windows to English to your global brand
• Technology: driving business death¿and rebirth: Anticipating technological obsolescence¿and jumping ahead of it
• Government in the post-national era: What government can do when nation-states don't matter
• Leadership and strategy on the global stage: Honing your global vision and global leadership skills

Book Description

Praise for IT Portfolio Management step-by-step

"Bryan Maizlish and Robert Handler bring their deep experience in IT 'value realization' to one of the most absent of all IT management practices—portfolio management.They capture the essence of universally proven investment practices and apply them to the most difficult of challenges—returning high strategic and dollar payoffs from an enterprise's IT department. The reader will find many new and rewarding insights to making their IT investments finally return market leading results."
—John C. Reece, Chairman and CEO, John C. Reece & Associates, LLC Former deputy commissioner for modernization and CIO of the IRS

"IT Portfolio Management describes in great detail the critical aspects, know-how, practical examples, key insights, and best practices to improve operational efficiency, corporate agility, and business competitiveness. It eloquently illustrates the methods of building and integrating a portfolio of IT investments to ensure the realization of maximum value and benefit, and to fully leverage the value of all IT assets. Whether you are getting started or building on your initial success in IT portfolio management, this book will provide you information on how to build and implement an effective IT portfolio management strategy."
—David Mitchell, President and CEO, webMethods, Inc.

"I found IT Portfolio Management very easy to read, and it highlights many of the seminal aspects and best practices from financial portfolio management. It is an important book for executive, business, and IT managers."
—Michael J. Montgomery, President, Montgomery & Co.

"IT Portfolio Management details a comprehensive framework and process showing how to align business and IT for superior value. Maizlish and Handler have the depth of experience, knowledge, and insight needed to tackle the challenges and opportunities companies face in optimizing their IT investment portfolios. This is an exceptionally important book for executive leadership and IT business managers, especially those wanting to build a process-managed enterprise."
—Peter Fingar, Executive Partner Greystone Group, coauthor ofThe Real-Time Enterprise and Business Process Management (BPM): The Third Wave

"A must-read for the non-IT manager who needs to understand the complexity and challenges of managing an IT portfolio. The portfolio management techniques, analysis tools, and planning can be applied to any project or function."
—Richard "Max" Maksimoski, Senior Director R&D, The Scotts Company

"This book provides an excellent framework and real-world based approach for implementing IT portfolio management. It is a must-read for every CIO staff considering how to strategically and operationally impact their company's bottom line."
—Donavan R. Hardenbrook, New Product Development Professional, Intel Corporation ... Read more

Book Description

Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization, 5th edition provides the most modern, relevant, and complete presentation of strategic management today. Authors Michael A. Hitt, R. Duane Ireland, and Robert E. Hoskisson thoroughly revise each chapter, incorporating cutting-edge along with current examples, research and findings to accurately portray today's global business environment demonstrating how the strategic management process is being applied by modern organizations. The authors integrate the traditional industrial organizational model of strategic management with the more modern resource-based view of the firm to explain how firms build a sustained competitive advantage. ... Read more

Amazon.com

From the time our ancestors lived in caves to that day in the late '80s when Chrysler sanctioned unofficial "tech clubs" to promote the flow of information between teams working on different vehicle platforms, bands of like-minded individuals had been gathering in a wide variety of settings to recount their experiences and share their expertise. Few paid much attention until a number of possible benefits to business were identified, but many are watching more closely now that definitive links have been established. In Cultivating Communities of Practice, consultants Etienne C. Wenger, Richard McDermott, and William Snyder take the concept to another level by describing how these groups might be purposely developed as a key driver of organizational performance in the knowledge age. Building on a 1998 book by Wenger that framed the theory for an academic audience, Cultivating Communities of Practice targets practitioners with pragmatic advice based on the accumulating track records of firms such as the World Bank, Shell Oil, and McKinsey & Company. Starting with a detailed explanation of what these groups really are and why they can prove so useful in managing knowledge within an organization, the authors discuss development from initial design through subsequent evolution. They also address the potential "dark side"--arrogance, cliquishness, rigidity, and fragmentation among participants, for example--as well as measurement issues and the challenges inherent in initiating these groups company-wide. --Howard Rothman ... Read more

Reviews (10)

A community of practice == a virtual community ?
Wenger, McDermott and Snyder draw on the past to describe the usefulness of a community of practice. In the Stone Age knowledge was passed on to others while people gathered around a fire and discussed hunting strategies. A community of practice is a group of people who may be trying to solve a problem and who interact about a topic in order to deepen their knowledge. The aim is shared insight and information. The authors write that in the time of ancient Rome corporations of metalworkers, potters, masons and craftsmen formed communities with a combined business and social function. Moreover, in the Middle Ages artisans formed guilds as a way to share knowledge and experiences. Therefore, the authors argue that community as a basis for knowledge creation and management has a long historical tradition.

Wenger, McDermott and Snyder believe that knowledge management needs to become more systematic and deliberate. The authors believe in the collective nature of knowledge, which involves every person contributing their perspective of a problem. A Community of Practice (CoP) allows for the connection of isolated pockets of expertise across an organization. The CoP consists of a domain of knowledge, a community of people and the shared practice they are developing. The community environment allows for interactions, relationships, sharing of ideas and the opportunity to ask difficult questions. The purpose of the CoP is to create, expand and exchange knowledge. The authors believe that a large number of CoP members rarely participate. Instead they watch the interaction and learn from the discussions that occur, learning from them. The authors believe that the most valuable activities consist of informal discussions that occur between members to solve a particular problem. A case study given is that of Shell, which has created CoP's around particular technical topics.

Wenger, McDermott and Snyder go into detail over how a CoP functions. At the beginning it is important to find common ground between all the members of the community. Members need to find out if they share similar problems and passions with one another. The authors believe a variety of communities exist: help communities, best practice, innovation and knowledge stewarding communities. Usually a community coordinator is needed who identifies important issues and plans events. The author's method for assessing the performance of a community consists of asking the questions: What did the community do? What knowledge did they produce? And how were those applied to get results?

All the characteristics mentioned, although are only intended by the authors to represent a CoP, share similarities with a virtual community. In fact the authors believe that Internet technology such as asynchronous threaded discussions can be used for distributed communities of practice. In fact some CoP's have websites where members have their pictures and biographical information on the site. However, Wenger, McDermott and Snyder make no connection between a community of practice and a virtual community. In fact they don't mention the two being related in any way at all, despite the dynamics appearing to be very similar. At the end of the book this omission seems very obvious given the incredible growth of virtual community at eBay and Amazon.

Communities within large organizations
This is a very useful detailed assessment of the role of communities of practice as developers and stewards of knowledge and their interaction with the application of knowledge inside commercial organizations. (The book is written around business organizations, but its content applies very well to public sector organizations as well and will be useful to public sector knowledge managers.)

The authors' focus of attention is - explicitly - on communities within (almost by definition quite large) organizations, and how they can be cultivated as a key element in the organization's success. Although the authors acknowledge that communities of practice can and do cross organizational boundaries, their attention to this aspect is cursory. As a result a number of very important issues (for example the degree of openness permitted/encouraged where communities cross organizational boundaries, the challenge to professional loyalties, access by specialists who are isolates within their own organization to communities of practice across the nation or the world, the management of communities of practice across strategic alliances) do not get attention.

That is about my only criticism and is almost more in the nature of a plea for someone to provide equivalent coverage of that critically important and growing field of interest.

The book defines communities of practice (COP) in relation to other groupings (for example it makes a useful distinction from communities of interest, while acknowledging that the distinctions are 'fuzzy' - see the useful table on P. 42). It also identifies the key roles, key elements and principles affecting the successful operation of COPs and factors requiring attention over their life cycle. The authors also identify diseases of COPs and their causes, address the difficult issue of measuring and managing value creation through them and provides guidance on the role of the management structure of an organization in fostering and supporting COPs within it.

Interesting and Practical Guide for Organizational Leaders
The metaphor in this book's title says it all. Wenger, McDermott, and Snyder have written a practical guide aimed at helping you grow and develop semi-informal communities capable of having a life of their own. The model they put forward is fairly simple and easy to understand.

Communities of practice, according to the authors, have three essential focal points. The first is the "domain" which is essentially the topic area or subject that people gather around to discuss, learn, and improve. Next is the "community" which includes the people who want to learn, share, and engage one another. In the words of the authors, these communicating people are the "social fabric of learning." Finally you have the "practice" which is a specific set of frameworks, tools, information, language, stories and documents that the community shares and produces with one another. All communities of practice must address the domain, community, and practices if they are going to be successful and meaningful.

With this framework in mind, the authors go on to discuss how communities of practices move through five idfferent stages--from potenital to transformation--as they mature. The majority of the book discusses the opportunities and obstacles that we face when working with a community of practice throughout the five stages. Many key ideas emerge in these chapters. Stewrdship seems to be more important than management. We cannot expect communities of practice to only solve the problems we face (which they can), but we must also expect them to create problems of their own. Building connections and aiming to add value to each community member should be an early priority. These statements are just a small sample of the ideas discussed.

Finally, the book ends by discussing how you might measure the value added and how community-based knowledge initiatives can help an organization improve its overall learning and performance.

No doubt the addresses a "soft" topic. My reaction is that effectively stewarding a community of practice requires a fairly unique person who is able to work for the good of the group and has particularly strong networking and opportunity identification skills. That said, the authors do a superb job of helping us see exactly what skills are needed for growing our own community.

This is a highly practical and easy to read book. I read this cover-to-cover in a single day. The theory of communities of practice is largely limited to only essentials and most of the time is spent helping the reader see how communities operate. If you are looking for advice about how to form a learning or discourse community around a particular issue or topic at work, or if you are interested in forming a collegial group that shares and learns about a topic, then this book is for you. This book is very much about life long learning in a professional context. It presents the community of practice as a nice alternative to the formal team or ad hoc committee. In short, this is a users' guide for meaningful and productive knowledge management groups and learning communities.

An essential reading for the knowlege economy
This book, just published by "the three musketeers of Communities of Practice", is a practical guide to managing knowledge. What makes this book special is that it goes far beyond the simple explanation and advocacy for communities of practice, which we have all been reading about for the last five years. Through in-depth cases from firms such as DaimlerChrysler, McKinsey & Company, Shell, and the World Bank, the authors expand on many practical aspects one should have in mind when engaging in a community development: The "seven principles", the "five development steps" are presented in practical terms and with great details so that they can be used as a framework for all practitioners.

The approach to "cultivating" and nurturing communities, as opposed to "managing" them, is also explained so that managers will hopefully resist the urge to try and control them using mechanistic mental models. At last, the question of measuring value creation for organizations is addressed in convincing and, again, practical ways.

There is also some wisdom in this book. The "dark side" of communities of practice is also addressed. If unproperly managed, communities of practice can indeed create isolation, collusion, or tensions, which can be quite destructive for community members and sponsoring organizations.

This book is an essential reading for any leader in today's knowledge economy. It will undoubtedly remain as a reference for all of us practitioners who want to develop communities of practice for the benefit and long-term success of organizations and their employees.

Relevant, Insightful and Practical
This is a very interesting book in explaining how to initiate communities of practice, their lifecycle and their role in the sharing and development of knowledge. Over the last ten or twenty years there has been much written about new organizational structures and the emerging importance of developing and retaining knowledge within corporations. Wenger, McDermott and Snyder approach this topic from a social perspective and apply some standard community building concepts to "communities of practice". This contrasts much of the popular thinking on these topics that tend to overemphasize the role of technology in helping to build communities or address knowledge management issues.

Cultivating Communities of Practice is and excellent handbook for anyone involved in the setup, participation or stewardship of "communities of practice" within a corporation. I would though suggest that the emphasis is on "corporation", which in some cases implies individuals having some predetermined alignment (presumably with the interests of the corporation). There is some very good discussion at the end of the book covering communities of practice outside of the corporation with and some review of supply chains and 3rd sector examples, although very limited coverage. It was noted that the focus has been on corporations as this is where there are solid examples of these practices. Hopefully a future book will address this area in more depth.

This book is identified as "A Guide to Managing Knowledge", and it does fit this description well. If you still believe that technology can be the primary component of a knowledge management strategy, then you need this book to better understand the nature of knowledge management in terms of communities of practice. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The McKinsey Way, by former McKinsey & Company associate Ethan M. Rasiel, provides a through-the-keyhole perspective on the way this worldwide consulting institution approaches--and solves--the myriad professional problems encountered by its high-powered clientele. His goal, Rasiel writes, is simple: to communicate "new and useful skills to everyone who wants to be more useful in their business." He then does so by explaining the highly structured, fact-based proprietary methodology that McKinseyites are taught to employ with their Fortune 100 clients, complete with details on the entire process from first considering the basic situation at hand through finally selling a solution to the appropriate powers that be.

All of the critical steps (assembling a team, managing a hierarchy, doing research, conducting interviews, brainstorming) are broken down into specific actions and fleshed out with applicable examples that Rasiel has gathered through interviews with dozens of other former McKinsey employees. The concluding sections on surviving the mythically grueling pace at the organization, known simply to insiders as "the Firm," are designed to help readers successfully tackle the similar challenges and obstacles they regularly face in their own work environments. --Howard Rothman ... Read more

Reviews (73)

Straight & Simple
In this book, the writer puts you through a McKinsey Boot-camp and shows what it means to be fact-based, structured, and hypothesis-driven. However, dont expect this book to provide anything extraordinary from any other management consultant's methods and perspectives just because its got the McKinsey name on it. Perhaps what the writer is trying to convey is exactly that -- a successful consultant is not just someone with the knowledge but the ability to share that knowledge in the most simplest form in assisting to solve clients' problems.

The basic techniques shared is well-written and can be effective if well implemented. It provide managers and business owners some guidance on techniques of handling problems and tough strategic issues for those who cant afford the real McKinsey.

The intro states: "Think of this book as a sampler...read whatever items interest you" Well, that's exactly what it is -- straight and simple!

The McKinsey Way
The main idea in the book was to provide readers with skills and techniques that McKinsey successfully uses. Alongside that, the author provides some insight into the firm and the responsibilities of the employees.

This is a very useful source of helpful information to find out about the way McKinsey works to solve problems that are obstacles to a successful business. Accommodating tips are provided to help identify a problem, communicate with team members and jump-start research on a problem-solving project. Other great guidelines, such as ideas for brainstorming, effective messaging and structured presentations are included.

The author writes about his own and others' experiences while working for this competitive business consulting firm. Its employees are trained to aim for perfection, sacrifice long hours of overtime while giving their best at the job. Sharp analytical ability is essential in being a part of the team. The aptitude to break problems down and come up with solutions using various techniques discussed in this book are definitely helpful tools in leading a successful business.

McKinsey Lite...very Lite
Possibly a good book for someone fresh out of school, with little management experience or someone just assigned their first consulting type project. Any moderately experienced manager will not likely learn much from this book. Do we really need a list of things to pack for a business trip. Best quote, " Remember that the interviewee (client) probably knows a lot more about her business than you (consultant) do..." p.84 and almost the same statement on p.80.

Work Hard & Get organised is the message!
This book has some wonderful ideas and concepts.One should read the book if he/she wants to know about any of the following:

*Elevator Test

*Waterfall Model

*How to make a successful presentation?

*Do you want a McKinsey Life,Approach?

*McKinsey recruiting style(more personal experience in this book,if you want a better one try vault.com)

*How to maintain sanity while travelling on business assignments?

*How to organise yourself better in the 24 hrs of a day?

*What is the importance of simplicity in presentations?

*How to handle people in a team if you are a team leader/working for a client/if you are part of a team?(Mind it concepts discusssed range from arm-twisting,politics,factionalism,corporate kicks and jabs,carrot and stick theory etc etc.)

*Mentoring and its usefulness.

*How to survive at McKinsey if you plan to be in there and kicking after the first couple of years?

****This book is not about management consultancy and Ethan Rasiel is not trying to teach it in this book.He talks about the way things are at McKinsey and how somebody can adapt to it/use those principles in his working life.*******

########This book is about life in the topmost management consultancy firm of the world and is the ultimate insider to an employee's life in it#########

nothing you couldn't guess
this book was a complete disappointment. it claims to educate business professionals about The McKinsey Way of solving problems. Apparently this amounts to gathering data before proposing a solution and other obvious sentiments. I'm sure McKinsey is a great company, but there are better examples of strategic thinking than those found here. ... Read more

Book Description

Ken Blanchard, coauthor of the business classic The One Minute Manager, has teamed up with Jesse Stoner, a leader in the field of vision and strategy, to show how anyone can create a compelling vision for their organization and for their own life. They show where vision comes from, how it unleashes great power and energy, and how it provides ongoing focus and direction.

They explain how to create the three key elements of a compelling vision: significant purpose, clear values, and a picture of the future. They demonstrate how to engage people in shaping meaningful visions and putting those visions to work in their organizations and their lives. And they describe how to ensure that the vision stays alive through understanding three principles: how it is created, how it is communicated, and how it is lived.

The elements of vision are presented in a beautifully written and engaging story about two people who are struggling to create visions-both for the company where they work and for their own lives. Blanchard and Stoner offer numerous examples of effective visions and explore precisely why these visions work.

The lessons are remarkably easy to understand and apply. According to visionary leadership expert Warren Bennis, Blanchard and Stoner have given "meaning and life to vision. Even Dilbert will get it!" Readers will learn how to crystallize a vision that resonates with their own hopes and dreams and allows them to go full steam ahead! ... Read more

Reviews (21)

Going Full Steam Ahead!
Everyone should read this book, whether you're in business or not. The principles could be used in your personal life as well as your professional life. The co-authors, Ken Blanchard and Jesse Stoner show how to create a vision for your work and for your own life. They clearly explain the three components of a vision so that you understand how to apply them to your own situation. The story is beautifully written and the book is hard to put down. I guarantee you'll be thinking about this book for a long time after you finish it. And you might want to read it a second time! When I finished it, I gave it to my wife. She loved it too!

Subject comes alive, thanks to the authors
A book about vision ordinarily wouldn't be the first thing I'd pick
up to read . . . yet I'm glad I made an exception for FULL STEAM
AHEAD!, an engaging story by Ken
Blanchard and Jesse Stoner about two people struggling to
find direction for the company where they work and for their
own lives.

Blanchard's THE ONE MINUTE MANAGER, written along
with Spencer Johnson, has always been one of my favorite
business books . . . this one follows that format; i.e, present
a tale with believable characters and have them ponder
something important . . . when they do so, then let the reader
discover a number of important principles that will help him or
her grow as an employee or employer . . . and human being.

By reading FULL STEAM AHEAD!, you'll learn the three
elements of a compelling vision: significant purpose, clear values
and a picture of the future . . . perhaps more importantly, you'll
also discover how to ensure that the vision comes alive through

understanding the principles of how it is created, how it
is communicated and how it is lived.

My only regret is that I did not learn the above earlier in my life!

Several of the book's passages stood out for me, including these:
* "If I had been clear about my vision of if Doug and I had shared a
vision, we could have talked about what we were doing that was
consistent with our vision and where we were off track. Maybe we
could have fixed things early on before they became irreparable."

* I continued. "I grew up in Michigan, so I'm very aware of the
automotive industry. I was impressed with their rallying call
'Quality is job one.' To most people this sounds like they're saying,
'Quality is the most important job.' And they are. But it's also a
message that conveys deeper meaning. Most people don't know
this, but job one is the term for the prototype of each model-the
first car off the assembly line. This car has to be perfect because
it is the standard against which all of the other cars are built. When
workers at Ford Motors first heard 'Quality is job one,' what they
really heard was that every car they produced had to be perfect, held
to the standard of the first job-the first car off the assembly line.
They had a clear picture of what quality looks like. The rallying call
also told them that they are going to seriously compete with the
Japanese market in the area of quality. There was a lot of meaning
attached to their rallying call, and it connected them to a shared vision.
That was the year that the Ford Taurus overtook the Honda Accord as
the best-selling car in that class."

* We agreed that a rallying call is a great way to encapsulate the messages
of a shared vision. We thought of examples where the rallying call of a
company was a true expression of their vision, such as Ritz-Carlton's
"We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen" and
Disney's "to keep the same smiles on people's faces when they leave
the park that they had when they entered six, eight, or twelve hours
earlier," and Steve Job's vision to make computers accessible and
affordable for everyone by creating a world with "a computer on every
desk."

Highest Praise for Full Steam Ahead!
When do you need vision? During times of growth, change or opportunity--and during times of uncertainty. According to Blanchard and Stoner, vision means know who you are, where you're going, and what will guide your journey. They show you how to create a vision for your work and your life that will unleash your power and potential and allow you to go Full Steam Ahead! They offer many examples of effective visions and show how to create one that will guide you. The authors share suprisingly simple, practical and powerful lessons and demonstrate how to use the power of vision to get focused, get energized and get great results; how to create a vision that touches the hearts and spirits of everyone involved; and how to create a vision for your own life that provides meaning and direction. Most importantly, they show that vision is not only necessary, but also how each of us can create one.

Vision is Power!
Blanchard and Stoner has presented a really readable book on such a broad topic as vision building. Blanchard's parable format has served him well throughout all his business and leadership books from One Minute Manager to Raving Fans and Whale Done! and it still continues to amaze with its simplicity and ability to convey powerful messages that connects with the readers.

The journey taken by Ellie and Jim in using and applying their skills in vision building in their career and family life is both inspiring and instructional. Their definition of purpose, values and visualisation of the future are clear and simple to apply (not easy tasks but definitely simple).

The lessons here can be learnt and applied in a great variety of situations and more importantly, they can be taught after they are acquired. Anyone or any organisation seeking to move from where they are NOW to where they want to be in the future will benefit greatly from this short but powerful book.

Take care of you

Highest Praise for Full Steam Ahead!
I read this book in one day having been totally absorbed in the journey that Jim Carpenter and Ellie embarked on to discover a mission statement for the insurance agency. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and liked the style of writing that made me feel as though I was overhearing someone's conversation. The most poignant part of this book was a telephone message by Jim that said, " ...if you think your self-worth is a function of your performance plus the opinion of others, then you're caught in a trap that leaves your self-esteem up for grabs every single day. But if you're playing to a higher audience or higher set of values, that's a different thing. Now you can do what is right because you know it's the right thing to do, instead of being driven by other people's opinions of you. It's what allows you to act with integrity." Another key point which stuck me from Full Steam Ahead is that it's vital to be in the present, to start living your vision once it becomes conscious, acting on what you know. I found this book extremely helpful not only on a professional level but also on a personal level. ... Read more

Book Description

The goal of Strategic Entrepreneurial Growth is to transform the strategic process for entrepreneurs into a growth-oriented approach.The chapters are brief and to the point and include a comprehensive case and relevant journal article. The text explores strategic management process as it relates to building the entrepreneurial firm, planning, growth, and important current and future implications for entrepreneurship. ... Read more

Book Description

"Unquestionably the most comprehensive treatment available on the subject. I found this book unique in its capacity to benefit executives, planning staff, and students of strategy alike."–– RobertL.Joss, Dean ofthe Graduate School ofBusiness, Stanford University

A successful business strategy enables managers to provide organizational vision, monitor and understand a dynamic business environment, generate creative strategic options in response to environmental changes, and base every business effort on sustainable competitive advantages. Developing Business Strategies provides the knowledge and understanding needed to generate and implement such a strategy.

This fully revised and updated edition of David Aaker’s highly influential strategic manual offers copious new information on important emerging business topics. Numerous new and revised sections cover such critical areas as the big idea, knowledge management, the customer as an active partner, creative thinking, distinguishing fads from trends, forecasting technologies, alliances, design as strategy, downstream business models, and more. Other important new features of this comprehensive guide include:

• A new chapter on strategic positioning
• Many new illustrative examples from B-to-B, high-tech, and the Internet
• Increased focus on global leadership and global brand management
• Using the Internet to develop and support business strategies

For managers who need to develop and implement effective, responsive business strategies that keep the organization competitive through changing business conditions, Developing Business Strategies, Sixth Edition is the way to go. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Excellent reading
This book is one of the best for strategy framework and methodology formulation. It is also very useful for case interviews. I believe that every management consultant and related professionals should own a copy, and hope that it would be incorporated into the MBA curriculum of the top B-Schools for strategic management.

Classic and comprehensive guide to strategic planning
Unless you know where your company is going, chances are it won't get very far in today's global marketplace. That's why every business needs the strong vision and keen sense of direction that come from the development, evaluation, and implementation of business strategies-and why every business owner or manager should have Developing Business Strategies, David A. Aaker's classic and comprehensive guide to strategic planning, now in its fifth edition.

Using vivid case studies, Developing Business Strategies helps you to move beyond reactive problem solving toward the development and realization of sound strategic objectives for your company. Providing both the framework and the tools necessary to make strategy development and strategy review efforts effective, this book shows you how to:

* Conduct a structured external and internal analysis of a business with confidence * Develop sustainable competitive advantages by creating assets, competencies, and strategies * Make strategic investment decisions to generate growth * Organize to support strategies * Compete strategically in hostile, growth, and global contexts.

As compact and easy to use as ever, this new Fifth Edition offers new or revised sections on current topics such as strategic uncertainty, buyer hot buttons, shifting customer priorities, strategy as options, paradigm shifts, organizational stubbornness, and brand equity. You'll also find up-to-date research and fresh examples on economic value analysis, competitor image, total quality management, reengineering, the virtual corporation, and more-plus a set of useful sample planning forms to help guide you through the strategy development process.

Whether you're a business owner, manager, or planning executive, the key to your company's success is in Developing Business Strategies.

David A. Aaker is the E. T. Grether Professor of Marketing Strategy at the Haas School of Business Administration at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of numerous articles and ten books on strategy, including Marketing Research, Fifth Edition (Wiley) and Managing Brand Equity. His books have been translated into eight languages. Professor Aaker is an active consultant and speaker in the United States, Europe and South America.

Reviewed by Azlan Adnan. Formerly Business Development Manager with KPMG, Azlan is currently Managing Partner of Azlan & Koh Knowledge and Professional Management Group, an education and management consulting practice based in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysian Borneo. He holds a Master's degree in International Business and Management from the Westminster Business School in London.

THIS BOOK MADE ME THE BEST BRAND MANAGER IN THE COMPANY
AFTER READING THIS AND SOME OTHER BOOKS FROM THE PROFESSOR DAVID A. AAKER, I'VE BECOME BETTER AT DOING MY MARKETING JOB.

One of the most well written books addressing strategy.
David Aaker's writing style, in addition to the content, is exceptional. I feel as if I am in one of his UC classes. This is the closest I will get to that. I live in Chicago!! ... Read more

Book Description

STRATEGY: Winning in the Marketplace is the newest offering from proven authors Thompson, Gamble, and Strickland.As in previous works, the authors' mainstream presentation includes the most recent research in strategy presented in a way that students can understand and apply to business cases and problems.With fewer chapters and pages and shorter cases than previous texts by these authors, this new first edition offers a more concise, lively, and user-friendly presentation of strategic management.Fundamental strengths of Thompson/Gamble/Strickland text treatments are very much evident in this first edition-a compelling presentation of Porter's Five-Forces model and globally competitive markets and first-rate coverage of strategy execution and the drive for operating excellence.Another hallmark of this new product is the package of Thompson/Gamble/Strickland cases and related teaching notes.Over the years, this author team has developed a great network of case authors and is able to select from the cream of the crop. Having written scores of cases themselves and having a combined experience of 70 years teaching this particular course, they are very skilled in selecting the types of cases that will spark student interest and generate lively classroom discussions. Many of the cases reflect high profile industries, companies, products, and people that students will have heard of, know about from personal experience, or can easily identify with. The new case line-up features an exciting collection of the latest and best cases flush with valuable teaching points and lessons for students. ... Read more

Amazon.com

To paraphrase the Rolling Stones, you might not always get what you want from this short 'n' sweet little guidebook on strategic thinking andplanning, but you just might get what you need. That would include concise andhandy visual and verbal tips on gathering and analyzing key information, settingshort- and long-term objectives, developing your team leadership skills,predicting future trends, and maintaining a flexible approach throughout. Italso covers the essential tools of strategic management, from SWOT (strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats) analysis and feasibility studies tobudgeting forecasts and contingency plans. Granted, if you're looking forspecific or in-depth guidance--say, how to do strategic thinking in a particularfield, like biotechnology, or a particular division, like human resources--youmay find this book too cursory and general in its approach. But if you'relooking for a thumbnail guide to the basic steps of strategic planning, bothindividually and in a group setting, this may do you just fine.

It's worthmentioning that the book is also part of reference publisher DorlingKindersley's Essential Managers series--20 itty-bitty li'l books on business andcareer topics ranging from communication, leadership, and decision making to themanagement of time, budgets, change, meetings, people, projects, and teams.Combining the For Dummies book series's talent for breaking down a lot ofinformation into bite-size bits and sidebars with Dorling Kindersley's signaturedesign style of crisp, classy graphics on a gleaming white backdrop, they don'trepresent the cutting edge of business thinking and they don't necessarilyreflect any unique individual perspective. Instead, it's as though someonecollated the best general thinking on these 20 topics and rolled them out into72 brightly designed and easy-to-read pages, studded along the way with boxedtips, color shots of a multiracial cast of "coworkers" animatedly hashingthrough the workplace issues of the day, and a self-test of one's skills in thetopic at hand on the last few pages of each volume. Again, they're not for anyone looking for more in-depth or focused help on any of the subjects theycover, but they're perfect as a quickie general-interest reference... and let'sface it, they're so cute and look so smart in a neat little stack or row thatyou'll probably want to buy a whole bunch to give to your entire staff ordepartment. --Timothy Murphy ... Read more

Reviews (1)

I wish I had this book when I was a young corporate rat.
I bought this book actually out of curiosity. It was pocket-size, and also visually very appealing. After perusing it, I have this feeling that this book is more intended for very young executives and/or new supervisors.

In terms of basic steps, the book is just fine. In a nutshell, there are some two dozen of "strategic thinking" topics, which have been artfully rolled into the 72 brightly designed and easy-to-read pages, studded along the way with colurful boxed tips, 101