booknotes

by Theodore B. Kinni


How to Achieve ISO 9000 Registration
Economically and Efficiently
by Gurmeet Naroola and
Robert Mac Connell

Just when you thought there couldn't be anything new to say about ISO 9000, along comes a book that puts a useful spin on the registration process. In this case, the authors apply two cycles, the TAP cycle and the Deming cycle, to registration efforts and create a new methodology.

Mac Connell and Naroola use the TAP (Train-Analyze-Plan) cycle as the driving force in preparation steps. The implementation is driven by Deming's cycle (Plan-Do-Study-Act). Together, they add up to a good road map. The complete cycle combines at the plan stage and reads: Train-Analyze-Plan-Do-Study-Act.

Several chapters cover the usual, basic ISO 9000 information. Included are clear explanations of the registrar system, the standards and the registration process.

The reader is led through this implementation cycle step by step. About half of the book is devoted to a practical, hands-on explanation of the implementation process. A chapter labeled "Jump Start" concisely summarizes the initial steps toward registration, and the following chapters offer greater detail.

How to Achieve ISO 9000 Registration Economically and Efficiently (Marcel Dekker, $45) lives up to its name in every instance except one-its cover price.


Goldratt's Theory of Constraints
by H. William Dettmer

Anyone who has read Eliyahu Goldratt's business novels The Goal and It's Not Luck (and that includes hundreds of thousands of managers) already knows that a novel is a great way to teach a business lesson. But they also know that as a working reference to Goldratt's tools and techniques, these novels were mostly useless. Now, into that breach steps William Dettmer with this encyclopedic textbook of Goldratt's ideas.

Dettmer starts with the ideas Goldratt wrote about in The Goal. He introduces the theory of constraints and clearly explains the idea of the "weakest link." He describes the five steps in the elimination of process constraints and defines the concepts critical to Goldratt's thinking.

With the "easy" stuff out of the way, the author jumps without any sign of reservation into the deeper water of the five "logic trees" Goldratt uses to apply the theory of constraints. Dettmer offers the first clear, working explanations of current reality trees, conflict resolution diagrams, future reality trees, prerequisite trees and transition trees available in print. He also explains their connection into a system of management action.

The basis for Goldratt's logic is also explored. Dettmer includes eight proofs, or tests, of the conclusions developed using the logic trees.

If you've ever wanted to put Goldratt's thinking to work and wondered how exactly to get started, Goldratt's Theory of Constraints (ASQC Quality Press, $40) is the answer. The only unanswered question here is: Why did it take so long to get this book on the shelf?


Aiming Higher
by David Bollier

Aiming Higher is a perfect antidote for those who think that a corporate commitment to social responsibility is simply a sentence on a mission statement. Here are the stories of 25 companies that actually practice, and profit by, what they preach.

Each story was collected under the auspices of the Business Enterprise Trust, a nonprofit organization that each year recognizes five companies or individuals who do "good" business.

These case studies are organized into six main areas of social concern: responsibility through product innovation, a commitment to inner cities, workplace diversity, employee development, corporate citizenship and individual achievement. They add up to a truly inspirational example for other businesses to follow.

The stories make easy and interesting reading. Total quality rightly extends far beyond defect-free products, and in Aiming Higher (AMACOM, $24.95), we get a compelling picture of that wider definition.


The Basics of Process Mapping
by Robert Damelio

In this era of mammoth-sized business books, Quality Resources' slim and concise "Basics of ..." books are a happy exception for eye-weary readers. This volume is a fine addition to the line-it covers its subject quickly and completely, leaving the reader with a working knowledge and a ready reference.

Why bother to map business processes? Damelio explains, "Maps and flowcharts help make work visible." In addition, mapping identifies how work can best be organized, clarifies the roles and responsibilities of process workers and serves as a key indicator of critical process measures and possible improvements.

The author offers three mapping tools: cross-functional process maps, relationship maps and flowcharts. Flowcharts, the most common form of process mapping, receive the least attention. Damelio simply defines the common symbols and explains how they create a coherent map.

Relationship and cross-functional process maps are less familiar and receive greater attention. Relationship maps detail the "customer/supplier" flow at work in a process, and cross-functional maps identify the functional handoffs within a process. Again, Damelio describes the components and construction of each map. Short chapters on the process of process mapping and specific applications for each tool round out the book.

The Basics of Process Mapping (Quality Resources, $7.95) leaves the reader with three useful tools and few questions. It is neither too long nor too short, it is just right ... and at $7.95, a real bargain on the business bookshelf.

booknotes

Understanding and Applying
Value-Added Assessment
by William Trischler
(ASQC Quality Press, 127 pages, $27)

This oversized paperback offers a generic process for eliminating business process waste. The author's nonvalue-added dictionary, which ranges from "adjusts" to "waits for," targets 35 actions that should be ruthlessly eliminated from every business.


On Teams
by Ron Archer
(Irwin, 156 pages, $19.95)

Archer doesn't break much new ground, but he does turn in an enthusiastic and highly motivational presentation on the basics of team building. The slim volume includes two case studies and a short selection of team training activities.


Total Quality and Organization Development
by William Lindsay and Joseph Petrick
(St. Lucie Press, 390 pages, $39.95)

This textbook applies the principles of quality management to the discipline of organization development. The result is a useful mesh of academic theory supported by case studies, review and discussion questions, and copious references.


Supply Chain Optimization
by Charles Poirier and Stephen Reiter
(Berrett-Koehler, 300 pages, $32.95)

The authors offer a four-step "interenterprise solution" to supply chain management that adds suppliers to the typical manufacturer-distributor-retailer flow and depends on a demand-based just-in-time thinking. Chapters on the role of information technology, advanced partnerships and small-business supply consortiums add to the presentation.


The Courageous Messenger
by Kathleen Ryan, Daniel Oestreich
and George Orr III
(Jossey-Bass, 269 pages, $25)

Subtitled How to Successfully Speak Up at Work, this is a much-needed handbook to open communication on the job. Aimed at individual employees, the authors use personal exercises and tools to teach the reader how to communicate even the most difficult news sensibly and effectively.


Transforming the Bottom Line
by Tony Hope and Jeremy Hope
(Harvard Business School Press,
232 pages, $27.50)

The authors combine a value-based measurement system they call a "horizontal information system" with seven "transformation imperatives" to improve operational performance. They recommend a grab bag of advice, including cutting waste, adopting teams and reducing costs.