by
Theodore B. Kinni
by Barry Sheehy, Hyler Bracey and Rick Frazier
"Customer value" and "value-added" are perennial quality terms. Their definitions, however, change constantly. Today, the criteria of value is shifting in response to a variety of environmental conditions that authors Sheehy, Bracey and Frazier attempt to identify in Winning the Race for Value.
Among these shifts are several now-familiar themes: the move from national to global markets, from fixed sales locations to sales wherever the customers are, from labor-added value to knowledge-added value, and from a focus on product-driven economy to consumer-driven economy. Compounding these trends are phenomena such as the disintermediation of traditional distribution (and other value) chains and ever-increasing integration.
Staying on top of these changes and anticipating the ensuing shifts in value requires a grab bag of analysis tools, according to the authors. They recommend tracking industry growth, market valuation and the activity at the margins of your industry in order to create an up-to-date "radar scan" of environmental developments.
One jarring aspect of the book is the authors' promotion of their company's trademarked Value Landscaping tool. They spend some time discussing its benefits but don't explain its structure nor tie it to the text in any significant way.
Winning the Race for Value (AMACOM Books, $24.95) is not the first to explore the concept of value shifts and strategies to manage them (last year's Value Migration by Slywotzky may prove to be the seminal book on the topic). Yet, as a survey of existing ideas, this book does add a new breadth to the literature of value.
edited by Christine Avery and Diane Zabel
Having a tough time digging up all of the quality resources that you need? This sourcebook of quality-related information answers that need with enough material to keep the average practitioner busy for years.
This expensive hardcover offers myriad book and article references, organized in applications by SIC code and topics like teams, customers, leadership and ISO 9000. Also included are lists of book publishers, periodicals and information databases with search suggestions. The editors even compiled lists of video and software products, executive development programs, consultants and quality associations.
Billed as an "international guide to materials and resources," this book doesn't always live up to its promise. The international component is less than comprehensive&emdash;a vast majority of the reference entries are U.S.-based, and the only other country with any depth of coverage is England. Also, there are some notable gaps in the article and book reference base. For example, some seminal books, such as Self-Directed Work Teams (Irwin, 1990), are missing.
The Quality Management Sourcebook (Routledge, $99.95) collects a good deal of material into a one-stop source, and it contains some listings, such as the video sources, executive development programs and consultant contact info, that we haven't seen in other collections. However, its ultimate value as a reference will depend on the needs of the individual purchaser.
by Margaret J. Wheatley and Myron Kellner-Rogers
What would happen to a business if management stopped planning, cut out forecasting and tore up their organizational chart? What would happen if managers encouraged "tinkering" or simply left employee groups alone to achieve goals in any way they saw fit? If business systems operate in the same way nature does, say these authors, we might actually get a more efficient, agile and profitable company.
In this sequel to Wheatley's well-received Leadership and the New Science, she and associate Kellner-Rogers continue to try to relate the cutting edge of scientific thought to the world of business. The Zen-like result is fundamentally radical and, for those readers with a practical bent, sure to be frustrating.
The "new science" suggests that change is the natural and constant state of the world, real solutions arise from the most chaotic forms of trial and error, and no one solution will ever remain effective. It also suggests that opportunity is in infinite supply, systems move toward order and preserve their identity naturally, and everything is connected. The conclusions that could be drawn from this thinking are wide-ranging. For example: Perhaps, because our natural inclination is toward order, we don't need management at all, and maybe, the more structured and less disorderly we become, the less effective we are.
Wheatley and Kellner-Rogers wander far beyond the edge of existing business theory in A Simpler Way (Berrett-Koehler, $27.95). It's a place with no proven methodologies or case studies, just more questions. Read this book with deliberation, discuss it with your colleagues, and look for the value in the ideas it stimulates.
This pithy, fast-reading collection of business-wise sound bytes gathers "165 guiding principles from the world's sharpest minds." The tips are organized into eight categories: career, productivity, interpersonal skills, presentation, business etiquette, ethics, leadership and work/life issues.
A look at process development in high-tech, particularly pharmaceutical, industries, this book examines the impact of process design on product profitability. Pisano explains how process competence yields faster time-to-market cycles and production ramp-up, increased customer acceptance and stronger competitive position.
The fifth book in the "Knock Your Socks Off" series follows the easy-to-read format of the previous books. Although it aims specifically at customer service leaders, this practical look at coaching applies to all managers.
James examines the CEOs of high-profile, high-tech companies (the Electronic Elite) to derive 34 "winning management strategies." Nothing overly surprising here, but there is plenty of good, solid advice in an entertaining format.
Supervisors and managers with team leadership responsibilities can use this book as a working handbook to the basic concepts of team formation and development, and their role as team facilitators. Truell covers team member selection, orientation and training, communication and coaching skills, and team productivity.
The authors lay out TQM implementation for governmental practitioners. Chapters on customer focus, management by fact, continuous improvement, teams, performance management and leadership introduce the reader to the basics of total quality.