Reviews (47)

Are you adding or destroying value ? - Find it out with The Balanced Score Card
The financial performance of an organization is essential for its success. Even non-profit organizations must deal in a sensible way with funds they receive.
Aligning four key business areas to your vision and strategy
This book has become a classic in the field of business management.The 'balanced scorecard' has surely been referenced enough to include it in the dictionary.Robert Kaplan is the Arthur Lowes Dickson Professor of Accounting at Harvard Business School.His co-author David Norton is the president of Renaissance Solutions, Inc.
Effective for top down planning
The balanced scorecard approach is a very effective tool for top-down planning initiatives. The method will ensure that any business unit initiative is cross-checked with the broader corporate goals.The book provides an easy-to-understand yet detailed how-to guide to strategy planning.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Corporate Planning    5. Entrepreneurship    6. Evaluation    7. Industrial Management    8. Industrial productivity    9. Management - General    10. Measurement    11. Organizational effectiveness    12. Strategic Planning    13. Budgeting & financial management    14. Business strategy   

Reviews (6)

CAN'T BEAT THIS FOR THE PRICE
I recently purchased the Lean Pocket Guide (published by MCS Media, Inc. i.e., The Lean Store) and found it to be the most book for your money that is on the market.This book set the standard for good, informative information on Lean.The illustrations and explanations were perfect for the folks on the shop floor, as well as my supervisors.
What you need on the shop floor:-)
Hello, this little booklet is excellent. You get all information on lean concepts in your palm and right where you need it -not at your desk- but on the shop floor.
OUTSTANDING!
The Lean Pocket Guide isundoubtedly the best value Lean book ever written.All the Lean tools are clearly defined, along with good, simple illustrations.The Key Points at the end of each section provide additional insight into Lean applications.All our employees have one of these.It was very rewarding to see - on the day following giving these to our employees (there was an employee that did not particpate very often in our teams) having The Lean Pocket Guide opened on his bench to the Standard Work chapter.I need say no more! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics / Industrial Management    2. Business & Economics / Industries / Manufacturing Industries    3. Business & Economics / Reference    4. Business / Economics / Finance    5. Environmental Engineering & Technology    6. Management - General    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Technology    9. Business & Economics    10. Costs, Industrial    11. Handbooks, manuals, etc    12. Industrial Management    13. Industrial productivity    14. Industries - Manufacturing Industries    15. Production management    16. Production scheduling    17. Reference   

Reviews (33)

A Classic on Quality

No Title
Deming's 14 points are able to take any company and make them into an efficient organization that can endure any type of problem.This book is great because it can apply to large manufacturing companies or it can apply to small independently owned buisnesses.Deming teaches managers to stop looking at the individual numbers from day to day, and start looking at the numbers in the future.One of the best aspects of the book that I enjoyed was the how Deming believes workers should be treated.He believes that taking the fear out of the workplace will actually make the employees have pride in their workmanship and this will in turn increase production.This is a great book for any manager from large or small company

Tal .N.
Published in 1986, Dr. Deming "Out of the Crisis" seems to form the basis for the transformation needed in American management mentality. Two main subjects are discussed in the book. The first is the exposure of problems and pitfalls in top management operations, the second, relates suggestions and solutions that can solve and transform the way American management operates. 14 core points are suggested by Dr. Deming to address problems in management and are supported by many examples using different scientific methods.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Entrepreneurship    5. Industrial management    6. Industrial productivity    7. Industries - General    8. Management - General    9. Productivity (Industrial Economics)    10. Quality (Management)    11. Quality of products    12. Reference - General    13. Total Quality Management    14. United States    15. Business & Economics / Management    16. Management & management techniques   

Reviews (14)

Classic
This book will survive the trends, since most of the trends are based on the principles in this book.The names will change (Quality Circles, Just In Time, TQM, Re-engineering, Six Sigma, ...), but these principles and how well they are implemented will determine a companies' efficiency and quality.

Simply the best of "Best Practices" - Invaluable
As a business process and systems analyst, I have used the techniques in this book extensively to document existing and proposed processes and systems.
Best companion for process improvement
This is by far the first book that dealt with process improvement and change from all angles.This book provides examples that will help the novice in preparing and implementing change.Packed with examples and worksheets to guide the reader thru the whole process.However, since it was written in 1995, this book does not cover prevailing technologies but is still useful in understanding the foundations for change.If you are looking to implement business process change/improvement, read this book in conjunction with a more recent book by Paul Harmon "Business Process Change" who happens to be a student of Mr. Rummler.Paul Harmon's book cover such topics as CMM and Six Sigma when implementing process change. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Entrepreneurship    3. Industrial productivity    4. Leadership    5. Management - General    6. Organization Development    7. Organizational effectiveness    8. Performance    9. Personal & Practical Guides    10. Reference    11. Business & Economics / Human Resources & Personnel Management    12. Organizational theory & behaviour   

Reviews (2)

Amazing Lori
Her work is so relevant, you really get the sense not only of issues, but how people are addressing.Practical and on point.

Stories are the Reflection of Good Work
CEOs, supervisors, hospital administrators and educators should have well-worn copies of this book on their desks.Aside from the financial advantages of content customers and satisfied employees, this book connects us through our shared humanity - our stories.As a grant writer and public speaker, I know the contest between data and human stories.I loved this book! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Communication in organizations    5. Industrial productivity    6. Management - General    7. Motivational    8. Organizational Behavior    9. Storytelling    10. Business & Economics / Management    11. Business strategy   

Reviews (4)

Deming - The New Economics
In this book W. Edwards Deming details the system of transformation that underlies the 14 Points for Management presented in Out of the Crisis. The system of profound knowledge, as it is called, consists of four parts: appreciation for a system, knowledge about variation, theory of knowledge, and psychology. Describing prevailing management style as a prison, Deming shows how a style based on cooperation rather than competition can help people develop joy in work and learning at the same time that it brings about long-term success in the market. Indicative of Deming's philosophy is his advice to abolish performance reviews on the job and grades in school.
Highly Recommended!
Critique W. Edwards Deming's work at your peril. After all, he probably set whatever standard you're using. This volume - revised by the author before his death in 1993 and partially based on his 1950s work with the Japanese - may strike the contemporary reader as a curious mixture of seminal process thinking and idiosyncratic ruminations on education. Portions read like an artifact of the early 1990s, but in this regard, however, his volume offers a unique perspective on a turning point in American economic history: the shift to the knowledge-based economy. We [...] recommend Deming's volume to any serious student of management thought, and all human resources professionals should familiarize themselves with his work, which set the foundations for many of the transformations now underway in the corporate world.
Straightforward, Realistic & Practical
I have recommended this book in my previous review of "Out of the Crisis" to managers who are new to Deming's ideas, being a manual that will be easier and more effective to comprehend and follow. At the finalstages of his life, Deming (1900-1993) wrote this epilogue of his careerwith an honest attitude and sincerity that I, along with many of mycolleagues, admire. The frankness of his opinions regarding the (lack of)essentially fundamental leadership traits in today's modern globalsocieties, in all vital areas at all organisational strata, are both validand brave; the information voiced is made possible only through hisprevious experiences and status in the field.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Economics - General    5. Entrepreneurship    6. Industrial management    7. Industrial productivity    8. Leadership    9. Management - General    10. Quality (Management)    11. Quality Control    12. Quality of products    13. Total Quality Management    14. Total Quality Management (Engineering)    15. United States    16. Business & Economics / Management    17. Business & Management    18. Economic theory & philosophy   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Industrial productivity    5. Leadership    6. Manufacturing resource plannin    7. Measurement    8. Production & Operations Management    9. Strategic planning    10. Total quality management    11. Business & Economics / Production & Operations Management    12. Quality Assurance (QA) & Total Quality Management (TQM)   

Reviews (5)

Why so few reviews???
This is one in a series of several dozen volumes which comprise the "Harvard Business Review Paperback Series." Each offers direct, convenient, and inexpensive access to the best thinking on the given subject in articles originally published by the Harvard Business Review. I strongly recommend all of the volumes in the series. The individual titles are listed at this Web site: www.hbsp.harvard.edu. The authors of various articles are among the world's most highly regarded experts on the given subject. All of the volumes have been carefully edited. An Executive Summary introduces each selection. Supplementary commentaries are also provided in most of the volumes, as is an "About the Contributors" section which usually includes suggestions of other sources which some readers may wish to explore.
Good compilation of articles - but repeat information
If you have read The Essential Drucker, Balanced scorecard etc. , the book essentially has the same information repeated under a different title. Recommend Essential Drucker, Balanced Score card which is more comprehensive than this title.

The ABC's of Balancing Your Scorecard...
This collection of eight articles from the HBR is a must IF AND ONLY IF you want the only highlights of some of the new management tools and theories out there.If you've ever wondered what Activity-Based Costing (ABC) is or what Kaplan's "Balanced Scorecard" is all about, this may be just the introductory text for you.I mention these two tools first since 2 out of 8 articles deal with ABC, either in whole or in part, while another 3 deal specifically with the balanced scorecard.So, if you've got ABC and the balanced scorecard already firmly laid out in your head, this may be a bit redundant.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business enterprises    4. Business/Economics    5. Corporate Planning    6. Entrepreneurship    7. Industrial efficiency    8. Industrial productivity    9. Management - General    10. Measurement    11. Operations Management    12. Organizational effectiveness    13. Reference - General    14. Management & management techniques   

Reviews (10)

One of the best in my personal reference library
This is one of a handful of books on performance metrics I recommend to peers and clients. The author starts with one of the most cogent set of reasons for measuring performance that I've read. These reasons are compelling, reinforced with realistic examples, and clearly articulated.He then briefly discusses the art and science of measurement, and associated standards, techniques and methods. I especially liked his "Measuring the Unmeasurable" advice, which knocks down mental barriers and shows how you can, indeed, measure indicators that you may think are unmeasurable. Useful guide
The book features procedures for identifying what to measure and specific steps readers can take to determine what to measure. It's a useful guide for figuring out what to measure for a specific organizational need, but requires some knowledge of measurement terminology. While I found it a useful guide as a performance and scorecard consultant, some of my clients found it a bit daunting. Good models and examples throughout.

An excellent approach for those who wish to start OPM
Will Kaydos did actually a very good work. This book addresses to top management officers who wish to change to a more customer orientated approach and implement Performance Measurement in every aspect of their business. Well structured and easy to read with significant information on effective management. There are no equations or weird stuff in this book, because the author wishes to explain the core of this subject: how to implement performance measurementeverywhere. This is a great book for industrial engineers, CEO's, Sales Managers, HR managers, Quality assurance officers and anyone involving with performance. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Entrepreneurship    5. Industrial Production    6. Industrial productivity    7. Management - General    8. Measurement    9. Operations Management    10. Total Quality Management    11. Business & Economics / Quality Control    12. Operational research    13. Production & quality control management   

Reviews (4)

A Mandatory Reading for All Service Industry Executives
In "The Service Profit Chain," the author uses extensive case studies and empirical data to demonstrate how successful companies can achieve customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and at the same time,profit and customer growth.Too many companies are focused on the nextquarterly earnings release that they don't ever see the lifetime value oftheir customers.Finally, managers at service industries won't have tokeep trading off employee satisfaction in order to achieve customersastisfaction, and customer satisfaction won't be viewed as a cost factorand a drag on profit growth.Service companies that just don't understandthese concepts won't be around for long!As we embark into the e-commerceage, service and technology companies that can quickly apply these conceptswithin their business models (where there is no direct, face-to-face,contact with the customers) will build a truely competitive advantage. Let's review the successful ecommerce companies in 5 years, and see howmany have adopted the principles in "The Service Profit Chain."

An excellent approach to designing a company
I think the authors provide a powerful and empirical approach to designing and analyzing a service organization for success. The recommendations are not always intuitive nor easy to implement, but, based on my experience inseveral industries, I think they are nearly always correct. With a partner,I am starting a own company and have read this book twice very carefully,with lots of notes in the margins, to make sure we do the important thingswell.

A Benchmark in Customer Value Management
This is the type of book that can change an entire corporate vision. The authors are meticulous in presenting their philosophy, and back every word with carefully researched examples from best practice companies. Unlikemany of the "quick read" publications that present a superficialview of service (particularly from a marketing perspective), this book isclearly the result of several years work in the field. Every corporatemanager who is serious about customer value management needs to take sometime out to study the Service Profit Chain. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Consumer satisfaction    5. Customer Service    6. Customer services    7. Employee loyalty    8. Entrepreneurship    9. Industrial productivity    10. Management - General    11. Quality Of Work Life    12. Business & Economics / Marketing / General    13. Management & management techniques    14. Service industries   

Reviews (7)

Waste of time!
Cheap publicity for SAS software, nothing more. Intelligible, far from being practical. The author repeats himself all the time. His thoughts are incoherent, not focused at all. He offers no revelation, only the most obvious conclusions. He serves questions without real, applicable answers. Interesting subject, badly written book.

Quantifiable vs. Qualifiable Performance Management Systems
I met Gary at a SAS conference the other day and we had a discussion on various issues. One of them being the query of why so many strategies to improve performance fail. Is it in the design or the execution of strategy? Gary popped the commonly accepted view that it is failure to execute otherwise sound strategies. And I replied, being a Strategy Consultant for over 16 years, that I haven't seen a sound strategy yet. After some debat we agreed that design and execution are equaly important.
Great addition to ABC and Performance Improvement
From TQM to Balanced Score Cards - this is the book that provides a practical synthesis.Focus on cause and effect relationships and away from abstractions.Must have book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Accounting - Managerial    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Engineering - Industrial    6. Industrial productivity    7. Management - General    8. Measurement    9. Operations Management    10. Organization Theory    11. Organizational effectiveness    12. Performance    13. Production & Operations Management    14. Quality Control    15. Strategic Planning    16. Business & Economics / Accounting / Management    17. Management & management techniques    18. Production & quality control management   

Features

• Bargain Price

Reviews (39)

Well Done
Stories of successful businesses fill this book. The author got "down and dirty" and did in-the-trenches research to find the best performing companies in the world. Then he spoke with the CEO's to find out what makes them and their businesses tick.

Insightful !
This is not just another book about the secrets of famous companies. It is, instead, a book about the secrets of somewhat obscure but great companies. The principles that author Jason Jennings propounds are familiar enough, but most of his examples will not be familiar to the general reader. That is no drawback. Although some of these companies are less well known, they have all achieved great business success (if not fame) by applying some of the most tried, true and proven axioms of management. Treat people with respect, pay them for performance, focus on one clear and understandable mission - there is nothing new about these principles, except that they keep proving their efficacy even in the unlikeliest places. Do not look for a deep examination of management here. The book provides frustratingly scant background information about the companies themselves. But we assure those seeking a handbook of solid if venerable management advice that you will not go wrong with this interesting little book.

On the lean culture of cost leadership firms
This spring, I had a night-flight from Houston to Europe. I never got any sleep due to this book. It reads like a fiction novel while the focus is very much on the softer issues of productivity businesses. The well-written behind-the-wall stories and interviews with successful top executives give us insight to many issues that usual case stories do not explain.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Entrepreneurship    5. Industrial productivity    6. Labor productivity    7. Management - General    8. Measurement    9. Organizational effectiveness    10. Performance    11. Bargain   

Reviews (12)

Dear Andrew S. GROVEI am Pablo GATON
I think you are the smartest guy from Maria Poetsch.
Sound advice, if they really use it
I worked at Intel for over 5 years, and although this book is chock full of excellent strategies and advice for managers, I saw very little evidence that these principles were being put into use in the company during the entire time I was there, at least in my division, which was one of the bigger ones at the company. Good book of management techniques
This was a good book.I was not able to apply all of the techniques, but most of it came in useful.I always liked what Andy Grove did with Intel, his visions and his capability to keep Intel on the top.It's a good book.Read it.It will take you a couple of days, but you will be a better person after you have read it... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Business/Economics    3. Entrepreneurship    4. Industrial management    5. Industrial productivity    6. Management    7. Management - General    8. Business & Economics / Management    9. Management & management techniques   

Reviews (2)

Not so good for novice
Probably the book is good for the experienced, but not so good for beginners like me. Although it addresses the questions like "what BSC is", I failed to get a clear picture of the art, and I'm waiting for some other books on the topic from Amazon.
Cuts to the chase - practical approach
I've read a number of BSC books, from Kaplan & Norton's original classic, to later works, and this is one of the very few that goes into practical implementation and management of a balanced scorecard.Read more

Subjects:  1. Accounting - Managerial    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Corporate Planning    5. Entrepreneurship    6. Evaluation    7. Industrial productivity    8. Manufacturing    9. Measurement    10. Organizational effectiveness    11. Production Engineering    12. Strategic Planning    13. Technology    14. Business & Economics / Accounting / Management    15. Business strategy    16. Management & management techniques   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Economic aspects    5. Industrial productivity    6. Industries - General    7. Labor & Industrial Relations - General    8. Management - General    9. Production & Operations Management    10. Productivity (Industrial Economics)    11. Research, Industrial    12. Technological innovations    13. United States    14. Business & Economics / Management    15. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    16. Production & quality control management   

Reviews (1)

Why Scorecards don't work - and how to solve it
Why do as many as half of all balanced scorecard users not achieve the results they hoped for? Doesn't the balanced scorecard work in practice?
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Corporate Finance    5. Industrial productivity    6. Management    7. Management - General    8. Measurement    9. Organizational effectiveness    10. Performance    11. Production & Operations Management    12. Quality (Management)    13. Total Quality Management    14. Business & Economics / Corporate Finance    15. Business strategy   

Reviews (1)

An Introduction to Efficiency and Productivity Analysis
A complete and an excellent book that provides the gist to efficiency and productivity analysis, and surely an important and particularly a very useful resource to those involve instudy/research of the field. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Economics - Microeconomics    5. Industrial productivity    6. Industries - General    7. Operations Research    8. Production (Economic theory)    9. Production functions (Economic    10. Production functions (Economic theory)    11. Applied mathematics    12. Business & Economics / Economics / General    13. Economics   

Reviews (2)

Good Summary
This was a good summary for busy managers.It covers the major ideas in a quick to read format.

Author has a newer book
This book is a very good summary of The Fourteen Points, developed by W. Edwards Deming.However, William W. Scherkenbach has a newer book that actuallycomments on many portions of Deming's work and gives excellent information on how to implementthese ideas in your company.The title of this newer book is "Deming's Road to Continual Improvement," published by SPC Press ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics / Quality Control    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Industrial productivity    4. Quality Control    5. Total Quality Management    6. Deming, W. Edwards   

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Business/Economics    3. Entrepreneurship    4. Industrial productivity    5. Management - General    6. Strategic Planning    7. Production & quality control management   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Case studies    5. Economic aspects    6. Economics - Comparative    7. Economics - General    8. Industrial productivity    9. International - Economics    10. Technological innovations    11. Business & Economics / Economics / General    12. Economics    13. Finance    14. Industry & Industrial Studies    15. Social & Legal Aspects of Computing