Lean Thinking : Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, Revised and Updated

Lean Thinking : Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, Revised and Updated
Average customer rating:

Interesting book but very dull.

Womack and Jones, very engaging.

Worth Every Penny

My husband loved it

Excellent Book with Detailed Lean Conversion Techniques

Lean Thinking : Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, Revised and Updated
James P. Womack , Daniel T. Jones , James Womack , and Daniel Jones
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Machine That Changed the World : The Story of Lean Production

Lean Solutions: How Companies and Customers Can Create Value and Wealth Together

The Goal

Learning to See Version 1.3

ASIN: 0743249275

Amazon.com

In the revised and updated edition of Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, authors James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones provide a thoughtful expansion upon their value-based business system based on the Toyota model. Along the way they update their action plan in light of new research and the increasing globalization of manufacturing, and they revisit some of their key case studies (most of which still derive, however, from the automotive, aerospace, and other manufacturing industries).

The core of the lean model remains the same in the new edition. All businesses must define the "value" that they produce as the product that best suits customer needs. The leaders must then identify and clarify the "value stream," the nexus of actions to bring the product through problems solving, information management, and physical transformation tasks. Next, "lean enterprise" lines up suppliers with this value stream. "Flow" traces the product across departments. "Pull" then activates the flow as the business re-orients towards the pull of the customer's needs. Finally, with the company reengineered towards its core value in a flow process, the business re-orients towards "perfection," rooting out all the remaining muda (Japanese for "waste") in the system.

Despite the authors' claims to "actionable principles for creating lasting value in any business during any business conditions," the lean model is not demonstrated with broad applications in the service or retail industries. But those manager's whose needs resonate with those described in the Lean Thinking case studies will find a host of practical guidelines for streamlining their processes and achieving manufacturing efficiencies. --Patrick O'Kelley

Book Description

Expanded, updated, and more relevant than ever, this bestselling business classic by two internationally renowned management analysts describes a business system for the twenty-first century that supersedes the mass production system of Ford, the financial control system of Sloan, and the strategic system of Welch and GE. It is based on the Toyota (lean) model, which combines operational excellence with value-based strategies to produce steady growth through a wide range of economic conditions.

In contrast with the crash-and-burn performance of companies trumpeted by business gurus in the 1990s, the firms profiled in Lean Thinking -- from tiny Lantech to midsized Wiremold to niche producer Porsche to gigantic Pratt & Whitney -- have kept on keeping on, largely unnoticed, along a steady upward path through the market turbulence and crushed dreams of the early twenty-first century. Meanwhile, the leader in lean thinking -- Toyota -- has set its sights on leadership of the global motor vehicle industry in this decade.

Instead of constantly reinventing business models, lean thinkers go back to basics by asking what the customer really perceives as value. (It's often not at all what existing organizations and assets would suggest.) The next step is to line up value-creating activities for a specific product along a value stream while eliminating activities (usually the majority) that don't add value. Then the lean thinker creates a flow condition in which the design and the product advance smoothly and rapidly at the pull of the customer (rather than the push of the producer). Finally, as flow and pull are implemented, the lean thinker speeds up the cycle of improvement in pursuit of perfection. The first part of this book describes each of these concepts and makes them come alive with striking examples.

Lean Thinking clearly demonstrates that these simple ideas can breathe new life into any company in any industry in any country. But most managers need guidance on how to make the lean leap in their firm. Part II provides a step-by-step action plan, based on in-depth studies of more than fifty lean companies in a wide range of industries across the world.

Even those readers who believe they have embraced lean thinking will discover in Part III that another dramatic leap is possible by creating an extended lean enterprise for each of their product families that tightly links value-creating activities from raw materials to customer.

In Part IV, an epilogue to the original edition, the story of lean thinking is brought up-to-date with an enhanced action plan based on the experiences of a range of lean firms since the original publication of Lean Thinking.

Lean Thinking does not provide a new management "program" for the one-minute manager. Instead, it offers a new method of thinking, of being, and, above all, of doing for the serious long-term manager -- a method that is changing the world.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting book but very dull........2007-08-27

I found this book to be interesting, but I hard trouble finishing it because the writing was so boring. Despite the dullness the book did get me thinking of product in a different way.

Womack and Jones, very engaging........2007-08-26

Lean Thinking- A very well written account of a long study of the theory of customer driven value thinking. The elimination of waste in accomplishing customer driven trade is the main goal of this theory. The book has been tuned over a series of revisions, so it is well polished. While I am no expert on the topic, I can at least attest to the fact that the volume is well written and referenced. Their views are spread over a period of many years, giving them the benefit of tracking case study performance over the long term. Companies both large and small have been studied and tracked to determine the benefits of these theories.

Worth Every Penny.......2007-07-30

A most readable book on an important subject of productivity. The comment on outsourcing is insightful and the emphasis on human element is so crucial. Productivity is not all about bigger and better machines but about management and employee been willing to take risks to think out of a box. Mr. Womack has made a significant contribution to the on-going dicussion of productivity in a globalized world.

My husband loved it.......2007-04-10

My husband loved this book so much that this was actually purchased as a gift for another man in his office.

Excellent Book with Detailed Lean Conversion Techniques .......2007-02-01

This book provides many case studies of companies outside of the auto industry that converted to lean production. It details the personnel changes they had to make, changes in factory layout, differences in the supply chain and much more. Where "The Machine that Changed the World" was a primer to lean production, "Lean Thinking" is more of a how-to book. Together, they make a great pair and provide a fairly in-depth view of the subject. As in, "The Machine that Changed the World", there is plenty of hard data to back up the claims that these companies improved after switching to lean thinking.

I am a college student majoring in mechanical engineering and read this book and "The Machine that Changed the World" to get a broad understanding of lean production. The two books did just that and even gave me many ideas on how to convert a student organization I am involved with (SAE) to more of a lean organization. As much as possible anyway.

Lean Solutions: How Companies and Customers Can Create Value and Wealth Together

Average customer rating:

I was dissappointed
Lean Provision for Customer Service
Certain to become a business "classic"
Why consumption must be as streamlined as production
Very good, but not as good as Machine and Lean Thinking

Lean Solutions: How Companies and Customers Can Create Value and Wealth Together
James P. Womack , and Daniel T. Jones
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Lean Thinking : Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, Revised and Updated
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ASIN: 0743277783

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American and European feelings towards Japanese business practices have varied dramatically through the last few decades. In the late 1970s and 1980s, a wave of fear swept through many Western leaders as they contemplated Japan's stunningly rapid rise from the ashes of World War II. Then more recently, as the 1990s and early 2000s saw stagflation gripping the Japanese economy, and knowledge-based innovation in technology and financial services bringing unprecedented prosperity to many Western countries, a feeling of vindication (and sometimes smugness) returned to those same corporate chieftains. Most recently, perhaps, the pendulum of conventional wisdom has begun to swing back to a middle position, in between the extremes of adulation and disdain: respect for the positive contributions of Japanese business culture, without blind acceptance. It's with this spirit that the authors of Lean Solutions offer their insightful observations about process design and service delivery in modern companies.

James Womack and Daniel Jones are well-recognized contributors to the lean-business movement. Lean Solutions is the consultants' fifth book together, following earlier works like Lean Thinking and The Machine That Changed the World, and springs as before from their keen interest in Japanese business methods and philosophy. What compels them to write yet another book, though, given the well-established literature on lean business?

The authors offer an intriguing description of their mission at the beginning of this latest book. Principles of lean design have in fact been adopted by many Western businesses, they acknowledge, and manufacturing quality has steadily risen as a result. Yet customers remain often dissatisfied with their experiences. The cause? To Womack and Jones, the answer rests in a myopic application of lean business principles: companies have successfully improved their manufacturing and product-development environments, but they have not had a large enough view of the overall customer relationship, and of the need for leanness in all aspects of companies' interactions with customers.

Put another way: in Lean Solutions, readers find a new and much broader conceptualization of how lean-business methods--which, to be fair to Womack and Jones, have evolved so that they can claim a global heritage as much as a Far Eastern one--might apply across entire customer experiences, rather than just manufacturing processes. The structure of Lean Solutions centers on 6 requests that the authors believe customers implicitly demand from their vendors: "Solve my problem completely; don't waste my time; provide exactly what I want; deliver value where I want it; supply value when I want it; and reduce the number of decisions I must make to solve my problems."

With a compelling mix of case studies, and illuminating thought experiments in industries ranging as widely as shoe manufacturing, health care delivery, auto repair, and grocery shopping, Womack and Jones walk readers through careful explanations of how lean thinking might be expanded beyond the factory floor to broader business problems. Lean Solutions isn't for all readers. It rests on an appreciation of the large cumulative effects that many small processes can have on business, and it requires patience from those who want to learn the secrets of lean business. --Peter Han

Book Description

A massive disconnect exists between consumers and providers today. Consumers have a greater selection of higher quality goods to choose from and can obtain these items from a growing number of sources. Computers, cars, and even big-box retail sites promise to solve our every need. So why aren't consumers any happier? Because everything surrounding the process of obtaining and using all these products causes us frustration and disappointment. Why is it that, when our computers or our cell phones fail to satisfy our needs, virtually every interaction with help lines, support centers, or any organization providing service is marked with wasted time and extra hassle? And who among us hasn't spent countless hours in the waiting room at the doctor's office, or driven away from the mechanic only to have the "fix engine" light go on?

In their bestselling business classic Lean Thinking, James Womack and Daniel Jones introduced the world to the principles of lean production -- principles for eliminating waste during production. Now, in Lean Solutions, the authors establish the groundbreaking principles of lean consumption, showing companies how to eliminate inefficiency during consumption.

The problem is neither that companies don't care nor that the people trying to fix our broken products are inept. Rather, it's that few companies today see consumption as a process -- a series of linked goods and services, all of which must occur seamlessly for the consumer to be satisfied. Buying a home computer, for example, involves researching, purchasing, integrating, maintaining, upgrading, and, ultimately, replacing it.

In this landmark new book, James Womack and Daniel Jones deconstruct this broken producer-consumer model and show businesses how to repair it. Across all industries, companies that apply the principles of lean consumption will learn how to provide the full value consumers desire from products without wasting time or effort -- theirs or the consumers' -- and as a result these companies will be more profitable and competitive.

Lean Solutions is full of surprising success stories: Fujitsu, a leading service company for technology, has transformed the way call centers solve problems -- learning how to eliminate the underlying cause of current problems rather than fixing them again and again. An extremely successful car dealership has adopted lean principles to streamline its business, making for dramatically reduced wait time, fewer return trips, and greater satisfaction for customers -- and a far more lucrative enterprise.

Lean Solutions will inspire managers to take the first steps toward perfecting their company's process of giving consumers what they really want.

Customer Reviews:

I was dissappointed.......2007-09-27

I was expecting real life, in depth case studies. Instead I got a rather simplistic view of lean. A lot of the content in the book is real common sense. There is no doubt that lean processes are a must for the company. The book tends to spend 3/4 of its time trying to make that statement, with some high level strategic content thrown about.

If you are expecting content such as how companies do VSM, and tactical challenges in doing VSMs you are reading the wrong book. But if you are interested in knowing what is a VSM, and high level overview of how VSMs are done, then this may be the book for you. ***DONT EXPECT TO BE IN A POSITION OF LEADING A LEAN INITIATIVE AFTER READING THIS BOOK***

Good book for getting introduced to lean concepts. Not much for those looking beyond concepts.

Lean Provision for Customer Service.......2007-01-17

The authors of "Lean Thinking" move their attention from lean production to "lean provision", particularly focussing on retail and services. The book makes a number of excellent arguments in a beautifully clear and readable style. The provision of goods and services to consumers is definitely the next target in the lean revolution and the authors note some particular example organisations that are achieving lean in the service sector. Tesco comes in for frequent praise.

The book does have a couple of weaknesses. Firstly, the books lacks detail on the metholodogy for achieving lean provision. Only a few vague pages are presented.

Secondly, the book would, in my view, really benefit from the input of retail experts and academics to comment on and improve the ideas that are floated by the authors. As it is, I am left with the feeling that some of these ideas are pie in the sky which would never work in the real economy.

Clearly the aim of this book is to stimulate thought and discussion on the application of lean principles to consumer service. It presents a compulsive argument for change, though no clearly worked through solutions. It moves the lean management focus onto the provision of goods and services to the consumer - where it is much needed - and, as such, is required reading for anyone involved in retail and customer service.

Certain to become a business "classic".......2006-11-14

It is desirable but not necessary to have already read Womack and Jones's previously published Lean Thinking before reading this volume. In both, their focus is on "five simple principles" which can guide and inform any organization's efforts to achieve "process brilliance" in its product development, supplier management, customer support, and production processes. The principles are:

1. Provide the value actually desired by customers.

2. Identify the value stream for each product or service.

3. Get and keep each step of the value stream in proper alignment.

4. Enable the customer to "pull" rather than "push" maximum value from what you offer.

5. Once the value, value stream, flow, and pull are established, "start over from the beginning in an endless search for perfection, the happy situation of perfect value provided with zero waste."

In this context, I am reminded of Albert Einstein's emphasis on making everything as simple as possible...but no simpler. Lean initiatives should eliminate "fat" but not "muscle." Decision-makers in many organizations confuse rightsizing with downsizing.

In Lean Solutions, Womack and Jones identify what they characterize as "the emerging challenges of consumption" despite the availability of better, cheaper products." And this seems very strange when we stop to consider that satisfying consumption - not just making brilliant products - is the whole point of lean production." In response to challenges such as complicated purchase decisions because "consumers are often drowning in a sea of choices," they explain how to combine truly lean provision with truly lean consumption. In process, Womack and Jones examine dozens of real-world examples of how various organizations have done so. When emerges is a new definition of value for today's consumer who insists that problems are solved completely, conveniently and without any waste of time. Moreover, today's consumer expects to receive exactly what she or he or wants, with value delivered where and when specified, with a substantial reduction of decisions which must be made to solve the given problem or fill the given need.

"Our objective is simple: We aim to teach managers to see all the steps a consumer must perform to research, obtain, install, integrate, maintain, repair, upgrade, and recycle the goods and services needed to solve their problem. We then challenge each step, asking why it is necessary at all and why it often can't be performed properly. Once worthless steps are eliminated, we can talk about flow and pull, heading toward perfection." Womack and Jones insist - and I wholly agree - that lean thinking must not only guide and inform continuous efforts to perfect production of a given product or service but to perfect, also, the provision and consumption of it. To the best of my knowledge, their book is the first to provide the core concepts, strategies, and tactics to accomplish that.

True, Womack and Jones suggest and explain a number of "lean solutions" to all manner of problems but it remains for those who read their book to apply the principles of lean thinking to their own specific circumstances. Obviously, bold action is required and there are perils to take into full account. Any decisions made are, at best, subject to constant refinement and, when necessary, revision and perhaps even replacement as new circumstances develop. Effectively combining and then coordinating consumption and provision streams is indeed a journey rather than a destination.

Why consumption must be as streamlined as production.......2006-04-20

Authors James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones were early proselytizers for the lean production philosophy, a set of "waste-not-want-not" principles that most businesses now accept. But good business requires more than efficient production. Noting that consumers are still not happy, despite an abundant supply of high-quality, low-cost products, the authors now have subjected consumption to "lean" analysis as well - and they've found that consumption is as inefficient as production used to be. Consumers face lengthy delays, unhelpful "help" lines, ineffective service representatives, and other annoying and costly wastes of time and energy. We recommend this book to managers who want to boost their customers' satisfaction by applying lean principles to consumption as well as to production. Here's how and, even more important, why.

Very good, but not as good as Machine and Lean Thinking.......2006-04-16

In Lean Solution, James Womack takes lean thinking to the next step and looks closely on how lean thinking can and should improve the lives of us, the consumers. The book is written in a similar way as Lean Thinking. He takes a few principles of Lean Consumption at the beginning and goes over them chapter by chapter. He describes actual cases and next to that speculates on the future uses of Lean Consumption. The solutions describe in the book, feel good. I, as a consumer, would like them now immediately, but for most of us in the world, they are not reality, yet. Though, after reading the book, I feel they might be. So the book is very convincing and also eye-opening in many areas.

I would recommend reading this book to everybody. Why then would I rate this book as 4 stars and not 5 stars? Well, to me the book as not as good as Machine and Lean Thinking (after which I immediately got a Toyota and being very happy with it). But it's close and it's good! Highly recommended.

The Dollarization Discipline: How Smart Companies Create Customer Value...and Profit from It

Average customer rating:

As Mr Fox writes: "Early to bed, early to rise,Sell hard and dollarize!"
Worth reading
Financial application/study for sales and marketing managers in business markets
You gotta read this one!
Dollarization Is (Common) Sense

The Dollarization Discipline: How Smart Companies Create Customer Value...and Profit from It
Jeffrey J. Fox , and Richard C. Gregory
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471659509

Book Description

How companies turn value-added into real profits
The Dollarization Discipline shows organizations and marketers how to effectively communicate the economic value created by their products and services. Too often, when companies compete using conventional sales and marketing approaches, they force customers to make financial decisions (how much to spend), based on non-financial arguments (product features and benefits). On this playing field, the company that can show true financial advantage in real dollars and cents wins every time. This book offers a step-by-step strategy for doing just that.
Every day, good companies suffer because they create value for customers but aren't able to keep their fair share. This is because most marketers can't fully explain the value customers get from their products, and the argument falls to the lowest common denominator-price. The solution is an approach to sales and marketing that goes beyond articulating features and benefits, but calculates the monetary value a customer receives from a product or service. This enables the seller to price the product as a true reflection of its value-and also let's the seller prove it to the customer!
With real case studies and detailed, step-by-step guidance on effective dollarization, The Dollarization Discipline finally offers a practical, straightforward way for marketers and business leaders to prove the value of their "value-added."
Jeffrey J. Fox (Gilford, New Hampshire) is the founder and President of Fox & Company, Inc., a marketing consulting firm. Fox is also the author of the bestsellers How to Become a CEO, How to Become a Rainmaker, and How to Become a Great Boss. Richard C. Gregory (Farmington, Connecticut) is a Senior Consultant with Fox & Company.

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Customer Reviews:

As Mr Fox writes: "Early to bed, early to rise,Sell hard and dollarize!".......2007-08-09

In The Dollarization Discipline, Jeffrey Fox explains in detail what was explained briefly in his previous book "How to Become a Rainmaker". The idea of "dollarizing", which is translating to the prospect the value received in dollars, is a powerful idea. If you are running a business, selling a product or service and are NOT using this principle I can guarantee you are loosing sales. Successful companies know that although people often buy emotionally, they tend to justify their purchases intellectually. Leaving the scene of a sale without leaving the customer with the "dollarization" value (intellectual justification) is, in my opinion, a big mistake. The concept is powerful and the book is worth reading. My only complaint is that Mr. Fox could have explained the principle in half the pages. Buy this book and begin dollarizing like so many successful companies and salespersons are already doing. Enjoy!

Worth reading.......2006-10-24

How to sell anything, and what kind of market is out there in the 21st century. Dollarization is all about "the financial impacts a product or service has on its buyer." In other words, how to express your product's value in customer's dollars so s/he sees that the purchase saves or makes money for the customer.

Read together with Mass Affluence by Nunes and Johnson.

(Review based on reading commercial executive summary.)

Financial application/study for sales and marketing managers in business markets.......2006-02-14

The concept/main theme of the book is simple: "To convince your customers of the benefits or edges of your products, you have to quantify and communicate those values in monetary terms, and let them know that your higher priced and differentiated products truly cost less than your competitors'." The authors give a lot of business cases, ad samples and even calculation tables to elaborate the usefulness and the techniques of it, though most of them are for the business market only. The difficulties or scarcity of it in the consumer market, per the authors, is that businesses are implicitly profit driven. It is hard to dollarize the "psychic income" from consumers' feel good purchases.

Anyway, for those sales and marketing people well experienced in dealing with their accounting/finance colleagues for endorsement of business proposals, and for those working in consumer markets or commodities markets (which the authors dont agree so re the later, which they paraphrase Harvard Business School Professor Theodore Leavitt: "There is no such thing as a commodity, only lack of marketing imagination), they wont be satisfied by this book.

You gotta read this one!.......2005-06-11

This book is not a difficult read but it requires some homework to convert the principles to your business. Trust me - this is no Book-Of-The-Month. It might just be the Book-Of-The-Year for professional salespeople.

Dollarization Is (Common) Sense.......2005-06-10

As Fox and Gregory clearly demonstrate, it really does take rigorous discipline to "dollarize" one's impact on a business relationship, both directly with a customer and indirectly with that customer's own customers. They have devised a concept, Dollarization, which they define as "the translation of the benefits a product or service delivers to a customer into the dollars-and-cents financial impact to that customer." They assert that the primary objective of a company should be to create value for its owners, and, that the best way to achieve that objective is to create maximum value for each customer. In other words, marketers and sellers tend to talk "value" but few actually understand and then sell their true financial value. Most marketers allow customers to make price the most important factor in a purchase decision. On the contrary, price should be considered as just ONE of the many costs involved in buying a product. For example, the purchase price of a car is obviously one factor to consider. However, fuel economy, maintenance costs, resale value, insurance, etc. should also be taken into full account while making the purchase decision. Those who master the Dollarization Discipline are prepared to explain all this to each prospective buyer.

In Section 1, Fox and Gregory introduce the Dollarization concept (e.g., Why Dollarize?); in Section 2, they identify and explain correlations between Dollarization and selling (e.g. How to shorten the sales cycle?); in Section 3, they do the same for Dollarization and marketing (e.g. How to price new products?); and then in Section 4, they recommend a number of strategies and tactics by which to apply various Dollarization techniques (e.g. constructing the Customer Value File). Once having read these separate but interconnected Sections, the reader is then introduced to "The Dollarization Doctrine: Ten Rules to Successful Dollarization." I presume to recommend that this Appendix (pages 249-251) be read before Section 1 and then re-read before reading each of the following three Sections. Presumably careful readers will highlight or underline key passages for purposes of review later. So I also presume to recommend that each review begin with a re-reading of the Appendix. The Rules which Fox and Gregory offer can -- and should -- guide and inform application of the Dollarization Discipline to any competitive marketplace.

Throughout the narrative, Fox and Gregory include specific advice. For example, when beginning to determine the value created for a single customer or for an entire population of customers, follow these five steps: Identify your direct competition, articulate what differentiates you from the competition, identify all the ways your differentiating features benefit your customer, determine how to quantify those benefits, and then determine how the quantified benefits result in dollars-and-cents savings for the customer. (See Table 20.1 on page 207).

Here is another example of how the Dollarization Discipline can be beneficial. During a recent conversation with one of his most important customers, the CEO of one of my client companies learned that relatively minor adjustments of the delivery schedule would enable that customer to process much more quickly his own customers' orders. (The details are unimportant.) Certain adjustments reduced the sales cycle while accelerating receivables but they also strengthened relationships between the OEM (my client), its customer, and its customer's own customers. One of the most significant and yet least appreciated realities of business is the dollar-and-cents value of time. It is important to quantify the value of reducing a vehicle's fuel consumption, for example. It is also important to quantify the reduction of first-pass yield and cycle time within the process by which that vehicle is produced. Really, applications of the Dollarization Discipline are limited only by one's ability to recognize them.

Warren Buffett once said something to the effect, "Price is what you charge but value is what others think it's worth." Fox and Gregory agree. The single greatest benefit of their Dollarization Discipline is that it allows both seller and buyer to calculate accurately and (yes) verifiably the total value of a given product or service. Granted, making that determination may require substantial time and effort. So what? Use the Dollarization Discipline to calculate the ROI. You may well be very surprised by what you learn...and perhaps regret that you haven't used the Dollarization Discipline until now. Cheer up! Many (most?) of your competitors will never read this book. Just make certain that all of your associates do.

Average customer rating:

SUPERB COLLECTION OF LEAN TOOLS
VERY USEFUL
GOOD, SOLID LEAN TOOLS FOR THE OFFICE

The Lean Office Pocket Guide XL
Don Tapping
Manufacturer: MCS Media, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

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The New Lean Pocket Guide XL
Lean Office Demystified
Value Stream Management for the Lean Office
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The Lean Office Pocket Handbook

ASIN: 097257283X
Release Date: 2005-05-10

Product Description

The Lean Office Pocket Guide XL represents the input of a select group of 'pioneers' who have shared their successful administrative Lean experiences with the how-to tools contained in this book. The tools of takt time, value stream mapping, 5S, document tagging, data capture, flow, pull, kanbans, office file system, plus many others are explained in this desktop version of the best seller The Lean Office Pocket Guide.

Customer Reviews:

SUPERB COLLECTION OF LEAN TOOLS .......2007-06-15

Simply stated, this book has every Lean tool explained in relation to transactional processes. It gave us insight into how takt time, pitch, leveling, flow, etc. can be applied in our administrative areas. It's a fantastic book for the price!

VERY USEFUL.......2007-05-16

THE BOOK GIVES A MULTIPLE TOOLS TO APPLY LEAN IN THE OFFICE, WITH THIS BOOK I AM KNOWING NEW WAYS TO START LEAN IN THE OFFICE. I THINK THAT THE BOOK IS VERY SHORT IN EXPLAIN THE APPLICATION OF THE lEAN TOOLS AND REFERENCES TO OTHERS BOOKS WOULD BE VERY USEFUL.
IN GENERAL, I AM HAPPY WITH THIS BOOK IS VERY USEFUL.

GOOD, SOLID LEAN TOOLS FOR THE OFFICE.......2005-06-06

I like this larger version of The Lean Office Pocket Guide because the forms are easier to read and use. There is quite a bit of information on each page, and this larger version, allows none of it to be skipped over. We use these in our training course which everyone can take notes in.

Leading Corporate Citizens: Vision, Values, Value Added

Average customer rating:

Nothing New

Leading Corporate Citizens: Vision, Values, Value Added
Sandra Waddock
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill/Irwin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

Leading Corporate Citizens, Second Edition, explores the insight, vision, values, and learning that it takes to add enough values to a company so that it becomes a leading corporate citizen. This innovative text operates at three levels of leadership: individual, organizational, and societal. The premise is that businesses operate successfully in society when they respect and are responsible to stakeholders, a balance is needed among sectors in society and with nature, and that vision and values can result in distinctive competencies that lead to value-added for companies of the 21st century.

Customer Reviews:

Nothing New.......2003-10-06

I am using this textbook for an MBA course on Social Issues in Management. Convincing MBA students of the importance of social issues is a difficult yet important task. Unfortunately this book is not up to the challenge. Its concepts are overly simple - attempting to reveal a framework in which business exists that once understood should magically reveal win-win opportunities for all stakeholders.

Value Added Risk Management in Financial Institutions: Leveraging Basel II & Risk Adjusted Performance Measurement (Wiley Finance)

Average customer rating:

Very timely. Thoughtful presentation
Risk management as an asset, not a cost
Timely and useful for bankers contemplating BIS 2
Practical Application
Essential Reading for Risk Managers Implementing BIS 2

Value Added Risk Management in Financial Institutions: Leveraging Basel II & Risk Adjusted Performance Measurement (Wiley Finance)
David P. Belmont
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Economic Capital Allocation with Basel II: Cost, Benefit and Implementation Procedures
Managing Bank Capital: Capital Allocation and Performance Measurement, 2nd Edition
The New Basel Capital Accord
Risk Management and Value Creation in Financial Institutions
The Basel Handbook: A Guide for Financial Practitioners (2nd edition)

ASIN: 0470821159

Book Description

A new perspective on risk management
Risk management has evolved to address the more strategic issue of optimization of return on risk. This has been accompanied by statistical, mathematical, and financial techniques which-when actively applied-can aid an institution in producing disproportionately high returns on risk. Adding Value Through Risk Management aims to describe these techniques, illustrate their application, and discuss their strategic value for financial institutions.
David Belmont is Director of Group Risk Control for Nexgen Financial Solutions Group (NFS).

Customer Reviews:

Very timely. Thoughtful presentation.......2005-05-03

This book is a gem - very timely and well-thought out. David Belmont obviously has a lot of experience in this area, but also has put in a lot of thought-leadership into this book. He traces the Basel II accord to its roots in M&M economics, and convincingly argues why bank risk management is a critical function. He then traces a thread from risk management to capital management and shows why and how banks can make use of Basel implementations to achieve a high degree of control and positioning of their operations.
The only knock on this book is that I found several typos and simple editing errors - it is clear that deadlines won over editorial quality. Hopefully the next edition will be cleared up in this regard - nevertheless I highly recommend this book.

Risk management as an asset, not a cost.......2004-05-01

This is a book that every bank board member should read. Sure, any board member worth his/her salt will be familiar with Basel II and risk measures such as VaR, but how many think of Basel II as a cost or imposition, and VaR as just another piece of information? Mr Belmont's easy to follow approach should allow readers to examine the way in which they can differentiate their own institution by using the investment in regulatory risk management to create, rather than just protect,shareholder value.

Thankfully, Mr Belmont strikes a good balance between theory and reality, both in his explanantion of market behaviour and in the presentation of his arguments. This is a book that the "mathematically challenged" like me can still enjoy and benfit from.

Timely and useful for bankers contemplating BIS 2.......2004-04-14

Even without the incentives provided by the upcoming Basel 2 guidelines, this book is timely and convincingly puts forth the proposition that active risk management is in itself a valuable component in the creation of shareholder value. Returns on investment in more sophisticated tools for risk quantification will be enhanced when the information is not only used for performance measurement, but also for such shareholder value-added activities such as capital allocation and balance sheet structuring.

I recommend this book for all practitioners of risk management.

Practical Application.......2004-03-22

Belmont has done an exceptional job at communicating the importance and practical application of risk measures for today's business environment. The book offers the reader a thorough assessment of what banking executives face everyday and how best to manage these risk and regain the control necessary for any banking executive to grow its business without putting into jeopardy the best interest of its shareholders, which in no small measure is a testament to Belmont's clear understanding of the challenges faced by most executives and the demands they face in terms of managing near term performance goals with long term stability.

Essential Reading for Risk Managers Implementing BIS 2.......2004-03-17

Given the dual pressures banks face from regulators and investors to address the challenges of Basle 2 and create shareholder value, this book is highly relevant and timely. It provides practical, concise and real world guidance to any senior bank executive seeking to add value in his institution by optimizing the usage of economic capital. Economic capital based performance measures are clearly presented and illustrated with real life examples. Additionally, anyone implementing Basle 2 must ask how this can be done and what value it creates for the organization. This book provides the answers.

The book quickly gives a real world context the value of risk management information to bank CEOs, CFOs, institutional security analysts, and investors. It then goes on to demonstrate theoretically and practically how risk management information can be used to address key strategic decisions faced by senior bank management.

Any risk manager, CFO, or CEO in a financial institution should find this book valuable if they seek to create shareholder value in their institution. Similarly, anyone seeking to rise to the executive suite must understand the issues addressed in this well written book.

The Future of Competition: Co-Creating Unique Value with Customers
Average customer rating:

Future of marketing...

Nothing insightful that is worth the onerous read

Breakthrough Thinking for higher IQ managers

Disappointing

must read for 21st century human

The Future of Competition: Co-Creating Unique Value with Customers
C. K. Prahalad , and Venkat Ramaswamy
Manufacturer: Harvard Business School Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Competing for the Future

The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits (Wharton School Publishing Paperbacks)

Managing Customer Relationships: A Strategic Framework

Seeing What's Next: Using Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change

The Wal-Mart Triumph: Inside the World's #1 Company

ASIN: 1578519535

Book Description

In this visionary book, C. K. Prahalad and Venkat Ramaswamy explore why, despite unbounded opportunities for innovation, companies still can't satisfy customers and sustain profitable growth. The explanation for this apparent paradox lies in recognizing the structural changes brought about by the convergence of industries and technologies; ubiquitous connectivity and globalization; and, as a consequence, the evolving role of the consumer from passive recipient to active co-creator of value. Managers need a new framework for value creation. This book is about the emerging "next practices" in value creation.

Increasingly, individual customers interact with a network of firms and consumer communities to co-create value. No longer can firms autonomously create value. Neither is value embedded in products and services per se. Products are but an artifact around which compelling individual experiences are created. As a result, the focus of innovation will shift from products and services to experience environments that individuals can interact with to co-construct their own experiences. These personalized co-creation experiences are the source of unique value for consumers and companies alike.

In this emerging opportunity space, companies must build new strategic capital-a new theory on how to compete. This book presents a detailed view of the new functional, organizational, infrastructure, and governance capabilities that will be required for competing on experiences and co-creating unique value. This is the future of competition.

Customer Reviews:

Future of marketing..........2006-06-19

Caveat - I see most things from a marketer's prospective, hence, I read this book in that context. I think the ideas of Prahalad and Ramaswamy are the future of marketing. If you take a look at a few of today's successful companies, including Amazon.com and eBay for instance, you will see that one of the reasons they have been so successful is because they worked with their customers. I think the book should be required reading for anyone going into the marketing field.

Nothing insightful that is worth the onerous read.......2005-06-22

The authors have created a massive text that does not add much to the earlier paper they had published. The book has mainly two messages - maximizing customer experience is the basis of value creation and firms have to be experience-driven rather than product-centric. (BTW, these are the author's buzz words not mine ).

They cite cases that have no hard links to their messages but a tenous connection. There is no proof or metrics to show that this is the way to go.

I am sure the academics have the luxury of writing long books to sustain their tenureship compared to us real-world practioners, where things have to work now or in the next quarter for us to go anywhere in the corporate world. Sorry, academics.

Breakthrough Thinking for higher IQ managers.......2005-04-23

The concepts presented in the book are deceptively easy to gloss over. I do not blame the reviewers at this site who did not 'get it'.

This is not something one can expect to read and understand over a coast-to-coast flight like most of the popular business books one tends to find at the airport book stores.

It is heavily intellectual content and for those who do 'get it', the payoffs can be huge, as have been documented by the real-life examples presented in the book. There are no quick fixes here and no 'if you have problem A, do X' type remedies, nor the 'company A did X and it worked for them' type anecdotal evidence.

Real-life examples have been used to demonstrate the backbone of the theory. This is necessary because there is no evidence of the concept of co-creation present yet in the collective *consciousness* of the managers today (it does happen accidentally, though).

Now you must be wondering how I can be so emphatic about stating my opinion. Well, I have had the fantastic opportunity to do some work on this subject during my MBA program through the B-school class offered by one of the authors at Ross Business School, as well as the opportunity of doing independent research on the subject matter of this book.

I can assure the prospective reader that the material requires serious mental exercise, and the theory and frameworks are not easy to grasp or implement. The reason for this is that the implementation of the concepts being presented requires some serious inside-out redesign of the organization, processes, systems as well as value appropriation contracts..

However, for those interested in finding out about which direction to look to innovate, especially the entrepreneurial types, this is an excellent opportunity to learn something new and apply it to the extent your own organizational processes, systems and capabilities will allow, or create ground-up organizations, processes, systems and capabilities to take advantage of the opportunities to the fullest.

Sunil Chhaya, Ph.D.

Disappointing.......2004-08-01

C.K. Prahalad must be getting a bit long in the tooth. Or perhaps he has had difficulty in recent years finding a co-author as talented as Gary Hamel. Whatever his excuse, his latest book is a disappointing throwback to specious management bestsellers of the 80s and 90s. Prahalad's book is long on clichés and short on insight. The central thesis of the book is a rehash of Kotler's better articulted work on the prosumer. Given all of their emphasis on "value co-creation" the book seems woefully short on profitability and ROI numbers. I couldn't find any case studies that showed the value in value co-creation. At the same time, truly innovative and competitive "value co-creation" businesses - Linux, Apache and the whole open source software movement which Microsoft now finds so threatening - are barely mentioned. Are we just to take the authors' word for it that companies adopting a "C-type" structure are automatically profitable? Hmm. Maybe it depends on whether these firms adopt "X,Y, or Z-type" management. Can lucrative consulting gigs be far behind?

must read for 21st century human.......2004-07-15

Alvin Toffler has indicated customization is future trend. He is(was) right.

The future of competition shows what, why, and how ( sometimes, who) about the future of product and service. What a corporation must do in order to integrate cusomter's experience into their production process and how to organize the company in order to do it. A must read book for 21st century human, why? because any interaction is an experience and if you extend the metaphor of product, any interaction is a 'product'. If you have been of good reputation, you will 'sell' well on whaterver you say or do. Because people 'buy' it.

Why the Bottom Line ISN'T!: How to Build Value Through People and Organization
Average customer rating:

A Good Read!

Intangibles in Organizational Effectiveness

Clever title or false premise?

Ulrich & Smallwood - have done it again !

Put this book in your shopping basket!

Why the Bottom Line ISN'T!: How to Build Value Through People and Organization
Dave Ulrich , and Norm Smallwood
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The HR Value Proposition

Human Resource Champions

The Future of Human Resource Management: 64 Thought Leaders Explore the Critical HR Issues of Today and Tomorrow

Roadmap to Strategic Hr: Turning a Great Idea into a Business Reality

The HR Scorecard: Linking People, Strategy, and Performance

ASIN: 047144510X

Book Description

Offers a broad view of leadership and shareholder value based on multiple business disciplines

In Why the Bottom Line Isn't! authors Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood argue that sustainable shareholder value comes increasingly from assets not accounted for on an organization's balance sheet. These assets include a company's reputation, its ability to attract talent, and its ability to react quickly to new opportunities in the marketplace. Why the Bottom Line Isn't! harnesses research from a number of disciplines including human resources, finance, and leadership to establish a hierarchy of such intangibles. The authors extrapolate from these intangibles to establish leadership tools that will help create sustainable shareholder value. The book offers a broad, expansive perspective on leadership while eschewing convoluted theory for concrete practice.

Dave Ulrich, Ph.D., (DOU@UMICH.EDU) has been listed by BusinessWeek as the top "guru" in management education. He has co-authored 10 books and over 100 articles, serves on the Board of Directors of Herman Miller, and has consulted with over half of the Fortune 200 companies. He is currently on professional leave as Professor at the University of Michigan to serve as Mission President for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Montreal.

Norm Smallwood (nsmallwood@rbl.net) is co-founder of Results-Based Leadership (www.rbl.net), which provides education and consulting services based on this book as well as the ideas in Results-Based Leadership: How Leaders Build the Business and Improve the Bottom Line, which he co-authored with Ulrich. He has led leadership development, business strategy, organization capability, change management, and HR projects for a wide variety of clients spanning multiple industries.

Customer Reviews:

A Good Read!.......2004-05-20

Authors Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood use a bottom-line approach to assess various business intangibles that build actual value, such as a vision of future growth and improved capabilities. They present the keys to creating value by mustering intangible assets in a well-organized, highly structured way. Unfortunately, the intangible factors and the growth steps they discuss are well-traveled territory. But while other books may describe how to develop these "soft" qualities in a more intriguing or more original way, this volume handily dissects, quantifies and explains them step by step. Here, the vague is made concrete. Even a bean counter could understand the bottom line value of innovation, improved internal systems and enhanced organizational culture with this explanation. We recommend it to those who want to invest in intangible assets in a tangible setting, for very tangible reasons.

Intangibles in Organizational Effectiveness.......2004-03-11

This book argues that competitively successful organizations seek to constantly build long-term value by strategically managing some of their intangibles. As we know, intangibles are not accounted for in an organization's financial statements. By exploring the world of intangibles, the authors explore a new idea or a new bottom-line, which has the building of long-term market value as its central theme. The authors have identified 7 key intangibles that have to be nurtured. They include the following: shared mindset, talent, speed, learning, accountability, collaboration, and quality of leadership. They have built their formulations on the basis of their own real experiences or a survey of the practices followed by globally successful organizations. The book is based on an Architecture which is the central model on which its contents revolve (p.13).

Some of the prominent features of the book are as follows: Firstly, the book explores a new bottom line suggesting that the intangibles are as or even more important as the hard strategies, systems and processes; for it is the focus on the intangibles that helps build customer, investor, and employee confidence about the future.

Secondly, the book should be seen as outlining an agenda to focus on for HR managers; this is to charge them to increase the shareholders' value through helping develop each of the intangibles. The present crisis of HR department globally emanates from the allegation against it that it indulges in wasteful expenditure in non-measurable activities. Thus the book suggests that HR managers have to become coaches, architects, designers and facilitators of organizational capabilities.

Thirdly, the observations and formulations of the authors are based on inter-disciplinary perspectives within management segments, and are not just reflections of organization theory or effectiveness or just better HR management. They have drawn from researches from disciplines such as human resources management, financial management, IT, and leadership.

Fourthly, the book succeeds well as a solid guide that makes a complex subject simple to the reader by putting before her the essence of various functional perspectives related to management of intangibles. The discussion helps in gauging what works and what does not, and why.

Fifthly, the book contains some remarkably interesting and effective tips of leadership building at the top as well as leadership-building as a way of organizational life. The authors point out that when leaders identify and implement the seven intangibles identified in the Architecture, they "create intangible value" (p. 251).

The book is an essential reading for any executive who wants to better handle the complexities of managerial life in the era of chaotic competition. It surely helps the reader see a larger picture. Though the book has been written in extremely user-friendly way, I feel if it had a simpler title it would have carried a much higher attention value of potential lay readers. Still, there is no doubt that it will be especially liked by those managers and leaders who want to build confidence about shaping their future in the chaotic business world.

Debi S. Saini
MDI, Gurgaon, India

Clever title or false premise?.......2003-11-26

This book appears to be based on two false premises. One, the bottom line is the bottom line, if organisations manage to get more value out of their people the bottom line changes. Two, there's no such thing as an intangible - market value of a business is tangible value. The big omission is any definition of value even though the authors constantly refer to this concept.

An ideal read for HR people who want to talk a good job but of little use for those who genuinely want to find practical ways to add value through people.

Ulrich & Smallwood - have done it again !.......2003-11-10

Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood have done it again- created a wonderful book which is an invaluable toolkit for aspiring and practising managers."Why the Bottom Line Isn't" is a highly relevant and accessible resource for busy executives, which can also save your organisation substantial dollars in consulting fees.This book is also recommended reading for non- executive Board directors and investors.
As the authors outline in their introduction, "Why the Bottom Line Isn't", began when they asked a simple question- How can two companies in the same industry, with similiar earnings, have vastly different market values. In addressing this question, Ulrich and Smallwood explore the world of intangibles and a new bottom-line, that has building long -term market value as the central theme.
Based upon their extensive consulting experience and drawing from diverse disciplines, such as finance/accounting and organisation behaviour,the authors focus on how to identify and build intangibles within one's organisation.An Architecture for Intangibles is created and this four layer model provides the framework and structure for " Why the Bottom Line Isn't". As the framework is developed,the reader is taken on a journey that focuses on the leadership implications- and resulting actions- for each layer( and their various components) of the architecture for intangibles. Ulrich,Smallwood and Zenger's excellent work from Results Based Leadership(Harvard Press 1999)on "leadership brand" is also integrated.
This outstanding book is really a treasure chest resource - it is full of useful hints,quizzes,question and process lists, tips and exercises. It also contains questionnaires and is supported by extensive reference notes and web links, for those requiring further information and support.
The practical emphasis is demonstrated via the utilisation of many company examples and stories that support the many insights which are presented. The communication style which the authors employ is also very appealing and engages the reader.Close attention to education objectives are also very evident, with the authors utilising fresh techniques in tackling complex issues within organisations. For example,to surface sacred cows which exist in most organisations,they recommend treating them as you would a computer virus, because they have the same deadly impact on your operations, as computer viruses have upon IT systems.As a result,a virus detector list of 27 items is produced
In summary, this book is essential reading for any executive who is wanting to better handle the complexities of life in 21st century organisations.

Put this book in your shopping basket!.......2003-10-31

David Ulrich's ideas have pretty much defined the HR profession for the last decade. That by itself is a reason to make sure you've read this book. What is even more important is that Ulrich & Smallwood outline how HR activities can help to increase the shareholders value as measured in stock price (at least, this is what HR could do, if they would do it right, the reality is that often HR just seems to be wasting money). Given that shareholders become more and more demanding, that's another good reason to read this book. So I was a bit surprised to see that this book is not high on the Amazon bestseller list when I'm writing this review (sales rank 12.407 when I wrote this and only 4 other reviews written).
Not only does the book contain a lot of valuable advice, it's structure and writing style make it easy to get the message. For instance, you'll find most principles illustrated with examples of companies such as General Electric, South West Airlines, Sears, ... and each chapter ends with a section with leadership implications.
While reading the book, I had myself going "yes" most of the time and I really think that this book should be on your reading list. So why did I only give it 4 stars? Personally I would have seen a more provocative writing style, more examples of how other companies screw up, etc. I think that more counter-examples would really have driven the books's message home.

The Value-Added Employee: 31 Competencies to Make Yourself Irresistible to Any Company

Average customer rating:

If Not "Irresistible", At Least Valuable
"Great job"
A Highly Useful Guide!

The Value-Added Employee: 31 Competencies to Make Yourself Irresistible to Any Company
EDWARD J. CRIPE , and Richard S. Mansfield
Manufacturer: Butterworth-Heinemann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0750674512

Book Description

A handy guide offering a practical plan for targeting skills any employee wants to develop and employers most desire.

It's hard to tell if today's competitive job market is more unsettling for employees seeking job security or companies trying to retain loyal workers. The Value-Added Employee provides fresh insights on what makes employees valuable to the organization and how companies can keep productive employees on the job. Employees will understand how to increase their personal marketability by developing specific skills, knowledge, and attitudes. Managers and coaches will find the tools and resources to make employees more valuable to the organization. Even policymakers and human resource professionals can drive change and business improvement through the application of competency modeling processes.

The Value-Added Employee is a step-by-step plan for targeting the competencies an employee wants to develop and employers most desire. It discusses 31 core competencies, including interpersonal competencies, business competencies, and self-management competencies.

Designed as a handbook, The Value-Added Employee is a toolkit of ideas and a workbook to be written in and referred to on a regular basis. Through its use, employees and their companies will discover a firm foundation for meeting future goals.

a complete toolkit to increase an employee's value as well as marketability in today's volatile job market.easy-to-use workbook style appeals to professionals as well as academics

Customer Reviews:

If Not "Irresistible", At Least Valuable.......2000-09-01

The authors suggest "31 skills to make yourself irresistible to any company" and the 31 are indeed important skills to have mastered. If for whatever reasons you are not now currently "irresistible" to your employer, I strongly urge you to purchase, absorb, and digest this book's excellent content. There are others who will also derive substantial benefit from this book: Those in larger organizations who recruit and hire and/or who have supervisory responsibility for others, those launching a new company who can ill afford to make a mistake when hiring a key person, and those now entering the job market who wish to increase and enhance their appeal to prospective employers. In essence, if employees do not add value, they have no value.

"Great job".......2000-02-12

This is an outstanding book. It helped me analyze my strengths and the areas I need to work on to get ahead. Most self-help books are too academic or "motivational". This book seems to reflect what real live corporations are looking for. The writers apparently are not egghead psychologists, but are common sense business people who have successfully implemented competency development systems in major companies. The simple, practical tools for self assessment and career planning included in the book are great. I'm surprised that more organizations haven't adopted this approach. Other non-management employees like myself who are trying to better ourselves would certainly appreciate it.

A Highly Useful Guide!.......1999-12-07

The Value-Added Employee contains some excellent tools to help create specific development plans for people at all levels. The book provides the reader with an understanding of "competencies" and job competency models, concepts that have become popular in recent years with many corporations. Thirty-one competencies are featured, organized into three clear groupings: competencies that are related to working with people, business-related competencies and self-management competencies. As a manager, I partcularly appreciated the suggestions on how I can help develop or strengthen the competency for those I coach. This is a practical book, more like a workbook than a traditional book. HR departments will also find it helpful.

Value-Added Selling : How to Sell More Profitably, Confidently, and Professionally by Competing on Value, Not Price

Average customer rating:

Outstanding Resource for Mastering the Concept of Value-Added Selling
Just Closed Largest Order and Made $$$$
Great content shaby book
Not a great read
Value-Added Selling at it's best !!!!

Value-Added Selling : How to Sell More Profitably, Confidently, and Professionally by Competing on Value, Not Price
Tom Reilly
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Advertising | Marketing & Sales | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Crush Price Objections
Value-Added Sales Management
SPIN Selling
Beyond Selling Value: A Proven Process to Avoid the Vendor Trap
Strategic Negotiation: A Breakthrough Four-Step Process for Effective Business Negotiation

ASIN: 0071408819

Book Description

In a marketplace too often focused on price, Value-Added Selling provides sales professionals with a market-proven approach for selling customers on the inherent value of a product. Based on a value-selling model proven to work across industries and product lines, this step-by-step book explains how to define value in the client's terms, orient a pitch to fit the client's needs, and close the deal. It gives sales pros the tools and confidence they need tonow and foreverdeemphasize price in the selling equation.

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding Resource for Mastering the Concept of Value-Added Selling.......2007-02-23

This book is the definitive and primary source for value-added selling. Tom Reilly is by far the most knowledgeable and articulate spokesperson on this topic. This book sets the ground rules and provides a specific, how-to-do-it way to become a master at value-added selling.

There have been scores of books published that attempt to accomplish what this book accomplishes in the sense that the others are strictly "Johnny-come-latelies." Anyone who does like or appreciate this book certainly does not understand sales and the contemporary role that value-added selling plays in today's sales world.

One of the book's best ideas is how to present your price and stack your benefits relative to how your prospect wants to perceive value. That concept alone is worth the price of the book.

Just Closed Largest Order and Made $$$$.......2007-02-23

I have been a professional salesperson for over two decades, and have sold all over the world. Finding a sales book that actually makes me money is difficult. Most sales books are very general and motivational based. Tom Reilly is right on target. This is not the first book I have read from this author. Crush Price Objections and Coaching For Sales Success were two books that I found to be excellent. His book Value Added Selling is even better. If you want to become a multi-million dollar producer, the ideas in this book will make it happen. I don't give my commission away anymore. I am an avid reader of sales books and consider this one of the best sales books written. I just closed one of the largest orders (profitable) in my sales career using tips from this book.

Great content shaby book.......2007-02-15

Like the content. But needs a value added hardcover printer. You open the book and right away the spine breaks wherever you open it at. Very sad. If you cant make a quality hardcover then stick with the soft cover.

Strange that he talks so much about value but then uses a shabby printer to print his book. I would have paid a couple extra dollars for better quality.

I do admit that the contents are great. Would buy again

Not a great read.......2007-02-10

Perhaps it's because this is old information to me but I found this book to be tedious and rather uninteresting. I must admit I stopped reading it and put it up for sale. But this is just my personal opinion. Others may find it very useful. I certainly do believe in value added selling.

Value-Added Selling at it's best !!!!.......2006-08-23

This has to be one of the greatest books on selling I have ever read.

The common sense approach and detailed ideas are easy to understand and follow.

If your not Value-Added Selling in todays market then this book is a must read.

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