Managing New Product and Process Development: Text and Cases
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Excellent book
  • Classic on new product development
  • It is the perfect complement
Managing New Product and Process Development: Text and Cases
Steven C. Wheelwright , and Kim B. Clark
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Strategy & CompetitionStrategy & Competition | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ManagementManagement | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Operations ResearchOperations Research | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Quality ControlQuality Control | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Marketing | Marketing & Sales | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
EntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Business & Finance | New & Used Textbooks | Stores | Books
All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Business & InvestingBusiness & Investing | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:
  1. Revolutionizing Product Development: Quantum Leaps in Speed, Efficiency, and Quality Revolutionizing Product Development: Quantum Leaps in Speed, Efficiency, and Quality
  2. Winning at New Products: Accelerating the Process from Idea to Launch, Third Edition Winning at New Products: Accelerating the Process from Idea to Launch, Third Edition
  3. The Product Development Challenge: Competing Through Speed, Quality, and Creativity The Product Development Challenge: Competing Through Speed, Quality, and Creativity
  4. New Product Development: Managing and Forecasting for Strategic Success New Product Development: Managing and Forecasting for Strategic Success
  5. The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development, Second Edition The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development, Second Edition

ASIN: 0029055172

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Excellent book.......2001-12-30

I have found this book an excellent starting point to understanding product development cycles, the values of planning, and effective project management. It is the best book that I have read on the topic to date.

5 out of 5 stars Classic on new product development.......2000-10-16

Don't be turned away by the pub date--this is still the best book out there on the topic of new product development. The development framework that informs the structure of the book and their prescriptions is insightful and elegant. I have used the book for many years as a main text book for my 'management of technology' classes, to both engineering and business students, and most students love the book, especially those with real life experience. It's a great book to introduce engineering students to business/project management issues for the first time, and visa versa. The cases are also very well selected.

5 out of 5 stars It is the perfect complement.......2000-09-25

of the book "Revolutionizing Product Development", same authors. The chapters are segmented according to the logic of the previous mentioned book. It is worth mention the chapters about the application of the "Aggregate Project Plan" and "Structuring the Development Funnel". These chapters tell us about the pitfalls and gave some useful proposition on how to solve it. The examples are OK. It could be a bit difficult to undestand how the process works without the previous reference cited before. There is also some "study questions" that suggests that this book is also for training people on Innovation. Very good idea indeed!
Managing the Design Factory
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • An excellent guide to product development
  • Best book on product development and agility around
  • World-class information for product development managers
  • Real thinking and action tools you can use
  • every design engineer should read this book.
Managing the Design Factory
Donald G. Reinertsen
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

GeneralGeneral | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ManagementManagement | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Operations ResearchOperations Research | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Product ManagementProduct Management | Marketing | Marketing & Sales | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Industrial DesignIndustrial Design | Industrial, Manufacturing & Operational Systems | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Production, Operation & ManagementProduction, Operation & Management | Industrial, Manufacturing & Operational Systems | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:
  1. Developing Products in Half the Time: New Rules, New Tools, 2nd Edition Developing Products in Half the Time: New Rules, New Tools, 2nd Edition
  2. The Toyota Product Development System: Integrating People, Process And Technology The Toyota Product Development System: Integrating People, Process And Technology
  3. Product Development for the Lean Enterprise: Why Toyota's System Is Four Times More Productive and How You Can Implement It Product Development for the Lean Enterprise: Why Toyota's System Is Four Times More Productive and How You Can Implement It
  4. Revolutionizing Product Development: Quantum Leaps in Speed, Efficiency, and Quality Revolutionizing Product Development: Quantum Leaps in Speed, Efficiency, and Quality
  5. Thinking Beyond Lean: How Multi Project Management is Transforming Product Development at Toyota and O Thinking Beyond Lean: How Multi Project Management is Transforming Product Development at Toyota and O

ASIN: 0684839911

Book Description

The man who launched a revolution in product development with his bestselling Developing Products in Half the Time is back with a new book that's also certain to be a classic. In Managing the Design Factory Donald G. Reinertsen presents concepts and practical tools that will be invaluable for anyone trying to get products out of the pipeline and into the market.

The first book to put the principles of World Class Manufacturing to work in the development process, Managing the Design Factory combines the powerful analytical tools of queuing, information, and system theories with the proven ideas of organization design and risk management. The result: a methodical approach to consistently hit the "sweet spot" of quality, cost, and time in developing any product. Reinertsen illustrates these concepts with concrete examples drawn from his work with many leading companies across different industries.

Fresh and thought-provoking, the book challenges many of the conventional approaches to product development. "There are no best practices," Reinertsen writes, "the idea of best practices is a seductive but dangerous trap." Unlike other books that promote rules and rituals based on benchmarking "best practices," this book focuses on practical tools that account for varied situations. He breaks new ground with a disciplined, quantitative approach for making decisions on critical issues: When should we use a sequential or concurrent process? Centralized or decentralized control? Functional or team organizations?

Full of practical techniques, concrete examples, and solid general principles, this is a real toolkit for product developers. Moreover, it is written with the clarity, precision, and humor that are Reinertsen's trademarks. He promises to challenge the thinking of anyone involved in product development.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars An excellent guide to product development.......2007-08-27

"Managing the design factory" provides an excellent set of practices which can improve your product development and optimize your product development on the dimension you want it to. It provided me with key insights and fresh ideas on how to think about product development.

The book consists of four parts. The first part is a general introduction to product development and clarifies some assumptions made in the rest of the book. The second part is a set of thinking tools for product development. The third part provides concrete practices, called action tools. The last part summerizes the rest of the book and suggests actions to take.

The thinking tools in the second part are key-insights in product development. The first thinking tool is to try to think of product development economically. This also provides four ways to optimize your product development: lowest expense, lowest unit cost, highest performance and shortest time. In the rest of the book Reinertsen uses these four optimizations to show how each action tool will need to be used differently. The second thinking tool is queueing theory. It provides a view of product development as a series of queues. Managing the product development queues becomes essential. The third thinking tool is information theory. What is the value of information and how to optimize for the value. The last thinking tool is systems theory. Think of whole product development as systems, look for feedback loops and look for assumptions behind your current thinking. The thinking tools were the most interesting part of the book (in my opinion) and I thoroughly enjoyed any of these chapters.

The actions tools in part three provide concrete things to do in your product development. This part will use the thinking tools provided in part two to explain the action and also explain how they are different in the different optimizations. The tools were clear and useful. The only criticism could be that there is some duplication between "Developing products in half the time", but that was expected. Also, the tools are just introduced in one chapter and most of them could have filled a book on its own.

Conclusion. "Managing the design factory" is an excellent book on product development and provides key-insights and tools for looking at product development. I would recommend it for anyone who is involved in product development.

5 out of 5 stars Best book on product development and agility around.......2004-07-02

I don't think they use the word agility once, but this book clearly enunciates all of the reasons that agile processes often show success, without prescribing a specific set of items to do. This book will enable managers of development teams to look at the product they're building, its impact on the business's bottom line, and make both long-term and daily decisions about how to run their team. Individual developers will also gain an understanding of how to better streamline processes -- for instance, people often think that introducing large processes to "prevent an error from happening again" is a good idea. However, this book will help you to learn why that can be bad; that it can introduce queues and actually result in a process slowdown, especially if it happens early in the development process and on the critical path.

I just can't say enough about this book; some other specific books on Agile software development are helpful to give you ideas of specific things to do, but this book is absolutely crucial to learn and use in your daily decision-making process.

5 out of 5 stars World-class information for product development managers.......2003-05-06

I have never seen so much good advice about product development in one place. Applying concepts from manufacturing, finance, queuing theory and communications theory, Reinertsen proposes many ways in which we can design better processes for development.

For example, if we were to view the investment in design work as a depreciating asset, like work-in-process inventory in the factory, we would be able to make better decisions about time, manpower, and project delay tradeoffs.

Key concepts include: valuing design work based on its financial impact on the organization; learning as much as possible as early as possible in the development cycle; managing queues in the development process; creating specifications which are flexible for as long as possible, so that evolving customer requirements can be accommodated.

He clearly shows that we can optimize development work on only one of the following parameters: Product cost, product performance, speed of development, development expense. The approach for each one is different, and it is important to be clear which one is primary.

There is a wealth of useful and practical advice in this book. For example, here are some comments on testing:

"Too often testing is viewed as a necessary evil in the development process. It only exists because we make mistakes. If we made fewer mistakes, we would not need to do all this testing. We should spend our money on `designing in quality' instead of finding defects by testing. The result of such an attitude may be a test department that is under-resourced and under-managed. Unfortunately, by viewing testing as a problem, rather than an asset, we miss the opportunity to capitalize on the extraordinary improvements that can take place in product testing.
"Let us start by putting testing in perspective. The elapsed schedule time for product testing is typically 30 to 60 percent of overall development cycle length. This is not another minor activity, it is a major design activity. ... text results have inherently high information content. In fact, testing is usually the stage of design process that generates the greatest amount of information.... ...Most companies misunderstand the role of testing ... because they fail to distinguish between design testing and manufacturing testing. ... Manufacturing testing is done to identify defects in the manufacturing process. ... Design testing is done to generate information about the design. A good outcome is high information generation early in the design process. ... We want a failure rate close to 50 percent...." [pp 230-232]

I highly recommend this book to senior managers in product development, and their Marketing and Finance counterparts.

Reviewed by John Levy,
...

5 out of 5 stars Real thinking and action tools you can use.......2002-02-25

If you're looking for a book to arm you with the latest buzzwords and easy answers, this is not for you. If you're looking for a useful framework for thinking about product design and tools for applying principles, this is an excellent buy. This book is clearly written, well-organized, and full of useful information.

Unlike many management books, it's not 20 pages of information stretched out to 200 pages in order to make a book. Also, unlike most product development books, this book is of great value not just to product managers and designers, but would be a great read for financial managers and marketing managers. A manufacturing manager reading this book will smile with satisfaction at seeing common modern manufacturing principles well applied to the design realm.

The only weak points I can think of are: 1) That it may be useful for the author to break out case studies rather than keeping them in the same typeface intermingled with the rest of the text. 2) No real advice is given on how to overcome real-world resistance to these ideas. Some sage advice on how to introduce these concepts and tools into organizations with existing biases and cultures could be a real benefit to practitioners. These are minor objections though.

Whether you're in a software start-up or part of a Fortune 500 company design team doing existing product improvement, this book contains useful information that will enhance your understanding of what you're doing right and what you could do better - and WHY!

5 out of 5 stars every design engineer should read this book........2001-05-06

Managing the Design Factory; A Product Developer's Toolbox, by Donald G. Reinertsen, is an important book on how successful companies should develop new products. Many popular management books share some common themes such as; JIT, kanban, lean manufacturing, reducing WIP, quick turn times, low inventory. Unfortunately, the development process in most companies has been slow to apply these insights to their engineering and design practice. Reinertsen does a superb job of showing how this is done. The Design Factory exists for one purpose - the same as the manufacturing factory - to make a profit. The focus of the book is on tools, not rules and rituals. These are practical tools that account for varied situations. The information is presented in a form that an engineer can understand and appreciate, but without unnecessary difficulty. There are excellent sections on queue and information theory, and capacity utilization and batch size, and on eliminating useless controls. I agree completely with the `do it, try it, fix it' approach to development, and not being burdened with trying to make it right the first time. Every practicing design engineer should read this book.
Managing Product and Service Development: Text and Cases
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Corporate Innovation Paradigm
Managing Product and Service Development: Text and Cases
Stefan H. Thomke
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill/Irwin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ManagementManagement | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Operations ResearchOperations Research | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Marketing | Marketing & Sales | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Business & InvestingBusiness & Investing | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:
  1. The Toyota Product Development System: Integrating People, Process And Technology The Toyota Product Development System: Integrating People, Process And Technology
  2. Product Design and Development Product Design and Development
  3. Experimentation Matters: Unlocking the Potential of New Technologies for Innovation Experimentation Matters: Unlocking the Potential of New Technologies for Innovation
  4. Winning at New Products: Accelerating the Process from Idea to Launch, Third Edition Winning at New Products: Accelerating the Process from Idea to Launch, Third Edition
  5. Flexible Product Development: Building Agility for Changing Markets Flexible Product Development: Building Agility for Changing Markets

ASIN: 0073023019

Book Description

This text offers a new option for instructors interested in emphasizing a balance between products and services.
Managing Product and Service Development is about the managerial aspects critical to conceiving, designing, and developing innovative products and services. The course exposes students to some of the best management practices, tools, and frameworks known today, and introduces new approaches that hold promise for the future. Many texts are either aimed at engineering or marketing specialists and do not adequately address the often difficult general management issues that arise in complex development project. This book does not require training or experience in a technical field but addresses the role of new technologies in product development.
In this text students learn about innovation through exploration. All the material has been developed and tested in the MBA and executive education classroom at Harvard Business School. The Instructor’s Manual (IM), as only part of this text’s proven teaching materials, describes an optional student project that complements in-class sessions.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Corporate Innovation Paradigm.......2006-05-06

Since the book *Managing Product & Service Development: Text & Cases* by Stefan H. Thomke has become available for academic purposes it may be of interest to think about how this material on the veritably "hot topic" of corporate innovation can be used.

To briefly summarize the book's contents, it is based on the author's academic and case research and consists of three modules. Each of these is made up of an introductory text, a set of cases/notes and a collection of published articles. Thus there are 3 chapters, 16 cases, two notes and 11 articles altogether. It may be mentioned that the book is accompanied by an *Instructor's Manual/Cases* which contains detailed teaching notes for the cases as well as other background information for use by teachers of product and service development courses.

Three types of user strategies can be identified. These may be listed for working purposes as sampling, full court press and springboard strategies, respectively.

The sampling strategy would consist of adoption of individual cases (and to a lesser extent, articles) from the book. For instance, the faculty of one well known B-school tried out nearly half the cases in the book while the latter was still in its formative stages. Such trials were conducted in several academic areas including technlogy, marketing, policy, organisational behavior etc. In these instances most of the cases became long term features of the courses that were involved. A few other cases were also considered for use but were eventually not adopted for a variety of reasons centred on the common idea of "resistance to change". To the best of my knowledge, these reasons did not reflect at all on the high quality of the cases in the book. It should be mentioned that the cases which were used may not have been taught in the comprehensive way described in the teaching notes. But wherever the sessions were rated (as in executive development programs) these were indeed of a consistently high order.

The full court press would consist of adoption of the book's philospohy and structure, pretty much as is. Here it is necessary to point out that the three modules are sequenced so as to give pride of place to the author's academic forte (in terms of a separate book length treatment, articles and case research) viz experimentation for product and service development purposes. This is followed by a module which is anchored to a significant extent in the author's collaborative work on the customer interface with Eric von Hippel. Finally, the third module can be said to consist of a number of other neoclassical articles in the field in conjunction with the author's cases.

Thus we seem to have an experimentation- and democratization-centric paradigm of corporate innovation. The challenge here (for example in the case of the B-school mentioned above) would be for an individual faculty or a cohesive faculty team to adopt the truly multi-functional perspective that is necessitated by the author's work. The ability to implement this strategy might be a function of the dynamics of academic bureaucracies at individual institutions.

The third level of usage, which we label as "springboard" would consist of adaptation of the materials available including in books like Thomke's *Experimentation Matters* and Eric von Hippel's *Democratizing Innovation* and several others to fashion a "new" course which will be on the leading edge of teaching and research on the subject just as the present one is today. For example, what would it take to develop products and services with "customerization" (including via experimentation in the sense in which Thomke defines it) right off the bat, say for base-of-pyramid (BOP) markets? At the very least this perspective might lead to a 5-10 year search for more case research sites which provide the necessary insights in an enlightening way just as the present book has done. Perhaps we can expect more investment in intellectual capital in the domains of modules 2 and 3 of the book with fine tuning of module 1 in future.

In short, users of Stefan Thomke's book can surely look forward to a stimulating venture into rapidly evolving academic territory.

Software Product Management: Managing Software Development from Idea to Product to Marketing to Sales (Execenablers)
Average customer rating: 3 out of 5 stars
  • Not much writing, large font and little value
  • Pretty bad
  • too shallow
  • Not worth the money
  • Great Insights into the Software Development Process
Software Product Management: Managing Software Development from Idea to Product to Marketing to Sales (Execenablers)
Dan Conde
Manufacturer: Aspatore Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Marketing | Marketing & Sales | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Product ManagementProduct Management | Marketing | Marketing & Sales | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
EntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
Software EngineeringSoftware Engineering | Computer Science | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books | Design Tools & Techniques | General | Information Systems | Methodology | Multimedia Information Systems
GeneralGeneral | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:
  1. Software Product Management Essentials Software Product Management Essentials
  2. The Product Manager's Field Guide : Practical Tools, Exercises, and Resources for Improved Product Management The Product Manager's Field Guide : Practical Tools, Exercises, and Resources for Improved Product Management
  3. The Product Managers Handbook, 3E The Product Managers Handbook, 3E
  4. Product Strategy for High Technology Companies Product Strategy for High Technology Companies
  5. The Business of Software: What Every Manager, Programmer, and Entrepreneur Must Know to Thrive and Survive in Good Times and Bad The Business of Software: What Every Manager, Programmer, and Entrepreneur Must Know to Thrive and Survive in Good Times and Bad

ASIN: 1587622025

Book Description

Software Product Management decodes the software product management process with an emphasis on coordinating the needs of stakeholders ranging from engineering, sales, and product support to technical writing and marketing. Based on real-world experience in managing the development of enterprise software, this book details how a team can work together smoothly to achieve their goal of releasing a superior software product on time.

Instead of being a step-by-step cookbook that attempts to meet everyone's needs, the book guides managers to develop the framework appropriate for their organizations and company goals, understand the tradeoffs, and make the right decisions. The book also addresses the challenges of product management in a period of increased commoditization of software technology products. By providing a historical context for the evolution of today's software marketplace, it presents ideas for prospering in a still rapidly changing environment.

Dispensing practical, usable information for experts and novices alike, Software Product Management is quickly becoming the go-to reference in the library of every product manager, programmer, CTO, and entrepreneur and anyone interested personally or professionally in software.

Customer Reviews:

1 out of 5 stars Not much writing, large font and little value.......2005-10-17

For whatever reason, the makers of this book felt the need to use a pretty large font, and lots of margin space. Reading 20 pages took no time at all and I think I finished the whole book in perhaps 1 hr. The contents were pretty much common sense, nothing terribly useful beyond confirming my thinking about being a PM before buying this book.

2 out of 5 stars Pretty bad.......2005-06-14

The book is just a bunch of rambling by the author. Ever so often he has a good point, but you could count those good points with less than 10 of your fingers.

Towards the end he gets into technical platforms. In my opinion, it was useless information.

Don't let the number of pages fool you into thinking it is very in-depth. The type is fairly large and double-spaced. This sneaky tactic is best left to college term papers.

1 out of 5 stars too shallow.......2005-01-01

i spend some time to read the book. the book is too simple.I don't get valuable knowledge from it. Maybe it is suitable for the guys who have few experience in IT company. It will waste your time to peruse the book if you have some experience in software company. I'm rather disappoint at the book. I don't understand why AMAZON top the book in the product management list.

2 out of 5 stars Not worth the money.......2004-08-26

I just bought this book recently. This book talks about many general concepts, but I didn't see many useful points.

5 out of 5 stars Great Insights into the Software Development Process.......2003-09-16

Having been in software for the last 20 years at Sun, Novell and Microsoft, I was at first a bit skeptical about this book. However, after reading it, I would highly recommend it to both novice and experienced software professionals - all the way from programmers to developers to marketers to sales to management. This is a great reference on how the whole process works and how you can add value. A must read for anyone in the software business.
Managing New Technology Development
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Managing New Technology Development
    William E. Souder , and J. Daniel Sherman
    Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Professional
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

    Economic Policy & DevelopmentEconomic Policy & Development | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    ManagementManagement | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Quality ControlQuality Control | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Product ManagementProduct Management | Marketing | Marketing & Sales | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    EntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    Industrial DesignIndustrial Design | Industrial, Manufacturing & Operational Systems | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Science | Subjects | Books
    General & ReferenceGeneral & Reference | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books
    All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    ASIN: 0070597480

    Book Description

    New technology development starts with the generation of an idea. It ends with that idea's commercial applications: a new product or a new service in between is a complex sequence of stages demanding specialized management methods. With this in-depth survey, R&D, marketing, and engineering managers can learn from the foremost experts about the most successful, proven practices and techniques--for managing all the stages of new technology development. Each chapter focuses on the activities of a separate stage, using real-world industrial examples to illustrate applications of the product champion, parallel development methods, human factors in compressing cycle times, and other concepts.
    Managing New Products: Using the MAP System to Accelerate Growth (Third Edition)
    Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    • Review for Managing New Products
    • Simply Elegant
    • Try other books first
    • Managing New Products
    Managing New Products: Using the MAP System to Accelerate Growth (Third Edition)
    Thomas D. Kuczmarski
    Manufacturer: Book Ends Publishing
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

    GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    ManagementManagement | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Product ManagementProduct Management | Marketing | Marketing & Sales | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Similar Items:
    1. Innovation (NTC Business Books) Innovation (NTC Business Books)
    2. Innovating the Corporation : Creating Value for Customers and Shareholders Innovating the Corporation : Creating Value for Customers and Shareholders
    3. The Entrepreneur's Guide to Finance & Business: Wealth Creation Techniques for Growing a Business The Entrepreneur's Guide to Finance & Business: Wealth Creation Techniques for Growing a Business

    ASIN: 0967781701

    Book Description

    The right new products program can produce exponential growth..if all the pieces are in place. And that's what this all-new edition of Tom Kuczmarski's landmark book does. It broadens and deepens the message of previous editions with the introduction of a new approach whose greatest strengths are its simplicity, effectiveness, and proven results.

    Called the MAP System, it provides a detailed guide to the secrets of developing a consistent stream of winners--sometimes even the kind of breakthrough product innovation that creates an entire new business unit or industry. It outlines the disciplined approach to creativity and newness that begins by determining customers' needs and wants and by developing the internal culture that encourages the creative decision-making needed to make real innovation happen.

    The MAP is a way of organizing for new product innovation by looking differently at the skills and tools that are already in every organization--but too often under-used or not used at all.

    Key elements include:

    M - for Measure, Manage, and Motivate
    A - for Attitude, specifically for developing and Attitude or Culture of Intelligent Risk-Taking
    P - for Plan, Process, and People

    Arming yourself with the best market information, developing a risk-embracing culture, and organizing around a plan that reflects both: these are the essential elements of new product success.

    In this all-new edition, the author shows how to marshal a company's assets for greater growth and profitability. From conducting diagnostic audits to structuring new product blueprints and strategies through successful product launches to measuring and motivating team performance, this book will give you the tools for managing new product risk more creatively, improving your new product hit rates, and managing your programs more effectively.

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars Review for Managing New Products.......2003-02-20

    This is an amazing book for people planning to specialize in marketing and are currently pursuing an MBA degree.

    5 out of 5 stars Simply Elegant.......2000-12-15

    Many people still think that being smart means being obscure or difficult to understand. If you need evidence to prove them wrong, get this book. The author lays out an amazingly simple yet insightful paradigm for thinking about and developing the kinds of dramatic, innovative new products that really matter to a company's present and future growth and success.

    My only complaint is that the author shortchanges his own system by calling it "New Products." The scheme he describes so well applies to any kind of new service as well as new product. The most "profound" element of his system is that it is flexible enough to be used for any kind of innovation. Its simplicity and broad applicability are beyond comparison.

    1 out of 5 stars Try other books first.......2000-10-18

    This book only brought me a minute degree of value. I would highly recommend seeing other books regarding Innovation that would be more helpful - such as Paths to Innovation by Mowery & Rosenberg.

    5 out of 5 stars Managing New Products.......2000-03-28

    For any business person this book is a must-buy for several reasons.

    First, the form and content reflect the substance. Simply put, most second or third editions of books are warmed-over versions of their predecessors. So, given the speed at which hte world changes, an unchanged third edition is old news.

    This one isn't. It presents a totally new way of looking at new product innovation and putting it to work in the real world. The author has actually followed his own advice. One of his key tenets is that "new and improved" line extensions ar destroying many (e.g., packaged goods) companies. He certainly hasn't just changed the "flavor" of this edition with a drop or two of intellectual rose water, a new cover, and shouts of "new,new, new." I own a copy of the previous edition, and this one has at least 60 percent new information.

    Second, in addition to the new model the author has developed for this edition, the author has added an entire chapter on Innovation Metrics. There's only one way to know where you are and where you are going--measure it. And he provides several techniques, from the relatively simple to the fairly sophisticated, for "putting a number on" one's new product innovation efforts. This is possibly the most important way to take new product innovation from the realm of unmanageable and idiosyncratic activity that just "happens" to its proper role as a set of specific activities that can be used to manage risk.

    Third, I love the simplicity and practicality of the MAP system. At its most basic level it gives a business exec a new way of looking at what his or her business already has--but in a new way. I know lots of workaday buseinss people who are sick to death of getting sucked into "new" systems that, in mid-stream, run out of gas or need big financial suport to stay afloat. Virtually any company of any size already has the basic components of the author's system.

    On the other hand, you can continue to peel back layers of the system and get as much complexity or sophistication as you need. The point is that this system begins at a simple, practical level and can grow as the user's needs dictate. Too many business books are built on sytems or "Just take your customer base of 700,000 names and apply formula XYZ or ABC to it." At just about this time, the average person is from you or anyone else." So many of the business models out there are useless to most people or business circumstances because they (1)either haven't been tested in a real business (2) or will only function on a scale beyond the scope of most companies. Kuczmarski's approach is invaluable because it is eminently useful and usable--right now, today--for any level or size of business.

    I'm sure it's obvious that I recommend this book highly.
    New Product Development: Managing and Forecasting for Strategic Success
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • Sales Forcasting
    New Product Development: Managing and Forecasting for Strategic Success
    Robert J. Thomas
    Manufacturer: Wiley
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    ManagementManagement | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Quality ControlQuality Control | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Product ManagementProduct Management | Marketing | Marketing & Sales | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    EntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    Business & InvestingBusiness & Investing | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    Similar Items:
    1. Winning at New Products: Accelerating the Process from Idea to Launch, Third Edition Winning at New Products: Accelerating the Process from Idea to Launch, Third Edition
    2. New Product Development: from Initial Idea to Product Management New Product Development: from Initial Idea to Product Management
    3. The Portable MBA in Management, Second Edition The Portable MBA in Management, Second Edition
    4. Managing New Product and Process Development: Text and Cases Managing New Product and Process Development: Text and Cases
    5. The Portable MBA in Marketing (The Portable MBA Series) The Portable MBA in Marketing (The Portable MBA Series)

    ASIN: 0471572268

    Book Description

    Learn how to maintain a firm grasp of a project throughout its development, how to forecast with greater accuracy and how to ensure the successful launch of a product. Covers new consumer and industrial products, the latest services and technologies. Contains a slew of examples and case studies to illustrate concepts.

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Sales Forcasting.......2000-06-20

    Excellent book for sales forecasting geared to medium to large companies. Highly recommend. One of the best NP Development books on the market.
    From Followers to Leaders: Managing Innovation in Newly Industrializing Countries
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • The Right Blend of Rigor and Inspiration
    From Followers to Leaders: Managing Innovation in Newly Industrializing Countries
    Naushad Forbes
    Manufacturer: Routledge
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | International | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    IndustrialIndustrial | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    ManagementManagement | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Operations ResearchOperations Research | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Quality ControlQuality Control | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    EntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Robotics & AutomationRobotics & Automation | Computer Technology | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    AutomationAutomation | Mechanical | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    General & ReferenceGeneral & Reference | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books
    All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    ASIN: 0415251761

    Book Description

    This book centres on the ways in which ordinary firms can improve technology management. It provides a welcome alternative to the existing literature that focuses almost exclusively on leading edge firms such as IBM or Microsoft.
    The authors argue that succeeding as a follower-firm requires learning from many experiences and avoiding simplistic 'how-to' approaches that prescribe one best practice. They assert that there are many 'leading edges' and that they appear in the most unlikely places. The book contains major case studies of firms from industries as diverse as pharmaceuticals, software, garments, beer and steel, drawn from twelve different countries.
    From a follower perspective, individual chapters cover:
    *the role of innovation on the shop-floor
    *the importance of mixing process and product innovation
    *the challenges involved in building an innovation culture
    *the special role of research and development, and of design.

    These topics ensure a deeper understanding of strategy in follower-firms, simultaneously providing insight for public policy in building local technological capacity.

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars The Right Blend of Rigor and Inspiration.......2004-06-07

    Forbes and Wield have crafted an excellent survey of the nexus between innovation and international development. This pathbreaking work is a dependable source for both scholars and interested laypeople seeking to understand how innovation within firms truly happens.
    Managing Software Acquisition: Open Systems and COTS Products
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • For anyone in a business who needs to upgrade
    Managing Software Acquisition: Open Systems and COTS Products
    B. Craig Meyers , and Patricia Oberndorf
    Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley Professional
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    Software DevelopmentSoftware Development | Software Design, Testing & Engineering | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
    Information SystemsInformation Systems | Software Engineering | Computer Science | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Software Engineering | Computer Science | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
    All TitlesAll Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    Computers & InternetComputers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
    Similar Items:
    1. Building Systems from Commercial Components(Paperback) (The SEI Series in Software Engineering) Building Systems from Commercial Components(Paperback) (The SEI Series in Software Engineering)
    2. Technology Acquisition: Buying the Future of Your Business Technology Acquisition: Buying the Future of Your Business
    3. Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art (Best Practices (Microsoft)) Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art (Best Practices (Microsoft))
    4. Software Architecture in Practice (2nd Edition) (The SEI Series in Software Engineering) Software Architecture in Practice (2nd Edition) (The SEI Series in Software Engineering)
    5. Enterprise Architecture As Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution Enterprise Architecture As Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution

    ASIN: 0201704544

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars For anyone in a business who needs to upgrade.......2001-10-15

    Managing Software Acquisition: Open Systems and COTS Products is an in-depth guide to gaining open systems and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products. Getting the right software and using it properly can save great amounts of time and cost during the life of a computer system. Business managers and staff must closely understand what is entailed in the often difficult transition from in-house, custom-made software to commercial market products. With reference models, projected cost implications, contracting strategies, and much more, Managing Software Acquisition is strongly recommended for anyone in a business who needs to upgrade their software regularly!
    The Action Selling Sales Training Book Series (Action Selling Book Series)
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      The Action Selling Sales Training Book Series (Action Selling Book Series)
      Duane Sparks
      Manufacturer: The Sales Board
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      InsuranceInsurance | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
      ASIN: 097535695X

      Product Description

      The Action Selling Sales Training and Selling Skills Book Series includes: - Action Selling: How to sell like a professional, even if you think you are one. -Selling Your Price: How to escape the race to the bargain basement - Questions: The Answer to Sales - Masters of Loyalty: How to turn your sales force into a loyalty force The Action Selling Book Series will dramatically improve the sales behavior of your sales force. Action Selling: Are your salespeople "Winging It" during calls? With Action Selling, they`ll learn the Five Critical Sales Skills that really matter and how to follow a proven process that has helped over 300,000 become top selling producers. Selling Your Price: Do your salespeople rely on old habits, manipulative tricks or price concessions to close the sale? With Selling Your Price, salespeople learn how to sell value and protect margins while winning more business. Questions: The Answer to Sales: Do your salespeople depend on the gift of gab to win sales? With Questions, they`ll know how and when to ask the best-questions that lead to gaining commitment. Masters of Loyalty: Do your salespeople sell loyalty? With Masters, they`ll learn how to create real loyalty; loyalty that makes customers stop shopping and be forever deaf to competitor`s appeals.

      Books:

      1. Managing New Technology Development
      2. Modern Business Statistics (with CD-ROM and InfoTrac )
      3. Monitoring, Measuring, & Managing Customer Service
      4. Monte Carlo Methods in Financial Engineering (Stochastic Modelling and Applied Probability)
      5. New Directions for Organization Theory: Problems and Prospects
      6. New Manufacturing Challenge: Techniques for Continuous Improvement
      7. Operating System Concepts
      8. Performance Dashboards: Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing Your Business
      9. Physical Asset Management Handbook
      10. Principles Of Operations Management and Student CD (6th Edition)

      Books Index

      Books Home

      Recommended Books

      1. Writing Effective Policies and Procedures: A Step-By-Step Resource for Clear Communication
      2. Mexican Muralists: Orozco, Rivera, Siqueiros
      3. David Lean: An Intimate Portrait
      4. F.D.R.: An Intimate History
      5. Mobile Messaging Technologies and Services: SMS, EMS and MMS
      6. Sleeping with Strangers
      7. Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind
      8. Chuck Jaffe's Lifetime Guide to Mutual Funds: An Owner's Manual
      9. Globalization, Poverty and Inequality: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
      10. Evil Breeding