Avoiding the Corporate Death Spiral
Avoiding the Corporate Death Spiral

Author: Gregg Stocker

Publisher: Quality Press

Published: 2006-06-30

Total Pages: 187

ISBN-13: 1636940706

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Nowhere is it written that a company, regardless of how large it is or how successful it might seem to be, will survive. There have been too many highly visible and painful reminders of this fact over the last several years. While many of these companies fall apart seemingly overnight, the reality is that the decline is a process that usually takes several years and results from a number of actions, decisions, and behaviors that contribute to the demise.The purpose of this book is to present the warning signs of organizational decline, and provide a method for leaders to identify and eliminate them before the organization enters a death spiral. It provides detailed explanations of each warning sign, including an explanation regarding how the sign contributes to the decline, and also an assessment tool to determine the existence and extent of the signs within an organization. The principles and concepts present are equally applicable to healthcare, manufacturing, or service organizations. "A compelling and revealing account of why businesses do and do not survive. I and many of my colleagues consider it mandatory reading." Jim Schroth President J.L. Schroth Company "It is hoped that corporate executives will take heed to the message of this book to avoid (or end) death spirals of their companies, but time is running out for many formerly great companies!" Gene PerkinsbrGroup Vice President – Retired Emerson Electric "Gregg Stocker’s excellent new book captures the fundamental lessons all organizations must learn...This is a remarkable, must-read book for leaders and students of organizations everywhere!" Jeff Lickson President The Consortium"Gregg Stocker is a well-versed, lifetime advocate of quality and performance improvement. His book points the way." David Phillips Former CEO Sherex Chemical, Inc.

I'm Sorry I Broke Your Company
I'm Sorry I Broke Your Company

Author: Karen Phelan

Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Published: 2012-12-05

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 160994741X

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Karen Phelan is sorry. She really is. She tried to do business by the numbers—the management consultant way—developing measures, optimizing processes, and quantifying performance. The only problem is that businesses are run by people. And people can't be plugged into formulas or summed up in scorecards. Phelan dissects a whole range of consulting treatments for unhealthy companies and shows why they're essentially fad diets: superficial would-be fixes that don't result in lasting improvements and can cause serious damage. With a mix of clear-eyed business analysis, heart-wrenching stories, and hard-won lessons for both consultants and the people who hire them, this book is impossible to put down and impossible to ignore. Karen Phelan and other consultants may have “broken” your company, but she's eager to make amends.

The Logical Thinking Process
The Logical Thinking Process

Author: H. William Dettmer

Publisher: Quality Press

Published: 2007-05-24

Total Pages: 452

ISBN-13: 0873895894

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A major rewrite of Dettmer's classic Goldratt's Theory of Constraints, this new edition presents a whole new approach to building and applying logic trees. The logical thinking process referred to in the title is nothing less than a broadly applicable, systems-level approach to policy analysis. Dettmer has streamlined the process of constructing the logic trees while simultaneously ensuring that the results are more logically sound and closer representations of reality than ever before. He explains an easier, more logically sound way to integrate Current Reality Trees with Evaporating Clouds. His new version of the thinking process "retires" the Transition Tree in favor of the marriage of a more detailed Prerequisite Tree and critical chain project management. This book contains new examples of logic trees from a variety of real-world applications. Most of the diagrams and illustrations are new and improved. Explanations and procedures for constructing the logic trees are considerably simplified.

The Lean Handbook
The Lean Handbook

Author: Anthony Manos

Publisher: Quality Press

Published: 2010-11-19

Total Pages: 357

ISBN-13: 0873898230

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This handbook’s intention is to gather into a single reference the information related to the joint lean certification program of SME, AME, The Shingo Prize, and ASQ. This book will enhance your understanding of the certification’s Body of Knowledge (BOK) as a whole and give you a more holistic look at lean. This comprehensive handbook covers all the topics included in the BOK: cultural enablers, continuous process improvement, consistent lean enterprise culture, and business results. Written by a team of lean experts with years of experience in the field, it will be indispensible to anyone interested in implementing and sustaining a lean initiative. The book is written, by design, at the Bronze Level for certification knowledge. This means that the weightings used in the Lean BOK for the Bronze Certification were considered for the depth and breadth of material considered for each rubric. By addressing the Lean BOK at the Bronze Level, this book provides a basic understanding of the lean principles, systems, and tools at a tactical level to drive improvements with measureable results. Material from several lean practitioners with differing backgrounds and experience has been gathered to create this handbook, which serves as an ideal starting point for practitioners who want both a holistic view of lean in general and also specifically the BOK of this groundbreaking joint certification program.

Sweet Spot
Sweet Spot

Author: David Magee

Publisher: Triumph Books

Published: 2009-05-01

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 1633191095

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Away from the game and the players for which it was crafted, the baseball bat is a sleek but humble creation. Yet in the hands of batters both young and old who have been stepping to the plate on diamonds around the world for more than a century, the bat is a powerful tool, capable of yielding lasting memories or making legends of a lifetime. And no bat has had more impact on baseball and the players of the game than Louisville Slugger, the tool of the trade used by millions-from the major leagues to college and youth leagues. In accordance with Louisville Slugger's 125th anniversary, the complete history of the bat, its impact on the game, and the ongoing story of Hillerich and Bradsby's family business is told in these pages. Blending firsthand stories from former and current major leaguers with details from more than 100 years of craftsmanship and contribution, this comprehensive history of baseball's bat and its impact on America's game is a must-have and must-read for anyone who has ever stood at the plate waiting on a pitch-or watched as a fan-hoping for a miracle.

Innovation through Knowledge Transfer
Innovation through Knowledge Transfer

Author: Robert J. Howlett

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2010-07-19

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 3642145949

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Knowledge transfer between universities, business and the community is a topical subject of increasing importance. The first International Conference on 'Innovation through Knowledge Transfer: Research with Impact', InnovationKT'09, held in Kingston, London, UK, provided a rare and welcome opportunity to share some of the successes of knowledge transfer. The conference attracted 150 delegates and featured 42 oral presentations. This volume, representing the proceedings of the conference, contains 35 papers based on selected conference presentations. The papers are divided into seven sections entitled ‘Key Knowledge Transfer Perspectives’, ‘Knowledge Transfer Case Studies’, ‘Innovative Knowledge Transfer Techniques’, ‘Strategic and Organisational Approaches to Knowledge Transfer’, ‘Knowledge transfer in the Arts and the Community’, ‘Knowledge Transfer Methodology and Practice’ and ‘Innovation and Enterprise’. The first InnovationKT conference was unique in gathering such a tremendous range of knowledge transfer experience and expertise. This volume forms a valuable resource for all those who are involved in knowledge transfer, or wish to know more about it. University academics can read examples of ways in which research can be commercialised, increasing impact and improving relevance. Knowledge transfer practitioners can find out about best practice in their subject and read case studies. Companies can read about how universities can help find solutions to their problems. We recommend this volume as a statement of the benefits that knowledge transfer can bring to all those involved.

Proving Continuous Improvement with Profit Ability
Proving Continuous Improvement with Profit Ability

Author: Russ Jones

Publisher: Quality Press

Published: 2008-06-30

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1636940722

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The goal of this book is to demonstrate to manufacturing, distributor, and service businesses that there are only seven critical business elements from which continuous improvement projects can be discovered, financially evaluated, and ranked before implementation. They are: Increase sales by increasing the percent of market coverage. Reduce expenses by reducing the percent of labor and non-labor expenses per sales dollar. Reduce lead times to reduce work-in-process inventory investment. Reduce setup costs to minimize product and component inventory investment. Maximize capital asset utilization percent. Minimize asset investment for invoice payment by controlling the collection period within the contracted time period. Maximize employee knowledge worker utilization by empowering them with financial and practical training related to these seven business elements. The information is uniquely organized so it can serve as a frequent reminder for both the experienced and inexperienced of the few principles and financially-based formulas that must be built into company culture if both customers and stockholders are to be satisfied. Project teams are shown how to discover and financially evaluate and rank a vast number of continuous improvement projects.

Navigating the New Normal
Navigating the New Normal

Author: Rodd Mann

Publisher: Business Expert Press

Published: 2021-03-08

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 1637420218

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This book is primarily focused on the post-pandemic Gen Z and Millennial business opportunities, most of which didn’t even exist a generation ago. No one will forget the year 2020. The year that a pandemic shut down social, work, and public contact. There are two particular changes that have had a pronounced effect on business and finance, which this book will provide the guidance currently lacking in traditional business school texts. The first is the change from commuting to work to sheltering-in-place, with students and professionals on videoconferencing apps such as Zoom. Likely a lasting change, we can expect many office spaces will remain empty and many businesses will stick with the new work-from-home change. The second change is that the younger generation is the first to suffer a setback in terms of the standard of living compared to their parents. Not only do more than half of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings, but they eschew traditional corporate cubicles, preferring instead to juggle multiple and new ‘hustles and side gigs.’ This book is primarily focused on the post-pandemic Gen Z and Millennial business opportunities, most of which didn’t even exist a generation ago.

Topgrading (revised PHP edition)
Topgrading (revised PHP edition)

Author: Bradford D. Smart Ph.D.

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2005-04-07

Total Pages: 604

ISBN-13: 9781591840817

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Great companies don’t just depend on strategies—they depend on people. The more great people on your team, the more successful your organization will be. But that’s easier said than done. Statistically, half of all employment decisions result in a mishire: The wrong person winds up in the wrong job. But companies that have followed Bradford Smart’s advice in Topgrading have boosted their successful hiring rate to 90 percent or better, giving them an unbeatable competitive advantage. Now Smart has fully revised his 1999 management classic to reintroduce the topgrading concept, which works for companies large and small in any industry. The author spells out his practical approach to finding and managing A-level talent—as well as coaching B players to turn them into A players. He provides intriguing case studies drawn from more than four thousand in-depth interviews. As Smart writes in his introduction, “All organizations, all businesses live or die mostly on their talent, and any manager who fails to topgrade is nuts, or a C player. . . . Those who, way deep down, would sooner see an organization die than nudge an incompetent person out of a job should not read this book... Topgrading is for A players and all those aspiring to be A players.” On the web: http://www.topgrading.com/