Today and Tomorrow - Special Edition of Ford's 1926 Classic Review

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(More customer reviews)This is an outstanding book for those folks in manufacturing who are starting out on their "Lean" journey. The book teaches the uninitiated an original thinker's way of recognizing "waste" in manufacturing, and often, how to deal with that waste. Taiichi Ohno took a "shipload" of this book with him to Japan in the '50s and made sure that every Toyota engineer read the book. The rest is history as to how Toyota packaged this information for the rest of the world, including the United States, in its now famous "7 wastes of manufacturing." You will enjoy the book and learn what an outstanding visionary Henry Ford really was.

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Winner of the 2003 Shingo Prize!Henry Ford is the man who doubled wages, cut the price of a car in half, and produced over 2 million units a year. Time has not diminished the progressiveness of his business philosophy, or his profound influence on worldwide industry. The modern printing of Today and Tomorrow features an introduction by James J. Padilla, Group Vice President, Ford North America. It also includes an enhanced selection of photos illustrating the processes and facilities Ford covers in the text. Taiichi Ohno acknowledged that a key stimulus to JIT was his close reading of this book. Today, these same ideas are re-emerging to revitalize American industry in new ways. "I, for one, am in awe of Ford's greatness. I believe Ford was a born rationalist -- and I feel more so every time I read his writings. He had a deliberate and scientific way of thinking about industry in America. For example, on the issues of standardization and the nature of waste in business, Ford's perception of things was orthodox and universal."- Taiichi Ohno

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The Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market Review

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(More customer reviews)This book's concepts for strategic marketing management are so widely accepted that the popular Balanced Scorecard concept of Kaplan and Norton in 2001 decided to adopt the ideas for the "customer perspective".
The authors manage to take Michael Porter's two generic competitive strategies - Differentiation and Cost Leader - and elaborate on these to an extent never presented so elegantly before. In the process, they discover a third generic strategy - Customer Intimacy.
Thus, Treacy and Wiersema distinguish between focusing on the following value dimensions:
- Operational excellence (cost leadership / focus on supply chain management)
- Product leadership (innovation / focus on product lifecycle management)
- Customer Intimacy (service leadership /focus on customer relationship management)

These are the FOUR RULES that govern market leaders' actions:
Rule 1: Provide the best offering in the marketplace by excelling in a specific dimension of value
Rule 2: Maintain threshold standards on the other dimensions of value
Rule 3: Dominate your market by improving value year after year
Rule 4: Build a well-tuned operating model dedicated to delivering unmatched value
Expanding on the fourth rule - operating models - may the best long-term contribution of this book. The authors explain in detail and via case stories how the operating models differ for each of the three value propositions. In practice, I've learned that by explaining the operating models, many people can easier find themselves depicted than in the overall generic dimensions of cost, service or product leadership.
OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE or Cost Leadership - Best total cost - operating model:
Key success factor: Formula!
Golden rule: Variety kills efficiency
Culture: Disciplined teamwork; Process focused; Conformance, "one size fits all" mindset
Organization: Centralized functions; high skills at the core of the organization
Core processes: Product delivery and basic service cycle; built on standard, no frills fixed assets
Management Systems: Command and control; Compensation fixed to cost and quality; transaction profitability tracking
Information Technology: Integrated, low-cost transaction systems; Mobile and remote technologies
PRODUCT LEADERSHIP - Best product - operating model:
Key success factor: Talent!
Golden rule: Cannibalize your success with breakthroughs
Culture: Concept, future driven; Experimentation, "out of the box" mindset; Attack, go for it, win
Organization: Ad-hoc, organic, and cellular; High skills abound in loose-knit structures
Core processes: Invention, Commercialisation; Market exploitation; Disjoint work procedures
Management Systems: Decisive, risk oriented; Reward individuals' innovation capacity; Product lifecycle profitability
Information Technology: Person-to-person communications systems; Technologies enabling cooperation and knowledge management
CUSTOMER INTIMACY - Best total solution - operating model:
Key success factor: Solution!
Golden rule: Solve the client's broader problem
Culture: Client and filed driven; Variation: "Have it your way" mindset
Organization: Entrepreneurial client teams; High skills in the field
Core processes: Client acquisition and development; Solution development; Flexible and responsive work procedures
Management Systems: Revenue and share-of-wallet driven; Rewards based in part on client feedback; Lifetime value of client
Information Technology: Customer databases linking internal and external information; Knowledge bases built around expertise
If you're interested in Customer Intimacy, you may want to add Wiersema's additional book on only this strategy to your shopping basket. I highly recommend both paperback books ... great value for money ;-)
Peter Leerskov,
MSc in International Business (Marketing & Management) and Graduate Diploma in E-business

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Why is it that Casio can sell a calculator more cheaply than Kellogg's can sell a box of corn flakes? Why can FedEx "absolutely, positively" deliver your package overnight but airlines have trouble keeping track of your bags? What does your company do better than anyone else? What unique value do you provide to your customers? How will you increase that value next year? As customers' demands for the highest quality products, best services, and lowest prices increase daily, the rules for market leadership are changing. Once powerful companies that haven't gotten the message are faltering, while others, new and old, are thriving. In disarmingly simple and provocative terms, Treacy and Wiersema show what it takes to become a leader in your market, and stay there, in an ever more sophisticated and demanding world.

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Library 2.0: A Guide to Participatory Library Service Review

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(More customer reviews)Strategies and projects which have helped over a hundred public libraries gain community support and funding are outlined in a reference highly recommended for both libraries at all levels, from school to community, to educators who want to gain insights into what makes up a set of winning programs and services reaching out to the community. From building youth services and interest to making marketing and economic partnerships, LIBRARY 2.0 is a key to developing lasting libraries and collections which reach out to community needs.

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Two of the first and most original thinkers on Library 2.0 introduce the essential concepts and offer ways to improve service to better meet the changing needs of 21st century library users. Describing a service model of constant and purposeful change, evaluation and updating of library services, and user participation, the book both outlines the theoretical underpinnings of Library 2.0 and provides practical advice on how to get there. From incorporating technology to reachingthe long tail,from getting buy-in to maintaining momentum, all aspects of Library 2.0 are covered.

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The Fred Factor: How Passion in Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary Review

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(More customer reviews)
This short book focuses on a mailman Mark Sanborn met, a man named Fred. When the author first met Fred, Fred took an effort to get to know his new customer, and find ways to do a better job as a mailman. This book about the value of doing a better job, how to build relationships, and why we should take initiative. In short by going the extra mile we'll have a better life, and others will benefit.
It is a good book, and a short book. It is well written. The book is entertaining and at the same time makes many good points.
The first of four sections covers how the author met Fred the mailman, and how very quickly the author realized that Fred was a superstar mail carrier. The basics of what a "Fred" is are explored, and then the author mentions sightings of other "Freds."
The second section explains how you can become a Fred. Basically you need to build relationships with others so you know them well enough to then be able to be create, take initiative and make a difference.
The third section gives pointers on how you can help others grow into being Freds. The basic steps are to:
1) Find - how do you recognize a Fred
2) Reward - how should Freds be rewarded
3) Educate - how help people improve their Fredness
4) Demonstrate - model the correct behavior
The final section recounts the value and importance of being a Fred.
This is a book worth reading. It provides a good reminder and motivation to go the extra mile and do a better job.


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Meet Fred.In his powerful new book The Fred Factor, motivational speaker Mark Sanborn recounts the true story of Fred, the mail carrier who passionately loves his job and who genuinely cares about the people he serves. Because of that, he is constantly going the extra mile handling the mail – and sometimes watching over the houses – of the people on his route, treating everyone he meets as a friend. Where others might see delivering mail as monotonous drudgery, Fred sees an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of those he serves.We've all encountered people like Fred in our lives. In The Fred Factor, Mark Sanborn illuminates the simple steps each of us can take to transform our own lives from the ordinary – into the extraordinary. Sanborn, through stories about Fred and others like him, reveals the four basic principles that will help us bring fresh energy and creativity to our life and work: how to make a real difference everyday, how to become more successful by building strong relationships, how to create real value for others without spending a penny, and how to constantly reinvent yourself. By following these principles, and by learning from and teaching other "Freds," you, too, can excel in your career and make your life extraodinary. As Mark Sanborn makes clear, each of us has the potential be a Fred.The Fred Factor shows you how.

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CRM at the Speed of Light, Fourth Edition: Social CRM 2.0 Strategies, Tools, and Techniques for Engaging Your Customers (Unknown Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)As a "CRM" consultant, it's been hard enough trying to bridge the gap between "CRM software" and what CRM really is. Paul explained the differences (operationally) in his first three editions (I read 1 and 3). While CRM successes have been on the rise, I've seen little change in the markets I work in. Do they fail? No. Do they exceed beyond everyone's wildest expectations? Absolutely not.
We have this problem, as people, that we want things the way we want them. Many businesses want software that solves their problems. Many customers now want businesses to change the way they are engaged. Can you see the problem? No? Then as a business owner, you really owe it to yourself to read this book because it will open your eyes. You'll start looking at your teenager's behaviors and realize that you're not selling to Barney Fife anymore.
And as for you CRM consultants (full disclosure, I'm one of them) you will see how much value you leave on the table each and every day you build a practice around "fields and screens". Yes, software is the answer -- to how to support processes that engage customers in totally new ways. CRM at the Speed of Light 4th Edition will paint a clear picture of the changes we face as business leaders and as consultants who hope to make our businesses, or our clients, more competitive in the loyalty game.
I didn't think I would see ways to bring Social CRM into the middle market arena. But now I see how the social customer is going to demand it. Maybe not tomorrow...but certainly by next week.

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A social revolution in how we communicate has taken place in recent years. Smartphones, social web tools, and the instant availability of information in an aggregated and organized way provide real-time intelligence to customers, not just the enterprise.
Social CRM is critical to business success in today's hyper-connected environment. Customers' expectations are so great and their demands so empowered that a Social CRM strategy must be built around collaboration and customers engagement, not traditional operational customer management. It's the company's response to the customer's control of the conversation that makes Social CRM work.
Written by CRM guru Paul Greenberg, CRM at the Speed of Light, Fourth Edition, reveals best practices for a successful Social CRM implementation. Greenberg explains how this new paradigm involves the customer in a synergetic discussion to provide mutually beneficial value in a trusted and transparent business environment.
Throughout this definitive volume, you'll find examples of the new strategies for customer engagement and collaboration being used by cutting-edge companies, along with expert guidance on how your organization can and should adopt these innovations.
CRM at the Speed of Light, Fourth Edition, reviews the lat4est technological developments in the operational side of CRM, including vertical applications, and explains the fundamentals of the multifaceted CRM framework.
Find out why Paul Greenberg was named the #1 CRM influencer by InsideCRM in the completely recast edition of this international bestseller.
In addition to being the author of the bestselling CRM at the Speed of Light, Paul Greenberg is President of The 56 Group, LLC, a customer strategy consulting firm focused on cutting-edge CRM strategic services; a founding partner of the CRM training company, BPT Partners, LLC, a training a consulting venture composed of a number of CRM luminaries that has become the certification authority for the CRM industry; co-chairman of Rutgers University's CRM Research Center; Executive Vice President of the CRM Association; and a Board of Advisors member of the Baylor University MBA Program for CRM majors. Paul was named one of the most influential CRM leaders in 2008 by CRM Magazine. He is known for his work on the use of social media in CRM as tools for customer collaboration with a company. Currently, Paul lives in Manassas, Virginia, with his wife and five cats. You can reach him at paul-greenberg3@comcast.net, follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pgreenbe, or join up with him on LinkedIn or Facebook.
Praise for CRM at the Speed of Light
"[This book] is a testament to Greenberg's profound grasp of the control revolution that is upon us. Customers seizing control from business. Citizens demanding control and accountability from their governments. Political campaigns and charities being rewarded by shifting power to their supporters. Quite simply, it is the definitive work for anyone committed to putting the social customer at the center of their operation." -- Brian Komar, Director of Interacitve Marketing and CRM, Center for American Progress
"With great insights, great stories, and great inforamtion, Paul Greenberg analyzes the impact of every major industry development on vendor/customer relationships. Not only is he on top of his game, he makes reading this edition as enjoyable as it was to read the previous three. This is an absolute must-read for anyone serious about understanding how to best serve today's social customer." -- Brent Leary, CRM industry analyst and co-author of Barack 2.0: Social Media Lessons for Small Business
"Web 2.0 hiot and Paul Greenberg couldn't resist telling us what it all means. Lucky for us. This edition is packed with new insights about how online conversations are changing the nature of customer relations. Think the CRM market is crazy now? Hitch a ride on Greenberg's shoulders because you ain't seen nothing yet." -- Paul Gillin, author of The New Influencers and Secrets of Social Media Marketing."
"As we make the shift to SCRM, Paul's insights provide a much needed framework on how to navigate a more connected, social, and collaborative enterprise." -- R "Ray" Wang, Partner, Enterprise Strategy, Altimeter Group, LLC
"Paul Greenberg is one of the most astute minds in CRM and social media today. His book remains the bible for companies employing CRM. The added focus on blending new and social media into Paul's philosophy of CRM will keep this as the first book companies reach for to enhance the customer relationship in the new century." -- Jay Dunn, Vice President of Marketing, Lane Bryant
"Paul Greenberg shares his unparalleled expertise on the dramatic evolution from CRM 1.0 to CRM 2.0 with unique insightful examples. It is a must read for anyone looking to transform the potential of CRM into long-lasting competitive advantage in a rapidly changing business environment." -- Jujhar Singh, Senior Vice President, SAP CRM Product Management

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