The Carolina Way or Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends Angry Customers Tell 3000

The Carolina Way: Leadership Lessons from a Life in Coaching

Author: Dean Smith

For forty years, Dean Smith coached the University of North Carolina basketball team with unsurpassed success. Now, in The Carolina Way, he explains his coaching philosophy and shows readers how to apply it to the leadership and team-building challenges they face in their own lives. In his wry, sensible, wise way, Coach Smith takes us through every aspect of his program, illustrating his insights with vivid stories. Accompanying each of Coach Smith's major points is a "Player Perspective" from a former North Carolina basketball star and an in-depth "Business Perspective" from Gerald D. Bell, a world-renowned leadership consultant and a professor at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School. The keystones of Coach Smith's coaching philosophy are widely applicable and centrally relevant to building successful teams of any kind.

He's a better coach of basketball than anyone else. (John Wooden)

Author Bio&58;Dean Smith became head coach of the University of North Carolina's basketball team at age thirty, and in thirty-six years in that position, he established coaching records that will likely long remain unbroken. His 879 victories are the most by any coach in college basketball history. In 2000, an ESPN panel of experts named him one of the seven greatest coaches of the twentieth century in any sport. Smith also coached the 1976 U.S. Olympic basketball team, which won the gold medal. He is the author of A Coach's Life.

Library Journal

Using Smith's approach to playing basketball, Bell's management applications, and Kilgo's presentation of player perspectives on their experiences at North Carolina under basketball coach Smith, this audiobook shows the real working-world application of Smith's coaching theory and practice. It proves that the common experience at Carolina indeed created a basketball "family" among coaches and players and shows the extraordinary humanity of Smith himself. Smith crafted a system that won four NCAA national championships, winning 75 percent of their games while graduating 96 percent of their basketball scholar athletes. The solid tips in this program concerning careful staff recruiting and the creation of the proper workplace atmosphere should allow managers to form and nurture a working team as effective as the Carolina "family." Straightforward, practical, and thought-provoking; a sports book that will make ordinary managers into Smith fans. Very highly recommended for sports management collections.-Cliff Glaviano, Bowling Green State Univ. Libs., OH Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

New interesting book: Patton on Leadership or Organizational Culture and Leadership

Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000: Running a Business in Today's Consumer-Driven World

Author: Pete Blackshaw

New-media pioneer Pete Blackshaw contends that because anyone with a computer can broadcast an opinion to millions and derail a multibillion-dollar company or undermine a global brand, companies today need to build and maintain credibility on every front.

Publishers Weekly

In June 2006, a man named Vincent Ferrari had a shockingly combative conversation with an AOL sales rep; he recorded it and posted it on YouTube. More than 62,827 viewings later, AOL's reputation was irretrievably damaged. In the digital age, disgruntled customers are now in the driver's seat, argues Blackshaw in this thoughtful and engaging book. With the advent of Consumerist.com and other venues where customers can blow off steam about bad service or deficient products, consumer generated media is a force to be reckoned with. Since consumers trust other consumers above companies or brands, a company's success depends on its credibility and its ability to gain the trust and support of Web-savvy, outspoken and influential customers. Through remarkable stories of mass consumer advocacy and the power of bloggers and ordinary Joes with an Internet connection and a bone to pick, Blackshaw advises executives on how to build credibility into their businesses through blogs, Web sites and video postings. Informative, energetic and entertaining, this is a marvelous argument for corporate responsibility and accountability, interesting to laypeople and instructive for executives. (July)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments     ix
Introduction     1
The Credibility of the Commons and the Core Credibility Drivers     13
The Consumer's the Boss: Today's New Consumer-Generated World     40
Measuring CGM     62
Not All Marketers Are Liars: Marketing and Advertising with Credibility     89
Postcards from the Welcome Mat: Credibility and Your Web Site     106
This Company May Be Monitored for Quality Purposes: Credibility in Your Product     122
No Place to Hide: Credibility and the CEO     133
The Neglected Stepchild: Consumer Affairs     149
When Your Company Is Googled: Troubleshooting     162
Epilogue     183
Notes     187
Index     188

5S for Operators or Questions Great Financial Advisors Ask and Investors Need to Know

5S for Operators: 5 Pillars of the Visual WorkPlace

Author: Hiroyuki Hirano

Hiroyuki Hirano’s five pillars of the visual workplace: sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain are the most fundamental and often overlooked aspects in continuous improvement initiatives. Together, these concepts form the framework of the 5S System, a set of principles whose simplicity often betrays its powerful impact on the workplace. So much of the 5S System seems like common sense, that it is astonishing how often such seemingly simple practices are absent in manufacturing operations. That is why Productivity Press is proud to bring you 5S for Operators: 5 Pillars of the Visual Workplace, a hands-on book that explains the principles, rationale and implementation details of the 5S System.

Easy-to-read and apply, each section of the text is loaded with questions, outlines, summaries, diagrams and illustrations. Most importantly, 5S for Operators provides the foundational knowledge that is essential for implementing not just the 5S System, but overall manufacturing improvements like shorter equipment changeovers, just-in-time inventory, total quality management and total productive maintenance.

Since its publication in 1996, 5S for Operators has been and continues to be hugely popular, consistently ranking among Productivity's list of top-sellers, and its popularity is not hard to understand. 5S has proven its worth in one company after another, consistently reducing waste, guaranteeing product quality, ensuring safety and increasing the bottom line. With 5S for Operators, the 5S System can have the same profound effect on your operations.

To introduce the 5S system and sell its use to executives as well as workers,consider purchasing—

5S System: An Introduction DVD Catalog no. PP5934,

Adhering to the principle of efficiency that defines this revolutionary and proven system, this video succinctly explains what is involved, who should participate, and what it will take to get started.

Booknews

The "five pillar" approach to improving workshop environments (and consequently productivity) written for shop floor workers and designed to be used in group sessions. The text outlines and discusses the five main principles (organization, orderliness, cleanliness, cleanup, and discipline) in a workshop format using margin assists, summaries, and cute cartoons to get the point across quickly. Lacks an index and bibliography. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

See also: John Barleycorn or Cooking for Life

Questions Great Financial Advisors Ask... and Investors Need to Know

Author: Alan Pariss

A financial advisor recounts an interview with a recently retired physician who planned an enjoyable—and costly—retirement. The doctor wanted his entire portfolio in bonds, which was far too conservative to maintain the lifestyle he and his wife had planned. In the advisor’s words:

"This fellow was a bit of a know-it-all, and I wasn’t getting through. Finally I asked him, 'Doctor, how will it feel for you when you have to go back to work?' That got his attention, and I was able to lay out a strategy that would allow him to retire and stay retired."

In Questions Great Financial Advisors Ask…and Investors Need to Know, coauthors Alan Parisse and David Richman have compiled the questions great advisors ask that lead to the probing and personal conversations necessary to diagnose and understand clients'—and potential clients'—deep-seated feelings about money. That’s how great advisors help clients wring the emotion out of investing and set them on the rational road to achieving their financial goals.

Throughout this book are questions, suggestions, and stories from some of the world’s top financial advisors, including a chapter of "great questions to ask" organized by topic.

 

The Origin of Financial Crises or Dictionary of Real Estate Terms

The Origin of Financial Crises: Central Banks, Credit Bubbles, and the Efficient Market Fallacy

Author: George Cooper

In a series of disarmingly simple arguments financial market analyst George Cooper challenges the core principles of today's economic orthodoxy and explains how we have created an economy that is inherently unstable and crisis prone. With great skill, he examines the very foundations of today's economic philosophy and adds a compelling analysis of the forces behind economic crisis. His goal is nothing less than preventing the seemingly endless procession of damaging boom-bust cycles, unsustainable economic bubbles, crippling credit crunches, and debilitating inflation. His direct, conscientious, and honest approach will captivate any reader and is an invaluable aid in understanding today's economy.

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgements
Preface to the Vintage Editon
Preface to the Original Edition

1. Introduction
2. Efficient Markets and Central Banks?
3. Money, Banks and Central Banks
4. Stable and Unstable Markets
5. Deceiving the Diligent
6. On (Central Bank) Governors
7. Minsky Meets Mandelbrot
8. Beyond the Efficient Market Fallacy
9. Concluding Remarks

Appendix – ‘On Governors’ by J.C. Maxwell
Index

Books about: Eating and Drinking in Roman Britain or Edible Medicines

Dictionary of Real Estate Terms

Author: Jack P Friedman

Prospective home buyers and sellers as well as real estate professionals will find a wealth of useful information in this handbook. More than 2,000 terms are defined as they relate to purchase, sale, tax law, zoning, architectural styles, and much more.

About the Series:
Each of these very useful and up-to-date quick reference dictionaries lists and defines several thousand specialized terms alphabetically. Business students, business professionals, and savvy consumers will find a wealth of information in these volumes.

Titles available in Series:

• Dictionary of Accounting Terms
• Dictionary of Banking Terms
• Dictionary of Business Terms
• Dictionary of Computer & Internet Terms
• Dictionary of Finance & Investment Terms
• Dictionary of Insurance Terms
• Dictionary of International Business Terms
• Dictionary of Marketing Terms
• Dictionary of Real Estate Terms

A Room of Ones Own or Fashion Inside Out

A Room of One's Own

Author: Virginia Woolf

Cambridge Literature is a series of literary texts edited for study by students aged 14-18 in English-speaking classrooms. It will include novels, poetry, short stories, essays, travel-writing and other non-fiction. The series will be extensive and open-ended and will provide school students with a range of edited texts taken from a wide geographical spread. It will feature writing in English from various genres and differing times. A Room of One's Own is edited by Jenifer Smith, English Advisor, Suffolk LEA.

Interesting textbook: A Walk in the Woods or Eyewitness Travel Rome

Fashion Inside Out: Daniel V's Guide to How Style Happens from Inspiration to Runway and Beyond

Author: Daniel Vosovic

From inspiration to execution, from first sketches to final styling, from developing a collection to defining a look, Fashion Inside Out combines practical information on fashion design with an intimate look at the fashion scene today. Project Runway finalist Daniel Vosovic reveals exactly how designers make dreams become fashion reality. Where do fashion ideas come from? How does a designer capture a client’s personality? What is it really like to compete—and triumph—in the high-powered world of fashion? Vosovic tells all, and so do prominent magazine editors, photographers, stylists, and many other fashion industry professionals. A detailed overview of the design process, plus insightful advice on connecting with the right people, promoting and selling, and much, much more, make this the ideal one-volume resource for everyone who loves design, watches television fashion-reality shows, or longs for a behind-the-scenes look at an exciting and exotic business. Don’t just dream about the world of fashion. Be a part of it…with the help of Fashion Inside Out.

Trading in the Zone or Essentials of Corporate Finance

Trading in the Zone: Master the Market with Confidence, Discipline and a Winning Attitude

Author: Mark Douglas

Maximizing the trader's state of mind is the key to successful results.

Conflicts, contradictions and paradoxes in thinking can spell disaster for even a highly motivated, astute and well grounded trader. Mark Douglas, a commodities trader and one who has been around traders for over fifteen years, sends the message that thinking strategy will profoundly influence a trader's success rate. Douglas addresses five very specific issues to give traders the insight and understanding about themselves that will make them consistent winners in the market.

Trading In The Zone offers specific solutions to the "people factor" of commodity price movement. It uncovers the true culprit for lack of consistency when it comes to stock picking: lack of focus and self-confidence. Through simple exercises, traders will learn how to think in terms of probabilities, and adopt the specific beliefs necessary to developing a winner's mindset. Along the way, they'll gain keen insights into their own entrenched misconceptions about the market.

Backed by compelling examples, Trading In The Zone adds a new dimension to getting an edge on the market. Through a better understanding of themselves, as well as of Wall Street's realities, traders will come to leverage the power of their psyche for unprecedented profitability.

Publishers Weekly

Douglas, president of the seminar firm Trading Behavior Dynamics, focuses on the psychology of successful traders. Instead of offering specific strategies, he advises readers, "The first step on the road...is to understand and completely accept the psychological realities of trading." It may be too abstract for some, but given trading's risks, this book could assist experienced investors willing to engage in self-reflection. (Jan.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Go to: Hair and Fashion or Encyclopedia of Sports Nutrition

Essentials of Corporate Finance

Author: Stephen A Ross

Essentials of Corporate Finance, 5/e by Ross, Westerfield, and Jordan is written to convey the most important concepts and principles of corporate finance at a level that is approachable for a wide audience. The authors retain their modern approach to finance, but have distilled the subject down to the essential topics in 18 chapters. They believe that understanding the “why” is just as important, if not more so, than understanding the “how,” especially in an introductory course. Three basic themes emerge as their central focus:1.
An emphasis on intuition—separate and explain the principles at work on a common sense, intuitive level before launching into specifics. Underlying ideas are discussed first in general terms, then followed by specific examples that illustrate in more concrete terms how a financial manager might proceed in a given situation.2.
A unified valuation approach—Net Present Value is treated as the basic concept underlying corporate finance. Every subject the authors cover is firmly rooted in valuation, and care is taken to explain how decisions have valuation effects.3.
A managerial focus—Students learn that financial management concerns management. The role of financial manager as decision maker is emphasized and they stress the need for managerial input and judgment.

The Worldly Philosophers or Hug Your Customers

The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times And Ideas Of The Great Economic Thinkers

Author: Robert L Heilbroner

The Worldly Philosophers is a bestselling classic that not only enables us to see more deeply into our history but helps us better understand our own times. In this seventh edition, Robert L. Heilbroner provides a new theme that connects thinkers as diverse as Adam Smith and Karl Marx. The theme is the common focus of their highly varied ideas -- namely, the search to understand how a capitalist society works. It is a focus never more needed than in this age of confusing economic headlines.

In a bold new concluding chapter entitled "The End of the Worldly Philosophy?" Heilbroner reminds us that the word "end" refers to both the purpose and limits of economics. This chapter conveys a concern that today's increasingly "scientific" economics may overlook fundamental social and political issues that are central to economics. Thus, unlike its predecessors, this new edition provides not just an indispensable illumination of our past but a call to action for our future.

Table of Contents:

I	Introduction	13
II	The Economic Revolution	18
III	The Wonderful World of Adam Smith	42
IV	The Gloomy Presentiments of Parson Malthus and David Ricardo	75
V	The Dreams of the Utopian Socialists	105
VI	The Inexorable System of Karl Marx	136
VII	The Victorian World and the Underworld of Economics	170
VIII	The Savage Society of Thorstein Veblen	213
IX	The Heresies of John Maynard Keynes	248
X	The Contradictions of Joseph Schumpeter	288
XI	The End of the Worldly Philosophy?	311
	A Guide to Further Reading	323
	Notes	331
	Index	345

Book review: Mangoes or From Seed To Salad

Hug Your Customers: The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results

Author: Jack Mitchell

A master of customer service reveals his proven secrets to developing long-lasting relationships and customer loyalty -- by making business personal.

Once a customer, always a friend -- that is the simple philosophy behind Mitchells/Richards, two of the most successful clothing stores in the nation -- and that is why Jack Mitchell, his family, and associates inspire the enduring loyalty and admiration of his customers, including today's top CEOs. Jack's two stores, Richards in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Mitchells in Westport, Connecticut, suit up discerning customers from across the country.

Now for the first time, Jack Mitchell shares the secrets of his family's innovative merchandising and management approach in his book Hug Your Customers.

It's a deceptively simple but winning approach to customer service -- that a relationship is at the heart of every transaction. Jack Mitchells' business philosophy is based on "hugs"-- personal touches such as knowing every customer's name and clothing preferences or handing out free coffee and newspapers on the commuter train platform.

Complete with anecdotes that exemplify outstanding customer service, Hug Your Customers shows how any business can adapt this hugging philosophy to attract great staff, lower marketing costs, and maintain higher gross margins and long-term revenues. At a time when customer service has become the difference between success and failure, Hug Your Customers shows how Jack's one-of-a-kind philosophy brings winning results.

Esquire

Simple but winning approach to customer service.

Matt Lauer

It's all about service! What pleasure buying clothing from people who make you feel like family.

David Komansky

They have been a beacon — and a leader — in developing sincere and deep relationships with clients.

Publishers Weekly

If you work at a Fortune 500 company and live in southern Connecticut or New York's Westchester County (two of Manhattan's most affluent suburbs), chances are you buy your suits at Mitchells (in Westport, Conn.) or Richards (in Greenwich, Conn.). These two independent clothing stores are some of the most successful in the business and outfit CEOs from Chase, GE, IBM, Merrill Lynch and Pepsi. Mitchell, whose father started the business, shares the secret of his success in this unoriginal but cheerful guide to keeping customers happy. Hugging your customers, he says, has nothing to do with being touchy-feely around them and everything to do with offering them over-the-top service. For Mitchell, that means literally offering a customer the coat off your back, if that's the only one left in the store in the customer's size and preferred style and color. It means going to customers' homes to tie their bow ties for big events. It means serving coffee and bagels in the store and giving away hot dogs in the parking lot on summer Saturdays. Some might view this as fawning, but for Mitchell, it's the best way to keep customers coming back. His advice-know your customer, think outside the box, have a "no problem" attitude-is hardly groundbreaking. But those who work with customers daily have much to gain from this chipper, inspiring handbook. Agent, Jacques de Spoelberch. (June) Forecast: Blurbs from media and business high rollers, including Today cohost Matt Lauer, former SEC chairman Arthur Levitt and Merrill Lynch CEO David Komansky, will increase awareness, as will ads in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

The CEO of Mitchells/Richards, two of the country's most successful independent clothing stores, here outlines his innovative and successful approach to merchandising and management: hugging, a mind-set that personalizes and saturates every aspect of one's business. Mitchell divides his text into eight sections of four to 11 chapters and concludes each section with a "Hugging Study Guide" that summarizes the highlights one should remember and put into practice. Among these are how to attract and keep great staff, lower marketing costs, maintain higher gross margins and long-term revenues, and adapt Mitchell's ideas to any business. Readers will enjoy Mitchell's numerous anecdotes, and the personable, down-to-earth style allows readers to absorb new ideas easily.-Susan C. Awe, Univ. of New Mexico Lib., Albuquerque Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Soundview Executive Book Summaries

Hug Your Customers
The CEO of Mitchells/Richards, two of the most successful clothing stores in the business, professes his faith in showering customers with attention while offering numerous tips and techniques for satisfying customers. His secrets for long-term business success include advice about attracting great staff, lowering marketing costs, and maintaining higher gross margins and revenues. Mitchell uses colorful anecdotes from his own experiences to highlight lessons about running a successful family business. Copyright © 2003 Soundview Executive Book Summaries

Competing on Analytics or What is Lean Six Sigma

Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning

Author: Thomas H Davenport

You have more information at hand about your business environment than ever before. But are you using it to "out-think" your rivals? If not, you may be missing out on a potent competitive tool.

In Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning, Thomas H. Davenport and Jeanne G. Harris argue that the frontier for using data to make decisions has shifted dramatically. Certain high-performing enterprises are now building their competitive strategies around data-driven insights that in turn generate impressive business results. Their secret weapon? Analytics: sophisticated quantitative and statistical analysis and predictive modeling.

Exemplars of analytics are using new tools to identify their most profitable customers and offer them the right price, to accelerate product innovation, to optimize supply chains, and to identify the true drivers of financial performance. A wealth of examples-from organizations as diverse as Barclay's, Capital One, Harrah's, Procter & Gamble, Wachovia, and the Boston Red Sox-illuminate how to leverage the power of analytics.

Thomas Davenport - Forbes

It's all about looking behind time-honored assumptions and ideas for what makes for good people and testing them instead of going on your intuition and your gut.

The Wall Street Journal

Competing on Analytics is hardly the last word on the matter, but it is a useful primer for a business field that seems likely only to grow in importance.

The Financial Times

...the traditional ways of seeking competitive advantage are redundant and...the future lies with the ability to analyse the very considerable volumes of data it amasses about itself.

CFO.com

That insight [you are searching for] is probably lying inside data you already have or could easily obtain. That's the key premise of Competing on Analytics.

Table of Contents:

Foreword   Gary Loveman     ix
Acknowledgments     xiii
The Nature of Analytical Competition
The Nature of Analytical Competition: Using Analytics to Build a Distinctive Capability     3
What Makes an Analytical Competitor?: Defining the Common Key Attributes of Such Companies     23
Analytics and Business Performance: Transforming the Ability to Compete on Analytics into a Lasting Competitive Advantage     41
Competing on Analytics with Internal Processes: Financial, Manufacturing, R&D, and Human Resource Applications     57
Competing on Analytics with External Processes: Customer and Supplier Applications     83
Building an Analytical Capability
A Road Map to Enhanced Analytical Capabilities: Progressing Through the Five Stages of Development     107
Managing Analytical People: Cultivating the Scarce Ingredient That Makes Analytics Work     131
The Architecture of Business Intelligence: Aligning a Robust Technical Environment with Business Strategies     153
The Future of Analytical Competition: Approaches Driven by Technology, Human Factors, and Business Strategy     175
Notes     187
Index     199
About the Authors     217

Interesting textbook: Nothing to Fear or Never Eat Alone

What is Lean Six Sigma?

Author: Michael L Georg

A quick introduction on how to use Lean Six Sigma toimprove your workplace, meet your goals, andbetter serve your customers.

Lean Six Sigma combines the two most important improvement trends of our time: making work better (using Six Sigma) and making work faster (using Lean principles). In this plain-English guide, you’ll discover how this remarkable quality improvement method can give you the tools to identify and eliminate waste and quality problems in your own work area.

Packed with diagrams, cartoons, and real-life examples, What is Lean Six Sigma? reveals the “four keys” of Lean Six Sigma and how they apply to your own job:

• Delight your customers with speed and quality
• Improve your processes
• Work together for maximum gain
• Base decisions on data and facts

You’ll see the big picture of what your company hopes to gain with Lean Six Sigma, how it may affect your work area, and what it can mean to you personally.

Michael L. George is the founder and CEO of George Group, the largest Lean Six Sigma consulting practice in the United States. He is the author of Lean Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma for Service.

David Rowlands is Vice President of Lean Six Sigma at Xerox Corporation. He's been using Lean and Six Sigma since 1988, and has practical experience working with teams to solve improvement challenges in sales, service, and manufacturing.

Bill Kastle is a Vice President at George Group and has helped guide Lean Six Sigma initiatives at major corporations. For 15 years, he has helped teams at all levels apply these tools toimprove performance and respond to customer needs.