Principles of Supply Chain Management: A Balanced Approach (with Premium Web Site Printed Access Card) E books Download from Book Store

 



Develop a solid understanding of purchasing, operations, logistics, and integration with the strong supply chain management focus found in Wisner/Tan/Leong's PRINCIPLES OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: A BALANCED APPROACH, 3E. This unique edition presents extensive content not covered in other books. An expansive approach guides readers through the management stages of each supply chain activity while addressing real-world concerns related to the global supply chain. Readers follow the natural flow through the supply chain with one of the most balanced supply chain management approaches available. Well-organized chapters and numerous new cases demonstrate practical applications of supply chain management in today's workplace, while intriguing profiles build on topics and ensure that readers cover today's most important contemporary supply issues in depth.

Truth About Managing People, The (2nd Edition) by Stephen P. Robbins E books Download from Book Store

 


This is an excellent book about "managing people" (I prefer "leading people") with 63 short myth-dispelling "truth" chapters. By the way, Charlie "Tremendous" Jones said, "You are the same today as you'll be in five years except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read."
Here's how this book will change you. It's time for the weekly staff meeting--and your interruptions have been interrupted by interruptions. Your job is to lead, inspire and motivate--and you need something fresh, but quick. This book is your CliffsNotes for all things management. Pick from 63 two-page chapters--and get this--the memorable content is not just opinion--the insights are all research-based.
Does Barack Obama (or Sarah Palin) have enough experience to be U.S. president? Eventually, yes/maybe. Author Stephen Robbins writes, "Even in the most complex jobs, real learning typically ends after two years." His research says that "experience, per se, is not a very good predictor of effectiveness. Just because a (job) candidate has 10 years of previous experience is no assurance that his or her experience will transfer to a new situation. What is relevant is the quality of previous experience and the relevance of that experience to the new situation that the leader will face." He adds, "Too often, 20 years of experience is nothing other than one year of experience repeated 20 times!"
The 63 mini-chapters are listed under 10 sections: The Truth About...Hiring, Motivation, Leadership, Communication, Building Teams, Managing Conflict, Designing Jobs, Performance Evaluation, Coping With Change and Managing Behavior. They fit well with the 20 buckets in my book, Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Nonprofit.
The well-researched conclusions/chapter titles are compelling: Truth #4: Want Pleasant Employees? It's in the Genes! Truth #16: Not Everyone Wants to Participate in Setting Their Goals; Truth #28: Effective Leaders Know How to Frame Issues (he suggest five ways: metaphors, jargon, contrast, spin and stories); Truth #31: Charisma Can Be Learned; Truth #36: Hearing Isn't Listening (he gives eight behaviors associated with effective listening--like making eye contact); Truth #45: Not Everyone Is Team Material; and Truth #62: People Aren't Completely Rational: Don't Ignore Emotions!
"Personal references are easy to acquire but they're essentially worthless," says Robbins in the chapter, "Don't Count Too Much on Reference Checks." He says friends of applicants won't be honest with you. I tend to agree with him.
Some teams lower productivity, says the author. According to his research, "The truth is that teams often create negative synergy. Individuals expend less effort when working collectively that when working individually, so 2 + 2 can equal 3!" He calls it "social loafing." We need to look deeper at this research--it might dramatically change how we organize work


About the Author
Stephen P. Robbins (Ph.D., University of Arizona) is professor emeritus of management at San Diego State University and the world’s best-selling textbook author in the areas of both management and organizational behavior. His books are used at more than a thousand U.S. colleges and universities and have been translated into 19 languages.
In Dr. Robbins’ “other life,” he participates in masters’ track competitions. Since turning 50 in 1993, he has set numerous indoor and outdoor age-group world sprint records. He has won more than a dozen indoor and outdoor U.S. championships at 60m, 100m, 200m, and 400m, and won eleven gold medals at World Masters Track Championships. In 2005, Dr. Robbins was elected into the USA Masters’ Track & Field Hall of Fame.

The Principles of Scientific Management by Frederick Winslow Taylor E book Download from Book Store



Frederick Winslow Taylor was a nineteenth century American mechanical engineer concerned with management consultancy, scientific management, and industrial efficiency. His work, The Principles of Scientific Management, outlines the foundation for modern organization and decision theory. He does this through describing the dilemma: workers harbor fears that higher individual productivity will eventually lead to fewer jobs. Taylor's suggestion is to deride this fear by providing incentives for workers and re-framing the consumer, shareholder, and worker relationship. A great and informative read for anyone interested in efficient management practices.
Let me caution you before commenting on this book. Most people who refer to Taylor and Scientific Management have not read Taylor, but about Taylor in secondary sources. So, forget what you have heard about Taylor. Keep an open mind.
Prior to Taylor, management tried to create output by providing incentives to workers. But pressure from peers kept workers from doing more work. Everyone agreed that this would lead to fewer jobs.
The virtuous cycle of higher performance, lower prices, more sales, and higher pay for workers and shareholders was not yet uncovered.
Taylor sees the results of the higher productivity mostly being of help to consumers, with the remainder of the benefit split between shareholders and workers. In that he was prescient. Advanced thinkers today are rediscovering this old truth, first elaborated by Taylor.
What I found to be delightful in the book was the emphasis on trying to approach the ideal practice, rather than being satisfied with the best of today.
Here are the key principles for your reference:
(1) develop a science for each element of a task to determine the most productive way to do that task (quality and quantity considered in terms of total costs)

(2) scientifically select and train those who can do the task the most effectively in what needs to be done, and provide all of the help they need

(3) create an environment where the person doing the task can be productive (this often involves systems limitations, like input from others)

(4) management has a role in designing the work, selecting workers who are ideal for the work, and helping the work be learned properly. There is an equal division between the worker and management in creating the right result.

In reading this list, I am reminded of Bill Jensen's new book, Simplicity, in which he calls for something rather similar to the broad concepts of Scientific Management. So although many people consider almost all existing management Taylorian, a closer examination would say that management is not doing its job.
The basic problem with Scientific Management was not that it was flawed, but that it took slow long to do that it was impractical to try too many experiments. The time and measurement experiments took forever. The calculations of multivariate problems were hard to solve in precomputer days. The change process was slow (usually 3-5 years).

The experiments that we all know about and applaud now (team-based learning and self-directed work teams, TQM, reengineering, and so forth) could have been addressed by the Scientific Management method as soon as the limitations described above could be lifted.

As a result, I think it is incorrect to be pro TQM or reengineering and anti Scientific Management. I believe that the basic principles are more compatible than not.

At some point, all of this becomes merely philosophical. I think you will find the case studies in the book revealing about what the potential for improvement can be in tasks that people have been doing for centuries (like laying bricks).

I was impressed that Taylor was so good at locating stalls of disbelief, misconception, communication, and bureaucracy. He had a keen sense of where mental models were wrong, and how to bust those stalls. In fact, he may have been the 19th century's first business stallbuster.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in understanding more about how measurements can be useful to identifying ways to improve performance for all of society.

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge: (Pmbok Guide) by Project Management Institute E books Download from Book Store

 


As someone that is studying for a PMP Certification, this book is essential for any library. If you are preparing for the PMP Exam, or already a PMP, having this knowledge at your finger tips is a must. There is no way of memorizing all of the information that is presented, so being able to revert to the information for either calculations of 3-Pt, PERT, variance, float, PV/FV, # communication channels, and EVM formulas like EAC, CPI and TCPI, or to ensure that when planning or executing a project, that all areas are being appropriately covered. I have found that in preparing for my exam, that I have been doing many of the tasks required for a PMP, however I never knew that I was doing it. I did not know until I was reading through my copy of the PMBOK that there were so many different calculations. If you do not have this book, then you should get it.
This is a good compendium of project management topics and I do recommend it. It is definately a good overview for those new to the formal study of project management. In addition to those studying for the certification exam, I would include this as required reading/study for those who are working on a large project but don't have a lot of practical experience. The book follows a logical sequence of topics. In this context, it is a 5 star reference book. 
For me personally, I found this book to be somewhat generic; but has good coverage for a very broad range of project management topics. The sample forms and templates could have been presented in multiple versions that repreresented different industry perspectives. Perhaps the addition of case studies and crosswalks with other methodologies would enhance the overall reading experience. That part of this evaluation results in a 4 star rating. 

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen E books Download from Book Store



David Allen presents an awesome organizational system in this book. With just a little up-front effort, anyone really can become much more in control of his or her life. I wouldn't say that GDT has changed my life, but I'm definitely less stressed now that I follow the system. 
The only problem is, Getting Things Done is terribly painful to read. The problem stems mainly from the fact that there are about fifty pages in the book that contain real information. The other two hundred pages are--no joke--almost word-for-word rehash of those fifty pages. If I had a dime for every time Allen wrote, "Your brain is like a computer. If you fill up its RAM with the things you have to do, you don't get anything done," I seriously would have recouped my investment in this book. I didn't appreciate that I had to search through the entire book to find just a few pages of original wisdom. 
If you're interested in this system--and, again, the system really is great--I recommend you check the book out at your local library. If you later feel as though you need the book as a reference, you can always buy it. And if you do read this book, don't feel bad if you skip most of the introduction and all of the last section (which read almost like a fifty page ad for David Allen's consulting services) and if you skim most of the rest. I promise: You're not missing much.
This book is for all those who are overwhelmed with too many things to do, too little time to do them, and a general sense of unease that something important is being missed.
Everyone has experienced times when everything seemed effortless, and progress limitless. David Allen has captured ways for you to achieve that wonderful state of mind and consciousness more often.
His key concept is that every task, promise, or assignment has a place and a time. With everything in its proper place and time, you feel in control and replace the time spent on vague worrying with effective, timely action. As a result, the accomplishments grow while the pressure to accomplish decreases. As a result, the book contains many insights into "how to have more energy, be more relaxed, and get a lot more accomplished with much less effort."
The key psychological insight of this book is that rapid progress occurs when you take large, unformed tasks, and break them down and organize them into smaller, sequential steps for exactly what to do and when. The book provides lots of guidance and examples for how to do this.
The book is organized into three sections. The first gives you an overview of the whole process for how to get more done in a relaxed way. The second spells out the details of how to implement that process, in a way that a personal coach might use. The third provides subtle insights that help you appreciate the benefits that follow from using the process. Like all good coaches, Mr. Allen understands that appreciating a subject from several perspectives and getting lots of practice with it are critical steps in learning.
The process advocated by this book is described with lots of systems flow charts that will appeal to all of the engineers and left-brained people. The right-brained people will find lots of discussions about emotions, feelings, and stress. So both types of thinkers should do well with this material.
The essence of the process is that you write down a note about everything when you take on a new responsibility, make a new commitment, or have a useful thought. All of this ends up in some kind of "in" box. You then go through your "in" box and decide what needs to be done next for each item. For simple issues, this includes identifying the action you should take first and when to take it. For tougher issues, you schedule an appropriate time to work the problem in more detail. You organize the results of this thinking, and review your options for what you should be doing weekly. Then you take what you choose to do, and act. Think of this process as the following five steps: (1) collect (2) process (3) organize (4) decide (5) act.
For the tougher problems, you start with identifying your purpose and principles so you know why you care how it all turns out. Then you imagine the potential good outcomes that you would like. Following that, you brainstorm with others the best way to get those outcomes. Then you organize the best pathway. Finally, you identify the first actions you need to take. Then you act, as in step 5 above.
From this outline, I hope that you can see that this is not rocket science. It is simple common sense, but with discipline. The critical part is the discipline because that is what focuses your attention where it will do the most good. For example, rather than sitting on something you have no idea how to get started, you can decide right away to get ideas from others on what the purpose and principles are that should be used in selecting a solution. So, you are in motion, and you have saved much time and anxiety.
What I learned from this book is that many people allow a lot of time to pass without taking any useful steps because they cannot imagine what to do next. This process should usually overcome that problem by showing you what to work on, providing methods to accomplish that step in the process, and guiding you to places where you can get appropriate help. As a result, this book should help overcome the bureaucracy and communications stalls that bedevil most organizations.
This fits from my own experience in helping people solve problems. If you simplify the questions and make them into familiar ones, everyone soon finds powerful alternatives drawn from a lifetime of experiences and memories. Keep things broad, abstract, and vague, and peoples' eyes glaze over while they struggle for a place to begin.
After you have finished reading and applying this book, I suggest that you share your new learning with those you see around you who are the most stressed out. By helping them gain relaxed control of their activities, you will also be able to enjoy the benefits of their increased effectiveness in supporting your own efforts.
May you always get the tools you need, understand what to do next, and move swiftly through timely actions!

Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success [Hardcover] by Rory Vaden (Author) E book Download from Book Store


Success is a choice that is as simple as deciding to Take the Stairs. 
Self Discipline Strategist and author Rory Vaden shares the truth about what it takes to be successful by exploding common misconceptions that ordinary people have about Self‐Discipline
WHAT TO KNOW TO SOUND LIKE YOU’VE READ THE BOOK
We live in an escalator world of “get rich quick”, “magic pills”, and “secret formulas”. And in our constant search for convenience and making things easier, we are actually making them worse. Procrastination abounds, costing us millions in lost productivity. A lack of personal accountability causes many of us to ignore the inevitable consequences that result from living unhealthy lifestyles. Broken promises and failed commitments continue to not only damage our workplaces and economic environments, but also our families and personal relationships as well.
Meanwhile, the noise and distraction that come with the speed of which life is moving creates higher and higher levels of stress and anxiety in every thing that we do. Our time is stretched as thin as ever and after having tried all of the latest diet plans, fitness contraptions, money‐making schemes and success gimmicks we’re left wondering…
WHAT IS THE TRUE PATH TO MAKING MY LIFE EASIER?
VADEN shares a refreshing and slightly irreverent message that the truth about successful people is that they have simply developed the skill to do the things they know they should be doing even when they don’t feel like doing them. Successful people have the discipline required to get things done regardless of their emotional state. In short successful people Take the Stairs while others waste time looking for the escalator. 
But self‐discipline isn’t as hard we all think, once we learn to think about it the right way. The seven incredibly empowering and unique insights shared in this book are transforming the way people think about work. This timely message has everyone realizing – many for the first time‐ the great paradox that the most guaranteed path to success and the easy life is to Take the Stairs.


SEVEN STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVING TRUE SUCCESS
  1. The Paradox Principle of Sacrifice – The short term easy leads to the long term difficult while the short term difficult leads to the long term easy. Leverage long-term vision to endure short-term sacrifices.
  2. The Buy-In Principle of Commitment – The more we have invested into something the less likely we are to let it fail. Increase your commitment by creating the question “how is this possible?” rather than relenting to the question “is it possible?”
  3. The Magnification Principle of Focus – Focus is power. Spend time developing clarity about what you want most in life because the amount of our endurance is directly proportionate to the clarity of our vision.
  4. The Creation Principle of Integrity – You think it, you speak it, you act, it happens. Become relentless at creating congruence between your words and your actions.
  5. The Harvest Principle of Schedule – Focused effort is amplified by appropriate timing and regimented routine. Let go of the myth of balance and start living your life by the law of seasons.
  6. The Perspective Principle of Faith – Our ability to have peace is directly proportionate to the term of our perspective. Manage tragedy and setbacks by realizing that without the ability to see the entire future, we aren’t entitled to evaluate why things happen today.
  7. The Pendulum Principle of Action – It doesn’t matter what we say we believe our real beliefs are revealed by how we act. Cultivate the habit of action by being relentless about making progress while at the same time completely freeing yourself of the demand for perfection.
Finally, make permanent change by embracing:
The Rent Axiom - Success is never owned, it is only rented; and the rent is due every day. Know confidently that today is the hardest it will ever be and that one-day your appetites will change. One day you will crave the thing that was originally a sacrifice and what was once an indulgence you gave up later won’t even be a temptation.

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't by Jim Collins E book Download from Book Store



Once you get past the pages of academic research this is a good selection if you want to know how to prepare yourself for the better job with the better company. A former faculty member at Stanford's Graduate School of Business, Collins helps you by outlining the kind of boss you should look for -- humble, persistent, disciplined, results-oriented and entrepreneurial. He also outlines the type of people they hire and promote --disciplined in thought and action who focus on success.

It will be interesting to see if Collins guidelines, like Tom Peters, stand the tests of time. Or like Peters he will have moved on to new findings, new results and will quickly explain that the management obviously lost sight of their long-term goals and yielded to the temptations of short-term expectations.

We find that reading management books helps us focus our thinking and activities to meld with those of senior management so we can do a better job in supporting them and helping them reach their objectives. That's why we felt the real solutions for sustaining growth and success were especially helpful since they dealt not with theory or academic philosophy but rather extended studies of real companies.

The funny thing is Collins discovers how easy it is for a company and senior management to be mediocre and sustain themselves. But by adding energy and momentum to the mix the company and managers can produce greater meaning from their work, which is directly reflected in the rewards that he or she receives.

Unlike many business gurus, Collins doesn’t simply set down guidelines for companies and their management teams; he actually studies the firms in-depth. Then he correlates the results of all the firms in all of the industries to develop a series of common denominators and patterns. Once that is done he looks deep inside to explain how the firms became great companies.

We don’t agree that stock price is really a measure of a great company given the state of the stock market and how quickly prices swing for no apparent reason. However we have to agree that at this point we don’t have another measurement since it is the one constant for every firm that is outside their long-term control.

Don’t suffer from the common concept that to help your company and management achieve greatness you need to focus on developing a high profile in the media and marketplace for your CEO. Instead, you need to know how to help him or her develop a full, rich corporate culture that gives employees something steady to hold onto in the turbulence of change.

When you’ve finished the book you’ll walk away with a clearer understanding of what makes a Level 5 leader and with that knowledge you’ll know if this is the type of boss you can cast your lot with for stability in your career. You’ll also have a better understanding of what he calls The Hedgehog Concept (the book is awash with newly coined jargon) which is best explained as keeping things simple so the company can make the transition from good to great.

Collins explains how a culture of discipline within the good corporation can be balanced with a spirit of entrepreneurship to give you a feeling of ownership in the company’s future and growth. As we all know the world is awash with technology and too often it is used as a crutch to support the firm. Collins points out that good to great firms know how to selectively choose and leverage technology -- even if it isn’t the latest fad technology.

The finding we found most interesting in light of current business events with the merger and acquisition activities and CEO replacements that have been signed is his Flywheel an Doom Loop finding. Over the past few years we’ve seen numerous CEOs come in with what they firmly believe is a vote of confidence from the board of directors to effect change -- sometimes radical, almost violent change. Mike Armstrong tried it with AT&T and his master plan failed. Carly Fiorina brought her strong will to HP, disrupted the culture of more than 30 years and attempted two mergers that were designed to help the company move into to the future.

The problem in both instances was that the two leaders spent more time in dictating and forcing change than in realigning and refocusing their managerial teams. In a word, the boss and the team weren’t on the same page of the change program. At the same time, their massive restructuring activities failed because most of the time was devoted to developing the new structure. Little or no time was spent discussing the need for the new structure or selling the vision of what the future was going to look like and how it was going to benefit members of the team.

Going from good to great from our perspective requires a tremendous amount of communications both internally and externally. So who should be the key advisor to the Level 5 Leader? Public relations! But it wouldn’t hurt if you read the book to find out what the boss was looking for in you and what is expected from you. 

The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition by Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) E book Download From Book Store



The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition is the only book on the market written by the creators of the GMAT exam. Inside you’ll find more than 800 actual GMAT questions from previous tests with answers and detailed explanations. There’s also a grammar review, math review, actual essay topics, sample responses, and scoring information insights into the GMAT exam that debunk test-taking myths. Plus, use the diagnostic section to pinpoint your skill level and focus on the areas where you need the most help.

Top Myths About the GMAT®

Myth – If I don’t score in the 90th percentile, I won’t get into any school I choose.
Fact – Very few people get very high scores.
Fewer than 50 of the more than 200,000 people taking the GMAT test each year get a perfect score of 800. Thus, while you may be exceptionally capable, the odds are against your achieving a perfect score. Also, the GMAT test is just one piece of your application packet. Admissions officers use GMAT scores in conjunction with undergraduate records, application essays, interviews, letters of recommendation, and other information when deciding whom to accept into their programs.

Myth – Getting an easier question means I answered the last one wrong.
Fact – Getting an easier question does not necessarily mean you got the previous question wrong.
To ensure that everyone receives the same content, the test selects a specific number of questions of each type. The test may call for your next question to be a relatively hard problem-solving item involving arithmetic operations. But, if there are no more relatively difficult problem-solving items involving arithmetic, you might be given an easier item.
Most people are not skilled at estimating item difficulty, so don’t worry when taking the test or waste valuable time trying to determine the difficulty of the questions you are answering.

Myth – You need very advanced math skills to get a high GMAT score.
Fact – The math skills questions on the GMAT test are quite basic.
The GMAT test only requires basic quantitative analytic skills. You should review the math skills (algebra, geometry, basic arithmetic) presented in both The Official Guide for GMAT® Quantitative Review, 2nd Edition, and in The Official Guide for GMAT® Review, 12th Edition, but the required skill level is low. The difficulty of GMAT Quantitative questions stems from the logic and analysis used to solve the problems and not the underlying math skills.

Myth – It is more important to respond correctly to the test questions than it is to finish the test.
Fact – There is a severe penalty for not completing the GMAT test.
If you are stumped by a question, give it your best guess and move on. If you guess incorrectly, the computer program will likely give you an easier question, which you are likely to answer correctly, and the computer will rapidly return to giving you questions matched to your ability. If you don’t finish the test, your score will be reduced greatly. Failing to answer five verbal questions, for example, could reduce your score from the 91st percentile to the 77th percentile. Pacing is important.

Myth –The first 10 questions are critical and you should invest the most time on those.
Fact – All questions count.
It is true that the computer-adaptive testing algorithm uses the first 10 questions to obtain an initial estimate of your ability; however, that is only an initial estimate. As you continue to answer questions, the algorithm self-corrects by computing an updated estimate on the basis of all the questions you have answered, and then administers items that are closely matched to this new estimate of your ability. Your final score is based on all your responses and considers the difficulty of all the questions you answered. Taking additional time on the first 10 questions will not game the system and can hurt your ability to finish the test.

Myth – I need to speak US English in order to do well on the GMAT.
Fact- Essay grading is not affected by dialect of English. Questions on the GMAT are evaluated to ensure they are fair for all examinees, whether in the US or around the world.

From the Back Cover
  • Trust the worldwide bestselling study guide to help you prepare for the GMAT! Here's what you'll find inside the only book on the market written by the creators of the exam :
  • More than 800 actual questions from past GMAT tests—300 of which have never before been published.
  • Full answers and detailed explanations for all questions.
  • Grammar review covering concepts tested on the GMAT Verbal section.
  • Comprehensive math review of the topics tested on the GMAT Quantitative section. Actual essay topics, sample responses, and scoring information.
  • Questions organized in order of difficulty to save study time.
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