Business Systems Books

This book will open your mind on how to launch a bew business or innovative product or server. However the authors could write this book in a more simple way and not with a hard to read english text.

Before reading the book, “The Ultimate Competitive Advantage” it seemed to me that most management books were written for “big” business problems. Most authors quote one case after the other to make their own case. A collection of postmortem reports of different companies to tell you how they failed.

This is the first book that has taught me however small a business may be, its success depends on competitive edge it creates with its own resources. There are numerous ways that even limited resources can create an added benefit for the customers and increase my business. The example of “free cold water” on an off beat road is one such method in the book to remember as a simple but brilliant solution to attract customers and add value for the customers. The authors give a set of tools to help one think in a different manner. I recommend this book especially to young person trying to get their business started and also those seeking to break out of dead end situations. A great work!

Mitchell and Coles have done businesses a tremendous service in writing this excellent book. They have done so by providing a practical toolbox of ideas with which to stimulate entrepreneurs, business leaders and managers to enhance and improve their business prospects in today's very competitive marketplaces.

I must admit to having struggled with this book for a long time. Not because of difficulty in reading and understanding. To be sure this is a very lucid and comprehensible book and is accessible to all levels from a twelve year old bringing out his lemonade stall for the third year in a row and adding iced tea to his product range to the CEO of a major corporation.

My struggle was with trying to make overarching sense of what lessons the authors were trying to encourage readers to learn. It became clear to me after several periods of reflection upon completion of the text. The crucial significance of this book in a practical way lies in understanding how deep into national economic systems the process of globalisation has seeped. We see the reults in our everyday lives, how quickly new or improved products come into the marketplace. We see how quickly established businesses change or die, we see cheaper and better products come from remote parts of the world leaving us a greater part of our disposable income to spend on the things we would prefer to spend on them.

It is clear that in life and not just in business the process of change has quickened and that as individuals we must be more adaptable and more attune to the world around us to the opportunities that exist. It is as if we need to become our own business in ourselves.

Mitchell and Coles focus on but one part of this continuous change and that is on the business model. Their strong focus on this area has great strength but we must also learn the broader lesson from their well researched work. To survive in today's world we must not only accept change but we must embrace it as people, as workers, as entrepreneurs. It is as Schumpeter pointed out inherent in the nature of capitalism. But, to be sure it is inherent in the nature of all life, as Hayek observed. We must change or die.

I would heartily recommend this book to everyone, for there is much to be gained from within it's pages. Mitchell and Coles have produced an excellent book which far and away exceeds it's remit as a business book.

The Ultimate Competitive Advantage is a gold mine with a rich vein of unusual ideas from Mitchell and Coles' nimble minds. Its stated purpose is to help readers develop and implement a superior management process for continuous business model improvement. The book goes ahead to do just that.

The authors' approach make deliberate what used to be an accidental, hapazard, uncertain and hard to repeat process.

This book, like Mitchell and Coles' others, is best used as a workbook. After each chapter, several questions are posed to stimulate your thinking, and 95% of the value of the book will be unlocked for you when you take the time to think through them rigorously. Serious entrepreneurs looking for fresh ideas for getting out of the rut and improving their businesses will.

This is a practical book, but it is not a "how-to-book" instead, it deals with the what, when and why; with such tangibles as pricing, cost of doing business and benefits to stakeholders. The authors- Donald Mitchell and Carol Coles researched and found out that unsuccessful companies doggedly apply outdated business models while the successful ones improve their models every 2 to 4 years. The book provides a straightforwad and a systematic method which any company can use to review and improve its business model basing on its key components: pricing, cost of doing business and benefits to its shareholders.

I bought this book as an additional material to study for the CISA exam. However it didn't help me with the exam at all. Furthermore, in an attempt to cover many things, it did not cover anything in detail. This book is just an endless recollection of bullet points. On top of that, it misses very sensitive topics like disaster recovery planning.

Not having much experience in the IT audit field, this book was a great resource and was easy to understand.

This book has some material relevant to the CISA examination based on the 2003 content areas, although it is not organized or focused as a CISA examination guide. If you are looking for CISA review material for the test, I would strongly suggest to stick with ISACA's combination of review manual and questions CD. I also searched everywhere for study aids for this grueling test and ended up using ISACA's expensive material, but it proved to be the best choice as I passed the Dec 2006 test.

However, as owner of a copy of this book, I assure you that this is an excellent reference of IT management, planning, implementation, risk assessment and control procedures for anyone in the IT business. Most of the material is still relevant as of 2007.

Audit is not the most exciting topic in the world, but this no fluff book really sets the standard. The care the authors took is obvious from the start, the table of contents is one of the most detailed I have ever seen, it allows the book to be used as a reference.

My favorite chapter was Quality Management, best job of making quality approachable I have seen to date. My least favorite was Project Management, it seemed to lack the application and lean to theory a bit.

I am not an auditor, but as an auditee, this book really helped me understand how they think. Recommended!

This is a huge book but spends no more then 1 page on any topic. In my opinion the authors only have financial audit experience and little understanding of IT controls. This book shows the failure of the 'integrated auditor' as the authors are tyring to be IT auditors with little IT experience. They touch on some very good points in a few instances and, in general, the book is decent. The authors do not know much outside of the CISA, IIA and financial based certifications as they seem to think that the ISSA (Information Systems Security Assoc.) is sponsored by ISC2/CISSP's (it is not). Overall, I have not been impressed with this book.

This is not your typical business networking book. I found that although I call what I am doing "Networking" I wasn't getting results. After applying the items I learned in just the first 6 chapters, I have gone from 2-3 referrals to 8-10 in only the past 4 weeks. I am more than doubling my business and packed with ways to continue this momentum. I would recommend this for anyone who sells a product or offers a service. For an $11 investment, you learn more than a $300 Networking Seminar.

If you read one book on networking, this is the one to read. Burg's system focuses on how to network correctly, thus enabling you to build a pipeline of qualified, A-list prospects for your business. This book is a must-buy for anyone striving to build business referrals that will continue the gift of giving in the long haul. The questions Burg outlines in Chapter two are a key component of how one should begin to network from this day forward. In addition, he shares the one question that will change your networking process forever. It's a question so few know to ask. And if you use this question at your next networking event, you will immediately establish yourself as an expert who knows how to deliver value to your prospects and your customers -- and to the networking process itself. This book is extremely thorough in outlining a proven system for networking anywhere any time. Most important, Burg shows you how to enjoy the process. This book is a seminal part of my professional library. I use it daily as a reference to build my business.

Cannot imagine how I have made it this far in business without this book. Bob Burg's advise is priceless.

If you're looking to sharpen up your sales skills or expanding your contact base, this is a great resource and offers a ton of tips that can be easily implemented. It's more than just a networking book, although that's one of the main components, it's about getting to know people, forming relationships by genuinely caring about people. Everything in life is based on forming and building relationships and the people that have figured out how to get along with people, are usually more successful and just plain happier people. It doesn't matter what you sell or what company you represent, ultimately, you are the product. If you're wondering how to meet more people, get more leads, earn more business ... you'll learn these and more in this book.

This book has excellent and well developed ideas. Only criticism is the author gets a bit full of himself at times.

This is thought provoking and great for stimulating thought about the way you want to present information at your next meeting.....great read, great ideas and will be using it as a reference book!

In the foreword, Guy Kawasaki said "So open your wallet. And buy it. Then open your mind. And read it. Then open your heart. And do it". I think you should do that with this book, and maybe before that check the presentation of the author at google:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ2vtQCESpk

just to have a taste of the book.

Within half a day after receiving this book I included some of the principles it describes into my presentation. The results are truly remarkable, my thoughts come across much more powerful. Also people smiled after my presentation saying where did you learn to present like this, fun, entertaining and meaningful !

For years I've been urging my clients (I'm an Executive Speech Coach) to visually simplify the message... and now I have the perfect book to backup my request - Presentation Zen! Garr Reynolds is a master at presentation design - his ability to distill the message and reduce the visual slide noise is invaluable. A must read for every speaker who wants to learn to create a visually impactful presentation.

I am a scientist, and I have given hundreds of presentations. I was hoping that this book would be applicable, but it is not. Somehow, the "professional stock photos" suggested cannot convey scientific data. There were no substantive suggestions or guidelines in this book.

Perhaps if you are a motivational speaker "I live in a van by the river" this would be useful.

If you are required to give presentations that convey data (experimental results, financial data) skip this book.

Sorry I wasted my money,
Teresa

I have used Web Side Story...moved to Omniture....also work with Google Analytics.....This book does a good job of getting away from the mountains of data, to provide a clear cut "THINK ABOUT WHAT THE ANALYTICS MEAN" on a business basis- definitely worth the time investment.

I can consider myself as pretty noobish in the field of web analytics. I know SEO and usability, but web analytics has always been just looking at the number of visitors and pageviews. Until I received this book, because this book is a real eye-opener for the new comers to web analytics. It totally change your way of thinking about what web analytics is and how you can pull the best out of it.

I can't wait to finish it, which costs a lot of time by the way.

And students, you can consider this as a good step up to web analytics with theory plus hands on stuff. Like a real school book you learn everything you need from what to why. More than 400 pages long.

P.S. There is also a cd included with some nice stuff like a presentation from the writer, pdf and mp3 files with valuable information.

If you find yourself stumped with how to improve your website, or don't know where to begin with looking at web statistics, this book has everything. It begins with going through the foundation of what web analysis really is and definitions and explanations of different metrics and how they can be useful. He then goes into detail with different metrics such as bounce rate, segmentation, and some things you probably never considered. It steps you through knowing what analytics tool to use and how to implement it. It has wonderful examples and sample reports that you can tailor to your own company.

This book is very actionable. I can only speak from a beginner's perspective, but this book is easy to follow and has golden nuggets that even experienced web statisticians can take another look at. The highest recommendation possible from me. I will be waiting for another of Avinash's books.

I have read several web analytics books and Avinash's book is definitely the one I would recommend first.

What you can learn from the book:
- how to think about and how to approach web analytics -- this is where this book excels
- how to deliver actionable results - the mantra of Avinash
- how to start with the basic metrics

What not to expect from this book:
- you will not learn how to use any analytics software
- you will not learn details about the technical aspects, frequent problems with data and measurement, what to avoid etc.

Check out Avinash's blog to get a picture of what you can get from the book.

If you buy 'Web Analytics ...' looking for some guidance, or even a few ideas, as to analysis of your internet marketing/sales endeavors, you will be disappointed. This book is about data collection ... nothing more.

To Avinash Kaushik's credit he appears thorough. I did appreciate his flagging the limitations of data collected by the various methods. On the downside the book is repetitive and could have been better ordered. The '... Hour a Day' is appropriate, as that is about all a reader can risk in one sitting. The text makes an arduous read. If better structured, this book could have been half its length.

If I learned one thing, it is this. I'll architect my approach to web analysis, define the data I need, and then recruit an IT type to build the process to collect the data. Having read the book, I now know what data there can be. For this I'm grateful to the author.

I was skeptical at first, but I followed the advice in this book, and BOY HAS IT MADE A DIFFERENCE!

I picked up this book when it first came out, as I was already a fan of The Practice of System and Network Administration.

It's been three years, and I'm no longer frazzled. Users no longer call me angrily wondering why I forgot to do such-and-such. I (hardly ever) forget to renew service agreements and run regular maintenance.

I cannot recommend this book enough, especially if you feel like there aren't enough hours in the day, if you work late, if you feel like your users are beating down your door.

Another thing about the system described in the book is its reliance on a paper-based organizer. I had tried and failed several times to use electronic methods. I'm a sysadmin! I should be able to use computers for everything! Being given a sort of permission to use paper for what it is good for helped me out a lot.

As a DBA, I found this book extremely useful. It's easy to read and has practical advice that works. I was a bit demotivated at work and this book helped me spring back into action.

Some of his quotes I try to remember daily; one of my favorites is "perfection is a real time waster" because it's so true!

Making to-do lists and setting goals is an integral part of time management and this book shows you how to do it properly. A+!

Finally someone noticed all the small differences in System Administrators lifes that require a different approach to time management.

Plus, a sense of humour and accurate advices.

Time Management for System Administrators is a book not only aimed at system administrators but also other task and interrupt driven employees early in their career. It presents a core concept of use to anyone struggling with a "never ending TODO list of doom" both for business and personal tasks. Some of the information is of a very basic nature such as "do short tasks and important tasks first". Part of this, however, could be Thomas Limoncelli's writing style which is detailed almost to a fault. It is, however, a very easy book to read and I found myself going through quite a few pages in one sitting.

On the negative side the analogies the author uses to try and explain time management in computer terms get a bit thick at times in the first few chapters but soon they run out and are no longer in the way of the points being made. Two other somewhat awkward chapters are the Stress Management and Automation chapters. Is it worth the time to write (or read) a chapter to basically tell us to occasionally take a vacation and to get a massage? It seems like filler to pad out the book. Similarly, the important take-away point of the automation chapter is to, well, automate things! However the chapter contains an overly specific set of shell programming tricks the author has learned over the years. These are of course presented as examples of how to automate, but the amount of time spent on details and anecdotes makes this chapter also feels like pad. The time spent in these chapters could have been better spent on the core points of the book.

What is the most valuable information in this book? The core technique is what the author calls The Cycle System. This is a way to manage your TODO list so at the end of each day every item assigned to that day has been addressed, if not necessarily completed. It's a very useful technique for learning to plan, to ensure you follow through with completing tasks and to improve your sense of accomplishment that you are managing your workload. Interestingly the author has always used a paper-based TODO list and calendar, so each technique of The Cycle System is explained both for paper and digital (PDA) methods. The Cycle System can help by providing a framework for managing tasks other than continuing to add them to an ever growing list, however it still requires a lot of discipline to properly schedule tasks in the future to avoid them all piling up on the task list for the current day. After several weeks of using the system it is certainly a workable method as long as you are honest with yourself on the amount of real work you can accomplish in a single day and you dedicate a good bit of time on a regular basis to future planning and scheduling of tasks that aren't high priority or due immediately. Unfortunately, the author doesn't go into a lot of detail on techniques to handle the issue of building up a backlog of low priority tasks other than to suggest daily, weekly and monthly planning times to reprioritize and reschedule tasks. The issues of email management, interruptions, unexpected tasks, request tracking software and even life goals are addressed. This portion of the book is where the true value lies and it provides a good amount of information.

If you currently have no structured task management system this is a great resource to start with. You'll certainly come away with a wealth of information on getting a system in place to start to manage things. If you forget to complete tasks or tell someone you'll do something only to forget it when the next person you run into starts you on a new problem, then this book will be very useful to you in how to manage interruptions and always follow through. If you are fresh out of school and you're in an IT job where tasks are starting to pile up, this book will be of even more benefit to you with its stories and broad IT specific topics. As such I would recommend this book to anyone in a task and interruption oriented job as a basic primer on how you should be expected to manage yourself. If you are in a computer job, so much the better, but regardless of your line of work you can still learn a great deal.

Ranked at four stars due to the issues discussed above, but still very highly recommended!

Tom Limoncelli is a well-known system administrator, author and orator. He speaks at conferences around the globe on issues ranging from firewall security to time management. He has also published papers at conferences such as the Usenix LISA on a wide variety of topics including innovative firewall techniques, coordinating massive network changes, models for improving customer support, and the security issues related to firing your system administrator.

I like the book "Time Management for System Administrators" because it is written BY system administrator FOR system administrators.

The book covers not only the general time management principles, but also valuable advices for system administrators: how to make use of automation, how to cope with multiple customers, bosses and tasks, and so on.

In addition to this book, I can recommend the other great titles that I liked much: "Never Check E-Mail In the Morning" by Julie Morgenstern, "Getting Things Done" by David Allen and "Time Drive" by Gleb Arkhangelsky.

Of the 3 dozen books I've read related to organizing, this is one of my favorites. It is presented in an easy-to-read format that makes it possible to spend a few minutes and read a chapter at a time. There were many great quotes and ideas that are easy to implement. The book also included fun anecdotes. Very well done!

I recently bought both this and Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity in order to stimulate my thinking about how to take charge of my incredibly busy job as a software development manager in an e-commerce company. I manage about 8 people directly and am also the prime facilitator for another project team of about 15 people, half of which are contractors. Like most people, I also have my own work projects and initiatives, as well as huge laundry list of personal items to keep up with.

At first I was a little turned off by the 55 super-short chapters, each of which is 1-2 pages in length and has a "What? So What? Now what?" layout. The writing quality seemed only average, and I was left thinking "Is that it?" after each chapter. However, after I finished the book rather quickly and then got bogged down in Getting Things Done, I realized that this is a pretty good layout for the target audience - people who feel too busy to read a book on productivity.

Many of the observations seem obvious, but that is one of the key messages of the book: we're all making this stuff away too complicated. How many of us take ten minutes each morning to set a focus and key priority list for the day? Or do we omit that simple step, or fall into the trap of checking email "just for a few minutes" first and then get seduced into following little shiny objects all day while missing the big picture?

The "Five Decisions" chapters - Discard, Delegate, Take Immediate Action, Put in a Reference File, and File for Follow-up - are important but I think are covered better in the other book. About half of the other chapters really resonated with me, which made it worthwhile overall. However, the author lost me when he spent 10 chapters describing a paper filing system with folders for each day of the month plus various other files. I agree that people shouldn't expect software and tools to solve all their problems, but I think a PDA or list software like Remember the Milk is much better than a paper system for anyone who works in multiple locations or is "on the go". I felt like he was being a bit techno-phobic, sort of like the guys who insist that LP records are better than CDs or MP3s.

Really the best way to improve your organization habits is to browse several books and articles on the topic, note the themes that recur (like planning time, grouping tasks by project or goal, etc.) and then choose a couple of things to focus on. I'd recommend this book as one of those resources but not the best-written or only one.

Chris Crouch's "Getting Organized: Improving Focus, Organization and Productivity" is a fine read which accomplishes what all good teachers do best: Imparting with vivid good humor and simplicity the wisdoms of processes taken beyond the classroom. The target audience here, primarily workers in any workplace, calls for a most delicate balancing act: Being thoughtful and succinctly explaining the theory, practice, and results of a disciplined approach to Organization. Mr. Crouch accomplishes this masterfully with anecdotes, explanations, and his "master teacher" persona.

You won't get rich from simply reading a "How to Get Rich" book and you won't get organized and productive from just reading any book - you have to take action and implement the ideas.

I have used the principles and ideas outlined in "Getting Organized" for several years and found them to be extremely valuable.

Becoming more organized and productive is not a matter of what type of filing system or PDA you use, it involves making a habit of organized and productive behavior.

This book provides concrete tools for forming those habits. Simply outstanding!

This is a very good book to help you get organized. I originally had a three star and changed it to a four star. So many of this book's best elements are also found in David Allen's Getting Things Done. I read Allen's book last year and it knocked my socks off. When I read this, I wasn't as impressed as I would have if I read Crouch's before Allen's (they're both obviously drawing some of the best tidbits from some of the same material that preceded them). They have many, many of the same very helpful tips. The advantage of Crouch's is that is has short digestible chapters. However, an overall approach does not clearly emerge, just a bunch of big and small organizing ideas. An advantage of Allen's is that you get a clear, overarching approach into which all those good tips suggested in these books fit. Allen's chapters are longer, and though very readable, can get a little bogged down compared to Crouch. If I had only one book to buy, I'd get Allen's. However, I'm glad I read Crouch's because it has given me a refresher.

Getting organized is a major issue for many of us (I work two jobs, both of which require me to maintain an office). While one book may do it for some, I strongly believe that major habit changes will more likely come if you really plunge into an area like this. That means reading Crouch's book, Allen's book, and even Julie Morganstern's Organizing from the Inside Out. While Allen and Crouch focus on the office and home office (mail, home files, etc.), Morgenstern also covers garage, basement, closets, etc. I'm serious, to change the way you look at things, you need to read several books and make yourself an "expert." Otherwise, it will be a book you read that you're not likely to act on.

I read them in the order of 1) Allen, 2) Morgenstern and 3) Crouch. If any readers will choose to read all three of these, I'd recommend Crouch first, then Allen, then Morgenstern. Crouch will lure you in with his short little chapters (once you get past his too many introductory-type chapters before you get into the good stuff). Then, reinforce what you learn by reading a lot of overlapping stuff in Allen's book, but Allen will give you an outline or framework that ties it all together. Then, move on from the office to your closets and garage with Morgenstern. Of the three, Allen was the best for me, but I needed the others to sustain my momentum. Good luck!

Advanced Selling Strategies: The Proven System of Sales Ideas, Methods, and Techniques Used by Top Salespeople is far and away the one book I would recommend to anyone involved in sales or interested in learning more about the sales profession. I always recommend this book to everyone who asks me how they can become better at sales and anyone who wants to make more money and to take control of their lives.

This hard cover book is available for what? $0.35 used here on Amazon. If you can't invest $0.35 in your life and career you are hopeless. Buy this book, study it and put it into practice. You career and your finances will take off.

What else can I say, I lOVE this book. Dog-eared and underlined it holds a prominent place in my professional library.

This is one of the most in-depth and well written books on the entire sales process I have ever read. Brian Tracy knows what he is talking about.

The chapters cover all aspects of sales,

1). The Psychology Of Selling
2). The Development Of Personal Power
3). Personal Strategic Planning For the Sales Professional
4). The Heart Of The Sale
5). The Profession Of Selling
6). Motivating People To Buy
7). Influencing The Buying Decision
8). Prospecting: Filling Your Sales Pipeline
9). How To Make Powerful Presentations
10). Closing The Sale: The Endgame Of Selling

If you read and understand this book and then use what Brian is teaching you, you will have a much better chance at being successful in the sales world.

two other sales book I highly recommend you also read are Zig Ziglar's Secrets of Closing the Sale and How to Master the Art of Selling

I recommend this book to any person who is interested on reaching difficult customers and closing important deals. Brian Tracy brings with simplicity and profound knowledge a path which facilitates the prospecting stage and brings more confidence to the closing stage.

If you are going to buy one book on sales, this ought to be it. Tracy manages to pack in an amazing amount of material with first rate practical suggestions and excellent, clear writing. Unlike many sales and marketing books, there is almost no self-serving fluff in here, and he covers all the bases.

For my personal preferences, there are two acknowledged masters of sales. The first is Zig Ziglar, the second is Brian Tracy. While I find great value in the works of Jeffrey Gitomer, Frank Rumbauskas, Tim Connor and others, all roads eventually lead back to Zig and Brian (as well as Napoleon Hill...see below).

Tracy's "The Psychology of Selling" is one of the few books I honestly classify as "essential," and I do so without reservation. Like Ziglar, Tracy wants salespeople to see the craft of selling as a series of relationships, not drive-bys. You have to learn how to sell. The biggest challenge is "un-learning" the garbage you've been fed by snake oil peddlers.

The title "Advanced Selling Strategies" is important, because "strategy" is what's often lacking. You have to do your homework. You have to build a relationship. You have to create a sense of buying urgency. You have to know when it is time to close the sale, and when that time comes, you have to know how to do it.

And you have to do this uniquely for EVERY client you sign up. Forget the "Sales Scripts That Close EVERY Sale" books. They're garbage. If you're dealing with a prospect who's not bright enough to spot a script a mile away, that prospect should not become one of your clients.

That said, here are the chapters in "Advanced Selling Strategies."

1). The Psychology Of Selling
2). The Development Of Personal Power
3). Personal Strategic Planning For the Sales Professional
4). The Heart Of The Sale
5). The Profession Of Selling
6). Motivating People To Buy
7). Influencing The Buying Decision
8). Prospecting: Filling Your Sales Pipeline
9). How To Make Powerful Presentations
10). Closing The Sale: The Endgame Of Selling

Those are the "bones" of the book, and trust me...there's plenty of meat on each of them.

If you're serious about sales...serious about being the best, serious about challenging yourself and being an achiever instead of someone who makes excuses for limited achievement...I recommend the following:

1). "The Psychology of Selling" by Brian Tract
2). "Advanced Selling Strategies" by Brian Tracy
3). "Secrets of Closing The Sale" (2003 Updated Edition) by Zig Ziglar
4). "Over The Top: Moving From Survival To Stability, From Stability To Success, From Success To Significance" by Zig Ziglar
5). "The Law Of Success In Sixteen Lessons Complete" by Napoleon Hill

Happy selling!

I recommend this book to all the people who are constantly firefighting everyday to make their mass production businesses better, faster, stronger and quicker. How many more words that end in "er" do you need to rally the troops in growing your businesses? Tom Wentz shares his real world management experience through his book and demonstrates with great logic how to change your mass production status quo and "CREATE" the structural changes you need to CREATE a mass customization powerhouse.
If you have an open mind and are ready to end the corporate frustration you experience today, I recommend that you read Tom's book and learn how to lead the necessary transformational change you need to become successful in today's business environment. Your employees and customer's will love you for it!!!

Written by the Thomas K. Wentz (President of Corporate Performance Systems Inc.), Transformational Change: How To Transform Mass Production Thinking To Meet The Challenge Of Mass Customization is a solid and deftly presented guide for adapting to the new and evolving demands and realities of a globalized marketplace where merely churning out vast quantities of a product is simply not enough to be profitable. Now, more and more, customers want goods and services uniquely tailored to their tastes, and they are willing to pay for it - so much so as to change the shape of international businesses worldwide. Learning how to incorporate customization for maximum consumer satisfaction and profit is a rocky road, but individual chapters of Transformational Change address a range of relevant problems including corporate restructuring, gathering appropriate intelligence, competitive advantages and disadvantages, and a great deal more. Transformational Change is a truly excellent resource and a highly motivational reading for business managers at all corporate levels of responsibility.

Tom Wentz is the quinessential change agent! His book, "Transformational Change" describes clearly the process of change from mass production to mass customization. While the book is an easy read, you'll want to revisit it many times because of the great depth it possesses.

Mr. Wentz shows that insanity truly is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. He likens it to those "hackers" out on the driving range who continually use the improper swing and expect a drive 275 yards straight down the middle.

In light of the events since September 11, 2001, Mr. Wentz expertly shows the need "not to defer the the experience of living today" and to become truly fulfilled at work, at home or in your communities.

This is must reading for anyone who wants to transform their existence.

Transformational change addresses the problem of how to deal with change when moving from a mass production oriented business to a customer centered customized production business. One of the truly unique perspectives of this book is that it discusses and details the process of such a change. Many similar books effectively argue the need for change but then provide no direction on how to make the change. Thomas Wentz' book provides detailed discussion and processes for creating that complete transformation of your business

In the past most businesses were based on a mass production focus. Success and management were evaluated on a numbers basis. How much has sales increased? How many items were produced during this period last year? This numbers orientation tends to cause people to work hard to meet the numbers as their primary focus. In this scenario employees typically don't go beyond what is expected of them. There is no motivation to create a unique world-class organization. Add to that the fact that times have changed and customers now require a solution or product that is customized to their specific needs. If you can't provide a customized solution or product then they will simply go to a competitor that can. Is this just another business direction change? Thomas Wentz argues that it is more than just a directional change, it requires a complete transformation of the business from one form to another completely different form.

A nice extra to the book are the numerous "Key points" scattered throughout the text. By summarizing the prior information in just one or two sentences and making it stand out from the text it is easy to quickly read over the key points of the book and refresh your memory on an ongoing basis. An excellent book on business and change that also has some applicability to personal change, it is a recommended read.

I have read Tom's book twice. The second time very carefully because I wanted to be sure that I was not being seduced by the obvious. I was not. This is an addition to the literature on leading change. Many of the terms are familiar but Tom has brought them together in a way that creates a new picture of the forces that change -- and don't change -- business.

I have become somewhat sceptical of all of the warnings of the dramatic shifts in paradigms that business must face to survive but Tom has succeeded in explaining the shift from mass production thinking to something new in a way that can be understood. I get a clear picture of what it means when there is a new context requiring new thinking. Not every business will face the same changes in context but every business needs to understand if and when its context changes.

I am distributing this book to the sixty CEOs in my CEO peer groups for them to read and discuss. I am also going to schedule an opportunity for them to participate in a simulation to experience first hand the limits that mass production thinking imposes on our search for solutions.

A good book that has a lot of Domino Information.
I find myself referencing it from time to time.
A nice tool to have at your disposal.

Although this book is a bit dated covering Domino R5, I would still say it has been a very valuable aide in learing Domino/Lotus administration on R6.5.3. I wish there had been some flow charts on the routing process at the end of chapter 8, and some packet header diagrams of the Notes RPC protocol.

I would recommend this book to anyone new to the Domino/Lotus notes world.

Great Reference. Go here first then look elswhere! I just HOPE Mr. Kirkland and NewRiders come to some agreement and get an updated version for R6/6.5 soon to be 7 out.

Invaluable!!!!! If I had to do in the trenches domino administration and could only bring one book with me this would be it.

When I was a Jr. Notes Administrator this book gave me the level of knowledge and understanding of Domino and Lotus Notes that I needed to move into a more senior position in a very short amount of time. My now-dogeared copy is still by my side every day at work as I continue to learn from this all-inclusive, easy-to-read manual. From setting up your first server to understanding Domino system architecture, "Domino System Administration" covers it all. This book is truly a "must have". I am desperately hoping that Mr. Kirkland writes an updated version for Domino/Notes 6!

If you buy any book for administering Lotus Notes/Domino, buy this one.