Companies and Consultants Books

There are no pictures of the different lines of Roseville. If you don't know the difference in appearance between white rose, clematis, futura, vista forest, etc., you're out of luck. I also thought the book was way too expensive for the quality and size.

Now that I own a computer and can see the items on e-bay, this guide is helpful in finding price ranges. I can now bid with confidence. It's a wonderful, compact guide that you can take with you to antique shops, auctions and keep in your car. Mr Jenkins even signs his books. If you don't have this guide yet, get one!

I have been collecting roseville now for about 3 years and have used a variety of price guides out there on the market. However, I have found this price guide to be very informative and accurate as compared to the others that I have read. I would highly recommend it to not only tothe serious Roseville collector but also to the beginner out there that is just starting out. You will not be sorry.

I have learned so much,especially with the interviews and could quickly see all the hard work that had gone into this price guide. I would call it a price guide,but it is so much more than that. It has helped me a great deal and I appreciate all the hard work and research that went into this. Thank you Jim Jenkins for helping others when Roseville needs an expert. I give this book five stars and would give more if I could.

This booklet on Roseville Pottery by Jim Jenkins gives a great detailed listing of all the patterns, shape numbers and descriptions of the pieces that were produced by the Roseville Pottery Company. Also it gives a price guide based on three catagories...low line, action line and mint line, which is important because every piece of Roseville is different as to color, mold and detail, and should be priced as such. This Roseville Art Pottery Price Guide is a "must have" for all Roseville lovers and collectors.

I'm new to this field and was quite confused about how to set up a Web development business. This book really opened the door for me. It not only gave me the fundamentals that I needed to understand Web design fundamentals but it gave me an encyclopedia of knowledge for actually running my business. Stuff like PR, brochures. All of this is quite necessary for a novice like me. It's a great read!

Jessica has taught this subject matter on the HP website. The course was great. I built my first website successfully because of her. Now I'm going professional. I was laid off a few months ago and needed a new career. Jessica gave me confidence in her course and her book gives me all sorts of ideas!

I hope to make my first million soon :-) and it will be all because of Jessica.

I'm new to this field and was quite confused about how to set up a Web development business. This book really opened the door for me. It not only gave me the fundamentals that I needed to understand Web design fundamentals but it gave me an encyclopedia of knowledge for actually running my business. Stuff like PR, brochures. All of this is quite necessary for a novice like me. It's a great read!

...

I read this book when it first came out.
I liked the simplicity of it. It has a good recipe for running
your website consulting firm and gives you hardcore technical information and strategy for us computer engineers alike.
I kept this as a basic reference for myself if I needed info
on HTML, VRML, Plugins, Cookies, JPEGS, UUNET and Business Planning.

Enjoy.

...

I recently finished the book. What a great read. I zipped through it, and now keep it handy as a reference tool. I espeically found the section on fees and charging for Internet based services to be helpful.

We started in the marketing business, with a specialty in sponsorship -- the ultimate in analog communications. Having built LitLamp.com, we have developed expertise in web strategy, planning, interface with engineers, copywriting and website promotion. We are now developing plans to begin offering these services. Here at LitLamp.com your words have become a part of our daily banter.

There is so little quality information available to web entrepreneurs who are breaking new ground. More sizzle than steak. Your book came at just the right time.

This book was recommended to me by a business associate and it was a great find! It lays out a simple, executable business plan that can be created in a short period of time. There are numerous excellent examples of plans developed by similar businesses for illustration. I would HIGHLY recommend this book!

I achieved virtually all my goals for the year after I used The One Page Business Plan process.The book really helped me to get clarity on what I needed to focus on to achieve my vision on building my consulting businees for small business owners. The version for professional consultants helps you assess your business in terms that relate directly to consulting businesses. That in turn triggers you to start writing and commiting to action items to help close the gaps between "significance ratings" for practice improvement and actual scores in each category. I will surely be updating my plan each because this really works!

This book serves a good purpose for those who have liitle understandiung of the dynamics of management and running an organization. I fills that gaps and answers most of the burning questions of what really matters. It is recommended for those that I call management novices. Overall, it is a great book!

Chuma Cos-Okpalla, Ph.D

One Page Business Planning has become a critical tool for growing my consulting practice and adding value and depth to my client relationships. Now, Jim Horan has really delivered on his new book for the Professional Consultant so we can 'practice what we preach'. Especially powerful is the 10 Point Assessment exercise! Every business consultant should use One Page Business Planning as a roadmap for successful consulting!

As a marketing coach/consultant I have found it difficult to wrap my arms around a plan to attain your goals, but the One Page Business Plan for Consultants made the process effortless! The process is is simple, solid, practical and progressive. The questionnaires are thought provoking and useful beyond the Plan itself. The One Page Plan for Consultants can help those just starting out or those like me who have been in business for awhile and needed a more focused plan. Not only will you have an excellent roadmap to attain your goals, but will also leave the process with more clarity as well. I highly recommend this book.

I have read them all, and this is by far the best.

I found Michael Lane's book "Secrets of the Wealth Makers" to be very informative and an easy read. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in accumulating wealth or understanding how to protect and transfer their existing wealth.

As one of the Registered Investment Advisors (RIA's) interviewed by Michael Lane for his newest book, "Secrets of the Wealth Makers", it was with a certain level of excitement that I spent my weekend reading it cover to cover. Although I recognized some of the other advisors by name, I had never met nor talked to any of them. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised by the consistency of our advice.

It is important for any reader of "Secrets of the Wealth Makers" to understand that this is not a technical manual on the latest investment strategies or a "how to" book on managing your money. There are plenty of those out there, even though most of the recommended strategies are far from proven. In contrast, Lane focuses on an investor's human relationship with the investment marketplace. It looks at both the intellectual as well as the emotional issues that individuals must deal with to be successful investors. In keeping with his relationship theme, Lane does an excellent job of helping the reader understand the role a professional Registered Investment Advisor plays in the search for financial peace-of-mind.

This book is also helpful in identifying the issues that need to be considered when an investor selects a professional advisor. But don't confuse this book with one of the many available about investment gurus. None of the advisors cited by Lane here professes to be a guru and, in fact, Lane seems to suggest that successful gurus (over the long run) don't exist. Instead, Lane identifies "top advisors" as those who are genuinely concerned about their clients' well being. These advisors clearly understand the human side of investment issues.

One of the best elements of "Secrets of the Wealth Makers" is that it encourages readers to raise their expectations of service from any investment professional they're considering. In this day, with everyone from stock brokers to insurance agents to bankers calling themselves financial advisors, prospective clients need as much information about evaluating these professionals as they do about investment techniques.

"Secrets of the Wealth Makers" also provides broad coverage of most of the wealth management strategies currently in use, and has an excellent index for reference. With Michael Lane's easy to read style, combined with interesting stories from top money managers, you'll find this book not only a quick read, but one you'll want to refer back to often in your search for a professional investment advisor or in evaluating your existing advisor.

Another good book you might consider is "Twenty Five Myths You've Got To Avoid If You Want To Manage Your Money Right" by Jonathan Clements. It is real information about the real world of investing, debunking the hype.

This book does not convey any new ideas, but is a good overall summation of some very sound wealth creation techniques and theories.

"If I were a rich man," goes the song. Well, if you were, this is how you would invest. Michael F. Lane draws on the advice of top money managers and financial planners to help readers in five key areas: 1) wealth planning, 2) wealth accumulation, 3) wealth without tax, 4) wealth transfer and 5) wealth protection and preservation. The book is aimed at the individual investor with a relative lack of experience in the financial marketplace. The broad overview includes basics of planning your portfolio, E-trading, making investments more tax efficient (for U.S. investors) and estate planning. This solid guide emphasizes fundamentals, although sometimes the discussion becomes repetitious. And, when different advisers give contradictory advice, the diversity of opinion can seem confusing. Lane might have done more summarizing and synthesizing, but we [...] recommend his solid book as a generally good guide for prospective and new investors who want a reason to sing.

If it wasn't for Dr. Jeffrey Lant, I wouldn't have been able to launch my own business... 20+ years ago. His book was instrumental in starting and running my consultancy, especially over those first few months of difficult transition from corporate employment. Kudo's to Lant and mega-thank you's!

Jeffrey doesn't fool around. If you have specialized or technical skills and want to build a profitable consulting career fast, start here.
This is his essential book for beginners... people who have been in business under a year..., or are having trouble getting their act together

Good book - lots of info. Has an amateurish look and feel, but the info is solid and extremely useful, and although not super professional, well presented in an understandable fashion.

Not only did I love the content, I was even more impressed by the customer support! Rod Cook is the best in the industry!

If you liked "Flawless Consulting" you will like this work (to me, this is a MUCH better book and it deserves to sell better!) This is NOT one of those boring, simplistic, generic overviews of how to develop your consulting skills.This is PRACTICAL, concise, logically organised personal disclosure (from first-hand experience) of some of the most important and critical aspects of consulting. It will be useful to external consultants, internal advisors and manager (clients) themselves. Plus (very unusual for a management book), it does make an interesting reading.

Lots of diagrams (when I see a book without even a single diagram or graphics - and there are many around, I stop considering it - to me it CAN NOT be a good management book, with some notable exemptions), lots of quick and useful exercises, you will NOT be bored!

I wanted to give it 5 stars (it deserves it) but the high price put me off (although, when compared to hundreds of thousands of dollars a client firm may waste on consultants, this is the bargain of the century, it should pay for itself 100-fold in savings!). Talking about bargains, I bought a second hand copy for a couple of dollars one day when the sun was really shining! I wish I had this book when I was writing my book "Managing Consultants" - it would have saved me many hours and made it a better book. Anyway, I do use (and credit) some of the principles outlined here in my seminar for clients "How to Manage Consultants" and I do recommend the book to all participants.

Good onya, Charles!

This book is a no nonsense guide to consulting. It shows how to gain assignments, how to conduct the the preliminary work and the 12 major consulting steps.

It deals with the political and personal and interpersonalapproaches to working effectively with clients.

It is full of easy to use diagrams and models. It looks at why consulting assignments fail and how to make them work by providng real cases and lessons from experience.

This is a how to do it book and outlines new approaches, such as action learning. This is a book not just for full time consultants, but for all who are asked and required to contribute to organization consulting processes as part of their job.

The story of the powerful & secretive consulting elite, firms such as McKinsey & Co., Bain, the Boston Consulting Group, Andersen Consulting, Deloitte Touche, Gemini, & others. Based on sources within the firms themselves, interviews with key clients, & access to now-sealed court records, the book provides the inside story that consultants would prefer you not know. It tells you about conspiracies at the top, bone-headed assumptions, as well as brilliant performances. Also looks at many success stories, & how small, highly focused consulting firms are providing cost-effective, targeted advice to companies & mounting a challenge to the big consulting powerhouses.

James O'Shea and Charles Madigan have written an exceptionally informative text. Not only is it packed with well researched material, its gripping narrative style makes it very exciting to read as well.

This book contains material that should be regarded as essential reading for all serious-minded professional managers. It is the ultimate thinking manager's book, filled with compelling case evidence of managerial indecision (and how to avoid it). It is arguably the best business book to be published between 1980 and 2000.

Most negative reviews of this book suggest that it is either unbalanced, biased, or too superficial in its coverage of the management consultancy industry. Such claims should be accepted with caution, predominantly because they appear to be written by the very consultants whose feathers the book has obviously ruffled. Several of the chapters contain case studies that are anything but superficial.

Ultimately the book shouldn't be taken as a modern-day Spanish Inquisition targeting consultants and their methods (although it is, in parts, a damaging exposure of management consulting's darker side). Instead, Dangerous Company's most salient message is really directed towards inept managers (at all organisational levels) who all too readily seek to mask their own ineptitude by relying on expert advice that they are often incapable of comprehending. The gripping Chapter 2 on "Figgie International" is the best example of this. It can be read as a stand-alone case analysis of strategic confusion, and is perhaps the book's most revealing segment. It's narrative style is particularly compelling.

The book's underlying message (which is perhaps being missed by those who are quick to criticise the text) is that highly paid senior executives who readily abrogate their managerial responsibilities by blindly placing faith in the advice of external experts, are the "real dangers" to their companies. The authors make this clear in the final pages of their book, where they provide a checklist of 10 rules to follow when engaging management consultants. Rule 5 is "never give up control."

The concluding lines of "Dangerous Company" are perhaps the most revealing of all: "Good advice depends upon the shrewdness of the person who seeks it." In the final analysis, the authors are not suggesting that managers shouldn't use consultants. They're merely suggesting that managers seek advice wisely rather than blindly.

This book gives you a good idea of the history of some of the major consulting firms in the 1980s through the early 1990s. It also gives you a little background history going further back in the century, esp. on McKinsey. You can tell this is definitely a journalistic outsider's account of management consulting; it does not give you the "feel" for what it is like to be a consultant the same way "House of Lies" or Consulting Demons" does; therefore, it is of less use to MBAs interested in exploring consulting as a possible career option. It is nonetheless useful for providing a little more knowledge about the management consulting environment of the 1980s and early 1990s.

An important thing to keep in mind is that despite the title the authors do not take a uniformly negative stance against management consulting. Instead, they discuss what can go wrong and how to prevent those things, while ensuring consultants add value.

Overall, it is a useful book, but I would go with "House of Lies" or "Consulting Demons" as interesting introductions to management consulting from a critical perspective.

This is an interesting book that provides a critique on the powerful consulting firms. The authors reveal some major failures by the powerful consulting houses. The enormous power and influence that some of the major consulting firms exercise is revealed and some staggering sums of money going into hundreds of millions that some companies paid to the major consultants and at the end of it all, the companies went into liquidation. The debacles are balanced by some remarkable turnarounds spearheaded by the same consultants.

This is a must read for organizations that wish to engage consultants. Top managers would benefit from the various tips on how to effectively manage the relationship with consultants, and how they can protect their companies from consultants who keep running the clock with no tangible work being accomplished. It gives the client useful tips on how they can demand value from the consultants. It is also very useful reading for consultants as they have the opportunity to read critical voices on some shortcomings of their profession. This should assist them in coming up with better solutions to clients' problems. Students who wish to enter the profession will benefit a lot from learning about both successful and failed consulting engagements that would prepare them for the challenges of the profession.

The authors raise some questions and concerns that are often expressed that indeed consultants are people hired by companies to justify some drastic and unpopular measures rather than being agents of change, which they prefer to consider themselves. On the other hand, when criticizing consultants, we may forget that the role of consultants includes giving advice to change or improve a situation but they do not have direct control over the implementation.

The book is an insightful and interesting read for all the stakeholders of the consultancy business that is recommended.

This book is a look by two journalists who have sifted thru lots of cases to bring to the front examples of management consultants bringing ruin (and in one case prosperity) to their clients. It also tries to chart the future of consulting industry and where it takes the rest of corporate world.

Written in a racy style it takes a look at the firms which defined consulting, right from people like James Oscar mcKinsey to Bain and the companies they started...their differentiators etc.

The authors come to the conclusion that giving a carte blanche job to a consulting firm will only make them more dangerous :-) They suggest that to manage a firm you need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the firm and therefore need to focus them.

But undoubtedly this book is great information on the persona and history of the specific consulting firms like McKinsey, Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), Bain & Co., Gemini Consulting, BCG etc.

very entertaining, i couldn't put down the book, so I read it in one or two days.
The book is divided into two parts: first is marvin's biography, the second discussess his impacts on others.

You'll enjoy this book, if:
- you want to understand from where came Mckinsey's requirements for candidates
- you are curious, how mckinsey gained current face (e.g. from where came his 'unified principles accross all country', why do they select the best candidates, why it is a company based on partnership, rather then shareholders; etc.)

The reader can follow marvin's thinking, see how his decisions are based on facts. I learned a lot purely by reading his speech from a meeting of partners (included in the appendix in the book).

That being said, a couple of chapters from the second part seemed boring (resumes of leaders who worked with him; or business stories of these leaders), so I just didn't read them. The book was still very valuable.

Also check out his book, written by him closely before his death, "will to lead".

I never thought I would end up in business, but did. thought the book was a great look into the history of a firm. It has helped me review some of my own decisions and better understand them - what I did right instinctively and where there might be some opportunity to rethink things.

I enjoyed reading about the founder and found the lessons practical to what I am doing today.

This book tells the story - atleast it tries to - of one of the most influential persons in business management, and hence its something worth reading. But on the otherhand, its not a great book from the style of writing - it doesn't really tell a good story and the over-riding focus on integrity - given the more than few recent episodes - I am tempted to say, its not a very balanced piece of work.

But I certainly recommend this book - despite giving it just 3 stars - gives us an insight into this influential person and his life. It provides some great ideas - valid even today on developing and living a concept - in this case - Management Consulting. And well, also shows the importance of being at the right place at the right time and having the presence of mind to realise the same!!

I will still wait for a better written book on the life of Marvin and McKinsey sometime in the future!

Elizabeth Haas Edersheim holds a PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and worked at McKinsey & Company from 1979 to 1988. She is now strategic advisor to a number of Fortune 500 companies. The late Marvin Bower is seen as the creator/inventor of management consulting. I see this book, which was published in 2004, as a semi-autobiography. It is split up in two parts, whereby the first part - Translating a Vision into Reality - discusses the creation and development of McKinsey & Company and the second part - A Leader's Leader - discusses the impact of Bower on others.

The first chapter - Marvin Bower - discusses is a short summary on the working life of Marvin Bower, who was born in Cleveland in 1903 and died at the age of in January 2003. During his lifetime worked for a total of 59 years at McKinsey & Company, which he almost personally transformed from "a nearly defunct accounting and engineering firm into a preeminent adviser to senior executives throughout business and, on occasion, government". His most remarkable distinction was his dedication to value and his personal integrity, which is a common theme throughout the book. Bower was the first person to graduate from Harvard Law School (1928) and later Harvard Business School (1930). The short second chapter - The Vision - discusses Bower's vision of and passion for management consulting which began during his career as a lawyer at Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue between 1930 and 1933. His vision and values led the management consulting firm of McKinsey & Co., which was formed by James O. McKinsey, from a staff of 18 in 1933 to 2,500 by the time of his retirement in 1992. The third chapter - The Profession and the Institution - discusses the profession of management consulting and the institution (McKinsey & Co.). Bower conceived his vision of the institution as one firm with: a national presence; a strong firm personality; high-caliber, talented, and committed people; aversion to complacency; and regenerating leadership. Each is discussed in detail. "And - except for its personnel - a good reputation is a professional firm's most valuable earning asset." The fourth and final chapter of the first part - Defining Moments of Leadership and Influence - discusses the nine points of key decision making spanning a 60-year period. Each of these nine points is discussed in detail, they range from the decision to go for a one-firm identity nationally in 1939 through to the objection to a joint venture with venture capital firm DLJ on 1969.

Chapter 5 - The Bower Reach - starts the weaker second part of the book. This chapter discusses the power and reach of Marvin Bower's leadership, which is truly astounding. During Bower's 17 years as managing director of McKinsey, more than 50 of the consultants evolved into CEOs of leading global companies. The author identifies 6 attributes responsible for his rich legacy of leadership. One of the most useful parts of this chapter is Bower's 1950-memorandum titled "Steps in Making and Executing Decisions", which essentially discusses McKinsey's famous problem-solving model (for more, read Ethan Rasiel's The McKinsey Mind). Chapter 6 - Inspiring Organizational Courage - discusses the fact that Bower was not reckless, but fearless. "Not all clients were willing or able to muster the courage required to make bold moves; others were put off by Marvin's bluntness." This courage is discussed through case examples at Royal Dutch Shell (1956), Price Waterhouse (1979), and Harvard (1979). Chapter 7 - Educating a Generation of Leaders - discusses some examples from the list of graduates from the "Marvin School". It discusses in detail the careers of Harvey Golub (ex-Chairman of American Express), Gary MacDougal (leader of the Illinois welfare system reform), David Ogilvy (founder and ex-Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather), and Don Gogal (president and CEO of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Inc.). There are some short, but impressive, CVs from other McKinsey alumni. The book is concluded with a note by the author, timelines for Marvin Bower, McKinsey & Co. and Harvard Business School, a brief biography of Marvin Bower, and Marvin Bower's speech at the Partners' Conference of 1964.

I must admit that I am somewhat disappointed by this book. It starts of strong in the first part, but loses strength very much in the second part. Even so, we must acknowledge that Marvin Bower's work has left an enormous impact on business and the world. He was the visionary who created and developed management consulting through McKinsey & Company. I believe that the strongest part of his leadership was his principles and values, which are discussed in great detail in the first part of the book. I must admit that I expected more detail on McKinsey & Company itself, such as the problem-solving techniques, internal training, and recruitment of the strongest talent in the world. One other comment I have is that I am now quite interested in Marvin Bower's personal memoirs to which the author makes lots of references. I have been quite hard and given this book 3 stars (4 stars for the first part and 3 for the second part) just to indicate my disappointment. I recommend readers to read the first part of the book, the author's note and appendices.

Marvin Bower may be the most influential businessman you've never heard of. The firm he shaped into an international powerhouse, McKinsey & Company, doesn't bear his name, and he never made splashy public gifts. Yet the company that spawned the management consulting industry would not exist today without this remarkable man's clear, compelling vision. Bower or his consultants transformed countless companies and executives for the better. Here, author Elizabeth Haas Edersheim assembles dozens of testimonials to Marvin Bower's integrity, honesty and drive to excel. Her book contains the story of his life, but it reads less like a biography and more like a Harvard Business School case study - a bit dry, and chock-full of interview transcripts rather than compelling narrative. However, its similarity to a case study is oddly appropriate, since Bower was one of the first graduates of the Harvard Business School and remained connected with it for many years, even defending its case study method of teaching when it came under attack in the late 1970s. We recommend this book to leaders, to those who aspire to lead and to consultants who want to study the best of their profession in action.

This book, while not anything new if you have taken training to be a Coach, is a valuable reinforcement to use in your practice. Being new to the field I was seeking different ideas to presenting sessions or complimenting my sessions and some of the ideas in this book were exactly what I needed.

My goal was to obtain a variety of forms, which could be used or modified for a coaching practice. This book provides this plus a considerable amount of information about the coaching business. This book is a good starting point for anyone considering the coaching business.

This book is easy to read and is laid out in easy steps to follow to begin a life coaching practice.

I asked an experienced coach to review the content to see if it was worth keeping and she agreed. She checked specific chapters I should read, forms to use, etc.

It has provided the start that I need before I meet my first client.

I was not impressed with this book. It's a book of lists, and checklists, not a narrative, descriptive guide to how to coach. It has a bunch of forms, which are great if you're just launching your practice, but to really learn the craft, this is not the book to teach that. It's "oversell" to say that it's "everything you need to launch" or even expand your practice. This book disappointed me greatly.