Purchasing Books

I had a number of wooow and ahaaa!! moments reading this book. Photos compliment the book nicely, and illustrate the main points wonderfuly. I have always been interested in pearls, but was never quite confident investing into them. This book covers everything you need to know before you go pearl shopping. Loved it. However, it also guided me away from buying an expensive strand of pearls. After all, pearl nacre is a living thing, it dulls kept in a box and wears away worn.

Initially published in 1992, and now in a completely updated and expanded fourth edition, Pearl Buying Guide: How To Evaluate, Identify And Select Pearls & Pearl Jewelry is a handy, no-nonsense guide to purchasing quality pearl jewelry at an appropriate price. Written in plain terms accessible to the lay reader, and filled with color photographs, Pearl Buying Guide presents the wisdom and experience of a professional gemologist in its simple instructions on how to tell a fake pearl from a real one, how to select high quality pearls, how to compare pearls and prices, and much more. An absolute "must-read" for any consumer determined to invest his or her hard-earned money in fine pearl adornments.

A wonderful sequel to the third edition, this new fantastic book is a must-have guide to learn, shop and enjoy pearls! With the fascinating ever-changing world of pearl culturing, the writer is always up to speed with the latest techniques, treatments, new types of pearls and latest jewelry designs. A perfect mixture of information and gorgeous photographs, this is another fine book from Renee Newman, definitively the best of its kind!

This book teaches one how to manage and evaluate risks and opportunities.

Risk comes with innovation. Risk comes from change. Risk is all around us. There is risk from non-action as well as action. Most all opportunities come bundled with risks.

Although this book does not expose every element of managing risk it does tell you how to dig deeper and find the resources for effective risk management. This book teaches that a business has within itself the knowledge base to manage its own risk when properly focused and directed.

An excellent book.

I bought this book 1 year ago because it made references to the Challenger accident, which made quite an impression on me ever since I started following investigations analysis reports after reading about Challenger in Richard Feynman's book, "What Do you Care What Other People Think" many many years ago.
Besides programming books, I have many project management and business and finance books on my book shelves already, so I wasn't looking to purchase another business IT project management book.

In my opinion, this book will appeal immediately to technical people who likes engineers than business people or their business-minded boss.
For the content itself, Mike's review below provide a very good detailed insight into the material. The ideas does have practical applicability, but it does make me wonder if I am being persuaded into the glorification of Northpoint's services, bcos technically I do not think it's easy attempt the actuarial approach. Besides the quantitative approach, the values and judgement approach is really on the side of soft skills, I think anyone who can make the business/engineer/finance people buy into what he/she believes and is doing will likely do well in career and rise into leadership positions.

But this book is a bit unconventional in its treatment of the project management, it takes an interesting approach from the human values perspective and challenges conventional approaches to the perception of valuation in business IT.

Finally, I am not too sure whether there's any subtle hidden marketing intention behind the publication of this book for Northpoint company, of which the author is the founder and CEO of.

In any case, I still like this book and I am writing here because I am recommmending this book to my friend to read now.

I purchased this book on a whim expecting another mediocre book on IT business investment. Instead I got a deeply influential book about how to effectively assure project success and realize best value from IT investments.

This book maintains a brisk, but easy-to-follow pace - by page 18 you get nine unwarranted beliefs about the reasons who IT initiatives fail and well crafted counter arguments to dispel them. This leads into a well written chapter on pathologies of failure and patterns of disaster, which the rest of the book addresses in the form of a methodology that integrates risk, value and gap analysis to give a clear map to assuring success.

Part I contains seven chapters that discuss the underlying elements of the methods, including risk management, value management, process management, measurement and assessment. These are the knowledge areas and tools. Among the tools are business initiative value assessments, business knowledge value, progress and performance curves, and risk-to-value analysis.

Part II consists of seven more chapters that provide case studies to illustrate a failed project and how the authors' methods apply. Five of the chapters in this section deal in detail with closing leadership, knowledge, process, resources and judgement gaps. One of the core measurements used is knowledge, experience and performance used to identify and close gaps that threaten project and IT initiatives.

I especially liked the way the authors frame value propositions, which includes a list of 22 major values (each of which can have many sub values), and how these are divided into hard and soft values. What makes this useful is the fact that each value can be quantified. These are augmented by five key questions about the value proposition to validate it. In each of the gaps discussed in Part II are equally useful checklists and questions. This material transforms the authors' approach from theory to the practical and is one of the reasons I was deeply influenced by the book.

There are also parts of the book that I take issue with: the authors never miss an opportunity to 'plug' their consulting company. This is more of an irritant than a real problem. Also, as I was reading the book it seemed as though I would need their services in order to get a complete picture. As it turns out everything you need is in the book, but it was still a distraction. Quibbles aside I think that the approach the authors give in this book and the valuable checklists and questionnaires that are included make this one of the best books one can reference for assuring the success of IT initiatives.

I've read lots of real estate books over the years, but "Stop Foreclosure Now" is one of the best. Plus, you don't have to be in foreclosure to appreciate its contents. For example, I'm a real estate investor, but still found it valuable. The book is divided into five sections. The first section covers promissory notes, mortgages, and deeds of trust. The second section differentiates between judicial and non-judicial foreclosure and describes the procedures for each. The third section describes various strategies homeowners can utilize to stop the foreclosure and save their homes. The fourth section, which was particularly helpful to me. Describes the specific foreclosure procedures in each of the 50 states. It includes a nifty map of each states and that state's website (which you can access for updates on foreclosure laws). The final section contains a glossary of commonly used real estate terms. This book is a valuable new addition to my real estate library, and I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to learn more about foreclosure.

Jim Mills
Manhattan Beach, CA

"With STOP FORECLOSURE NOW, author Lloyd Segal has done a HUGE favor for many of us homeowners who have to face the very real intimidating and frightening process of coping with such financial difficulties. By simplifying and demystifying many of the steps involved, Mr. Segal has given us access to the knowledge and the ways and means necessary to better protect our families and our properties.
It's a very important intermediate step before having to seek and pay for professional help!

Thank-you,

Howard Gordon"

As a principle, I stay far away from self help and you-can-do-it-yourself books, because more often than not, their authors seem to have the secret ambition of turning clueless reader/user into experts on their subject matters. Mr. Segal's book does not supply the reader with needless information on foreclosure, short sales and related matters: it simply provides very straightforward answers to all the fundamental questions the distressed homeowner actually has and to which he/she is seeking concrete answers to get out of a difficult situation. Plain and simple.
.
What more, the book is remarkably clearly written, and structured in such a way that the user/reader does not spend a minute agonizing over where to start, what chapters to read, or what information could be relevant given his or her particular circumstances. This book is in fact very results-oriented, and explores right from the start different viable solutions; from there, the reader/user is then guided through his or her solution, or best alternative option very steadfastly by the author. In that regard, I have to admire Mr. Segal's great ability to navigate the reader/user through a complex situation with surprisingly simple solutions, and his ability to put himself in the shoes of a distressed homeowner. Truly amazing!

Now. I came across, and bought this book when was entangled in a seemingly dead end situation: I had tried - rather very unsuccessfully-- to sell my house on which I owed more than the current market value, from 2 different lenders; my real estate agent, and real estate lawyer had both given up on my case; I felt trapped, and I was angered by the situation. When they let me down, I freezed, and was basically waiting for doom to loom on me. " Stop Foreclosure Now. Save your house if you can; save your credit if you can't" did not merely give me hope to find a way out. It actually empowered me overnight to take charge of my situation, by equipping me with the knowledge, tools, and information needed to engage with lenders and people in the real estate community in an intelligible and articulated manner about my case. Indeed, as a read the book, I could see myself evolving from a state of desperation and disempowerment to a state of mind where I could see new opportunities emerging from my obviously desparate situation. In that respect, one of the key lessons of the book, from a homeowner's perspective is Mr' Segal's take that foreclosure is not the end of it all; as a matter of fact, it could actually be the best thing happening to a homeowner seeking a fresh beginning in homeownership.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone, -- distressed homeowner or not -- who wants to engage intelligibly with lenders, or real estate folks on a foreclosure case, and work out a viable solution for herself or himself. Given the current real estate market, this book is simply a gem of wisdom, knowledge and power.

Ms.Gordon has done an excellent job of providing an interesting and readable, step-by-step analysis of what it takes to properly evaluate suppliers and drive them to perform optimally. She has certainly met her goal of providing a book "to help guide firms in this journey." She starts out by telling us how to sell the Supplier Performance Management initiative and then takes us through every step including what a customer company must do to obtain optimum value from this effort. She makes it very clear that this is a process, not a project or an event. One must understand this going in or be destined to fail. I wish I had this book to read years ago, but in reading it I find it validated what I had to learn through years of working the process.
James Tarabori
Director of Purchasing-
North America
Caterpillar Inc.

Very well written, easy to read, practical and comprehensive survey of the art & science of supplier performance management and supplier assessment. If you are just learning about the topic, wanting to figure out how to drive more productive relationships with suppliers, implementing a new supplier performance management program or enhancing / re-architecting an existing program, this is an excellent resource. The author actually has experience in improving relationships between suppliers and customers and developing tools to automate the necessary processes She is very direct about the tradeoffs you must consider and the pitfalls you will face along the way. As we are in the process of designing and piloting a program, this was a very useful guide for validating our design and getting additional ideas to make it better. Highly recommended!

Through the years Supplier Performance Management has been much talked about but in reality few organizations have implemented a program which delivered meaningful reports and sustainable results. I remember in the late 1970's, when I was a young Quality Auditor at The Gates Rubber Co. I responsible for "Raw Material" quality and put in place a manual process and reporting system to look at acceptable material lots, timely delivery and prompt customer service that was marginally effective, not scaleable beyond a single site and only supported production materials. Thirty years later not much has changed albeit the introduction of technology that has potentially accelerated the delivery of meaningless and unactionable data ... until now.

Sherry Gordon has written the first comprehensive guide for organizations to develop and implement a Supplier Evaluation and Performance Excellence program (hence the book title)that really works. She's produced a masterful "recipe" for success.

Some of the practical features of the book includes:

- How to structure a Supplier Performance Management project, including roles and responsibilities and senior management support

- A complete project plan for an SPM implementation, including tasks, key decisions and challenges

- A supplier segmentation model specifically for supplier evaluation, including types of performance information to use by supply base segment

- Sources and types of supplier performance information for evaluating both direct and indirect suppliers

- A process for developing supplier performance expectations

- A hierarchy for developing a business measurement model

- How to choose metrics that are meaningful to your organization

- Pros and cons of different evaluation approaches

- Suggested supplier evaluation processes

- How to create a good supplier survey

- How to conduct a supplier site visit

- Specific tios on the "do's and don'ts" of giving supplier performance feedback

- How to create a process for supply risk planning

- How to develop a good supplier certification process

- How to plan and run a successful supplier conference

- How to conduct a successful supplier development process

As the founder of probably the smallest corporation in America, (Meltdown International Inc.), I don't have the resources, time or knowledge to do everything well. The only way companies of any size can survive and thrive in today's changing business world is to outsource acitivities that don't pay the light bill or distinguish themselves in the global marketplace.

But how do you do this? Giving away important processes like finance and accounting to an outsourcing provider is scary. This book gave me the courage and the confidence to outsource. It told me what to do, what NOT to do, and what to watch out for. It gave me clear guidelines on pricing going into a relationship and how to police performance during the life of the contract. It also gave me a blueprint for handling disputes because they do come up.

I now outsource my finance and accounting to a provider 10 minutes from my office. (I want face to face chats about my money!)I also outsource my Web development and hosting to a company in the Philippines that does terrific work at a remarkably reasonable rate. I would never have even considered an offshore supplier if I hadn't read this book. It helped me understand the whole planet is now a source of suppliers.

The author's premise is that companies today have no option but to outsource. I have found in my own experience that is certainly true. I had no idea of how to go about it. If in doubt, read! This book was the perfect primer for a newcomer like me.

Turning Lead into Gold is a valuable piece of work for buyers as well as sellers of outsourcing. It clearly presents how this modern form of business alchemy turns operations that drain resources from companies into generators of value.

The hard statistics are accompanied by easy to understand case studies and explanations. I highly recommend it as a `must read" for both parties to an outsourcing relationship as "pre-marital" counseling manual that will promote more successful and profitable alliances.

Thank you Peter Bendor-Samuel.

Throughout all business media, everyone is talking about usingoutsourcing to enable companies to be competitive in today'smarketplace. But this is the only book that really explains exactlyhow to do it successfully. Whether your company is large or smalllike ours, you will benefit greatly by reading this book by PeterBendor-Samuel. He makes something with underlying complexities becomesimple to understand. He includes case studies and charts toillustrate his points. I have heard Mr. Bendor-Samuel speak atconferences, and I regularly visit his .... web site for informationabout outsourcing. But this book is the ultimate guide. He starts withinformation about whether or not outsourcing is the right strategy fora company, then he explains how to structure the relationship, thecontractual documents, how to know whether the price is right. Fromreading this book, I now know the hazardous areas to avoid and alsohow to successfully maintain an ongoing relationship with asupplier. This book will help me make very important businessdecisions, and I probably would have made the wrong decisions if I hadnot read it. END

Author Bobbi Balderman has provided readers with a straightforward, practical, eminently useful guide to the often confusing world of creative services. It's an insider's guide written in layman's terms, with helpful tips that have been highlighted on almost every page, and sample checklists and forms for those new to the production process. Whether you are a novice at marketing a nonprofit or a seasoned print pro who's never been involved with video production or website creation before, Balderman walks you through the step-by-step details necessary for getting the job done on time and under budget. As an adjunct professor who teaches public relations at local colleges and universities, I recommend this book to all my students. As a PR and marketing consultant, I also recommend this book to all my clients...

Have you ever wondered why it takes so long to do something when it comes to creating a video or brochure for your organization? That's because there are a lot of steps involved in making sure it comes out right. Bobbi Balderman outlines those actions in her book The Ultimate Guide To Purchasing Website, Video, Print & Other Services. I have a much more healthy respect for the process now...

Contents: The Name of the Game; Getting Started; Defining the Project; Scheduling; Betting a Budget; Selecting the Right Supplier; Working with Your Creative Resources; Creating an In-House Department - The Pros and Cons; Making the Project Go; Bringing Ideas to Life - The Process of Art Production; Getting Ready for the Printer - Pre-press Production; Selecting and Working with Printers; Probing the Printing Process; The World of the Internet; Handling Video Productions; Producing the Video - From Script to Finished Product; Putting it All Together; Glossary; Index

Balderman does this sort of work for a living, and she knows the process well. She quickly destroys the myth of "anyone can produce quality work on their own", then proceeds to show you how things work in the real world. There are reasons why people specialize in this area, so you should take advantage of the skills they bring to the table. From composition to design to printing, there are hundreds of decisions to be made that affect the outcome of the product. Between spending time reading this book and following her forms and checklists, you'd greatly improve your chances of ending up with something that you can be proud of... high quality professional creative material, error-free.

I'll be the first to admit that I've found the whole "creative design" process somewhat overblown and tedious at times. In meetings where I've been with the artistic groups, I tend to zone out during debates about discussions, fonts, paper weights, etc. But I can now see where all that fits in, and how it really needs to happen in order for a quality result to emerge. If everyone settled for "just do something", that's what you'd end up with... a brochure or site that looks like you just did something.

I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who is involved in or is responsible for media creation. It's time and money well-spent.

A great book written in a well organized, easily accessible
manner. The information is not riddled with technical jargon but is
full of important details to help make your project successful. A
great resource for Graphic Design students as well as profressionals purchasing creative services.

If you are a marketer or pricer, understanding value is vital. This book is an easy to read, yet powerful framework for understanding value to customers in a very tangible way with direct financial consequences.

Congratulations to the team of writers for the book "Value Merchants". As someone whose whole job responsibility is to implement a value sales strategy and culture at a global industrial company, I was amazed at the clear and concise roadmap the book laid out. Not only is it filled with theoretical ideas of why it is important to create and document value for customers, but it gives a practical roadmap of how to transform a company into a value "merchant."

As most people in the world of sales know; today you either have to be the cheapest by line item, or if you're the best - you need to find a way to `explain this" so the purchasing, finance, production people can clearly see they are getting the best value for their organization. Without the ability to document the value that can be created and has been, you're left with little more than wishes and hopes, and finance people won't pay you for those.

Weather your in the business of dealing with distributors, final end users, Original Equipment Manufacturers, or the general public, a clear concise value proposition that can be understood in financial terms and has the "proof points" to sustain it will be the only way to move forward and not be caught in the commodity trap of "lowest unit price".

Finally, for any procurement or finance people, what a great read. Learn how to partner with your suppliers to reduce true real costs, and really drive bottom line earnings per share. A Total Cost of Operation relationship with a supplier that can prove their value differentiators will make you more profitable today and in the future.

Todd Snelgrove, Global Manager; Customer Value
SKF

No one will disagree with James Anderson, Nirmalya Kumar, and James Narus that it is important for businesses to deliver "superior value targeted to market segments and customer firms" while getting "an equitable return on the value delivered." Hence the importance of effective customer value management (CVM) that relies on customers' perceptions of value to gain an understanding of what customers' requirements and preferences are. Only then is it possible to determine in economic terms what that means. In this context, I am reminded of Warren Buffett's observation that "price is what you charge and value is what others think it's worth."

The co-authors explain how to:

1. assess customers' perceptions of value
2. conceptualize value
3. formulate an appropriate value proposition
4. substantiate value
5. create "naked solutions" with options
6. sell on value, not price
7. earn an equitable return
8. become a value merchant
9. leverage information from various sources
10. continue to be a value merchant

The CVM program the authors recommend in this volume is comprehensive, cohesive, and cost-effective. It will probably be of greatest value to C-level executives who are convinced that their companies are delivering superior value to their customers but have not convinced them of that. At this point, I presume to share two thoughts of my own, all of which are consistent with what the authors of this book assert. First, whatever an organization's size or nature, its executives must nail the economic essentials by knowing (a) exactly what the organization's operating costs are and (b) what the margin is on each product or service offered. I agree with Jason Jennings: "If it's DOA, bury it." Whoever and whatever that does not add value (directly or at least indirectly) to the organization should be eliminated. Second, the same strict standard should be applied to the given offering as well as to those who sell or service it: Whoever and whatever that does not add value (directly or at least indirectly) to the customer -- and at a profitable margin -- should be eliminated.

This is not an "easy read" but for those who absorb and digest the wealth of information and wisdom the authors provide, then apply whatever is relevant as their own organization' pursuit of its own objectives, this book can be of incalculable value. One final point: Merchants should be driven to provide superior value to two categories of customers: directly to their own, of course, but also indirectly to their customers' customers. I cannot think of a better way to lock in a valued customer than to do whatever is possible and (yes) prudent to help that customer to strengthen each of its own customer relationships. Think of that as Superior Value to the third or fourth power.

Should you read this book? That is a decision you must make but perhaps these questions will help: Does your organization now have a CVM program? Is it effective? If not, do you know why? Do your customers frequently thank you for helping them create value for their own customers? If your answer to any of these basic questions is "you," you need to read this book immediately.

Those who share my high regard for it are urged to check out Lawrence L. Steinmetz and William T. Brooks's How to Sell at Margins Higher Than Your Competitors: Winning Every Sale at Full Price, Rate, or Fee, Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad's Competing for the Future, Jason Jennings' Think Big, Act Small: How America's Best Performing Companies Keep the Start-up Spirit Alive, Anderson's The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More, and The Dollarization Discipline: How Smart Companies Create Customer Value...and Profit from It by Jeffrey J. Fox with Richard C. Gregory.

A very good book for all ages who want to play an instrument. If only I would follow their advise. Maybe.... reads easy and flows well. I recommend it. Thumbs up, a must own for your library.

What a wonderful book for young students (and older students!) I teach private trumpet lessons to students ranging in age from 10 to 18 and they all enjoyed looking at it while waiting for their lesson to begin. Lots of great tips and like the title suggests a "Survival Guide".

BRAVO !!

This book is filled with practical easy to read information about what it means to learn music. As a music teacher, I find this book to be a great tool for parents and students. It teaches the basic aspects of what is involved in learning a musical instrument. It is also written on a level that schoolage students can understand. I found it to be simple to read, yet very informative and enjoyable. I am going to recomend it to my students - especially the Jr. High students who seem to have lost motivation. I may even assign them chapters to read and intergrate it into my lessons.

Great tips from A to Z on home buying. I am considering selling my current home and buying another and reading this book has made the process a lot easier. Very knowledgeable on hints on finding the best match in a realtor. Thanks Michael Flynn!

We just bought our first home and were completely overwhelmed. It's scary knowing what you're getting into and trying to make sure you aren't making a huge mistake. Thanks to this book we felt confident that we were covering all of our bases. This book gave us tips on everything from making sure we were working with an agent we liked and trusted--and who wasn't lying to us, to knowing what to expect and how to handle the inspection, things to consider when buying the house, and, some of the best advice, were tips on things we never would have thought of. For example, go to the house at various times of day to make sure you know what the traffic is like, drive from the house to work and school so you knw what that will be like. It was terrific and I will recommend it to all my friends--even those who already own a home. You can use this the first, second and third time around.

This volume contains many pearls of wisdom and other gems for senior corporate officers responsible for a company's real property decisions and management! By organizing his insights under sub-headings of common management interest, Stephen Roulac, one of the most knowledgeable people today on corporate real property, makes his years of experience in the field readily accessible to corporate real estate professionals. Whether concerned with day-to-day corporate real property decisions and deal-making or in search of cutting-edge strategic insights to achieve competitive business advantage, general management executives of both small companies and the largest multinationals will find much value in this volume.
-Chris Manning, 2002-2003 President of the American Real Estate Society; co-editor of the 'Journal of Real Estate Research' 1999 and 2001 special issues on Corporate Real Estate; Professor, Loyola Marymount University

Written by a renowned expert in real estate and property space, this book is filled with thought-provoking content for anyone involved in corporate real estate. Most readers will recognize at least one, if not several, embarrassing (and probably costly) mistakes that have already been made. These mistakes, and many like them, could have been avoided by a careful read of this book.

This comfortingly thick volume is organized into the following main sections, with chapters under each heading: Strategy Management Operations, Deals/Deal-Making, Space, Place, and the all-important How You Can Avoid Mistakes. Each of the 275 potential mistakes is presented briefly. The write-ups are more reminders and memory joggers-briefly instructive, rather than in-depth treatments of the topics. In many of the explanations, I found myself wanting more detail, while appreciating the warning that the mistake could cost me in many ways.

The table of contents is comprehensive, enabling the reader to locate by category the topic(s) of interest. As a reference book, the volume would have been more valuable with an index.

For corporate leaders, business owners, and even corporate real estate professionals who think they already have all the answers, this volume will serve a valuable purpose. If you are considering any kind of a real estate move, first move through the pages of this book.