Products Books

I heard about this book through a friend of mine and bought it. The Slashdot review appeared as I was half-way through the book and it didn't connect. May be it's me, but what I was reading in this book was quite interesting. First of all, this book takes quite an interesting approach to describe the problems in high tech community. It is very readable. The author covers *a lot* of stuff in 230 pages. I do agree with Slashdot reviewer that the author has only described his personal experiences. I've been in the field of IT for over 20 years and I think this is the first time a book talks so much about the people and their mindsets, without trying to offer a new buzzword. Refreshing. Of late I've been dealing with a lot of Indian offshore executives and I highly recommend that high tech companies (may be all companies) in India read this book so that they know how a mature professional ought to think. Part Three of the book is a classic introduction to the real product marketing, just the way it ought to be done in high tech companies. The context framework the author uses repeatedly is quite intriguing, although it just might come across as a little too-rigorous for a professional book like this.

Among many other things, I think this is a perfect book to bridge the marketing gap for engineers (and the engineering aspects for product managers). Product specifications invariably evolve as the product is being whetted - and new features may require re-engineering which could delay the product. This stuff happens every day in engineering organizations. Companies have to trade-off between product features and market timing and an inherent tension develops between development and marketing groups.

As with any problem the solution lies in acquiring knowledge - in this case knowledge of the workings of the various groups responsible for the finished product. The book does an excellent job of guiding the user through this process. Like all good solutions maybe the answer is conceptually simple!

I heard about this book through a friend of mine and bought it. The Slashdot review appeared as I was half-way through the book and it didn't connect. May be it's me, but what I was reading in this book was quite interesting. First of all, this book takes quite an interesting approach to describe the problems in high tech community. It is very readable. The author covers *a lot* of stuff in 230 pages. I do agree with Slashdot reviewer that the author has only described his personal experiences. I've been in the field of IT for over 20 years and I think this is the first time a book talks so much about the people and their mindsets, without trying to offer a new buzzword. Refreshing. Of late I've been dealing with a lot of Indian offshore executives and I highly recommend that high tech companies (may be all companies) in India read this book so that they know how a mature professional ought to think. Part Three of the book is a classic introduction to the real product marketing, just the way it ought to be done in high tech companies. The context framework the author uses repeatedly is quite intriguing, although it just might come across as a little too-rigorous for a professional book like this.

In the Preface, Karamchedu offers a core premise that senior-level executives in high-technology companies must have a specific mindset which enables them to remain connected, not only with their employer organizations and colleagues but also with their family members and friends. "This book is an attempt to record the [in italics] makings [end italics] of such a mindset. More important, we attempt to establish [in italics] why [end italics] the thinking must be in such a way." Karamchedu also examines the reasons for the failure for so many new product designs which are launched in the high technology sector. "Either the product is not what the customer wanted, or the product did not arrive in time, or [it] did not have a compelling advantage over that of its competitor's. Karamchedu identifies three reasons, any one of which could ensure failure. I was also interested in what Karamchedu had to say about an especially formidable challenge: To coordinate, indeed integrate harmonious collaboration between engineering groups and marketing teams.

Karamchedu carefully organizes 20 chapters within four Parts: The Thinking (e.g. "The Problem"), The Forward Movement Latent in Execution (e.g. "The Context of Execution"), High Tech Contexts: A Semiconductor Company View (e.g. "The Semiconductor Value Chain"), and The Craft and the Mindset (e.g. "Manage Expectations"). If I understand Karamchedu correctly (and I may not), he asserts that more often than not, failure in the high-tech marketplace is not the result of faulty technology and/or a defective strategy; rather, because of a lack of cooperation and collaboration between/among engineers and marketers. This lack of interaction almost always results in ineffective execution. Market windows come and go unrecognized until it is too late. Karamchedu responds to one of the most important questions posed in this book: How is it that, in spite of making remarkable strides in high technology product design, development and deployment of these products in markets, we are still struggling to create a harmony between marketing and engineering professionals?"

For me, Chapter 10 ("The Context of Execution") is one of the most interesting and most valuable because it is in this chapter that Karamchedu focuses on a framework of contexts: the technological, the customer, and the economic. All three must be engaged in driving whatever individual employees create, build, and deploy in the market. Thus viewed, "a high technology company is simply a confluence of the three contexts." Karamchedu views all this as a powerful new paradigm to connect the three contexts with the circle of execution. How? Please see page 92.

Lest these brief remarks incorrectly suggest that this is an especially theoretical, hypothetical book, I hasten to observe that Karamchedu seems well aware of that peril and for that reason includes dozens of concrete examples which effectively illustrate his key points. If I have a concern, it is that the material may seem too technical to marketing executives and not technical enough to engineers. I agree with Karamchedu that "the strength of any high technology product is differentiation and a focused approach to selected markets." Hence the importance of having a vision which provides a clear, unquestionable, solid identity as to [in italics] what we are as a company." Karamchedu views his approach in this book as an "experiment" and it probably is. Be that as it may, executives in high technology companies are indeed provided with "something useful to think about" as they continue to explore and refine the craft of thinking on which the success of their organizations so heavily depends.

Well-done, Raj Karamchedu!

Ron has a very laid back writing style. You can tell that he has spent a considerable amount of time in the trenches and appreciates the amount of hard work and focus it takes for a successfull product development project. I would definately recomend this book for anyone serious about wanting to add tools to their product development toolbox.

This is the author's second book on product development. The first one was focused primarily on cost reduction with some material about time-to-market. In this book his focus is primarily on reducing development time through focusing on the new development team processes. Ron offers some very practical advice, and a host of easy to use tools and aids that new product development teams can adapt very easily and quickly. Ron's writing style is that of a practitioner and therefore makes reading the material easy, and is made relevant to a real world environment.

His approach of adapting some traditional lean tools to the product development situation is novel. I found his version of Value Stream Mapping for example, for a basically creative process, very useful.

While this book stands on its own, if you have not read Ron's first book "The Lean Design Guidebook," doing so would give you holistic perspective on both the time and cost factors involved in the new product design process.

Project management professional Ronald Mascitelli presents The Lean Product Development Guidebook: Everything Your Design Team Needs to Improve Efficiency and Slash Time-to-Market, a handbook written especially for design team managers in all business fields. The focus lies upon making the product development process "lean", thereby improving both its efficiency and its effectiveness. Chapters describe how to establish product design requirements, heighten the pace of project execution, and apply self-assessment tools to keep design paradigms operating at optimal levels. The Lean Product Development Guidebook is spiral-bound, able to lay flat or be folded over on itself for easy reference, and is written in plain terms, with numerous black-and-white charts and diagrams illustrating its principles. Enthusiastically recommended as an overview resource and guideline for design team managers everywhere.

I just finished reading "The Lean Product Development Guidebook" and I am totally impressed with the practical tools and common sense tone of this book. The author makes the learning experience pleasant and even entertaining! Most of the two dozen "lean methods" described in the book can be used right away and will provide immediate benfits. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about driving waste out of the product design process.

Great resource for unit on ants to teach ESL for pk-k.

This book is wonderful! I read it all the time.Why I give this book 5 stars is because this book is really fun to read and I think that children might like this book too.The ant talks about how he might eat it when he is jut so small.

Once upon a time, there was a little red ant,she was the only one who was different from her family.she was more shorter than her family members,her red color was more darker than the rest of the family members.One day she was looking for food,for the winter,so she can put her food in her small house.sudenly,she found a big crumb of cake,she was surprise and wonder that she wanted to take home,but there was a problem, she was too little to carry, then she was looking for help with the rest of the animals from that place, but no one help her.But she never give up and she found a alligator,that was trying to eat her,and she scape and she said that she can carry that big crumb of cake,and she did,and she knew that no matter how small she was, you never have to give up.

Nicely written and beautifully illustrated children's fable. Everything you want in a children's book. I'm giving it to my grandaughter!

About time someone made a book this good! Most of the other books on the subject are incomplete, out-of-date, or just plain butt-ugly. This is the new standard! In fact, I just recommended it to the department chair at the design school where I teach, so we can make this part of the curriculum. I give it six out of five stars.

This is the best book I've seen so far about this subject. Attractive for (industrial) design students, but also for professionals. Very good graphics, photography and printing quality. The choice of examples is not too technical -mostly consumer products- and therefore recognizable for designers. Low price for such quality, the only disadvantage is that with 2,6 kg the book is not easy to carry!

It is an excellent book on manufacturing processes and materials. Not overbearingly technical, just the right thing for designers. A step in the right direction, like Ashby and Johnson's book Materials and Design: The Art and Science of Material Selection in Product Design

As an industrial designer and a professor of ID at a Furniture Design college, I am very pleased with this book. It is probably the best book of its kind, so far, covering most processes and describing them in the most excellent manner (with nice diagrams, case studies etc). I would love to see bigger pictures in the next edition. This can be used as a great reference textbook! A big "thank you" to Rob Thomson and the publishers!

This is more than an excellent book, it is also a practical and easy-to-use "tool kit" to help the reader develop complex company-wide marketing campaigns successfully. Mike starts with the basics: marketing campaign terminology, roles and responsibilities, establishing campaign objectives and schedules. He provides examples of agendas for key meetings, and suggestions for who should be invited to attend each. He provides templates for key planning documents, slide presentations, and campaign timelines. Gospe describes how to build the program blueprints critical for success, how to manage campaign budgets, and even how to overcome objections from the inevitable nay-sayers in many organizations. Throughout the book Gospe provides real-life examples of marketing campaigns he has planned.
As a bonus, Gospe also provides a website from which to download the templates, program blueprints, and a comprehensive integrated marketing plan slideset template. There are a lot of good ideas in this very complete and comprehensive book. An excellent value for a very reasonable price.

What I like most about Mike's book is his practical, in-the-trenches approach to successful integrated marketing. He shows us what it takes to not only build truly integrated marketing campaigns, but he also shows us how to navigate the politics inside companies to make these campaign come alive. Mike's insight and real-life perspective is refreshing, and extremely relevant. And, I can put his templates to use immediately. This is a must-read for everyone on my team!

This book is a step-by-step process guide to designing and launching a wholly integrated marketing campaign -- one that integrates the programs and functions that so often run off wildly on their own. What I particularly like is this book's approach to understanding objectives first, then choosing programs that meet them, rather than the all-too-common practice of each function doing what they have always done before. The book is valuable for offering excellent templates and tools, which are rarely available in print and are exactly what's needed to map out a good campaign.

Mike Gospe's approach to marketing campaign strategy and execution was a revelation to me. At my high tech software company, we'd been doing one-off marketing campaigns for years. As I took over as VP of Marketing, Mike's approach really helped me define a strategic approach to campaign planning and execution, in a very easy to understand and easy to communicate way. My team was able to quickly understand where we needed to focus our campaign efforts, and they quickly adopted the toolset Mike provided. This book lays out a great way to plan, execute, and measure the resulst of a series of multi-touch marketing campaigns, linked to strategic goals, and easy to communicate to the rest of the organization. This is now a foundational element of how we do marketing, and all my new marketing employees get a copy of this book.

I purchased this book four years ago for our child when she was a preschooler. This book is ideal for those children who like hands on learning activities and games. The book utilizes activities and games to teach mathematical concepts in a fun and engaging format. I would follow this book up with the Singapore Earlybird Math books 1A-2B, then proceed to MCP Kindergarten Math.

Great source for an Early Childhood Curriculum. This book gave me wonderful ideas on teaching little ones to counting and math. This book helped me plan lessons for my home toddler/preschool daycare. This book is a MUST HAVE for home daycare providers and home schooling parents.

We loved this book! This is for people who want to incorporateeducation into fun times with the kids but are sometimes short onideas. I would recommend this book for working parents because it is easy to be organized or introduce projects at a moment's notice when bits of time are found. All of the ideas and instructions are right there in front of you. It would also be easy to leave for a caregiver as a lesson plan. Stay at home moms can certainly use this book to help fill the many hours constructively.

We love this book. The activities are simple to prepare and easy for my 5-year old to understand. This is a great help in practicing beginners' math concepts with her.

I enjoy reading this book, but I wish there were more mechanisms for the more ivovlved reactions. But, the book takes its time to review concepts and ensure understanding.

Medicinal Natural Products: A Biosynthetic Approach is an excellent text for the subject of natural products. There are a number of other text available but many (especially the older text) are really biochemical text disguised as natural products text (such as focusing on fatty acid biosynthesis rather than polyketide synthesis). In addition, many text are too short (I possess a text that describes biosynthetic reactions in 29 pages, a far too brief discussion of this complex field). This book is available in softcover at reasonable cost (a very desirable characteristic for students). I particularly enjoy the historical and pharmacological discussions of famous natural products. It is a good text for 1st year graduate students.

This is really a wonderful book. The author has a deep insight in world of biosynthesis and medicinal natural products. I have read it all and am using it as a text to my undergaduate pharmacy students. It is just what i was looking for. Thanks Dr. Dewick, i am looking forward to see your second edition soon of this book, maybe this time we will have more about biosynthesis techniques!

This text is absolutely superb and the only regret I have is that I did not write it myself! I have used it almost exclusively for the natural products chemistry component of our Bachelor of Pharmacy degree course and it comprehensively covers all of the major types of bioactive natural products. Anyone interested in Pharmacognosy will find the book an invaluable reference text. This book will be of great importance for future students of natural products chemistry. I thoroughly recommend its purchase!

As you read MicroBranding, you start to think, "I knew that, but I have not been doing it...why?" It's the type of book you immediatly want all your employees and co-workers to read. Scott Gross has a great sense of humor, and he uses it to drive home points that are criticle for success in any career. The idea may not be revolutionary, but it sure is relivant!

A "microbrand" is a product brand that is related to, or which sits atop the foundation of, a larger national or global product brand name. Micro Branding: Build A Powerful Personal Band & Beat Your Competition by microbrand expert T. Scott Gross is a straightforward, step-by-step, "how to" guide to building a profitable local or personal microbrand brand. How to manage and uphold the good reputation of the newly established microbrand, the option of adopting a theme, training employees, gems of advice and much more make Micro Branding a superbly presented and highly recommended business reference. Scott Gross' basic message for the entrepreneur and corporate manager is "Don't *try* to be the best brand in the world. Be the best brand for the world, and the market will reward you richly." Reading Micro Branding will show you how to go about doing just that!

This is a great book, easy to read and packed with ideas to help individuals make their mark. Until reading MicroBranding, I had never thought of myself and how others see me as a brand. Yet I am amazed at how T. Scott Gross' information pertains to all areas of my life. In both my career and personal relationships, I have unique qualities and I need to be able to articulate them to others if I am to be successful. T. Scott Gross also recommends that we develop personal mission statements to keep ourselves focused on our goals in life. He gives lots of examples and stories and is quite entertaining. Lots of great networking tips and ideas too!

As with Mr. Gross' previous book Positively Outrageous Service, I found Microbranding to be extremely well-written. It is not only grounded in apllicable, impactful content, but also written in a manner that is entertaining and fun!

In my business (and my personal life), I have found that we often complicate issues until they either become too big to tackle or lost in the confusion. In MicroBranding, Mr. Gross clearly explains that this need not be the case when building a personal or local brand. Using real-world examples, he illustrates that building a powerful microbrand is both attainable and necessary. Understanding that you simply do not need a global brand to compete in your niche is one of the powerful pieces of information I gained from reading this book.

Everybody knows you have put the customer first. It has become one of those business clichés, like "cutting edge technology" or "thinking outside the box" or "the customer is always right." But what does it really mean in terms of product development? How, exactly, do you move beyond lip service (oops, there's another cliché!) and really put the customer first? Read this book and you'll know the answer. New Product Blueprinting takes a pretty complicated subject and boils it down to a series of how-tos that are invaluable to any manufacturer who has to make things his customers will want to buy. I highly recommend it.
Adam Prestwood
Pampco, Inc.

Having worked in sales all my life, I've always known that what sets a company apart is its ability to partner with customers to help them solve their problems. Adams puts a different slant on the process. He starts out by explaining that you don't try to sell customers your products, nor do you start out by solving their problems for them. (I suspect most of us have been bitten by a prospect that took the solution you developed for them and gave it to someone else to execute...ouch!) Instead, you use a methodical, proven approach to probe customers about their desired outcomes. As Adams writes, "After these outcomes are understood and quantitatively prioritized, there is plenty of time for the supplier to privately develop solutions and build an intellectual property hedge around them." (I liked that phrase so much I went back and looked it up.) This is a good book for anyone who wants to find good customers, make them happy, and keep them coming back for more.
Patrick Hendren
SMC Corporation of America

I own a company that makes custom cutting tools for the woodworking and solid surface industries. As such, I am no stranger to innovation. But Dan Adams takes the concept to a whole new level in New Product Blueprinting. He does a brilliant job of explaining how to get inside the customer's mind and uncover what he or she really wants and needs. Adams lays out a step-by-step interview process that not only sets you up for great product design, it endears you to the prospect or customer. This author recognizes something very important: it's all about trust. Even if you're the best company for the job, if you don't come across as caring and respectful, all the expertise in the world won't matter. If your livelihood depends on new product development--and in this economy, I think that pretty much covers everyone in the manufacturing world--do yourself a favor and read this book.

Anthony DeHart
DeHart Tooling Components, Inc.

If your company sells products to other companies, this is a must-read.

Adams turns much of the traditional voice-of-the-customer conventional wisdom on its head. He makes a compelling case that your business customers are much different than end-consumers; they're highly trained, are not as easily manipulated by Madison Avenue, are fewer in number and so on. And if so, then using 30-year-old consumer-goods VOC techniques is sub-optimizing.

He lays a groundwork of new-to-the-world principles for business-to-business product development. The book isn't long--just over 200 pages--and I would like to have heard just a bit more of how he developed his theory (although the book is well footnoted). On the other hand, it has great "idea-density" and seems to be designed for reading by the busy executive. Many readers will like the fact that about half of the book is devoted to practical hands-on tips that a marketing person could begin applying right away.

Here's a book on buying a first horse which is addressed directly to parents. It includes a lot of common-sense suggestions... The book addresses commonly-asked questions and walks the reader through the purchasing process. There are chapters on equipment, housing, and safety tips, as well as breed registry addresses and a glossary of terms. There's a helpful boarding quiz, and it is full of common-sense advice. Lisa Kiser, Editor of Horse Play Magazin

Mules are included in this guide for parents as they embark on the purchase of that all important baby sitter for thier child. Sixteen chapters cover information on breeds, equipment, housing, health, safety and organizations. Well written and organized, this guide for parents can be read and enjoyed by the children for whom the purchase is being made. This would be a great opportunity for parent and child to share the book together. With this guide the purcahse of the first horse for a child should be an enjoyable and safe endeavor. It would be an ideal addition to any riding instructor's library to share with prospective buyers. The Brayer, Sue King, Denton, Texas

Bonnie is an excellent writer with a good handle on what is proper, safe and economical in the horse world. Any one (even if you are not a parent) should get this book if you are thinking of buying a horse, or have purchased a horse that just did not work out. This should be a must have book on the list of anyone operating riding camps, lesson stables, etc. Bonnie covers everything from what the different breeds of horses are and what they are used for right on through a resource chapter which highlights dozens of breed and riding associations, complete with addresses, so readers can write for additional information on the breed of their choice. This book covers every aspect of preparing for, choosing, buying and caring for that first horse, all written in an easy to understand format. This would make an excellent Christmas gift for that friend who is thinking of buying a horse for the family. The Equine Trader Magazine, Roxboro, North Carolin

The guide is an excellent tool for familiarizing one self with the various aspects of working with horses. I recommend this book to families interested in horse ownership. using simple, yet informative vocabulary that even non-horsy folks can understand, the author answers in great detail lots of questions one may have before purchasing what will become a major expense, as well as a trusted companion. So, for all you future horse owners out there, be sure to order a copy of A Parent's Guide To Buying That First Horse before you set out on your search. It's bound to make it a less rocky road!!! Sara Marcus, Horse People Magazine, New York