The Myth of Excellence

Author: Fred Crawford
Publisher: Crown Currency
ISBN: 0307422194
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Book Description
The Undiscovered Consumer . . .and the Mistake of Universal Excellence What do customers really want? And how can companies best serve them? Fred Crawford and Ryan Mathews set off on what they describe as an "expedition into the commercial wilderness" to find the answers. What they discovered was a new consumer -- one whom very few companies understand, much less manufacture products for or sell products or services to. These consumers are desperately searching for values, a scarce resource in our rapidly changing and challenging world. And increasingly they are turning to business to reaffirm these values. As one consumer put it: "I can find value everywhere but can't find values anywhere." Crawford and Mathews's initial inquiries eventually grew into a major research study involving more than 10,000 consumers, interviews with executives from scores of leading companies around the world, and dozens of international client engagements. Their conclusion: Most companies priding themselves on how well they "know" their customers aren't really listening to them at all. Consumers are fed up with all the fuss about "world-class performance" and "excellence." What they are aggressively demanding is recognition, respect, trust, fairness, and honesty. Believing that they are still in a position to dictate the terms of commercial engagement, businesses have bought into the myth of excellence -- the clearly false and destructive theory that a company ought to be great at everything it does, that is, all the components of every commercial transaction: price, product, access, experience, and service. This is always a mistake because "the predictable outcome [is] that the company ends up world-class at nothing; not well-differentiated and therefore not thought of by consumers at the moment of need." Instead, Crawford and Mathews suggest that companies engage in Consumer Relevancy, a strategy of dominating in one element of a transaction, differentiating on a second, and being at industry par (i.e., average) on the remaining three. It's not necessary for businesses to equally invest time and money on all five attributes, and their customers don't want them to. Imagine the confusion if Tiffany & Co. started offering deep discounts on diamonds and McDonald's began selling free-range chicken and tofu. The Myth of Excellence provides a blueprint for companies seeking to offer values-based products and services and shows how to realize the commercial opportunities that exist just beyond their current grasp -- opportunities to reduce operating costs, boost bottom-line profitability, and, most important, begin to engage in a meaningful dialogue with customers.

Six Disciplines for Excellence

Author: Gary Harpst
Publisher: BookPros, LLC
ISBN: 1933538813
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 295

Book Description
Six Disciplines Corporation is dedicated to helping small businesses achieve and sustain success. Six Disciplines for Excellence provides six fundamental business principles that are specifically designed to help small businesses move beyond momentary success to attain enduring excellence. This book is not for those who are looking for a quick fix. Six Disciplines for Excellence is a long-term fitness program, not a fad diet.In Six Disciplines for Excellence, you will find:. Information on creating a unique mission statement. Ways to deal with internal and external factors (such as equipment failure or an unfavorable stock market) that affect your business. Helpful charts, checklists, hints, tips, and graphs . Techniques to sustain the success you have worked hard to achieve

Misconceiving Merit

Author: Mary Blair-Loy
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226820149
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 259

Book Description
An incisive study showing how cultural ideas of merit in academic science produce unfair and unequal outcomes. In Misconceiving Merit, sociologists Mary Blair-Loy and Erin A. Cech uncover the cultural foundations of a paradox. On one hand, academic science, engineering, and math revere meritocracy, a system that recognizes and rewards those with the greatest talent and dedication. At the same time, women and some racial and sexual minorities remain underrepresented and often feel unwelcome and devalued in STEM. How can academic science, which so highly values meritocracy and objectivity, produce these unequal outcomes? Blair-Loy and Cech studied more than five hundred STEM professors at a top research university to reveal how unequal and unfair outcomes can emerge alongside commitments to objectivity and excellence. The authors find that academic STEM harbors dominant cultural beliefs that not only perpetuate the mistreatment of scientists from underrepresented groups but hinder innovation. Underrepresented groups are often seen as less fully embodying merit compared to equally productive white and Asian heterosexual men, and the negative consequences of this misjudgment persist regardless of professors’ actual academic productivity. Misconceiving Merit is filled with insights for higher education administrators working toward greater equity as well as for scientists and engineers striving to change entrenched patterns of inequality in STEM.

Excellence Every Day

Author: Lior Arussy
Publisher: Information Today, Inc.
ISBN: 9780910965798
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 248

Book Description
Addressing various levels of the corporate ladder, from customer service to the CEO, this handbook explores "The Excellence Myth," revealing a philosophy of excellence to help individuals and organisations reach their performance potential.

Good to Great

Author: Jim Collins
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0066620996
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Book Description
The Challenge Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the verybeginning. But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness? The Study For years, this question preyed on the mind of Jim Collins. Are there companies that defy gravity and convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? And if so, what are the universal distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great? The Standards Using tough benchmarks, Collins and his research team identified a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained those results for at least fifteen years. How great? After the leap, the good-to-great companies generated cumulative stock returns that beat the general stock market by an average of seven times in fifteen years, better than twice the results delivered by a composite index of the world's greatest companies, including Coca-Cola, Intel, General Electric, and Merck. The Comparisons The research team contrasted the good-to-great companies with a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to make the leap from good to great. What was different? Why did one set of companies become truly great performers while the other set remained only good? Over five years, the team analyzed the histories of all twenty-eight companies in the study. After sifting through mountains of data and thousands of pages of interviews, Collins and his crew discovered the key determinants of greatness -- why some companies make the leap and others don't. The Findings The findings of the Good to Great study will surprise many readers and shed light on virtually every area of management strategy and practice. The findings include: Level 5 Leaders: The research team was shocked to discover the type of leadership required to achieve greatness. The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the Three Circles): To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence. A Culture of Discipline: When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results. Technology Accelerators: Good-to-great companies think differently about the role of technology. The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Those who launch radical change programs and wrenching restructurings will almost certainly fail to make the leap. “Some of the key concepts discerned in the study,” comments Jim Collins, "fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people.” Perhaps, but who can afford to ignore these findings?

In Search of Excellence

Author: Thomas J. Peters
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062263617
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 404

Book Description
The "Greatest Business Book of All Time" (Bloomsbury UK), In Search of Excellence has long been a must-have for the boardroom, business school, and bedside table. Based on a study of forty-three of America's best-run companies from a diverse array of business sectors, In Search of Excellence describes eight basic principles of management -- action-stimulating, people-oriented, profit-maximizing practices -- that made these organizations successful. Joining the HarperBusiness Essentials series, this phenomenal bestseller features a new Authors' Note, and reintroduces these vital principles in an accessible and practical way for today's management reader.

What's Your Story?

Author: Ryan Mathews
Publisher: FT Press
ISBN: 0132277425
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 241

Book Description
"As usual these two future-finders have their fi ngers on the pulse of what's happening--and what we need to know about. In every business, in every organization, the seven most important words these days are: 'But wait! A story goes with it!' You need to read this book to fi nd out why." -Alan Webber, Co-founder, "Fast Company "magazine "A great story sparks our imagination, challenges us to think, and resonates with our collective conscience. Ryan Mathews and Watts Wacker's story about telling stories does exactly this. It is an essential guidebook for capturing and conveying the essence of corporate identities and enriching brands." -Paul A. Laudicina, Managing Officer and Chairman of the Board, A.T. Kearney Storytelling is the universal human activity.Every society, at every stage of history, has told stories-and listened to them intently, passionately. Stories are how people tell each other who they are, where they came from, how they're unique, what they believe. Stories capture their memories of the past and their hopes for the future. Stories are one more thing, too: They are your most powerful, most underutilized tool for competitive advantage.Whether you know it or not, your business is already telling stories. What's Your Story? will help you take control of those stories and make them work for you. Legendary business thinkers Ryan Mathews and Watts Wacker reveal how to craft an unforgettable story...create the back story that makes it believable...make sure your story cuts through today's relentless bombardment of consumer messages...and gets heard, remembered, and acted on. THE TEN FUNCTIONS OF STORYTELLING Discovering what stories can do for your business THE ABOLITION OF CONTEXT Telling stories when the past no longer defines the future THE FIVE MOST IMPORTANT STORY THEMES Leveraging themes your audiences will understand and believe APPLIED STORYTELLING 101 Storytelling for your industry, your company, your brand, and you MASTERING YOUR STORYTELLER'S TOOLBOX Making your stories more compelling, more believable, and downright unforgettable Use Storytelling to Gain Powerful Competitive Advantage in Today's Increasingly Skeptical Marketplace Leverage the incredible power of storytelling in marketing, sales, investor relations, recruitment, change management, "and more" Indispensable techniques for every CxO, entrepreneur, and marketing, sales, and communications executive The latest breakthrough book from best-selling futurists Ryan Mathews and Watts Wacker

Design for Operational Excellence: A Breakthrough Strategy for Business Growth

Author: Kevin J. Duggan
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN: 0071768564
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Book Description
Beyond Six Sigma and Lean! Design your processes to facilitate real business growth, in both healthy and unhealthy economies Design for Operational Excellence defines why companies embark upon continuous improvement—and the true answer is not to improve efficiency, quality, or eliminate waste! The reason is to achieve Operational Excellence. Duggan, an established authority on OpEx, provides the design criteria and guidelines that enable you to grow your business organically by refocusing management’s attention from running the business to growing the business. Founded on eight key principles, this groundbreaking system facilitates the continuous flow of value into any operation—from customer service to sales to manufacturing. Kevin J. Duggan is a renowned speaker, executive mentor, and educator in applying advanced lean techniques to achieve Operational Excellence and the author of two books on the subject: Creating Mixed Model Value Streams and The Office That Grows Your Business—Achieving Operational Excellence in Your Business Processes. As the Founder of the Institute for Operational Excellence, the leading educational center on Operational Excellence, and Duggan Associates, an international training and advisory firm, Kevin has assisted many major corporations worldwide, including United Technologies Corporation, Caterpillar, Pratt & Whitney, Singapore Airlines, IDEX Corporation, GKN and Parker Hannifin. A recognized expert on Operational Excellence, Kevin is a frequent keynote speaker, master of ceremonies, and panelist at international conferences, and has appeared on CNN and the Fox Business Network.

Working Toward Excellence

Author: Paul Buyer
Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
ISBN: 1614481776
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 93

Book Description
“Weaves together thoughts, stories, and quotes from top performers in music, business, and sports to help you achieve excellence” (Jeff Janssen, founder and president of the Janssen Sports Leadership Center). Does excellence relentlessly drive you? Does mediocrity constantly bother you? In Working Toward Excellence, Clemson University professor Paul Buyer identifies eight values for achieving excellence in work and life including hunger, effort, process, quality, consistency, leadership, time, and perseverance. Each chapter features inspiring stories, questions, and quotes from respected professionals who have achieved uncommon success in business, sports, education, and the arts such as John Maxwell, Jim Collins, Stephen Covey, John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski, Wynton Marsalis, Isaac Stern, and many others. Also included is a Working Toward Excellence Evaluation to help you and your organization reach your true potential and further develop, improve, and measure these essential attributes of success. “Working Toward Excellence has captures my attention in a big way. It is filled with valuable and practical information. It will make a major difference in your life.” —Pat Williams, Orlando Magic, senior vice president, author of Leadership Excellence

Bumpology

Author: Linda Geddes
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451685777
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Book Description
From award-winning science journalist Linda Geddes, a fascinating and practical companion for expectant parents that makes sense of conflicting advice about pregnancy, birth, and raising babies. Can I eat peanuts during pregnancy? Do unborn babies dream? Can men get pregnancy symptoms too? How much do babies remember? How can I get my baby to sleep through the night? The moment she discovers she’s pregnant, every woman suddenly has a million questions about the life that’s developing inside her. Linda Geddes was no different, except that as a journalist writing for New Scientist magazine she had access to the most up-to-date scientific research. What began as a personal quest to find the truth behind headlines and information that didn’t patronize or confuse is now a brilliant new book. In Bumpology, Geddes discusses the latest research on every topic that expectant parents encounter, from first pregnancy symptoms to pregnancy diet, the right birth plan, and a baby’s first year.