Good Products Bad Products Essential Elements To Achieving Superior Quality

Download or read book Good Products, Bad Products: Essential Elements to Achieving Superior Quality written by James Adams and published by McGraw Hill Professional. This book was released on 2011-12-20 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This book is the most comprehensive discussion of all the elements that go into producing superior products that I have read. I have thought a lot about quality over many years, yet the thinking reflected throughout [this] discussion is a real eye-opener for me. For anyone seriously interested in quality, this is a must read.” —Donald E. Petersen, retired President and Chairman, Ford Motor Company “This is a book only a legend like Jim Adams could write. Based on a very popular course Jim taught at Stanford for many years, it should be required reading for every engineering student interested in designing great products. Great products lead to great companies that change the world. Every aspiring engineer wants to have an impact and this book will absolutely help. Read it!” —James D. Plummer, Dean, School of Engineering, Stanford University “Drawing on fifty years of engineering experience, ranging from car design to rocket science, Stanford professor Jim Adams takes us on an engaging and eclectic journey through the evolution of what makes good products tick. With the same irrepressible curiosity Adams displayed in Conceptual Blockbusting, he shares insights into the underlying characteristics that separate products into the good, the bad, and the ugly.” —Tom Kelley, General Manager, IDEO, and author of The Art of Innovation and The Ten Faces of Innovation “Adams has a high-level and holistic view of the design of everyday things and the issues confronting those who develop them. If you design things, you will enjoy this book and benefit from Jim’s wisdom and experience.” —Bill Moggridge, Director of the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, and author of Designing Interactions and Designing Media “Jim Adams is a gift. He understands the true essence of quality, blending ‘what works’ with ‘what’s beautiful.’ Here this master teacher shares his special wisdom: how to create that magical experience of a product we love, one that evokes ‘Wow, this is really cool!’ His timeless, inspired message could not be more timely.” —Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and coauthor of Built to Last and Great by Choice About the Book: What is the secret behind every successful product? Why are people willing to pay more for a BMW than a Chevrolet? How could Apple iPhones represent only 4% of the world’s cell phone market in 2010 but take in 50% of the profits? The answer is QUALITY. In this provocative new book, bestselling author James L. Adams provides a brilliant, in-depth look at the powerful but elusive qualities that can make or break a product’s success. A must-read for managers, designers, manufacturers, engineers, and marketers, this groundbreaking approach will change the way you think about your product—and show you why it’s more important than ever to deliver the highest quality possible. In Good Products, Bad Products, you’ll learn how to: Maximize your product’s performance—and minimize the cost Appeal to your customer’s emotions—with elegance and sophistication Make sure your product is a perfect fit—that’s human, cultural, and global With competition growing stronger and fiercer every year, product quality has become the number-one factor in a company’s success. Adams points out that there will always be a stable demand for a high-quality product. By addressing every aspect of product quality—from the technical to the practical to the aesthetic—you can develop a product that your company will be proud of and your customers will love. Along the way, you’ll hear fascinating case studies of famous brands that became victims of their own success—like Kodak, IBM, Zenith, and GM—and struggled to recover lost ground. You’ll see how some countries like Japan surged ahead by offering better products than anyone on the globe. You’ll learn how some U.S. manufacturers remained successful in spite of the foreign market’s lower wages. And you’ll also discover the top industry secrets for prioritizing quality throughout the company, delivering products that are the best in their class. Now more than ever, quality matters. Good Products, Bad Products gives you the edge, so you can give your customers the best product possible.

Download or read book Good Products, Bad Products: Essential Elements to Achieving Superior Quality written by James Adams and published by McGraw Hill Professional. This book was released on 2012-01-06 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is the secret behind every successful product? Why are people willing to pay more for a BMW than a Chevrolet? How could Apple iPhones represent only 4% of the world’s cell phone market in 2011 but take in 50% of the profits? The answer is quality. In this provocative new book, bestselling author James L. Adams provides a brilliant, in-depth look at the powerful but elusive qualities that can make or break a product’s success. A must-read for managers, designers, manufacturers, and marketers, this groundbreaking approach will change the way you think about your product—and show you why it’s more important than ever to deliver the highest quality possible. In Good Products, Bad Products, you’ll learn how to: : Maximize your product’s performance—and minimize the cost Appeal to your customer’s emotions—with elegance and sophistication Make sure your product is a perfect fit—that’s human, cultural, and global With competition growing stronger and fiercer every year, product quality has become the number-one factor in a company’s success. Adams points out that there will always be a stable demand for a high-quality product. By addressing every aspect of product quality—from the technical to the practical to the aesthetic—you can develop a product that your company will be proud of and your customers will love. Along the way, you’ll hear fascinating case studies of famous brands that became victims of their own success—like Kodak, IBM, Zenith, and GM—and struggled to recover lost ground. You’ll see how some countries like Japan surged ahead by offering better products than anyone on the globe. You’ll learn how some U.S. manufacturers remained successful in spite of the foreign market’s lower wages. And you’ll discover the top industry secrets for prioritizing quality throughout the company, delivering products that are the best in their class. Now more than ever, quality matters. Good Products, Bad Products gives you the edge—so you can give your customers the best product possible. James L. Adams is professor emeritus at Stanford University, where he chaired several programs, taught courses on design and creativity, and participated in many executive programs. Trained as an engineer and artist, he has conducted corporate workshops around the world and has written the bestselling guide to creativity and innovation, Conceptual Blockbusting.

Download or read book Engineering Management written by C. M. Chang and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2016-11-25 with total page 561 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Engineering Management: Meeting the Global Challenges prepares engineers to fulfill their managerial responsibilities, acquire useful business perspectives, and take on the much-needed leadership roles to meet the challenges in the new millennium. Value addition, customer focus, and business perspectives are emphasized throughout. Also underlined are discussions of leadership attributes, steps to acquire these attributes, the areas engineering managers are expected to add value, the web-based tools which can be aggressively applied to develop and sustain competitive advantages, the opportunities offered by market expansion into global regions, and the preparations required for engineering managers to become global leaders. The book is organized into three major sections: functions of engineering management, business fundamentals for engineering managers, and engineering management in the new millennium. This second edition refocuses on the new strategy for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professionals and managers to meet the global challenges through the creation of strategic differentiation and operational excellence. Major revisions include a new chapter on creativity and innovation, a new chapter on operational excellence, and combination of the chapters on financial accounting and financial management. The design strategy for this second edition strives for achieving the T-shaped competencies, with both broad-based perspectives and in-depth analytical skills. Such a background is viewed as essential for STEM professionals and managers to exert a strong leadership role in the dynamic and challenging marketplace. The material in this book will surely help engineering managers play key leadership roles in their organizations by optimally applying their combined strengths in engineering and management.

Download or read book Good Strategy Bad Strategy written by Richard Rumelt and published by Currency. This book was released on 2011-07-19 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Good Strategy/Bad Strategy clarifies the muddled thinking underlying too many strategies and provides a clear way to create and implement a powerful action-oriented strategy for the real world. Developing and implementing a strategy is the central task of a leader. A good strategy is a specific and coherent response to—and approach for—overcoming the obstacles to progress. A good strategy works by harnessing and applying power where it will have the greatest effect. Yet, Rumelt shows that there has been a growing and unfortunate tendency to equate Mom-and-apple-pie values, fluffy packages of buzzwords, motivational slogans, and financial goals with “strategy.” In Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, he debunks these elements of “bad strategy” and awakens an understanding of the power of a “good strategy.” He introduces nine sources of power—ranging from using leverage to effectively focusing on growth—that are eye-opening yet pragmatic tools that can easily be put to work on Monday morning, and uses fascinating examples from business, nonprofit, and military affairs to bring its original and pragmatic ideas to life. The detailed examples range from Apple to General Motors, from the two Iraq wars to Afghanistan, from a small local market to Wal-Mart, from Nvidia to Silicon Graphics, from the Getty Trust to the Los Angeles Unified School District, from Cisco Systems to Paccar, and from Global Crossing to the 2007–08 financial crisis. Reflecting an astonishing grasp and integration of economics, finance, technology, history, and the brilliance and foibles of the human character, Good Strategy/Bad Strategy stems from Rumelt’s decades of digging beyond the superficial to address hard questions with honesty and integrity.

Download or read book Conceptual Blockbusting written by James L. Adams and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2019-09-03 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A thoroughly revised edition of the classic on creativity, essential for individuals and teams who want to think outside the box. Some people are naturally creative and others aren't, right? Wrong. In this classic book on creativity, James Adams takes a unique approach to generating ideas and solving problems that has captivated, inspired, and guided thousands of people from all walks of life to new heights of creativity-whether you are a writer with writers block, or a businesswoman struggling to come up with a new organizational structure. More than three decades after its original publication, Conceptual Blockbusting has never been more relevant, powerful, or fresh. Integrating insights from the worlds of psychology, engineering, management, art, and philosophy, Adams identifies the key blocks (perceptual, emotional, cultural, environmental, intellectual, and expressive) that prevent us from realizing the full potential of our fertile minds. Employing unconventional exercises and other interactive elements, Adams shows individuals, teams, and organizations how to overcome these blocks, embrace alternative ways of thinking about complex problems, and celebrate the joy of creativity. Completely revised and updated with the latest cognitive science and addressing new subjects such as changes in technology, creativity in large groups, and sustaining creativity over time, Conceptual Blockbusting will introduce a new generation of readers to a world of new possibilities.

Download or read book Marketing and Smart Technologies written by José Luís Reis and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-03-29 with total page 709 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book includes selected papers presented at the International Conference on Marketing and Technologies (ICMarkTech 2021), held at University of La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain, during December 2–4, 2021. It covers up-to-date cutting-edge research on artificial intelligence applied in marketing, virtual and augmented reality in marketing, business intelligence databases and marketing, data mining and big data, marketing data science, web marketing, e-commerce and v-commerce, social media and networking, geomarketing and IoT, marketing automation and inbound marketing, machine learning applied to marketing, customer data management and CRM, and neuromarketing technologies.

Download or read book Who written by Geoff Smart and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2008-09-30 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this instant New York Times Bestseller, Geoff Smart and Randy Street provide a simple, practical, and effective solution to what The Economist calls “the single biggest problem in business today”: unsuccessful hiring. The average hiring mistake costs a company $1.5 million or more a year and countless wasted hours. This statistic becomes even more startling when you consider that the typical hiring success rate of managers is only 50 percent. The silver lining is that “who” problems are easily preventable. Based on more than 1,300 hours of interviews with more than 20 billionaires and 300 CEOs, Who presents Smart and Street’s A Method for Hiring. Refined through the largest research study of its kind ever undertaken, the A Method stresses fundamental elements that anyone can implement–and it has a 90 percent success rate. Whether you’re a member of a board of directors looking for a new CEO, the owner of a small business searching for the right people to make your company grow, or a parent in need of a new babysitter, it’s all about Who. Inside you’ll learn how to • avoid common “voodoo hiring” methods • define the outcomes you seek • generate a flow of A Players to your team–by implementing the #1 tactic used by successful businesspeople • ask the right interview questions to dramatically improve your ability to quickly distinguish an A Player from a B or C candidate • attract the person you want to hire, by emphasizing the points the candidate cares about most In business, you are who you hire. In Who, Geoff Smart and Randy Street offer simple, easy-to-follow steps that will put the right people in place for optimal success.