Intelligent Manufacturing € May € 1996 € Vol. 2 € No. 5

Manufacturer's Library

Our Emperors Have No Clothes, by Alan Weiss, Career Press, 243 pages, $21.99, ISBN 1-56414-177-2

This book sees the current corporate culture as a grim fairy tale. America's corporate leaders are cheered for implementing the latest management craze atop the bestseller list. Business giants are idolized, placed on pedestals and even immortalized in film for their strategic genius. Consultants, boards of directors, academics, the business press, even the workers themselves, eagerly applaud the moves of top management, figuring that if someone is pulling in a seven-figure salary, they must be doing something right.

But, laments the author of this book, no one dares point out the obvious: that millions of workers have lost their jobs, their standard of living and their future job security. That downsizing, rightsizing, restructuring and reengineering are wiping out the work force in epidemic numbers, and wreaking havoc with the economy. Amidst the approving roar of the crowd, will anyone venture to ask, "Do our corporate leaders really know what they are doing?"

The author believes that he does. This book is a story of incompetence at the top levels of our corporations. It's a tale of dismal performance and gross ineptitude among senior management -- and the devastating impact it's had on the work force and the economy. The book offers numerous examples of business failures as well as bizarre strategies, decisions and management crazes that we can laugh at now, but that at one time were taken all too seriously.

The book also offers solutions that owners, executives and managers can use to implement effective leadership. Included are a series of simple and practical steps for real business success (see chart below).

Weiss is president of Summit Consulting Group (East Greenwich, R.I.).

Primary Decision-Making Factors in Any Organization:

(1) What is the value-added that we provide to our customers?

(2) What results, impact, or outcomes do our customers desire?

(3) What are the resources available to meet our customer goals?

(4) What are the constraints within which we must operate?

(5) What must we accomplish, or we will have failed?

(6) What alternatives are available to reach our goals?

(7) What risks are inherent in our plans?

(8) How will we maximize the outcome, minimize the input, and alleviate risk?

(9) What will tell us if we are successful?

(10) How will we replicate our success?

Primary Decision-Making Factors in Any Organization:
(1) What is the value-added that we provide to our customers?
(2) What results, impact, or outcomes do our customers desire?
(3) What are the resources available to meet our customer goals?
(4) What are the constraints within which we must operate?
(5) What must we accomplish, or we will have failed?
(6) What alternatives are available to reach our goals?
(7) What risks are inherent in our plans?
(8) How will we maximize the outcome, minimize the input, and alleviate risk?
(9) What will tell us if we are successful?
(10) How will we replicate our success?

Customer-Centered Growth: Five Proven Strategies for Building Competitive Advantage, by Richard Whitely and Diane Hessan, Addison-Wesley, 320 pages, $25, ISBN 0-201-47967-2

How is it that some companies break away and achieve dramatic growth in today's rapidly changing business climate, while others struggle just to survive? Why do certain companies bounce back from serious downturns stronger than ever, while others shrink and disappear? Years of maintaining profits by cutting costs have left most companies in turmoil, and yet some companies have managed to come through these critical challenges into a period of phenomenal growth.

This book reveals the compelling secrets these winning companies share: instead of turning inward in turbulent times, they have put the customer at the center of all they do. The result is lower costs and profitable growth.

Drawing on dozens of case studies of every kind of enterprise, the book defines five proven strategies a manufacturing company can use to grow -- even under the most adverse business conditions (see chart below).

Whitely and Hessan are with The Forum Corp. (Boston, Mass.), a consulting firm.

Five Strategies for Renewal:

(1) Shift from an identity crisis to a laser-beam focus.

(2) Don't just listen to the voice of the customer. Hardwire it.

(3) Convert team-itis into universal collaboration.

(4) Turn customer satisfaction into lasting customer enthusiasm.

(5) Move from facilitative leadership to contact leadership.

Five Strategies for Renewal:
(1) Shift from an identity crisis to a laser-beam focus.
(2) Don't just listen to the voice of the customer. Hardwire it.
(3) Convert team-itis into universal collaboration.
(4) Turn customer satisfaction into lasting customer enthusiasm.
(5) Move from facilitative leadership to contact leadership.

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