American Steel

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating reading. Needs to be made into a movie.
Review: I bought this book only because I like Richard Preston's work. Frankly, my interest in steel and the steel industry (metal in general, for that matter) is nil -- but I just had to see what Preston was going to do with this subject. I now know more than I ever wanted to know about steel and the men who make it -- and the learning process was funny, suspenseful and gut-wrenching. This was a DELIGHTFUL book and I'm glad I didn't let my lack of interest in the subject turn me away from it. I give this book my highest compliment: I'm glad I read it.

Rating:
Summary: An entertaining book on steel? YES!!!
Review: I bought this book only because I like Richard Preston's work. Frankly, my interest in steel and the steel industry (metal in general, for that matter) is nil -- but I just had to see what Preston was going to do with this subject. I now know more than I ever wanted to know about steel and the men who make it -- and the learning process was funny, suspenseful and gut-wrenching. This was a DELIGHTFUL book and I'm glad I didn't let my lack of interest in the subject turn me away from it. I give this book my highest compliment: I'm glad I read it.

Rating:
Summary: Did Not Hold My Attention
Review: I like this author, the Hot Zone was a marvelous book and the fiction version was not that bad. These were the only two reasons I picked up this book. The description of the book sounded somewhat interesting, but without the author I would have passed on it. In hindsight that was a mistake. The author really did try his best to make a business case study more aptly used in a college class then a mass publication book, interesting to read. He could not pull it off. The good flow of the book and the fact that it at least tries to keep you interested is due to the skill of author. Yes there is a lot of detail about this new form of making sheets of steel, but unless you are in the industry or a gluten for punishment I would stay away from the book.

Rating:
Summary: Did Not Hold My Attention
Review: I like this author, the Hot Zone was a marvelous book and the fiction version was not that bad. These were the only two reasons I picked up this book. The description of the book sounded somewhat interesting, but without the author I would have passed on it. In hindsight that was a mistake. The author really did try his best to make a business case study more aptly used in a college class then a mass publication book, interesting to read. He could not pull it off. The good flow of the book and the fact that it at least tries to keep you interested is due to the skill of author. Yes there is a lot of detail about this new form of making sheets of steel, but unless you are in the industry or a gluten for punishment I would stay away from the book.

Rating:
Summary: Ambishes Story of Resurrection
Review: My mother never has understood how I, of all people, ended up being so interested in business.

My business has nothing to do with steel, but this is the book I bought her to try to explain. I knew that if anything would make the point to her about what Preston calls "the hot blue flame" of industry, this would be it.

I also knew that even if she didn't get the point, she'd be entertained by Preston's outstanding prose style. First Light, by the way, is the book to send your mother if you're a scientist (or would-be scientist).

Rating:
Summary: A company bent on beating Japan at making steel
Review: Never in my wildest dreams would I expect to root for a steel factory in west-central Indiana to save American industry, but you have to read "American Steel" to believe it. Nucor Corporation has a wild idea about building a plant in tiny Crawfordsville, Indiana, and beat Big Steel and Japan at the same time with non-union labor. Though the writing style is fairly simple the story itself is fabulous and I wouldn't believe it if I didn't know it was true.

Rating:
Summary: From begining to end, an excellent true story
Review: Never in my wildest dreams would I expect to root for a steel factory in west-central Indiana to save American industry, but you have to read "American Steel" to believe it. Nucor Corporation has a wild idea about building a plant in tiny Crawfordsville, Indiana, and beat Big Steel and Japan at the same time with non-union labor. Though the writing style is fairly simple the story itself is fabulous and I wouldn't believe it if I didn't know it was true.

Rating:
Summary: Lessons in leading strategic change
Review: The overarching theme of Richard Preston's book, American Steel, is that of leading strategic change, a concept central to the discipline of managerial science. Another important theme of the book restates a concept central to the discipline of finance: the greater the risk, the greater the potential reward.

From the moment Ken Iverson took the helm of the Nuclear Corporation of America in 1965, he was charged with leading strategic change. He "became president by default...no one else wanted the job...His job description was merely to stave off bankruptcy." Taking the path of least resistance, Iverson focused on the company's only profitable unit, the Vulcraft joist division.

Instead of purchasing bar steel from other companies, Iverson decided to build a steel mill himself. This was a tremendous risk; as he put it, "We played 'Bet-the-Company'." This gets directly to the point mentioned above -- the greater the risk, the greater the potential reward. By employing untrained, unskilled workers at this new plant in South Carolina, Iverson increased the risk profile of the company even further. This move, however, combined with a generous bonus plan, engendered a sense of trust and responsibility in the workers after some time. Trust, as it turns out, is the currency of change -- and change is just what Iverson was trying to accomplish.