25 Management Lessons From the Customer's Side of the Counter

Rating:
Summary: 25 Management Lessons did not live up to expectations
Review: "25 Management Lessons From the Customer's Side of the Counter" is a well-structured book, divided into three sections discussing customer satisfaction, managing people, and leadership. Donnelly was wise to write the book informally, as his language better conveys his stories detailing numerous customer experiences. His personality is evident throughout his accounts, which adds humor to the stories, but also expresses a condescending attitude towards the establishments and their employees. It is quite obvious that Mr. Donnelly has little retail experience, showing almost no sympathy for the retail employees who were following instructions. In some instances, Mr. Donnelly did not voice his dissatisfaction to a manager or even the offending employee, but this is true of one of his lessons as most customers will not voice their dissatisfaction but just will never come back to the store. Part one, which focused on customer satisfaction, was by far the most entertaining part of the book and worked to draw in the reader. Section two and three saw the emergence of diagrams and charts with fewer applicable personal experiences, turning the presentation of the book into a Management and Human Resources 101 lecture. Donnelly's perspective switched from relaying instances from the customer's side of the counter to reciting the syllabus for his Organizational Behavior course. Part one was about occurrences that are easy for any reader to relate to, making many more effective points because people can easily understand the lesson. Part two and three do not tell about many customer experiences on the selling floor; Donnelly discusses issues in corporate management that most customers would know nothing about. Therefore, his book content does not accurately reflect the title after part one. Donnelly structured the individual sections well, with each personal account ending with a clear point stated and a review of those points at the end of each section. Unfortunately, after the points for part three are summed up, he failed to write a conclusion. No ending words of wisdom from the expert on customer service. No last jab at the managers who are not performing well. We found that hard to believe. After such an auspicious beginning, the book sputtered along and just ended. By buying this book, I am indirectly Mr. Donnelly's customer, and from my side of the counter this book did not live up to its expectations.

Rating:
Summary: The examples tell the story
Review: Having read many management books by a number of authors, I have to place this one up at or near the top. The thing that makes Donnelly so effective are his examples, both those showing poor and good customer service. The examples are ones that most of us can easily relate to and every time I read the book, I recall new but similar circumstances I have encountered. I believe this book should be required reading for every manager (and even the rest of the staff) who is in the customer service business. Many times we can't realize how bad we are until we hear someone else relate their stories.

Rating:
Summary: The examples tell the story
Review: Having read many management books by a number of authors, I have to place this one up at or near the top. The thing that makes Donnelly so effective are his examples, both those showing poor and good customer service. The examples are ones that most of us can easily relate to and every time I read the book, I recall new but similar circumstances I have encountered. I believe this book should be required reading for every manager (and even the rest of the staff) who is in the customer service business. Many times we can't realize how bad we are until we hear someone else relate their stories.

Rating:
Summary: James Donnelly's book gives simplistic and short management
Review: This review focuses on part two of the book "25 Management Lessons from the Customer's Side of the Counter" by James Donnelly. The review was conducted by Consumer Science students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Part II What Customers Know About Managing People

Part two of James Donnelly's book focuses on eight lessons that mangers should consider when examining their management styles. This part gives simplistic and short lessons that outline strategies on how to become a better manager. This section varies from the other two sections of the book because it moves away from giving antidotal stories of how the customer is able to see the overall management style reflected in the employee's behavior. Part two of the book uses very limited stories to illustrate the lessons and tends to focus on Donnelly giving his own tips to managers on how they could improve their company and overall management techniques. The review of part two will focus on the major themes that Donnelly stressed and give overall reactions to the section. In part two of the book Donnelly tends to get away from the customer focus and starts to preach his own tips on management. Lesson thirteen typified this style by arbitrarily comparing good management techniques to those of a physician, without giving the customer basis for the analogy. Donnelly explained that to be a successful manager a person must separate the problems of a business from the conditions of the business. This distinction is important because a condition of a business can not be solved, but it can be managed. Examples given of some conditions that can not be solved by making one decision are; encouraging peak performance, improving product and service quality, and improving productivity. Donnelly explained that mangers today often try to solve conditions and waste useful company resources. This lesson and the others in part two are probably important to managers, but conflict with the theme of the book. The ideas in part two are generally not explained by using a customer focus and do not show how Donnelly formulated the advice. The lessons in part two did give useful information and tips that a manager should consider. The main aspects Donnelly discussed in part two dealt with how to analyze peak performance, how to encourage peak performance, and how to change the overall company atmosphere by good management. However, to achieve this Donnelly gave his own detailed opinions and not examples using logic from the customer's point of view. Throughout part two Donnelly gave detailed advice and strategies similar to lesson thirteen, but did not base them on any consumer principles. The tips given seemed to be informative and logical, but only seemed useful to those at the top of the corporate food chain. Overall this section was rather dry with personal opinions and details that customers would not be able to reasonably suggest. The title of part two might better reflect its contents if the name was changed to "What Donnelly Knows About Managing People."

Rating:
Summary: James Donnelly's book gives simplistic and short management
Review: When you read 25 Management Lessons From the Customer's Side of the Counter, you will learn important business principles in 3 distinct management areas: customer satisfaction, managing people & leadership. For instance, who's job is it to keep the customer happy ? Dr. James H Donnelly is the Thomas C. Simons professor in the Gatton College of Business & Economics @ the University of KY. For 20 years, I've known that Jim Donnelly has a sense of humor, in addition to his professional credentials. Now I know you'll learn something from reading 25 Management Lessons From the Customer.