Rating: 
Summary: friendly and jargon-free
Review: The book is about the management basics that aren't always obvious. It offers a concise synthesis of important ideas and practices:
- value creation
- business models
- competitive strategy
- the 80-20 rule
- performance metrics
- decision analysis. With various remarkable examples it shows that the value creation is the managers' chief responsibility in the modern world. It also shows that the managers shouldn't overlook the rest of practices to be successful. The book is amazingly friendly and jargon-free. I would also recommend "How to Survive the E-Business Downturn" by Colin Barrow and "Leading the Revolution" by Gary Hamel in addition to this book.
Rating: 
Summary: I will read this book a second time!
Review: This book really delivers: it's a good introduction for new managers, and a great refresher for experienced managers. It provides a superb overview of what is entailed in being a "general manager."
Rating:
Summary: I'll read this book a second time!
Review: This book really delivers: it's a good introduction for new managers, and a great refresher for experienced managers. It provides a superb overview of what is entailed in being a "general manager."
Rating:
Summary: I'll read this book a second time!
Review: This book really delivers: it's a good introduction for new managers, and a great refresher for experienced managers. It provides a superb overview of what is entailed in being a "general manager."
Rating:
Summary: Good introduction to managerial principles
Review: This book, written by 2 former editors of Harvard Business Review, isn't a "how to" book on management, but rather a book giving the "big picture": clearly describing the rules and concepts that underlie the discipline of management. Written in easy language, this book fully "compatible" with what I've been "preaching" over the last 7 years, but that also means there weren't many new things I learned from it (which explains my 4 star rating). I think that most experienced managers won't learn too much from this book (at least that's what I hope, but maybe I'm too optimistic, especially given that books as "The Dilbert Principle" seem to be a "fair" presentation of the reality of management in some organizations). That said, let me give you an overview of what you'll get:
The first part, entitled "design", discusses business issues such as value creation, business models, strategy and organization. This is clearly a book from after the dot.com era, stressing that it's not technology people want to by, but a product that fulfills a real need, and that this consideration of real added value should drive the business plan (something that many dot.com entrepreneurs seemed to have forgotten). Once you have your business model, your strategy will make the difference in the marketplace, where you have to face all sorts of competition, and try to outperform them. Organization, then, is about figuring out how you will structure your company for reaching your strategic goals: what will you do yourself? What will you outsource, how will the organizational chart and command structures look like?
Where the first section makes clear that good management means having a clear idea of your business, the second part is about making it happen, and thus is called "executing". Here the authors discuss topics as mission, innovation, dealing with uncertainty and focusing in order to deliver results. I especially liked the last chapter of this section, because it stresses that people should be hired for having the right attitude and fitting with the organizational culture (having the same values), an area my company, jobEQ.com is focusing on. If you want to know more about the Southwest Airlines example that is discussed in this chapter, I recommend the book "NUTS!" by Kevin Freiberg, et al. Overall, you get a solid book explaining the "why's of management in an integrated way I've rarely seen before. If you are looking for a "how to" book on management, I recommend PDI's "Successful Manager's Handbook" in addition to this book. If you are looking for a how to book on leadership, another new book that I like is "Alpha Leadership" by Deering, Dilts & Russell. Patrick Merlevede, MSc - co-author of 7 Steps to Emotional Intelligence.
Rating:
Summary: Good introduction to managerial principles
Review: This book, written by 2 former editors of Harvard Business Review, isn't a "how to" book on management, but rather a book giving the "big picture": clearly describing the rules and concepts that underlie the discipline of management. Written in easy language, this book fully "compatible" with what I've been "preaching" over the last 7 years, but that also means there weren't many new things I learned from it (which explains my 4 star rating). I think that most experienced managers won't learn too much from this book (at least that's what I hope, but maybe I'm too optimistic, especially given that books as "The Dilbert Principle" seem to be a "fair" presentation of the reality of management in some organizations). That said, let me give you an overview of what you'll get:
The first part, entitled "design", discusses business issues such as value creation, business models, strategy and organization. This is clearly a book from after the dot.com era, stressing that it's not technology people want to by, but a product that fulfills a real need, and that this consideration of real added value should drive the business plan (something that many dot.com entrepreneurs seemed to have forgotten). Once you have your business model, your strategy will make the difference in the marketplace, where you have to face all sorts of competition, and try to outperform them. Organization, then, is about figuring out how you will structure your company for reaching your strategic goals: what will you do yourself? What will you outsource, how will the organizational chart and command structures look like?
Where the first section makes clear that good management means having a clear idea of your business, the second part is about making it happen, and thus is called "executing". Here the authors discuss topics as mission, innovation, dealing with uncertainty and focusing in order to deliver results. I especially liked the last chapter of this section, because it stresses that people should be hired for having the right attitude and fitting with the organizational culture (having the same values), an area my company, jobEQ.com is focusing on. If you want to know more about the Southwest Airlines example that is discussed in this chapter, I recommend the book "NUTS!" by Kevin Freiberg, et al. Overall, you get a solid book explaining the "why's of management in an integrated way I've rarely seen before. If you are looking for a "how to" book on management, I recommend PDI's "Successful Manager's Handbook" in addition to this book. If you are looking for a how to book on leadership, another new book that I like is "Alpha Leadership" by Deering, Dilts & Russell. Patrick Merlevede, MSc - co-author of 7 Steps to Emotional Intelligence.
Rating:
Summary: Good management book but not for seasoned manager.
Review: This is a great book for managers and non-managers. It gives enough background for all readers to get a fell of management as well as historical knowledge to remind manager why they are managers. The introduction to the book was to the point and attractive enough to purchase the book. Actually her note that the greatest management leaders were the ones to stop the momentum of managers was a chuckle.
The author broke this book into two parts: (1) Design and (2) Execution.
The first part (Design), broken into 4 chapters described value creation, business models, strategy and organization. Each chapter describes how design works tactically, then when thought about can be understood how they integrate together. This part focuses on how to set-up your organization which then properly gets into the second part of execution, where the wheels meet the road.
The second part (Execution), broken into 5 chapters writes about how you can measure and manage the success of your organization. Examples are concrete for most industries. Although I found the end of the book rushed and not as focused as the previous part.
I found the style of the book to be easy to read and understand the concepts for management and non-management readers. At the end of each chapter were examples from profit and non-profit organizations of the chapter concepts, which enables the reader to understand the ideas being used in various environments.
Have fun understanding how management can be so easy.
Rating: 
Summary: Dissapointment
Review: This is not what I expected. There were no management methods or implementation strategies. Nothing but case studies which I found completely useless. I expected a book on how to manage a small business and its employees.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended!
Review: Those who say, "Good grief, not another book on management," may rest assured that this volume is worth careful study. Author Joan Magretta and collaborator Nan Stone offer advice based on decades of business experience and, yet, they distill the obnoxious "consultant-speak" so common to the field to clearly understandable, conversational terms. While at times they may seem to have a firm grasp on the obvious - investments are risky and managers need to make good choices - their work is fundamentally sound overall, offering practical case studies and real-world examples. This book takes common business concepts such as the "80-20 Rule," shines an insightful light upon them and then advances into more complex ground. We recommend this broad, new perspective on the growing social importance of effective management.
Rating:
Summary: The Big Picture - Clear & Lucid
Review: You are new to the game of management and you want an overview of its elements, read this book. You are an experienced business practitioner and you want to play the game with greater skill and dexterity, read this book. You are an employee, or work in a non-profit organisation and you want to grasp what management entails, please read this book. You are a MONK, and you want to understand this great body of knowledge than man engage in day in and day out, seek out and delve into this book. Once in a while a book comes along that is not a fad and is here to stay and remain a classic, this one fits the bill. Well done to the authors. They have really thought hard to make the ideas simple. Its simply effective! Get it before your competition does.
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