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Summary: Business management at its best (or, the Anti-Dilbert)
Review: For those of us who are new to management, missed out on the reenginering and total quality management revolutions of the 90s, and are wondering how new trends like business process management fit into the picture, there could hardly be a better book than this one. Centered on the premise that we have come to a point where the customer really is king, the author derives a set of principles, which start with simple ones that no one could argue with like "be easy to do business with" or "add more value", but then gradually lead to more provocative, less intuitive ones that end up putting over a century of management practice on its head, going so far as showing that the days of the enterprise as a self-contained, independent entity are numbered.On a personal note, having spent the formative years of my professional career on small, software consulting companies during the boom decade of the 90s, I have been as skeptical as people come on new management trends and buzzwords. There was no one better than Dilbert to give voice to my (and many colleagues) cynicism, and this put many of us in a "management can do no right" attitude towards our superiors. But after living through a long economic slump, gaining experience in larger projects in bigger and more established companies participating in mature markets, being anti-management is no longer an appealing or even a responsible position. Most of us have experienced bad management first hand, but have also seen what good management can accomplish and realized that ultimately it's what makes companies great. Afer that experience, this book has made clear to me what those principles of good management are in today's economy, but more than that, it has restored my confidence in it and given sense to what previously seemed to be empty buzzwords. While very well-written, I think this book could be much easier to read and understand if the chapters were broken down into sections instead of having 20 to 30 pages without break or pause, and illustrations and graphs would be very helpful, especially when talking about organizational structures and other abstract concepts. Other than that, this is as good as business books come.
Rating: 
Summary: Every business needs an agenda!
Review: Hammer, a well-known management consultant and author of Reengineering the Corporation (1993), has written a new book outlining an agenda for business success in the 21st century. He focuses on nine management themes he developed from his work with leading companies worldwide. Although many of these ideas are not new, they highlight key issues necessary for success in today's business environment. Briefly, the themes center on becoming a customer-focused organization; adding value by providing what customers want; focusing on processes; celebrating--yet managing--creativity by introducing discipline and structure; becoming adept at identifying and measuring key indicators; taking advantage of ambiguity; emphasizing teamwork and collaboration rather than rigid structure; creating coordination and cooperation in the distribution channels and focusing on the end user; finding new ways to collaborate, especially with suppliers and customers; and implementing "virtual integration" by identifying those activities the organization does best and outsourcing the others to achieve maximum efficiency. Not many unique ideas here, but important issues for practitioners and students to consider. Recommended for upper-division undergraduate through professional collections.
Rating:
Summary: no real breakthrough, but still very useful
Review: I don't think people can make several breakthough in his life time, and PROCESS is what Hammer is all about, and boy he is good at it. Now come a more mature book, and still he talks a lot about process. It is not a complain, just a statement. I love the book and do a review for local magazine in indonesia. I think it is an important book for all high level management teams to think about. It is not that difficult or specific. It is enjoyable and fun to read. Mostly common sense. Mostly the usual things you will hear from any good adviser. But still, this is an important book, and you still gota read it.
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Summary: Re-Defining Terms of Engagement for a Perilous Future
Review: In the Preface, Hammer makes a remarkable observation about the impact of a previous book, Reengineering the Corporation: Since its publication, "businesspeople have been deluged with books promising simple recipes for eternal victory. Perhaps part of my atonement for this unintentional transgression has been to write The Agenda." In his newest book, Hammer identifies and illuminates "a set of nine emerging business concepts that underlie how the best companies around are mastering today's turbulent environment." He devotes a separate chapter to each of the nine "Agenda Items." They are: 1. Make yourself easy to do business with you (ETDBW) 2. Add more value for your customers (deliver MVA) 3. Create a process enterprise (make high performance possible) 4. Tame the beast of chaos with the power of process (systematize creativity) 5. Base managing on measuring (make managing part of management, not accounting) Hammer: "The purpose of measuring is not to know how the business is performing but to enable it to perform better....A good measure must be accurate, actually capturing the condition it is supposed to describe. It must be objective, not subject to debate and dispute. It must be comprehensible, easily communicated and understood. It must be inexpensive and convenient to compute. It must be timely -- that is, not requiring a long delay between the occurrence of the condition and the availability of the data." 6. Loosen up your organizational structure (profit from the power of ambiguity) 7. Sell through, not to, your distribution channels (turn distribution chains into distribution communities) 8. Push past your boundaries in pursuit of efficiency (collaborate whenever and wherever you can) 9. Lose your identity in an extended enterprise (integrate virtually, not vertically) At the end of each chapter, Hammer provides a brief but precise summary of recommended guidelines and action steps based on key points. Hammer proposes a full "agenda" of items and relevant issues which, obviously, decision-makers in each organization must modify to accommodate their own organization's specific needs, interests, issues, problems, resources, and opportunities. How to plan and then implement a program once an agenda has been formulated? Hammer responds to this question in Chapter 11. He suggests several strategies for integrating efforts with sharp focus. He explains why it is so important to devote much more attention to "people issues." He offers what he calls a "20/60/20" formula for managing different constituencies differently. He explains why committed executive leadership must constantly be evident. He also shares some ideas about effective communication. And finally, he emphasizes the importance of achieving verifiable improvement throughout each phase of the implementation process. I have learned from my own experience that it is highly desirable to pick the "low hanging fruit" as quickly as possible. In the 12th and final chapter, Hammer shifts his attention to helping the reader to prepare for an uncertain future. In no particular order, he cites seven causes of severe "headaches" which many companies experienced in 1999: The Euro, the Asian economic crisis, major mergers and acquisitions, deregulation, ERP implementation, supply chain integration, and the Internet. He then offers three specific suggestions (create an early warning system, become proficient at responding to change, and create a supportive organizational structure), concluding his book with an especially relevant quotation from the Talmud: "You are not called upon to complete the work, nor are you free to evade it." It is important, indeed imperative to point out (on Hammer's behalf) that none of his "Agenda Items", observations, and suggestions should be considered a "silver bullet" because there is no one grand design, no one technique or single idea (e.g. reengineering) that -- all by itself -- can bring salvation and success. This is an important and especially timely book as organizations throughout the world (regardless of their size or nature) struggle to formulate an "agenda" which is appropriate to their current and imminent circumstances while being able to accommodate whatever may (and may not) happen later. Any such agenda is (literally) a work in progress. Michael Hammer is correct when asserting that no single source can fully assist that difficult process of planning and implementation. My own opinion is that this book should be included among any sources consulted. Indeed, Hammer's guidance is essential.
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Summary: The customer economy requires more than reenginering
Review: Michael Hammer became a guru by coining the term reengineering and writing bestsellers on business processes. Reengineering was a revolutionary "big idea" that took businesses with storm in the early 1990s. A decade after his first publications, Hammer's book, "The Agenda", acknowledge that reengineering is no "silver bullet" ... it cannot stand alone. Modern management needs to use several business concepts simultaneously to thrive in the new customer economy, i.e. where supply exceeds demand (overcapacity), customers are sophisticated and informed buyers, and many products are becoming commoditised. With long-term trends like globalization and technology, there's no foreseeable end to the customer power that flows from it. So we better be prepared.
The nine building blocks of Hammer's "Agenda" address the ways in which firms are managed, organized, and operated:
1. MAKE YOURSELF EASY TO DO BUSINESS WITH (ETDBW). Take a long hard look at yourself ... from your customers' point of view...!, and then redesign how to work to save them time, money, and frustration.
2. ADD MORE VALUE FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS (MVA). To avoid the trap of commoditization, in which you fight for a minuscule margin against a horde of look-alike, you need to do more for your customers.
3. OBSESS ABOUT YOUR PROCESSES. Customers care only about results, and results come only from end-to-end processes. Manage them, improve them, appoint owners for them, and make everyone aware of them.
4. TURN CREATIVE WORK INTO PROCESS WORK. Innovation doesn't have to be chaotic. Bring the power of discipline and structure to sales, product development, and other creative work. Make success in these areas the result of design and management, not luck...
5. USE MEASUREMENT FOR IMPROVING, NOT ACCOUNTING. Most of your measurements are worthless; they tell you what has happened (sort of) but give you no clue as to what to do for the future. Create a model of your business that ties overall goals to things you control; measure the items that really make a difference; and embed measurement in a serious program of managed improvement.
6. LOOSEN UP YOUR ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE. The days of the proudly independent manager running a sharply defined unit are over. Collaboration and teamwork are now as necessary in the executive suite as on the front lines. Teach your managers how to work together for the good of the enterprise rather than the stab each other in the back for narrow gain.
7. SELL THROUGH, NOT TO, YOUR DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS. Don't let your distribution channels blind you to your final customer, the one who pays everyone's salaries. Change distribution from a series of resellers into a community that works together to serve that final customer. Be ready to redefine the roles of everyone involved in order to achieve that end.
8. PUSH PAST YOUR BOUNDARIES IN PURSUIT OF EFFICIENCY. The last vestiges of overhead lurk, not deep in your company, but at its edges. Exploit the real power of the Internet to streamline the processes that connect you with customers and suppliers. Collaborate with everyone you can to drive out cost and overhead.
9. LOSE YOUR IDENTITY IN AN EXTENDED ENTERPRISE. Get past the idea of being a self-contained company that delivers a complete product. Get used to the notion that you can achieve something only when you virtually integrate with others. Focus on what you do best, get rid of the rest, and encourage others to do the same.
The first two agenda elements are concerned with customer management (ETDBW and MVA)- i.e. how to distinguish firms from look-alike rivals and how to create loyal customers. The third and fourth are about business processes - Hammer's old theme of reengineering. The fifth is about measurement systems and the sixth about the teamplayer role of the manager. The last three are about using modern technology such as the Internet to create value by linking firms with one another - instead of trying to optimize only within own your company's legal boundaries.
Hammer is concentrating on HOW not what. If you're focused on executing, then I think you'll like Hammer's agenda.
Peter Leerskov,
MSc in International Business (Marketing & Management) and Graduate Diploma in E-business
Rating:
Summary: Packed with Knowledge!
Review: Michael Hammer is the man responsible for the early 1990s reengineering craze, but we'll forgive him for that after reading the mea culpa that he includes at the start of his newest book. While it's unlikely that the remedies Hammer prescribes in The Agenda will be misused as a business cure-all in the same way that reengineering was co-opted, the methods, techniques and philosophies that he presents this time around are actually more practical and on target. In a nutshell, Hammer tells us that the customer is now in control and spends his entire book explaining how to re-build your company around meeting your customers' needs. For that simple lesson, we from getAbstract highly recommend this book to all readers.
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Summary: Every business needs an agenda!
Review: REVIEW: Take some best practices in the areas of customer focus and value chain models; throw in a process and systems perspective; intersperse all this with lots of examples and finish with a couple of useful chapters on implementing the concepts and you have "The Agenda". While this may sound a little negative, the book is quite useful, easy to read, and practical. In a way, the book is a bridge from existing management theory to practice. I don't think Hammer breaks much new ground as far as new theory is concerned, but that's okay. He does an excellent job at explaining how some recent theory is beginning to change actual business practice. He takes his observations about good practices at select companies and wraps them in an "Agenda" to give them more appeal to the management masses. Those familar with Peter Drucker's marketing concept and Michael Porter's value chain model should recognize a lot in Hammer's book. While Hammer goes beyond mere rehashing of these concepts, they clearly have their roots in these. While the book tends to sound a little grandiose at times (for example the subtitle, "What Every Business Must Do to Dominate the Decade") the book contains many agreeable insights and concepts. Worthwhile reading for those interested in, or responsible for, management of organizational improvement/change STRENGTHS: Organized well and easy to read. Practical and not abstract theory. Chapters nicely summarized in bullets. Many examples of the concepts in use at companies. Also, the last two chapters offer some very practical advice on how to actually implement the concepts. Too many business and management books fail to include this. WEAKNESSES: If you're more interested in cutting edge theory, this probably isn't the book. Sometimes there almost seems like too many examples which can seem like filler. Most of the examples in the book are focused on traditional industries (e.g. manufacturing, banks, etc.). Those that could (perhaps) benefit most from Hammer's teaching may be in newer service and non-profit organizations (e.g. education, government, healthcare). These areas are hardly addressed by the book. Lastly, Hammer includes almost no reference to other work or graphics. WHO SHOULD READ: The book is probably most useful for mid to upper level managers/executives in medium to large organizations; especially those interested in, or responsible for, management of organizational improvement/change. The book is less useful for those interested in new theory and those that feel they have an excellent understanding of the Drucker and Porter concepts mentioned above. ALSO CONSIDER: Major works by Peter Drucker on management practice; Michael Porter "On Competition" (more academic tone); Clayton Christensen "The Innovator's Dilemma" (for a different take on/perils of customer focus). [feedback welcome]
Rating:
Summary: Popularizer of Important Management Concepts
Review: REVIEW: Take some best practices in the areas of customer focus and value chain models; throw in a process and systems perspective; intersperse all this with lots of examples and finish with a couple of useful chapters on implementing the concepts and you have "The Agenda". While this may sound a little negative, the book is quite useful, easy to read, and practical. In a way, the book is a bridge from existing management theory to practice. I don't think Hammer breaks much new ground as far as new theory is concerned, but that's okay. He does an excellent job at explaining how some recent theory is beginning to change actual business practice. He takes his observations about good practices at select companies and wraps them in an "Agenda" to give them more appeal to the management masses. Those familar with Peter Drucker's marketing concept and Michael Porter's value chain model should recognize a lot in Hammer's book. While Hammer goes beyond mere rehashing of these concepts, they clearly have their roots in these. While the book tends to sound a little grandiose at times (for example the subtitle, "What Every Business Must Do to Dominate the Decade") the book contains many agreeable insights and concepts. Worthwhile reading for those interested in, or responsible for, management of organizational improvement/change STRENGTHS: Organized well and easy to read. Practical and not abstract theory. Chapters nicely summarized in bullets. Many examples of the concepts in use at companies. Also, the last two chapters offer some very practical advice on how to actually implement the concepts. Too many business and management books fail to include this. WEAKNESSES: If you're more interested in cutting edge theory, this probably isn't the book. Sometimes there almost seems like too many examples which can seem like filler. Most of the examples in the book are focused on traditional industries (e.g. manufacturing, banks, etc.). Those that could (perhaps) benefit most from Hammer's teaching may be in newer service and non-profit organizations (e.g. education, government, healthcare). These areas are hardly addressed by the book. Lastly, Hammer includes almost no reference to other work or graphics. WHO SHOULD READ: The book is probably most useful for mid to upper level managers/executives in medium to large organizations; especially those interested in, or responsible for, management of organizational improvement/change. The book is less useful for those interested in new theory and those that feel they have an excellent understanding of the Drucker and Porter concepts mentioned above. ALSO CONSIDER: Major works by Peter Drucker on management practice; Michael Porter "On Competition" (more academic tone); Clayton Christensen "The Innovator's Dilemma" (for a different take on/perils of customer focus). [feedback welcome]
Rating: 
Summary: Why doesn't Amazon let you rank this book Zero (0)
Review: That is what this book deserves, a big fat zero. This stuff was treated in much greater depth by business thought leaders several years ago. Notions of inter-enterprise process engineering, powered by the Internet, were rigorously documented several years ago. This professor turned management prophet must have spent his millions derived from his previous book of "stories" --circa 1993-- and needed a new source of funds as the world went far past him and his business process rengineering (BPR) stories, long ago. This guy writes stories, not first principles upon which companies can act. Ever tried to "implement" a story? Save your money --buy Tapscott, Fingar, Weil or Hagel books on the subject.
Rating:
Summary: Your business needs an agenda
Review: The agenda is the latest book from process guru Michael Hammer. Hammer's others works include Reengineering The Corporation. The Agenda covers a wide range of topics, but has three main focuses: Become customer focused and know your customer
Define, measure, and improve your processes
Processes must extend beyond corporate boundaries to encompass your complete value chain These three main focuses are expanded and covered in the following nine points 1. Make yourself easy to do business with
2. Add more value for your customers
3. Obsess about your process
4. Turn creative work into process work
5. Use measurement for improving not accounting
6. Loosen your organizational structure
7. Sell through, not to, your distribution channels
8. Push past your boundaries in the pursuit of efficiency
9. Lose your identity in a extended enterprise The Agenda is filled with great examples for all for each of the nine points. The Agenda offers a no nonsense view as to what businesses must do to thrive in this decade. The Agenda has a chapter that covers how to begin the extensive changes required to execute on Hammer's agenda and make it your own. The Agenda also addresses the type of organization change core competency that needs to be woven into the thread of Agenda companies. A highly enjoyable and though provoking read. The Agenda is great material for both middle and senior management.
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