Rating: 
Summary: Leadership combined with Common Sense
Review: Coporate America is filled with non-leaders who can't make decisions. Al Dunlap's common sense direct approach to solving problems is refreshing. If you look at many new successful companies today (i.e Mindspring, Amazon) you will find that they are practicing "Mean Business". They keep costs low, tie employee compensation to company stock, make lightning fast decisions and keep their operations streamlined. They attach less value to a college degree than to ability and work ethic. They don't lay-off people because they don't bloat themselves up to begin with. They also don't build unnecessary opulent corporate headquarters. By following "Mean Business", they kick the crap out of the competition. If you want to succeed, read this book. These principles can be applied at any level.
Rating: 
Summary: Ecrasez l'Infame!
Review: For some interesting background on this two-legged animal impersonating a human being, refer to Mr. Floyd Norris' New York Times article of 16 July 2001: An Executive's Missing Years: Papering Over Past Problems.How did this miscreant ever get to such positions of un-earned responsibility?
Rating: 
Summary: Good Ideas but...
Review: I read this book when it first came out in hardcover, and was very impressed by Dunlap's beliefs and methods. Now that the smoke has cleared with Dunlap's fiasco at Sunbeam and the recent biography "Chainsaw", I find this book to be fairly shabby. For one thing, Dunlap only seemed to be concerned with the price of the stock, rather than the rate of return on the investment. He says that one should not cut jobs just to increase the share price, yet he boasted about improving the share price (which at Sunbeam, crashed after he was sacked). A share price should reflect the profit which a company makes, not by what type of actions the chairman makes. He sold Scott to Kimberly Clark for a fairly hefty sum, but now that buyout seems to have less value than originally anticipated. Rather than building up what's best in a corporation, he seems to cut them down to size (which speculatively increases their value) and sell them off while the going's good. Good value for him, provded that he sells off his shares, but for the long term shareholders, it's a rip off. Second, I admire the idea of corporations streamlining the management process, and thowing away the corporate toys. He feels that executives should not be excessively paid, and i admire the idea of executives being paid in stock, having to buy stock out of their own pocket, and accepting term limits and conflict of interest rules. However, according to "Chainsaw" he seemed to have many of the perks (like a bodyguard and room for his dogs at a hotel) which he claims an executive should be denied. He feels that executives should not be excessively paid, and I admire the idea of executives being paid in stock, having to buy stock out of their own pocket, and accepting term limits and conflict of interest rules. Yet, his infatuation with the value of the share (rather than the rate of return) forces the executives to focus more and more on the short term, rather than the long term. This seems to be in contradiction to his marketing idea of a high margin, rather than an high volume of sales. Third, his autobiography seems to be a fraud. According to Chainsaw, his father was not a dock worker/union steward, but a boiler maker. The family had a nice middle class lifestyle, not the poverty which Dunlap has described. Dunlap makes no reference to his sister, his first wife, to whom he seemed abusive, or to his son Troy, to whom he refused to help with his college tuition and whom he wrote out of his will. Finally, Dunlap claims to have admiration for his parents, yet he did not even attend their funerals. Mean Business really hints at what type of ego Dunlap has, through his continual boasting about his accomplishments in creating shareholder value. Chainsaw, on the other hand, expands on this, showing what type of a tyrant this man is, ruthlessly screaming at employees for hours on end (and even sexually harassing one of them) and expecting them to at his beck and call. In theory, his ideas seem fairly sound, but in practice, I feel that focusing exclusively on the value of a share price will have extremely dire long term consequences.
Rating:
Summary: Good Ideas but...
Review: I read this book when it first came out in hardcover, and was very impressed by Dunlap's beliefs and methods. Now that the smoke has cleared with Dunlap's fiasco at Sunbeam and the recent biography "Chainsaw", I find this book to be fairly shabby. For one thing, Dunlap only seemed to be concerned with the price of the stock, rather than the rate of return on the investment. He says that one should not cut jobs just to increase the share price, yet he boasted about improving the share price (which at Sunbeam, crashed after he was sacked). A share price should reflect the profit which a company makes, not by what type of actions the chairman makes. He sold Scott to Kimberly Clark for a fairly hefty sum, but now that buyout seems to have less value than originally anticipated. Rather than building up what's best in a corporation, he seems to cut them down to size (which speculatively increases their value) and sell them off while the going's good. Good value for him, provded that he sells off his shares, but for the long term shareholders, it's a rip off. Second, I admire the idea of corporations streamlining the management process, and thowing away the corporate toys. He feels that executives should not be excessively paid, and i admire the idea of executives being paid in stock, having to buy stock out of their own pocket, and accepting term limits and conflict of interest rules. However, according to "Chainsaw" he seemed to have many of the perks (like a bodyguard and room for his dogs at a hotel) which he claims an executive should be denied. He feels that executives should not be excessively paid, and I admire the idea of executives being paid in stock, having to buy stock out of their own pocket, and accepting term limits and conflict of interest rules. Yet, his infatuation with the value of the share (rather than the rate of return) forces the executives to focus more and more on the short term, rather than the long term. This seems to be in contradiction to his marketing idea of a high margin, rather than an high volume of sales. Third, his autobiography seems to be a fraud. According to Chainsaw, his father was not a dock worker/union steward, but a boiler maker. The family had a nice middle class lifestyle, not the poverty which Dunlap has described. Dunlap makes no reference to his sister, his first wife, to whom he seemed abusive, or to his son Troy, to whom he refused to help with his college tuition and whom he wrote out of his will. Finally, Dunlap claims to have admiration for his parents, yet he did not even attend their funerals. Mean Business really hints at what type of ego Dunlap has, through his continual boasting about his accomplishments in creating shareholder value. Chainsaw, on the other hand, expands on this, showing what type of a tyrant this man is, ruthlessly screaming at employees for hours on end (and even sexually harassing one of them) and expecting them to at his beck and call. In theory, his ideas seem fairly sound, but in practice, I feel that focusing exclusively on the value of a share price will have extremely dire long term consequences.
Rating:
Summary: What a Joke
Review: I was told to read this book for a business class on what not to do and I think that Al Dunlap is in no place to be dishing out any advice. If you study the companies that Dunlap took over you realize that all of his improvements were nothing more then accounting wizardry. Besides he destroys the company's employees just to give him self and his wife first class plane tickets to Philadelphia. Just think before you buy a book about management style that you pick a manager that you want to be like.
Rating:
Summary: What a joke
Review: It just amazes me that "Chainsaw Al" could write such a piece of self-promotion. As his recent debacle at Sunbeam proves this guy doesn't know anything but how to slash head count. It's disturbing that he takes such joy in this also. The one thing we can all be happy about was when Chainsaw Al got the chainsaw taken to him. Al do us all a favor and just go away.
Rating:
Summary: What a Joke
Review: Its amazing to me, that there are people who still disagree with his methods. Pardon me, but what ever happened to putting the shareholder first in a company?, I mean, isn't it THEIR money on the line? And since when is a business suppossed to be a leader of social change? Last time I knew, businesses were suppossed to be lean, efficient and profitable, not some over blown behemouth that was suppossed to play nice with its competitors. This book is lean, its mean and its suppossed to be painful to those who disagree, because turn-around artists would not be needed if companies would think more of their shareholders first and foremost. This book is not for the weak at heart, but rather for those who understand the sense of urgency that is missing from most companies today. Business is all about survival and Al Dunlap shows you how to be able to be in a position to change with the times, by being lean and efficient and remembering that its not your money at risk, its the shareholders.
Rating:
Summary: Bank managers at the gate
Review: Like prehistoric tribesmen, businessmen tend to communicate values through stories and legends; and few themes generate more legend than corporate turnarounds. Turnaround stories are fun; they paint big pictures with broad brushstrokes; they feature dramatic episodes and larger than life characters. As `Chainsaw' Dunlop writes, "You are not in business to be liked. ... If you want a friend, get a dog. I'm not taking chances; I have two dogs." Turnaround experts are a stark reminder that Al Capone also wore dark suites and would probably be trading today, if only he had paid his taxes. Clearing aside the hype, rescuing a company requires a combination of long and short-term thinking, empowerment and control, leadership and good management. First, a turnaround requires a good team; building and directing that team is the prime task of the leader. Much is written about teams but in reality most business teams are committees, where people write minutes, attend to protect their interests, and argue their point of view. A real team is a small group of people with complementary skills and a common, overriding goal. Successful turnarounds are case studies in teamwork; turnaround team members learn to trust and anticipate, and often look back at this period as the only real team experience of their working lives. The team is critical as a turnaround is too much for an one person to handle, particularly given the time the leader spends on stage re-assuring stakeholders, employees, creditors, financial institutions and suppliers. Part of the mythos around corporate turnarounds comes about because the leader acts as lightning rod to the outside world. The other part is the critical short-term activity, the need to cut fat, to re-negotiate contracts, to focus and to eliminate the non-core. Successful turnarounds are associated with `cutting once and deeply', with dramatic cash flow injections and with brinkmanship negotiation practices. This is not to ignore the long term. `Neutron Jack' Welsh of General Electric, despite his name, articulated the `number one or number two strategy' that took General electric to a decade of spectacular results. And Dunlap himself says: "If you don't have a vision of the future you are going no-where. .... (Y)ou can't inspire ... the remaining people ... if you don't combine the cutback with a vision of the future." This, he says, is the real art of leadership and management. Corporate turnaround is about good management, albeit sharpened by the spectre of the bank manager at the door. But if you don't like superheroes, this is not your book. I enjoyed this book, but as a kid I always had a fascination with superheroes. I still have a subscription to KTV, and I'm not taking chances - I have a subscription to Cartoon network too.
Rating:
Summary: Give it a miss
Review: Self-serving, self promotional pulp fiction. It should have its name changed to "My Resume". For a more balanced view read "Chainsaw" by John A Byrne.
Rating: 
Summary: Good advice from a shamed author
Review: The jury is no longer out on the author or the advice. The author's exploits are well documented:
- He turned around numerous companies by cutting headcount & product lines. Sold the companies for huge profit to himself and the shareholders.
- Much of his success came from the ideas of external consultants.
- He destroyed Sunbeam in a massive explosion of layoffs, fraud and corporate mismanagement. So should one listen to his advice? If you're willing to separate the message from the author, there is quite a bit of good advice to be had:
1 - If a business is dying, you have to put the needs of the shareholders first. If there's no company, there are no jobs either.
2 - Cutting costs is a hard business. Unless you cut enough fat with confidence the first time around, you'll spend forever in a downward cycle of repeat layoffs and dwindling morale.
3 - Product complexity equals cost, and if you want to simplify your marketing and manufacturing, reduce the variations in your products.
4 - More factories mean more costs. Aggresive consolidation of manufacturing is required in a shrinking business. Hard to argue with these, and they are indeed worth knowing. Is the book worth reading? Yes, but.... Take it with a grain of salt. As well as the examples. Realize that perhaps it was just a bit too much of self-congratulations from a dishonest man. And know that turning around a troubled company is indeed a mean business.
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