Another Business School Trophy

[Cyclefrance]

So far as business books go, I still reckon that the one to read is 'The Goal' by Goldratt - tears down the MBA and management attitude, and goes for the hands-dirty, common-sense approach being advocated here. If all management attempted to work but a quarter of the way he proposes, they might find their eyes opened to the real problems that needed to be solved (and found out how to build the solutions) rather than go the 'good ideas' routes that have no basis for success or sufficient investigation to test their suitability. I could go on....

[tw]

Originally Posted by Cyclefrance

So far as business books go, I still reckon that the one to read is 'The Goal' by Goldratt - tears down the MBA and management attitude, and goes for the hands-dirty, common-sense approach being advocated here.

Goldratt (Jeff Cox is a co-author) demonstrate examples. But W E Deming is THE author - the reason why Ford had the expression "Quality of Job 1". I believe his book "Out of Crisis" is in the 26th printing. Where does Toyota's quality come from? W E Deming. The Goal is but another excellent example of how business school 'spread sheet' thinking destroys companies (such as Lucent and AT&T) and how that thinking can never comprehend product oriented solutions. "The Goal" was a fun book to read.

[tw]

Originally Posted by richlevy

I don't know if there is anything in that book about giving up a dozen or more of the most influential patents related to personal computers and the Internet that would have been worth hundreds of billions of dollars, which Fumbling the Future addresses.

"Fumbling the Future" is considered 'must read' for anyone who would understand economics, markets, and how MBAs stifle innovation. From Marketwatch.com on 4 Mar 2008:

H-P to unveil big revamp in its famed labs
No technology company wants to end up with great research that it fails to commercialize.

Silicon Valley is too familiar with the failure of the research lab previously known as Xerox PARC to capitalize on its early innovations for the personal computer in the 1980s. Their work provided the seeds for the point-and-click user interface commercialized first by Apple Inc. and then Microsoft Corp., and Xerox got only Apple shares.

"All the MBAs read about 'Fumbling the Future' at Xerox PARC," said David Patterson, an inventor and professor in the computer science department at the University of California, Berkeley, referring to a book on Xerox PARC. Even though PARC went on to innovate in its core businesses, such as developing laser printing, its storied failure lives on in the Valley.

Amid this backdrop, Hewlett-Packard Co. will unveil a big push to ensure that its famed research group, H-P Labs, about a mile from PARC, contributes more to the printer and computer giant's bottom line. H-P Labs, PARC, SRI and IBM's Almaden Research Center are the elders among the Valley's research institutions that are now all confronting new ways to turn some of their research into commercially viable projects at a faster pace.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by tw

...which only means get rich - by any means possible.

Good Philosophy. Works for me.