The Performance Appraisal Toolkit provides a solid foundation for building ...
341479
The Performance Appraisal Toolkit provides a solid foundation for building a successful performance management program.  The book is full of examples and templates that help companies apply these approaches to their goals and objectives.
3953242
This is the best price / performance small toolkit set I have used.  After using this product for over a year now, I find it very high in quality compared to some of the competitor products in a similar price range.
1010842
I am using this as a reference book as we develop the understanding and power behind protocols for district administrators. It is an excellent resource as we build our arsenal of tools.
4769432
Gerry Kendall provides a detailed analysis of the application of TOC methodologies to project management in pactical, usable terms.  This book can serve as a reference resource for redesigning a team's approach to project managment, resulting in improved effeciency and more consistant results.  This is a must read for project and program managers.
1829131
Dave Yarnes nailed it! As a Business Performance Advisor, I covet highly effective tools that provide maximum impact for my clients success. This is one of those tools! It's a precise, practical book that brings the earnest  desire of prosperity into the realm of the achievable!
2651906
The concept of boosting business performance (profits, customer satisfaction, time to market) by moving data up the business value chain is intriguing on many levels. This where Dr. Prashanth Southekal first catches our attention and demands we read on. We want to understand how we can do this for our organization and fully monetize what we already have within our possession  the data.

He brings us all to the same boiling point of knowledge, whether one is a relative novice with data, or setting the data strategy within their organization. He provides us a roadmap by introducing the GQM methodology and then presents two (2) case studies to drive home this new model. The book is well cited, drawing on expertise within the industry to support such an important topic.

This is an informative and educational read  and while Dr. Southekal is clear in describing the significant challenges in realizing improved business performance, he is also clear in describing the path forward to success. Spread a few copies of this book around your organization and start to transform your company culture to one of viewing your data as a true business asset.

Derrick LaRiviere
AMI (Application Management Inc.)
President
2798141
The book accomplishes what it sets out to do and touches on every aspect of SBS 2003. It amounts to a general guide to each and every part of SBS 2003 for experienced IS/IT staff and network administrators. It will definitely help IS/IT staff or an administrator familiar with Windows Server 2003 get SBS 2003 up and running very quickly. Thorough coverage of Exchange in particular which won't leave you guessing as Microsoft's documentation does. Clear guidance for upgrading from other Windows server products. The roots of SBS 2003 and Windows Server 2003 are clearly explained and provide insight into the differences and similarities between the two server versions. Microsoft's own SBS 2003 documentation remains a powerful technical reference manual, but "Windows Small Business Server 2003: A Clear and Concise Administrator's Reference and How-To" provides the much narrower focus required by experienced admin and IT staff who already know most of the technical details surrounding each function, configuration change and feature. Despite my complaint about the rather thin index, what's there coupled with the solid table of contents will still help experienced staff find what they need. Chapter 7 devotes 30 pages entirely to SQL Server 2000 and database management in SBS 2003, a welcome emphasis for what I believe to be a rather large number of IT people who struggle with SQL. Generally effective coverage of security, firewall and VPN setup and configuration. The book is well written, using concise language in a clear and easy to read style and structure.
81881
Tiwana's 'KM Toolkit' provides a balanced view on knowledge management (KM). Both the soft (e.g. organization structure, organizational behaviour issues) & hard (e.g. technological infrastructure) sides of KM are coherently taken into account. The vast number of applicable KM technologies may seem overwhelming, but given the clear 'roadmap' & other relevant audit tools provided by the book (& its CD-ROM), readers should be well-equipped to have a good start in implementing KM initiatives.
3249181
This is one of several excellent volumes in the University of Michigan Business School Management Series in which the authors provide a cohesive, comprehensive, cost-effective customer measurement and management system which consists of five separate but related stages. Specifically, they explain:
? How to identify the system?s purpose and goals, deciding which customers to include and how to group them into natural segments that reflect their interests and purchasing patterns
? How to use qualitative research to build the ?lens of the customer?, a model of customer views of the products and services that you provide, customer satisfaction, and the loyalty and retention that result
? How to use the lens of the customer to build a customer survey to measure quality, satisfaction, and loyalty
? How to use the lens again in analyzing data from the customer survey, both to determine what could be done to improve customer satisfaction and to assess the probable effect of each potential improvement on bottom-line financial performance
? How to set priorities for quality improvement, using the information developed from the survey as background for business decisions, and then implement the decisions according to the priorities set by management
Whew! That?s a lot! Fortunately, Johnson and Gustafsson devote a separate chapter to each of the five stages of the process.. They also provide three valuable appendices: A mini-case study of the Ratorp Tire Company, the NACS Customer Satisfaction Survey, and a Data Analysis in Practice. If your organization needs to improve customer satisfaction, loyalty, and profit, here is an excellent source.
3798307
Having attended Staceys PuMP online training course and used the guidance in anger I fully support the PuMP process and the eight week project blueprint.  Stacey has put her years of experience of creating useful performance measures and the practical experience of leading many through her programme into this book.  It distils many of the lessons learned into easily understood sections and provides guidance that will lead the practitioner through the many pitfalls and help you create performance measures that are appropriate and helpful within your business. The book provides an enthusiastic, easily readable and very helpful guide on how to achieve true performance measurement in the real world and, having been involved in performance measurement for some years, I recognise many of the mistakes and hurdles described.  If you want to get a head start in creating true business performance measures this book will prove the help you need.
652241
Excellent resource for the non-profit sector for evaluation of performance on measuring what counts for greater impact in the delivery of supports and services.
604281
The handbook gives the true foundation for the supply of quality products or services. It focuses on the design of the product and it's need to perform correctly in the customer's use environment.

The thing I really like is the inclusion of case studies. The addition of actual applications enhances the understanding of the theory presented in the first part of the book. The case studies are also good thought starters for your applications.
4695798
In keeping with the concept of the series it's part of this book is a tightly written summary of how to enhance performance.  It is easy to read, brief and to the point.

The book reviews three essential components, stated as goals: 1) Define performance in actionable (and measureable) terms, 2) Measure the right things and use the right measures, 3) Reward the right things using the right rewards.  It thus covers more ground than the basic title implies, which serves to focus attention on the interrelatedness of these components.  Focus is a key gift of this book as it flows promptly through the subject matter to an action plan.
2314044
For organizations well into a TQM program, performance assessments provide the direction needed to evaluate the effectiveness of reengineering, quality, and other improvement strategies.
This book offers practical advice and specific direction on a vital aspect of any quality management program - the assessment of organizational performance. Measuring a company's performance provides individuals and organizations with an essential tool to reach and maintain excellence, and to implement continual improvement strategies. Performance-Based Assessments presents a clear approach to assessing operations so organizations can redirect misguided efforts before it's too late.
Benefits:
Learn how performance assessments result in realistic and meaningful improvements  Develop an appropriate mix of external, internal, and self-assessments to measure the success of your programs  Create win-win results for your organization by using performance-based assessments  Contents:
An Introduction to Performance-Based Assessments  The Management System  Features of Assessment Activities  Getting Started  Designing an Assessment Strategy  Focusing on the Issues  Presenting the Results  Developing an Action Plan for Improvement  Implementing the Plan
492646
Use of basic tools for trading off different aspects of an architecture are a necessary part of a software engineer's skill set.  Good solid work comes from SEI and this book is no exception.
4311970
An easy read aimed increasing understanding of what makes a good sponsor, and how to go about it. I thought it was useful in both setting some expectations for sponsors, and also giving project leads some ideas on how to get more from their sponsor.

The DMAIC overview was pitched well to give a sponsor an taste of the key parts to a Six Sigma Business Improvement initiative, without boring them with too much detail (if they want to know all the ins and outs of Lean Six Sigma, there are other books for that).

Some useful tools contained in there, but the ones that resonated with me were the pitfalls covered near the end of the book. I thought these were excellent.

Have already given it to one of my sponsors, and will be sharing with my colleagues.
1790554
In preparing for a recent move, I resolved to trim my overstuffed library down to the few books I refer to regularly. The Robinsons' classic guide on performance consulting was one of the first I set aside for packing.

Performance Consulting takes a broad view of performance generally, both individual and organizational, and the inputs that go into producing it. Then it explains and illustrates a process for identifying performance gaps, analyzing their causes, and choosing from among the variety of solutions that might be implemented, often in combination, to bring what `IS' up to what `SHOULD' be. The chapter on "Developing Models of Performance" - including best practices and competency models - alone is worth the price of the book.

The Robinsons emphasize the importance of solid data gathering to ensure accurate understanding of the problems and accurate evaluation of the effectiveness of the solutions. And they liberally illustrate their principles and techniques with examples from their own consulting practice with major corporations, many of them manufacturing companies. Even so, I found their examples enlightening and their templates and general principles readily translatable to other settings - including professional service firms, government agencies, and nonprofits - in my own consulting.

The updated Second Edition contains most of the same material as the first, but adds two new chapters (one on "identifying performance consulting opportunities in a proactive manner" and the other a collection of FAQs) and also provides a web address for downloading and purchasing electronic versions of the Robinsons' templates. I found annoying the stylistic changes in this edition that came out of a collaboration with Ken Blanchard, who persuaded the Robinsons to develop some catchy acronyms for their models (e.g., the "GAPS! Map") and also, apparently, to liberally sprinkle the book with exclamation points. Those frothy additions detract from the solid substance of the book and are my only reason for rating the Second Edition with 4 stars instead of 5. Perhaps some readers will actually enjoy them.

Even if your current arsenal does not extend beyond training solutions, Performance Consulting is a helpful book for learning to recognize when training is not the answer to a problem - and also, perhaps, for working yourself into a position with greater influence and a broader scope.