Books about Value added from Amazon.com

Expanded, updated, and more relevant than ever, this bestselling business classic by two internationally renowned management analysts describes a business system for the twenty-first century that supersedes the mass production system of Ford, the financial control system of Sloan, and the strategic system of Welch and GE. It is based on the Toyota (lean) model, which combines operational excellence with value-based strategies to produce steady growth through a wide range of economic conditions.

In contrast with the crash-and-burn performance of companies trumpeted by business gurus in the 1990s, the firms profiled in Lean Thinking -- from tiny Lantech to midsized Wiremold to niche producer Porsche to gigantic Pratt & Whitney -- have kept on keeping on, largely unnoticed, along a steady upward path through the market turbulence and crushed dreams of the early twenty-first century. Meanwhile, the leader in lean thinking -- Toyota -- has set its sights on leadership of the global motor vehicle industry in this decade.

Instead of constantly reinventing business models, lean thinkers go back to basics by asking what the customer really perceives as value. (It's often not at all what existing organizations and assets would suggest.) The next step is to line up value-creating activities for a specific product along a value stream while eliminating activities (usually the majority) that don't add value. Then the lean thinker creates a flow condition in which the design and the product advance smoothly and rapidly at the pull of the customer (rather than the push of the producer). Finally, as flow and pull are implemented, the lean thinker speeds up the cycle of improvement in pursuit of perfection. The first part of this book describes each of these concepts and makes them come alive with striking examples.

Lean Thinking clearly demonstrates that these simple ideas can breathe new life into any company in any industry in any country. But most managers need guidance on how to make the lean leap in their firm. Part II provides a step-by-step action plan, based on in-depth studies of more than fifty lean companies in a wide range of industries across the world.

Even those readers who believe they have embraced lean thinking will discover in Part III that another dramatic leap is possible by creating an extended lean enterprise for each of their product families that tightly links value-creating activities from raw materials to customer.

In Part IV, an epilogue to the original edition, the story of lean thinking is brought up-to-date with an enhanced action plan based on the experiences of a range of lean firms since the original publication of Lean Thinking.

Lean Thinking does not provide a new management "program" for the one-minute manager. Instead, it offers a new method of thinking, of being, and, above all, of doing for the serious long-term manager -- a method that is changing the world..
Price: $10.77 [Notify me when price goes down.]

A massive disconnect exists between consumers and providers today. Consumers have a greater selection of higher quality goods to choose from and can obtain these items from a growing number of sources. Computers, cars, and even big-box retail sites promise to solve our every need. So why aren't consumers any happier? Because everything surrounding the process of obtaining and using all these products causes us frustration and disappointment. Why is it that, when our computers or our cell phones fail to satisfy our needs, virtually every interaction with help lines, support centers, or any organization providing service is marked with wasted time and extra hassle? And who among us hasn't spent countless hours in the waiting room at the doctor's office, or driven away from the mechanic only to have the "fix engine" light go on?

In their bestselling business classic Lean Thinking, James Womack and Daniel Jones introduced the world to the principles of lean production -- principles for eliminating waste during production. Now, in Lean Solutions, the authors establish the groundbreaking principles of lean consumption, showing companies how to eliminate inefficiency during consumption.

The problem is neither that companies don't care nor that the people trying to fix our broken products are inept. Rather, it's that few companies today see consumption as a process -- a series of linked goods and services, all of which must occur seamlessly for the consumer to be satisfied. Buying a home computer, for example, involves researching, purchasing, integrating, maintaining, upgrading, and, ultimately, replacing it.

In this landmark new book, James Womack and Daniel Jones deconstruct this broken producer-consumer model and show businesses how to repair it. Across all industries, companies that apply the principles of lean consumption will learn how to provide the full value consumers desire from products without wasting time or effort -- theirs or the consumers' -- and as a result these companies will be more profitable and competitive.

Lean Solutions is full of surprising success stories: Fujitsu, a leading service company for technology, has transformed the way call centers solve problems -- learning how to eliminate the underlying cause of current problems rather than fixing them again and again. An extremely successful car dealership has adopted lean principles to streamline its business, making for dramatically reduced wait time, fewer return trips, and greater satisfaction for customers -- and a far more lucrative enterprise.

Lean Solutions will inspire managers to take the first steps toward perfecting their company's process of giving consumers what they really want..
Price: $6.68 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In a marketplace too often focused on price, Value-Added Selling provides sales professionals with a market-proven approach for selling customers on the inherent value of a product. Based on a value-selling model proven to work across industries and product lines, this step-by-step book explains how to define value in the client's terms, orient a pitch to fit the client's needs, and close the deal. It gives sales pros the tools and confidence they need to­­now and forever­­deemphasize price in the selling equation.

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Price: $15.24 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Leading Corporate Citizens, Second Edition, explores the insight, vision, values, and learning that it takes to add enough values to a company so that it becomes a leading corporate citizen. This innovative text operates at three levels of leadership: individual, organizational, and societal. The premise is that businesses operate successfully in society when they respect and are responsible to stakeholders, a balance is needed among sectors in society and with nature, and that vision and values can result in distinctive competencies that lead to value-added for companies of the 21st century...
Price: $67.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

How companies turn value-added into real profits
The Dollarization Discipline shows organizations and marketers how to effectively communicate the economic value created by their products and services. Too often, when companies compete using conventional sales and marketing approaches, they force customers to make financial decisions (how much to spend), based on non-financial arguments (product features and benefits). On this playing field, the company that can show true financial advantage in real dollars and cents wins every time. This book offers a step-by-step strategy for doing just that.
Every day, good companies suffer because they create value for customers but aren't able to keep their fair share. This is because most marketers can't fully explain the value customers get from their products, and the argument falls to the lowest common denominator-price. The solution is an approach to sales and marketing that goes beyond articulating features and benefits, but calculates the monetary value a customer receives from a product or service. This enables the seller to price the product as a true reflection of its value-and also let's the seller prove it to the customer!
With real case studies and detailed, step-by-step guidance on effective dollarization, The Dollarization Discipline finally offers a practical, straightforward way for marketers and business leaders to prove the value of their "value-added."
Jeffrey J. Fox (Gilford, New Hampshire) is the founder and President of Fox & Company, Inc., a marketing consulting firm. Fox is also the author of the bestsellers How to Become a CEO, How to Become a Rainmaker, and How to Become a Great Boss. Richard C. Gregory (Farmington, Connecticut) is a Senior Consultant with Fox & Company..
Price: $14.88 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Text presents a new approach to value creation; showing that the traditional, firm-centric view of value creation is being challenged by active, connected, and informed consumers. DLC: Competition..
Price: $1.49 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In today's complex market, product advantage is fleeting. It is no longer what you sell, but how you sell it - meaning it is now vital to bridge the gap between sales and marketing. CUSTOMER MESSAGE MANAGEMENT does just that, eradicating the disconnect that for years has plagued the two departments and, in the process, increasing the effectiveness of both. With its thorough, practical coverage of CMM, this comprehensive guidebook gives readers invaluable insight into how to create effective brand, marketing, and sales messaging based on customer business roles and goals. It also equips readers with the skills to deliver those messages efficiently and effectively across all selling touch-points in a way that can be personalized for each prospect and customer. More than just creating customer-ready messages for the sales force to use, CMM helps companies discern how best to create messages, stimulate conversations, and continue customer dialogues that activate purchase intent..
Price: $23.76 [Notify me when price goes down.]

From Wonderbra to McDonalds, from Harley-Davidson to Viagra, today's world-leading companies and brands are using public relations to add power and persuasion to all of their marketing messages. Information, rather than salesmanship, builds credibility with sophisticated and skeptical consumers, and public relations, long viewed as the most trustworthy source of information about products and services and the companies that provide them, can effectively reach targets where other marketing communication tools fall short.

In Value-Added Public Relations, Thomas L. Harris, the industry-leading expert in marketing public relations (MPR), examines how and why public relations plays a critical role in integrated marketing and explains the many ways PR can add value to an integrated marketing communications (IMC) program. Harris analyzes the relationship between product- and corporate-brand building and, through dozens of case histories and examples, shows how some of the nation's most successful marketers have used PR techniques to enhance all of their marketing messages. Among the book's features is a comprehensive guide to writing an IMC plan including writing a situation analysis, setting objectives, developing a strategy, devising tactics, and then measuring results. Detailed descriptions of more than 50 effective PR tactics involving all media, including new technologies, are also included..
Price: $4.75 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Here is an experience-rich book on how companies can create value by becoming smart organizations. Based on research and consulting engagements with the world's largest R&D-intensive companies, it reveals how senior managers can dramatically improve the return on their companies' investment in R&D and technology.

The Smart Organization brings new perspective to management decision making throughout the organization. It identifies the key practices that enable successful organizations to deliver a stream of winning products and services. Smart organizations, say the Mathesons, have internalized nine interlocking principles essential in creating corporate cultures that emphasize making the right strategic decisions at the right time. They use best practices to support these decisions and sustain their success. These principles--among them, embracing uncertainty, disciplined decision making, and value creation culture--enable companies to make appropriate choices about their R&D planning, portfolio management, and product strategies.

Drawing on the experiences of R&D-intensive organizations all over the globe, the authors illustrate the book with best practice examples from companies like Hewlett- Packard, 3M, Merck, Proctor & Gamble, DuPont, Monsanto, and AT&T. They stress the importance of evaluating trade-offs, investigating alternatives, and getting buy-in across functions to ensure that decisions will be viable from both the technological and managerial perspectives. They show how managers can apply these methods more broadly to create a smart organization. The Mathesons clearly demonstrate that changing the decision-making process is an efficient means of reforming culture and improving not just R&D but overall company performance..
Price: $10.39 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The co-founder of EVA shows how to apply it in today's new economy

EVA-economic valued added-is a measure of the true financial performance of a company, and a strategy for creating corporate and shareholder wealth. It is also a method of changing corporate priorities and behavior throughout a company, right down to the "shop floor." In The EVA Challenge, the authors outline how to implement EVA-from training employees to answering the most frequently encountered implementation problems faced by companies.

This detailed "how-to" guide represents the second phase in the "EVA Revolution", showing executives around the world how to customize and implement EVA at their companies. Here, EVA converts learn how to work some "EVA magic" through company-specific initiatives and case study examples. Coverage includes completely new materials on "real options", leveraged stock options, and other concepts critical to corporations in both new and old economy industry sectors..
Price: $7.49 [Notify me when price goes down.]