Book Description
Fast Track to Waste-Free Manufacturing: Straight Talk from a Plant Manager : John W. Davis details a new and proven system called Waste-Free Manufacturing (WFM) that rapidly deploys the lean process. Manufacturing in the United States is currently undergoing a major transition, yet large numbers of manufacturers simply do not recognize what it is all about. Many still operate under out dated manufacturing practices and do not see that the enemy is not the competition, but rather their own system of production. Batch, or mass, manufacturing is still the preferred system of production for most U.S.-based industry. But to survive, let alone become globally competitive, companies will have to put aside their old mass manufacturing paradigms and completely change their entire production system.
WFM will give you step-by-step directions to making rapid, lasting changes. Davis has created 4 new drivers of WFM and has linked them so you know what order to do them in and when it is time to move to the next driver. He covers nearly every aspect of the lean revolution and provides essential tools and techniques you will need to implement WFM. He also addresses the critical management issues that will arise in any plant that is striving to be world class.
Drawing from more than 30 years of manufacturing experience, John Davis gives you tools and techniques for eliminating anything that cannot be clearly established as value added. WFM is not a theory. It is a proven process, and one the author has successfully implemented. He shares with you from his own experiences in guiding manufacturers through this process. Davis fully details the journey of a factory that moved from mass to waste-free manufacturing in a matter of 24 months. This factory was nationally recognized by wall street analysts as an effective manufacturing model. You get to sit in on their meetings and learn from their triumphs and failures.
So hold on to your hat, because you are about to learn how to do what most in the field of world class manufacturing tell you isnt possibleto rapidly deploy WFM and change the system of production. Filled with checklists, an ongoing case study, and, most important, strategies that will work, Fast Track to Waste-Free Manufacturing: Straight Talk from a Plant Manager will provide you with the principles and methodology for WFM and a road map for its implementation. All you need is the will, the focus, and a sense of urgency about the future of U.S. manufacturing. If you are a plant manager, foreman, supervisor, or executive who wants to quickly transform your factory into a world class manufacturer, Mr. Davis WFM methodology is must reading.
Customer Reviews:
Not impressed.......2005-10-19
I expected this to be written in a practical, bare-knuckels style similar to "The Goal". There are a few narrative pages like this scattered about the book (which are the highlight in my opinion), but less than 10% of the book is devoted to these pages. The bulk of the book is a clutter of every hackneyed acronym manufacturing consultants have used over the last couple of decades: Takt time, Toyota Production System (TPS), one piece flow, Workplace organization, U-flow, Error-free processing, JIT, Pull manufacturing, kanban, kaizen, SMED, contiunous improvement, lean manufacturing, 5S, you name the buzzword - its in there. The author seems to revel in this verbal masturbation. The book basically glosses over these flavor-of-the-month manufacturing concepts (assuming a level of knowledge of each) and compares them to each other. There is very little explanation of how to implement them, or how they were implemented in any of the companies the author says he worked for. There is a refreshing honesty that some of these concepts are useless (which you already know if manufacturing is your field) The book 'feels' very much like the work of a consultant and NOT a plant manager.
I found almost nothing useful that I could apply to the small company where I work.
The Single Best Book on Lean Implementation.......2002-05-01
John Davis takes a simple step-by-step approach in describing the transformation of a plant from a typical troubled operation to a lean operation. Davis focuses on basics and "how-to", not buzz words and jargon. Davis provides a framework that can be used by any plant manager who is trying to implement lean manufacturing concepts in a 'traditional' manufacturing setting. This can be used in high volume opertaions but is especially useful in low volume or job shop manufacturing, where the Toyota model with its manic focus on tact time is not always applicable. Davis focuses on workplace organization (using a 6C model which is an adaptation of the familiar 5S concept) as the basis of any lean transformation. This perspective alone is worth the price of the book because many lean efforts fail due to lack of fundamental workplace organization. If you are a plant manager or GM tasked with turning around a low performing operation, or you simply want a primer on Lean, this is the one to buy.
Superb! Excellently written!! Great learning tool !!.......1999-05-24
Having worked as a facilitator, manager, and consultant transitioning fortune 500 manufacturing companies from batch to lean manufacturing operations since 1991, my hat is off to Mr. John Davis on his superb book "Fast Track to Waste Free Manufacturing." In my travels and teachings I have been exposed to hundreds of teachers, managers, and authors who profess to be experts in the tools, techniques, and principles of the Toyota Production System and lean organizational skills. However, few if any, have the true experience of being in a position responsible for the success of failure of its implementation. Having had the privilege of working with Mr. Davis in the early 90's as he developed his expertise in waste free manufacturing, I can attest that in this book, Mr. Davis does what he always did best. "He walks the talk." In this book, he takes you on a journey of successful implementation of waste free manufacturing and profitability. This is a must read for managers and associates who understand and belief in the tools, principles, and techniques of a waste free manufacturing organiztion and want to learn how to do it. In this book, Mr. Davis demonstrates the importance of focus, commitment, communications, and leadership in transforming a batch organization to a waste free, profitable organization. "For when a true leader has successfully completed his task....They will say we did it ourselves.
Excellent! Best In Class!!.......1999-04-28
I've been researching and reviewing dozens of books on Suzaki, Womack and Jones, Liker, Hamel and Prahalad, Treacy and Wiersema, Womack, Jones and Roos, Schonberger, Imai,Shingo,Monden, et. al. This book is the first one I've found that provides both rationale for change and, most importantly, step by guidance on "how to" implement the necessary changes. Written in a style that is at times reminiscent of "The Goal", Mr. Davis offers suggestions, recommendations,and guidelines in an easily readable 264 pages that contain no unnecessary jargon, disconcerting statistics, nor is it part of a doctoral thesis meant to impress the academic community. One gets the feeling from reading this book that Mr. Davis has actually "been there"; that he has worked in a career in manufacturing and is truly speaking from experience. Take my word for it; if you want to read one book or recommend one book to your subordinates on the subject, this is the one! I am pleased to write this review and would be willing to communicate with anyone regarding my impressions
Book Description
In this total update of his classic, quality guru Philip Crosby revisits and ultimately reaffirms the thinking he introduced in the tradition-shattering Quality is Free. In that volume, he took quality precepts learned at ITT and adapted in his great entrepreneurial experiment, Philip Crosby Associates (PCA), and rolled them out for the business world's lasting benefit. Now, after 16 years of intense change in one of the hottest areas of business, he shares his current thoughts on some of his most enduring contributions.
Customer Reviews:
Business life story under misleading title.......2001-05-23
Some people who read 'Quality Is Free' observed that the title is somewhat misleading (because it oversimplifies the real message). This book's title is definitely misleading, because it suggests that the book is an update to "Quality Is Free'. This, however, is not at all the case - this book does not have anything to do with "QIF", except the author and his general attitude towards quality (which is quite convincing, however).
"Still Free" is just an account of Crosby's career from his earliest work experiences, through ITT to his own quality consulting firm. The focus, however, is almost always on quality philosophy and implementation, rather than personal matters - they are touched on only to illustrate the professional aspects. Generally, it is a good account but I doubt that this is a reasonable form of explaining author's quality philosophy because it's intrinsically simple and intuitive; as far as can be seen from the book, it has not evolved much over years of its application by the author. This being the case, it is not worth explaining in this particular form.
The book would be more valuable if it were written before "Quality Is Free", not after. Maybe they should be read in this order; doing it the other way round does not seem to be very useful.
An advantage of this book over "QIF" is its language: much more clear and readable. All in all, it may be worth reading if you only want to get a general idea of Crosby's quality concept. If you need a program for actions, better read "QIF".
Book Description
This book is organized around the theme of the quality of life. It seeks to define what a social problem is and then addresses specific issues: How can one gain a sociological understanding of social problems? What kinds of critical thinking should one engage in and what kinds should one avoid in attempting to understand social problems? How is the quality of one’s life affected by particular problems? What causes these problems and how can we resolve them? In Part One, the authors lay the groundwork by establishing key approaches to social problems. In the remaining sections, they discuss the social problems that most acutely influence our lives, and examine each problem for its impact on the quality of our lives.
Book Description
The author's objective is to show managers how to build quality into all aspects of a company's operations thereby lowering costs, increasing sales, and boosting profits and do all this without the typical bureaucratic controls and procedures that merely hassle people without producing the desired results. Real situation and amusing fictional case histories are used to demonstrate that problems of quality and hassle are caused by management action.
Customer Reviews:
Hassle - Free.......2005-07-27
A solid understanding and committment with the concepts presented on this book: the absolutes of quality, the fourteen steps process and the individuals role, will cause quality to happen if the company decides to be involved in the life long process of quality improvement.'Hassle free offers better working relationships, a smooth system and happy employees'
A Quality Carol.......2002-01-08
In Quality Without Tears, Crosby adds new layers to his original "zero defects" philosophy. He offers fourteen steps for quality improvement in teams.
Let's look at one of them, Step 6, "corrective action." The common problem with "corrective action," says Crosby, is that people don't understand what the term means.
Suppose, says Crosby, that you suddenly found a grizzly bear in your back yard: "The answer would not be to set up an armed camp to protect yourself from the bear. This is the sort of action that takes place when parts of an organization are given a shoot-to-kill license. All that results is a lot of yard that can't be used and several dead bears."
Corrective actions have to begin by identifying the source of the bears.
Another step is Zero Defects Day: "Many people rarely have exciting days at work . . . A well-planned, dignified, Zero Defects Day on which management understands what it is talking about is a delight that will be remembered forever."
Recognition also plays a role. An organization recognizes people who can serve as "beacons." These are the people who shine so brightly that they help keep everyone heading in the right direction:
"Many managers feel, somewhat cynically, that people are being paid to do their jobs and that's that. This attitude reflects an insensitivity to people that is a trademark of many hockey-style managers."
To drive his philosophy home, Crosby cites an unusual case study:
In "A Quality Carol," Emory Spellman falls asleep on a bus. A spirit appears and takes him to see his deceased partner. The partner is repairing thousands of defective items that their company has made.
This is punishment ...
"... For being the cause of the hassle other people had to live with. For not preventing these things by being interested in quality."
The apparition warns:
"All these years, you have treated quality like something you could take in or take out. Well, unless you change your ways, you are going to wind up right next to me, forever and ever, twenty-four hours a day. No time off, no visitors, no meetings ---- just all the problems you ever caused."
Predictably, three more visitors appear.
Quality Past is a former college professor who wants to retract something he had taught Emory. The misinformed lesson was to cut corners on quality.
Quality Present appears as a woman who tries to sell him on the quality vaccine. Failing in that, she brings Emory's customers to him through a television screen. One after another comes into view with a litany of complaints about the company's products and services.
When Quality Future enters, Emory finally sees the light. The final and most portentous visitor is a "severe looking person carrying a briefcase and dressed in a black three-piece suit." He has just bought the company from a bankruptcy court.
Emory returns later in the book and applies Crosby's methods to avert that fate.
A man with conviction.......2002-01-03
Philip Crosby is widely recognized as a quality pioneer for the concepts he drove homw with Quality is Free and Quality Without Tears. After reading, Quality Without Tears, I was struck by how deep a conviction he held that his concepts were valid. It's easy to say that now that they have become widely accepted, but it takes a visionary to act that way when they're a somewehat new approach.
The concepts which Crosby developed were a extension of the work of Dr. Edwards Deming (who also has published a bunch of books) and Crosby's work seems to be the basis of the later Six Sigma approach that proved to work so well.
The best summary of achieving manufacturing quality........1998-11-15
Phil Crosby has the most coherent view of achieving quality of anyone I've read in 25 years of management. I continue to come back to him when I hit a quality problem in our company or those from whom we buy. This book is the best summary of his philosophy, in my opinion.
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Motion-Free Super-Resolution
Subhasis Chaudhuri , and
Joshi Manjunath
Manufacturer: Springer
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ASIN: 0387258906 |
Book Description
Motion-Free Super-Resolution is a compilation of very recent work on various methods of generating super-resolution (SR) images from a set of low-resolution images. The current literature on this topic deals primarily with the use of motion cues for the purpose of generating SR images. These cues have, it is shown, their advantages and disadvantages. In contrast, this book shows that cues other than motion can also be used for the same purpose, and addresses both the merits and demerits of these new techniques.
Motion-Free Super-Resolution supersedes much of the lead author’s previous edited volume, "Super-Resolution Imaging," and includes an up-to-date account of the latest research efforts in this fast-moving field. This sequel also features a style of presentation closer to that of a textbook, with an emphasis on teaching and explanation rather than scholarly presentation.
Book Description
Praise for Goal Free Living
Setting goals may be fine. But letting your goals take control of your life can be devastating. Goal-Free Living shows you how to explore paths in your life you never knew existed and discover a more exciting, successful, and rewarding life--today!
"If you have only one goal this year, let it be this: Read Goal-Free Living!"
--Daniel H. Pink author, A Whole New Mind and Free Agent Nation
"Stephen Shapiro's approach will help readers achieve the best kind of happenstance: taking a stance to make things happen."
--Heath Row Contributing Editor and Community Director, Fast Company magazine
"I have a sense that reading this book may turn out to be one of the most important things I've done in a long time."
--Doug Busch Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Digital Health Group, Intel Corporation
"This is an engaging, creative approach to discovering inner wisdom and personal fulfillment."
--Michael J. Gelb author, How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci and Discover Your Genius
"Reading Goal-Free Living is like jettisoning a hundred-pound pack. Suddenly, you're racing much faster and enjoying the breeze."
--Alan Weiss, PhD author, Million Dollar Consulting
Customer Reviews:
Needed Advice.......2006-12-03
I found this book on goal-free living to be very helpful and refreshing with all the great advice and perspective it had to offer. Like Shapiro says, the lessons are unbelievable, they are just unsaid. Some of us have a longer way to go than others to get to being relaxed and accepting when it comes to life, but as someone on that journey myself this book was a great help. I would highly recommend reading it.
Discover Who You Are and Be True to Yourself!.......2006-10-12
Many people live their lives to please others -- their parents, their spouses, their employers or their friends. Others find themselves caught up in cookbook advice that will lead to being wealthy . . . such as live where the costs are low (but there are drawbacks to living in the middle of the Sahara Desert). Still others pick goals and never get around to rechecking their choices.
Creativity expert Stephen Shapiro challenges these people to get in touch with themselves and pursue a life that pleases them every day . . . not just on days when major goals are accomplished or praise is won from others. It's a noble and worthwhile message.
Although Mr. Shapiro was not a teenager in the 1960s, he could have been. Many of the book's themes will resonate powerfully with those who love New Age approaches learned in those distant days. In addition, his viewpoint is one that those in the Judeo-Christian tradition will find comfortable.
His concept is boiled down from 150 interviews with those leading pleasing lives into the following principles:
Use a compass, not a map (this allows you to be flexible in making progress towards uncovering and enjoying your passions)
Trust that you are never lost (look around to see what's good about where you are and keep moving ahead rather than sticking with the past)
Remember that opportunity knocks often, but sometimes softly (listen to that wee, quiet voice within -- Christians will like this advice!)
Want what you have (appreciate everything: it's all good for you)
Seek out adventure (be open to that road less traveled and go for the zest every day!)
Become a people magnet (alone you can do little, together almost anything is possible)
Embrace your limits (look for what's good about what you cannot do and back off from doing too much)
Remain detached (be like the meditator who sees herself from outside herself)
Curiously, although the book's title is Goal-Free Living, the Goalaholic quiz in the back suggests that you can be too goal-less for your own good. That's called being Directionless.
The phraseology differentiates between goals (which are usually bad because they often don't reflect what you really want) and aspirations (which are good because they inspire you and feed your passion).
Phraseology aside, if you have goals that fit your aspirations, you probably can use all kinds of goals.
I wondered how I would rank on the quiz. I turned out to be Goal-Free which surprised me because I use goals quite a lot. Apparently, my goals must be in tune with my aspirations. Whew!
This book isn't for everyone. But if you often question how you ended up with a life that you don't really care for, this book will be a superb guide to leading you back to what's important for you.
If you liked Mr. Shapiro's book, 24/7 Innovation, you'll find this book is quote compatible with that work (and better written): This of this book as 24/7 Living Innovation.
Enjoy your life!
Thoughtful, practical alternative to highly goal-focused approach to life.......2006-09-07
Stephen Shapiro's books doesn't really recommend being "goal free" -- it recommends being clear about what's really important and focusing on getting the most out of the present rather than focusing foremost on the future. He is laying out the value of this versus being overly goal-focused (the "it's the journey,not the destination" perspective). He offers a well thought out approach to living a fulfilling life that will especially resonate with anyone with a high Myers Briggs "perceiver" preference. If you spend a lot of time feeling you "should" have more and better goals, this book may give you an alternative way to look at your journey.
The Fun & Effectiveness of Living in the Moment.......2006-08-04
As an experienced voice instructor, I see students all the time who work really hard at their goal of "trying to sing". What inevitably happens is that they strain their muscles, stick their necks out and hurt themselves in the process!
In order to really sing beautifully, easily and expressively, we need to relax, breathe and align ourselves with our passion in the moment (not worrying about what just happened or what should happen next).
Stephen Shapiro's goal-free take on life reminds me that this is also true in the rest of your life -- and I definitely have been needing the reminder lately!
As our music school's executive director with major fundraising deadlines, it's been MUCH more of a challenge.
Goal-free Living helped me to look at my past 2 years and realize that the times I have gotten the best results were the times that I was open to the flow and serendipity of life in the moment and took care of myself. The times that I was stressed, overworking and desperate were the times that I was the least effective. The past week was living proof!
Thank you Stephen for your fun, inspiring and life-changing book!
From another perspective, many of the tools he recommends are easy to understand explanations of Buddhist philosophies that have been working and respected for centuries.
And what incredible people he interviewed! The fascinating stories of the voodoo priest, the dating club members, the CIO of Intel are worth your time and money alone. I'd love to see a sequel of all the interesting stories and people that couldn't fit into this book.
Need a confusion-free sequel.......2006-07-02
From a marketing perspective, the title works. As a career consultant, I meet many people who are terrified of goals and, at the same time, desire a new life that can be delivered as quickly as a cheese pizza.
But in choosing a "goal-free" premise, author Shapiro finds himself doing just what he argues against. On page 61, Shapiro brings up the New Age slogan, "What you focus on, expands." Following through, he needs to heed the wisdom of the classic law of attraction authors. Instead of seeking to be debt-free, they tell us, we should see prosperity. The universe hears the word "debt" and gives us more.
Whether you accept law of attraction or think it's hokey, I'd say it's important to demand consistency. Self-contradiction can be a credibility buster.
That said, why write a book based on the premise of something you don't want? What replaces goals -- spontaneity? serendipity? seizing the moment?
In attacking goals, Shapiro uses a very specific concept of goals. At one point he compares having goals to following a recipe. The best cooks, he says, eventually learn to create their own recipes. But, as he acknowledges, they know what they're not using.
Shapiro also seems to attack goals that come from others. Most career consultants would agree. Those who become lawyers, doctors and salespersons to satisfy a parent's dream often become restless and dissatisfied. But some people dream of those very achievements, which call for considerable sacrifice along the way.
Finally, Shapiro loses credibility for me when he relies on Myers-Briggs to differentiate goal-oriented vs goal-free individuals. Everyone should read Annie Paul's book, The Cult of Personality, before resorting to the controversial and unscientific MBTI.
In the end, this book seems to be more about taking control of your life and getting an honest sense of what you want. Most of the content seems good, if not especially original. Why get hung up on whether you're following or not following goals?
And what if we decide to follow some of the author's recommendations, such as, "Become a people magnet." Are we or are we not pursuing a goal? And who cares?
Book Description
The first and only nontechnical method for installing, maintaining, and measuring a comprehensive quality improvement program in your business operation. Special features: Emphasizes throughout that doing things right the first time adds nothing to the cost of a product or service. (What costs, and costs dearly in terms of rework, test, warranty, inspection, and service after service, is doing things wrong). Introduces the proven Make Certain program (the best way known to get management and service personnel participating in the improvement effort). Shows how to recognize and guard against the kinds of problems that can cost your company money, damage its reputation, invite litigation. Proves that quality is a people business, not a ``manufacturing'' function or statistical mystery (note, for example, the chapter on management style to help you improve your personal quality). Illustrated throughout with actual case examples, enabling profit-minded managers to understand and install quality programs in their own operations. Management at all levels: Quality is not only free, it is a supreme source of profit. Quality professionals and company executives: Don't forget that current ``consumer'' and ``environmental'' pressures fall under this quality responsibility. MBA or undergraduate students and company trainees: the basics for specific training programs are included.
Customer Reviews:
Quality is Profitable.......2006-06-26
Crosby wrote an excellent book that is very useful to managers, quality professional and any individual concerned about quality. The author clearly explains the meaning of quality, which is conformity to requirements. He also shows a useful way to measure quality in terms of cash and not just the usual metrics such as the number of rejects per specified number of units produced. The profits that would flow from producing quality products and services is a good measure. Crosby explains that adopting the cost effective practice of preventing errors will result in avoiding rework, scrap or servicing, which result in increased profits.
The author explains that quality processes should pervade the whole organisation, including areas like public relations or industrial relations, and not confined to customer specific areas.
The book is practical oriented with the author providing some suggestions on how to implement his philosophies in a manufacturing organisation. The book is a bit dated but this does little to diminish the quality of the author's message. The book is applicable to all organisations in any industry, although the author had a bias towards manufacturing enterprises. This is a classic book that is highly recommended.
A work of applied philosophy.......2005-04-15
On of the most basic conflicts in any management is the conflict between quality (do it right) and output (do it fast). Crosby starts our with the typical north American assumption that the two are embroiled in a zero-sum game, and then he blows the lid off - suggesting that by focusing on quality you can increase throughput. For example, by spending tens of thousands dollars on education to *prevent* heart attacks now - spent only on a targeted risk group - a health insurance company could avert heart attacks later, saving a million dollars or more. For a second example, if a manufacturing table has physical waste (scrap) and labor waste (re-work of bad parts), both can be eliminated by having zero defects in the first place, with a net increase in performance.
Crosby also spends a little bit of time talking about how to inspire the workforce to save money with a 'buck a day' program.
Then Crosby provides step-by-step suggestions on how to implement those philosophies in a manufacturing environment. I give the book four stars because it is a little dated, and is heavily oriented toward manufacturing. Still, this is a classic in the quality movement. If you are studying quality, don't go for the five-page summary of Crosby's ideas - go to the source!
The quaility is free ; the real disgrace is not having it !.......2004-10-28
The Quality subject is above all a signal of commitment through the life . The ancient Greeks always told the man crossed the Lethes river and since that moment lost their references and direct hot line with the Cosmos .
The sense of horizontality expresed as the real vehicle of the will, conceived as the last consequence of a unexhaustive fight against the fate is in last instance, what it allows the life be a wonderful experience .
Crosby reminds us over and over the hidden costs of the lack of the Quality considered as overwork, overeffort, waste of the unvaluable time rework ,redesign , manwork , loss of competitivity understood obviously as a serious share in the market.
There is a neglected point but closed related to the quality concept that I would really underline : the question of honor .
The inner honor inmersed in the hero call should be present in our daily behavior , it sounds so distant the term aristos employed by Karl Jaspers in his Paidea that it would be very convenient making a review around these ancient ideas .
And hero and eros are terms very related . How can you love anytthing without knowing it and how can you know it without loving it ? This is the fundamental premise.
The quality makes the difference in every little aspect of our lives . Believe or not the quality is extremely engaged with your bliss . And I still wonder how the most of people ignore this issue , out of his workplace .
Recommendable text all the way !
Good overview of Quality - Too Traditional.......2004-02-05
I will never have the Quality background of Philip Crosby, but I felt strongly that Crosby's approach was long on the old school, prior to America's turnaround in Quality in the Mid 80s.
Look at how American cars have improved in quality over the last 20 years. From our cars just barely holding together in the 80s to the great cars from the big three, all because we used new methods to get to quality.
His methodology is more of the 50s and 60s military style of management. His quality method was inspection after the fact, not elimination of defects before the product is made.
This a good book as a basic study in quality and understanding why managers have the approaches they have. It is traditional and will appeal mostly to 'old school' quality methods.
Quality is not a gift, but it is free........2002-11-16
The author has figured out that it is traditionally difficult to have a meaningful, real-life, factual discussion on sex, quality and other complicated subjects until some basic erroneous assumptions are examined and altered.
"The first erroneous assumption is that quality means goodness, or luxury, so shininess, or weight. We must define quality as conformance to requirements if we are to manage it. The second erroneous assumption is that quality is an intangible and therefore not measurable. In fact, quality is precisely measurable by the oldest and most respected of measurements - cold hard cash", says the author. For example, "It is much less expensive to prevent errors than to rework, scrap or service them".
This book does not only have theoretic approach, but also brings practical value. It offers a quality improvement program that can be installed in any service or manufacturing company.
Philip Crosby's "Quality Is Free", first published in 1979, influences the book "Business @ Speed of Thought" by Bill Gates, released twenty years afterwards. With a bright set of modern case studies, he illustrates the basic concepts presented by Philip Crosby:
- There is absolutely no reason for having errors or defects in any product or service.
- Basically, we are slow to change because we reject newness.
- Transmitting: how you come across to others should not be left to chance.
- It is much less expensive to prevent errors than to rework, scrap or service them.
- Business is ... communication that we control and utilize. The effectiveness of the business is determined by how well we do that data transmission.
In the same year when the Bill Gates's book was published, Philip Crosby exposes his own case studies entitled "Quality and Me: Lessons from an Evolving Life".
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ACCESSIBLE HOUSING: QUALITY, DISABILITY, AND DESIGN
Rob Imrie
Manufacturer: Routledge
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ASIN: 0415318920 |
Book Description
This book considers the interrelationships between disability and housing design with a focus on the role of policy in addressing the housing needs of disabled people. The book will set out some of the broader debates about the nature of housing, quality and design: in what ways is domestic design and architecture implicated in inhibiting or facilitating mobility and movement of people; what is the nature of government regulation and policy in relation to the design of home environments. To date there is little or no knowledge about the range of approaches to accessible design in housing nor how far policies and practices are adequate or not in creating accessible home environments. This book will go some way to address this shortfall in knowledge.
Book Description
Why in prosperous market democracies today do so many people regard themselves as unhappy? Robert E. Lane draws on extensive research in many fields to show that the main sources of well-being in advanced economies are friendships and a good family life; income has little to do with happiness once a person rises above the poverty level. Lane urges us to alter priorities and emphasize companionship over higher income.
Customer Reviews:
Happiness, not good enough as a goal?.......2006-08-19
This book is probably the most complete Western book about happiness. Robert Lane recommends that to the goal of happiness should be added the goals of justice and personal development. He uses "happiness" with the meaning of "satisfaction with life", or with "Subjective Well Being" (SWB). The difference being that happiness is a fleeting emotion and satisfaction with life a more profound view.
He accuses economists of wanting to maximise one dimension only like "the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people" (Jeremy Bentham), or maximise increases in GDP per person. The belief of many people in prosperous countries is that Increasing GDP per person will lead to increases in happiness. Prof Lane refers to this belief as the "Economistic Fallacy" which he considers a major threat to the future of the USA. He proves conclusively that in the USA and other prosperous countries, increases in GDP per person do not lead to increases in happiness. He points out that governments focus too exclusively on increasing GDP. Governments should in all their policies ask themselves if their policies contribute to the three goals of happiness, justice and personal development.
The title of the book can create the mistaken impression that Professor Lane is against a free market and democracy. His main point is that the market and democracy on their own do not lead automatically to increased happiness and that the three goals should also be considered by governments when attempting to make the free market and democracy function satisfactorily. He points out that happiness is dependent on what he refers to a "companionship" (that is friends) and a good family life. At no point does he suggest that the free market and democracy can be replaced by better systems.
He refers to the need to make trade offs between wealth on the one hand and, companionship and family life on the other. "Trade offs" is a concept economists like. My preference is to figure out how these three interdependent concepts can reinforce each other. That is, not seeing it as a zero sum game but as a win-win situation. This is not to deny that fathers and mothers that work so much that they spend hardly any time with their children do not have the right balance.
Similar ideas to those of Prof. Lane have been presented in other interesting books by economists in "Happiness and Economics"- "How the economy and institutions affect human well-being" by Frey and Stutzer and in "Development as Freedom" by Amartya Sen (see my reviews). There is also a vast Buddhist literature about happiness as a vital aspect of the science of the mind. See for example "The Universe in a Single Atom" by the Dalai Lama (see my review).
The importance of the book by Prof Lane is that he is a prominent political scientist, as shown by the fact that he was President of the American Political Science Organisation and also President of the International Society of Political Psychology. His book refers to and evaluates a very large number of scientific studies in the two fields of political science and political psychology and the book is also in that respect invaluable.
Modestly topples most of conventional economics.......2006-04-30
Have you noticed that in spite of great increases in wealth and improvements in technology in the last few decades, people don't seem to be any happier today than they used to be? Lane tackles this question head on, and finds some interesting answers. This book modestly blows most of today's conventional economics right out of the water.
Conventional economic wisdom is that increased GDP will solve all problems and make everyone's life better. Lane shows this isn't so. For the very poor, increased per capita GDP does indeed make people happier. Once the necessities of life are satisfied, higher GDP has little or no effect on how content people are with their lives. When you consider the lengths to which governments go to increase their GDP by a few percentage points, you begin to understand how important this finding is.
In the developed countries, Lane shows that people's overall satisfaction with their lives has been declining steadily in recent years. Lane finds that a decline in companionship and family life and an increase in television viewing are important factors in this. People are often not very good judges of what life choices will really make their lives better and happier. It is easy to fall into a trap of trying to get more money, while sacrificing the time it takes to maintain relationships with friends and family.
Some great quotes from the book:
". . . relieving poverty without creating dependency has proved difficult where it has been seriously tried."
"Consequently, it is possible to want to spend more than one earns--a sure prescription for misery, as Micawber once explained to David Copperfield."
". . . that magnificent apparatus of economic analysis might be turned to the purpose of improving well-being."
Lane does miss some things. I suspect that in the U.S. at least, part of the reason for the decline in happiness relates to the fact that people move around so much, which makes keeping up regular contact with relatives and friends difficult. The tendency for more people to attend college, and to go to colleges hundreds of miles away from their families, contributes to this rootless trend. I tend to think that Americans work more hours, and are encouraged to carry more debt, than is really good for society. I also suspect that the spread-out design of American cities, and the resulting huge time costs of commuting, play a role. For more on this, see Kunstler's book "The Geography of Nowhere."
As to the book itself, the writing is rather stodgy and academic. Lane hammers on the details of what studies show about life satisfaction and happiness, what the flaws of the various studies are, how the questions were asked, which results are the most robust. Lane is not trying to write an exciting book, he's trying to prove his points beyond doubt. I think he succeeds in that.
Lane sometimes seems to be asking more questions than he answers. There are enough possible topics for further research presented here to keep an army of graduate students busy. Unlike most economists and political scientists working today, though, I think Lane is asking the right questions. What kind of future do we really want? One in which everyone works 70-hour weeks, makes lots of money, and lives miserable and alone in a huge house? Or maybe we can come up with something better? Given the ecological pressures caused by the current lifestyles in the developed countries, rethinking this may be a matter of the survival of our civilization.
A good start to a big question.......2003-07-04
I agree with the previous reviewer that this book doesn't have all the answers, and that Lane often spends too much time pressing the same points. That said, Lane supports his conclusions well, and presents his central message clearly. For someone without much philosophy background (i.e. me), Lane's discussion of the trinity of ultimate goods was valuable and instructive. To recently graduated students: this is book is a great reason to use your alumni library privleges.
Loss of Happiness in Market Democracies.......2000-12-08
Mr. Lane attempts to tackle a serious issue of great importance to modern capitalist democracies. Certainly after long days we all wonder if the drudgery of capitalist lifestyles is worth the rewards. However, the book suffers from many analytical flaws. It attempts to find casual mechanisms resulting in unhappiness, but fails to adequately untangle the many sources of unhappiness and several times places emphasis on clearly the wrong one. The book is also extremely redundant, and could have been condensed to half its size. Lastly, many of the studies cited needed more justification and explanation. The results of the studies certainly are an adequate factual foundation to justify the facade he attempts to build. It certainly is a beginning to a discourse on a serious question, but this book does not have the answers.
Book Description
To the doomsayers who maintain that natural resources are being depleted and the environment is getting worse, Terry Anderson and his fellow contributors offer a bold retort: it's getting better all the time. They present a powerful argument that, through such established institutions as property rights, the rules of law, and limited government, economic growth and environmental quality will both flourish. You Have to Admit It's Getting Better shows how, by focusing our energies on developing and protecting the institutions of freedom, rather than on regulating human use of natural resources through political processes, we can in fact have our environmental cake and eat it, too. The book offers a number of often-surprising revelations that debunk many commonly held beliefs about the future of our environment. It shows, for example, how liberalization of international trade is more likely to improve environmental quality than reduce it. It also explains how the prosperity and improved human well-being that we enjoy today are not leaving future generations worse off, but leaving them with more capital and larger stocks of natural resources. Throughout the book, the authors repeatedly show that economic growth is not the antithesis of environmental quality: rather, the two go hand in hand if the incentives are right.
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