Good-delivery

This is an ace book that will unfortunately only appeal to those wanting to bring all areas of professional health care into a commercial but patient focused new paradigm.

My firm has created a business operating system (all the non clinical stuff) for dentists in Australia - we do everything from the tools to assist them to credibly advise of pharmacy level home care products, to FactSheets on complex services for better and higher levels of compliance to treatment plans, and to achieve all those economies of scale that small businesses can never secure.

It is a well structured book and presents a (psudeo Porter)value based way of looking at health care in a readable and logical way.

If you want to make a branch of healthcare work and you have the energy to think your way through the issues (and to overcome the existing Luddites), this book will assist you greatly.

The book can be read by any level of readers, may be considered a initiator for the junior logistics managers, while senior managers may use it to update their knowledge with the recent developments in logistics. The book gives good inside about establishing the logistics criteria (K.P.I.s) as well as being a good reference for researchers. It has sufficient amount of statistical data supporting the information provided and the results are integrated with the subjects neatly. I have enjoyed reading it, and found it quite useful for my research and company project.

The great strength of this publication is it's comprehensiveness in taking a strategic approach to the management of integrated value chains.

The book covers many of the specific supply chain management issues that many company's around the world are grappling with today and provides many insights and road maps for supply chain executives as they seek to lower total system costs and improve their service offer.

But just as importantly this book will provide an excellent resource for CEO's and other GM's who are looking to integrate their product market and growth strategies with the operational excellence required to deliver superior performance.

In 1990 this book was revolutionary. Today, it is mostly interesting as the first book on the subject. Nobody in todays (business) world can have missed out on the concept that time is (or can be) a competitive advantage.

If you have missed this basic fact, do read this book, it explains in rather boring terms why it is so.

Personally I think they put to much emphasis on time as a competitive advantage, and tend to disregard other factors, equally important. A more relevant reading would in my opinion be D'Aveni's Hypercompetition, that takes the concept to its logical conclusion, which Hoult and Stalk misses.

Unfortunately, neither of the authors are very entertaining writers, especially as this book is usually mandatory/recommended reading in most MBA classes on strategy.

In conclusion, good, once revolutionary, but today mostly over-rated.

Today's readers will think that this book is simply stating the obvious. That shows how much influence the book has had. Prior to the book's publication, most people felt that "getting things right" was more important than speed. This book points out that speed can actually be helpful in getting things right by encouraging you to improve your management processes so you do things right the first time.

Many companies have had trouble implementing this concept in the way it is articulated. They simplify their process, but may not improve it. This may mean that new products arrive in the market that are not really ready for the customers. That can be all right if you can quickly fine-tune the products in beta tests and the customers have that expectation because you are giving them so much benefit anyway. If you do this with me-too products that don't work, the results can be disastrous in terms of damage to your company's reputation and customer relationships.

The authors do not spend enough time on helping people understand how to improve their processes, and how to create more speed without killing stress on the people involved. For many companies, this book can be dangerous. I think this book could use a new edition that would address these two areas in more detail.

On the other hand, if you have any doubts about the potential benefits from speedier action, you should read this book. It will change your mind using excellent examples.

Have a speedy read!

Simply put, an oustanding book that has all the nuts and bolts needed to allow a company to transition to a time based focus from a cost based one. Easy to read, the logic is perfect. A must buy to have on your shelf (better yet ... on your desk). I read it first when I received my MBA ... read it again this last week .... and gave copies to top management I know around the country.

If you like me need to get to SCM strategic or tactical decisions, I would rather consult other books I also own. "Strategic Logistics Management" from a school book perspective and the brand new "Designing and Managing the Supply Chain" are excellent and better resources, covering everything (and then some) this book can offer. I will probably resell my copy of this book.
For SAP "Jockeys" or those who are thinking about SAP, "Supply Chain Management based on SAP Systems" is Excellent.

Generally...I have found that an individual needs to read three books on any one subject to capture a firm grasp upon the topic. With this title you may stop at two after a basic supply chain text is read.

The author covers all the key topics...with enough depth to interest the reader in additional topics/books on specific elements of the supply chain.

This book is an excellent overview of logistics and supply chain management. I own dozens of texts on these subjects and this is one of the best. If your looking for a college text with problems to work out; then this is not the book for you. But, if your looking for quick insight into these topics, this is an excellent choice. The book quickly teaches the reader strategy, industry trends and supplies some basic quantitative tools. The industry examples bring the topics to life. Two thumbs up from me.

This book is valuable in that it proposes an overview of the field of medical anthropology and also proposes a literary approach. At the same time, its quality is its weakness: it does not look at the political economy side.

Simply put, the interdisciplinary group of anthropologists, physicians, and others at Harvard have been doing some of the most important and far-reaching work in the area of medical anthropology ever. Byron Good's book, initially given as the Henry Louis Morgan Lectures at Rochester, is a beautifully written and accessible summation of much of the innovative thinking going on with his colleagues and former students --- most notably folks like MaryJo Delvecchio Good, Art Kleinman, Lawrence Cohen, Pete Guarnaccia, Carol Mattingly, and others. The major controversies facing anthropology and medicine have been legion, and the discipline has, indeed, been put to ethically-suspect use in service to imperialist ends before. However, as Good argues so effectively, there is still much use for medical anthropology to serve progressive ends in a democratically-ordered world.

Shapiro's book is really an interesting introduction to modeling the Supply Chain. After an easy to follow overview on the tools: Linear Programming (Simplex) and Mixed Integer Programming (with an appendix over the Branch and Bound method), these fundamentals are applied to strategic and tactical issues related to modeling the SC. Some actual applications together with their outcomes make examples more credible and dowm to earth. Examples run on excel's solver are strightforward and useful to get a basic handle on the topic.

Several chapters on an unified optimization methodology for planning SC problems and databases are also interesting. The book ends up with a reviw on how decisions are taken within an organization and the role of modeling and optimization techniques. Its plain english is another positive point.

My only "but" could be an overly superficial treatment of hot topics in SC as facilities location whereas covering issues as Corporate Financial Planning far from the core of the book. All in all a profitable bought.

Para todos los latinos que esten pensando optimizar las operaciones de una empresa, sea Logística, Inventarios, Producción, les digo: Este libro es la mejor alternativa para aquellos que quieran diseñar, modelar e implementar el SCM en la empresa. Los modelos son mas prácticos que en "The Logic of Logistics" que es muy pero muy matemático, me asusté cuando lo abrí, integrales, derivadas y otras cosas que prefiero no recordar, la verdad, es que ni lo entendí, a pesar de que considero que tengo un nivel poco mas que aceptable en ese campo, debe ser porque estaba en ingles, no?. Los capitulos 3 - 6, presenta los modelos matemáticos. Es 100% Investigación de Operaciones: programación lineal, redes, simulación, es decir el libro de Taha o el Solow, o el Hillier en resumen con ejemplos muy ilustrativos. En el libro hay una dirección para que te bajes un software de optimización muy útil. Te acuerdas del LINDO, el LINGO, el método SIMPLEX, etc? Sabes usar el Solver del Excel? Ahí te explica todo, pero lo mejor de todo que podrás aterrizar esos conocimientos en tu empresa. Esencial para aquellos que trabajen en el área de Planeamiento y Control de la Producción. Yo encuentro este libro en el nivel táctico-operativo, será muy útil para los que quieren hacer un plan de operaciones como Tesis. También explica como modelar los sistemas de información para implementar eficientemente el supply chain, pero hay poco de eso (Atención Ing. de Sistemas e Informáticos, pero les puede servir para comenzar!!). Del cap. 7 al 11, estan las aplicaciones de los modelos en una empresa. Control de Inventarios, Planeación agregada, miren la tabla de contenidos del libro, les dará una buena idea. Lo encuentro mas aplicativo que Logistics and Supply Chain Management (Strategies for Reducing Cost and Improving Service) de Martin Cristopher que es muy teórico. El mismo Prentice Hall lo clasifica en Libros de Estrategia, es decir puras letritas y letritas. El libro de Shapiro te dice: "Manos a la Obra", El de Martin Christopher dice lo que dicen los Gerentes: "Esto es lo que yo quiero, ahora vean como lo logran". Espero que el modesto comentario de un alumno de Ingeniería industrial(UNI) les ayude a que encuentren lo que buscan.

This book is about math-modeling of Supply Chain Management(SCM). While only few analytical SCM books in market, this book is still different. The presentation of math-modeling does not forbid your curiousity in model by giving a proof, theory, lemma; this book shows you the modeling method to capture the complex SCM problem. I like this book over Simchi-Levi (logic of logistics) for its description, practical aspect and future direction. Also, I prefer this book over Chopra (SCM) and Simchi-levi (SCM) for its higher and better modeling issues. This book takes care the readers well since the solution technique is also given, e.g., Linear Programming, Mixed Integer Programming, Unified Optimization, even simulation. While this book is more on quantitative, the interaction between qualitative and quantitative is given -both basic and advanced level. Suggestion to adapt modeling technique to organization is well presented also. The information technology (IT) section covers most SCM issues as well as the implementation and database for SCM. If you're in this area (either academia or practitioner), you have NO EXCUSE not to get this book seriously. For its uniqueness, this book is not supplementary or option, but it's a requirement for you.

I loved the movie PATCH ADAMS, starring Robin Williams . . . even though it got mostly poor to fair reviews, see it if you can . . . you'll be uplifted by the true story of a doctor who has challenged the foundations of modern medicine not only by making healthcare personal, but by making it free . . . the movie naturally took some liberties with Adams' life, so for the whole tale I just heard the taped version of GESUNDHEIT! . . . this gives all the details
of how he and a few colleagues in 1971 founded the Gesundheit
Institute--a free hospital in West Virginia . . . it is dedicated to an unorthodox view of medicine and of the patient-doctor relationship: one employing laughter, listening and mutual respect . . . imagine being able to see a doctor and actually smiling when you do . . . and have him or her smile back at you! . . . you'll come away thinking that health care could be different; i.e., if practitioners would take heed of Adams' advice . . . the narration by Artie Johnson (of LAUGH-IN fame)was excellent.

Behind Patch Adams clown nose and jokes lies a social revolutionary who has devoted his life to transforming the health care system. In his book "Gesundheit" he shares a vision of a free holistic medical practice based on faith, friendship and fun. Adams life and work even inspired the producers of Universal Studios to make a movie titled "Patch Adams" staring Robin Williams.
Patch Adams is the founder of Gesundheit, a holistic home-based medical practice that managed to see more than 15,000 people without bills, malpractice insurance, formal facilities and paper work. Adams' vision is a wake-up call for all of us.
Like Adams I became discouraged when the art of counseling and medicine was replaced by the science of business and technology. During my 20 years of working as a children's counselor at a Mental Health Center I witnessed how mental health and medicine, the nations number one industries today, shifted from the community to the corporate level. When the loving human interchange between a client and counselor became more a business transaction, and the paperwork not the people became the bulk of our services due to fear of litigation, I decided it was time to retire.
In "Gesundheit" Adams discourages health care professionals from carrying malpractice insurance. When fear is the baseline from which to practice healing it encourages caregivers to prescribe "cookbook" treatments even when they believe them to be inadequate or potentially harmful. Fear and distrust makes physicians reluctant to explore alternate therapy and leads them to put patients through procedures and tests that are unnecessary and defensive. When professionals see patients as passive recipients of wisdom there is no room for humility or mistakes. A malpractice climate denies physicians the right to be imperfect.
Third-party reimbursement is also a problem. It has diverted medicine from a service to a business and become a circus act with many hoops to jump through. Doctors tend to over-order tests and overdo procedures when patients are insured. It's easier to order tests than provide care or comfort. Hospital supply companies, medical technology and pharmaceutical firms have become multimillion dollar moguls of medicine.
Another problem is that the professional distance ethic often leads to aloofness and arrogance. Many patients are described as diseases, lab values, or treatments. When people are called the names of their diseases other facets of the patient's life are neglected such as family, friends, faith, fun, work, nutrition and exercise. Life itself is bigger than illness, diagnosis, treatment and disease.
When touching is taboo and getting close to clients is forbidden we loose the magic of vulnerability and trust in a relationship. Healing happens in the relationship between the healer and the patient. A healer cannot offset the pain and suffering of a client without intimacy. Healers need the freedom to cry with and hug their patients. Transference is inevitable. Every human being has some kind of impact on another. A solid relationship creates a loving, human, creative, cooperative and open environment.
Privacy or confidentiality rules make intimacy difficult. Public disclosure strengthens relationships and helps develop a greater sense of support and understanding. Like 12-step programs the surrendering of privacy is the cornerstone of friendship and an antidote to loneliness. Our stories are important and listening to each other's stories provides the magic for healing. We are a tribal people and we need community. We need to move from the insurance of cash to the insurance of clan.
Progress has become synonymous with "advances in technology." Although modern medicine has made great strides in knowledge and technology, health care professionals are rarely vibrant with the joy of human service. Many doctors feel naked without their instruments and machines. Even though comfort, empathy, and reassurance-so vital to a medical practice requires no technology. Our magic as healers is not in our tools but in ourselves.
We also need to integrate humor and nature in healing work. Humor is a powerful antidote to pain and nature tops the list of potent stress reducers. An individual's health cannot be separated from their natural and human environment and wellness needs to include prevention of ecological disasters.
Adams' book "Gesundheid" is an excellent summary of how today's high-tech medicine has become too costly, dehumanized, mistrustful and grim and gives us a vision of what good health care could be. We not only need a better health care system but a healthier one. Profit, paperwork, medication, and medical procedures cannot be a substitute for time spent talking to and observing patients.
Mother Teresa's Mission of Charity has provided free services to the poor in over 52 continents since 1952. They accept donations from individuals not companies and have not only survived but thrived. Gesundheit, a non-religious modern day version of the Missions of Charity, also offers free services in faith not fear. Both demonstrate how giving is intoxicating and produce intimacy as a byproduct. Both show how fulfillment that comes from service is one of the great medicines of life.
Although most of us cannot give our services away for free we can learn from Adams' vision. Putting people before profit is a win win situation. When people are happy they're less likely to litigate and surprise, surprise the business ends up making a profit.

If you have seen the movie Patch Adams, the screen writers took some liberties with the life of Mr. Adams. The movie only tells a small distorted version of what is Patch Adams. Patch has some unconventional ideas about medicine. These ideas have led to a movement to change health care for the better. Patch has dedicated his life toward helping the less fortunate and still lives on this creed.

The one story in this book which sticks out in my mind is the story of the man with arthritis. To summarize, Patch discovered that the man did not feel the pain of his arthritis while watching the sunset. The man really enjoyed watching the sunset and pleasure from this event helps him forget his pain. Thinking of something pleasurable or performing a pleasurable act helps us forget pain. As Patch Adams himself said, The best medicince is not to treat the illness, but to treat the patient."

Thanks for your inspiration Patch! A great book!

For those of you and your children who did not get enough of the many adventures of Bicycle Bear ( in the original Book Bicycle Bear ) Here he is again. Although not as great as the original story it is still an excellent children's book for Bicycle Bear fans everywhere. This is another great Parents Read aloud Book thats fun to read over and over. The original Author and illustrator team up again for this book. Bicycle Bear is back again only this time he enlists the help of his nephew tricycle bear. These delivery bear adventures will be a hit with the kids and adults. This is a great story which also help to teach the importance of teamwork to achieve goals. My Daughter loved it too!

I'm not a Supply Chain professional yet I found this book too conceptual and simplistic. A concept book needs to at least be thought provoking. It is not. [....]

I found the book a (loose) collection of short descriptions of concepts. If you are looking for a "dictionary" of supply chain concepts, this is probably the cheapest way to obtain one. For an introductory course in SCM however, this book is way to basic. The authors have tried to make the book more serious by including some case studies (very superficial) with simulation experiments in chapter 5, but this make the whole book even less coherent. SO you have guessed by now I did not find the book worth the (low amount) of money.

Although the book covers several introductory themes about the supply chain management, there is a lack of integration inside the book. The book contains several footnotes to different articles and books. It made me feel that the book was written in a somehow assembly manner.