Human-capital

Read this book if you are a senior manager or run your own company. I employ 27 staff in the UK and this book has provided a clear in sight into what is required to retain and motivate my staff.

If you want your business to flourish and truly believe your staff are your company you wont be able to put it down

Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina not only challenge but indeed obliterate much conventional wisdom about organizational growth and individual development. Those inclined to challenge them would be well-advised to consider the basis of their assertions: "Ten million customers and over two hundred thousand managers were surveyed. More than three million employees were interviewed from 1995 through 2001. Additionally, more than two million talent-fit/role-success reviews were tallied. More than 300, 000 business units, in hundreds of organizations worldwide, took part in the study....All major industries, from fast-food chains to physicians' groups, were represented. A wide variety of job types was included, as were all kinds of customers. Industry and organizations of all sizes were integrated....Employees from different types of organizations were measured in terms of their talent, engagement, and outcomes."

What about customers? "Similarly, customer data included purchase information: Volume, dollar amounts spent, repurchase intentions and behavior, brand ratings, product evaluations, opinions, and other complementary patterns of attitudes and behavior were all covered in detail." Who wants to step forward to challenge the validity of Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina's assertions? Not I.

The subtitle of this book, "How the World's Greatest Organizations Drive Growth by Unleashing Human Potential," is somewhat misleading. In fact, according to Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina, cultures -- not organizations -- unleash human potential which, in turn, drives organizations. More specifically, emotion-driven, highly engaged employees ("associates" at Wal-Mart and J.C. Penney) continuously nourish and thereby sustain profitable relationships with (yes) emotion-driven, highly-engaged customers. Contrary to conventional wisdom, "Superior performance is not the exclusive product of the rational mind. no matter how appealing it is to business to believe this is so. Talent does intelligence one better, because it combines and utilizes the full circuitry (rational and emotional) of the brain's neural connections in the endless pursuit of productive outcome."

What about knowledge and skills? Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina duly acknowledge that they are required by quality performance. However, "In essence, talent and engagement are emotionally driven. In tough economic times, talent and emotional engagement are the only natural competitive advantages." Emotional engagement is thus the "fuel" that drives the most productive employees (approximately 20% of any workforce) and the most profitable customers. Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina seem almost surprised by the fact that there is an unlimited supply. "The most amazing thing about it is that it never runs out."

The word "path" in this book's title refers to a sequence of "steps" to be taken:

1. Acknowledge the role that emotion plays in driving business outcomes.

Comment: Keep in mind that emotions can be either positive (e.g. appreciation) or negative (e.g. resentment).

2. Acknowledge that all employees possess innate talents that can be emotionally engaged.

Comment: Workers generally do best what they enjoy doing most.

3. Understand that unique talent combinations lead to increased profits and growth.

Comment: Because needs change, different talents may be needed and in different combinations.

4. Understand and appreciate the power of the Q12 and accept what it can do for an organization.

Comment: Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina focus on the Q12 in Chapter 4 and explain how to manage the Q12 in Chapter 5.

5. Understand what it means to manage to develop and sustain engaged employees.

6. Understand the economic implications of engaged, not-engaged, and actively disengaged employees.

7. Acknowledge the role which emotions play in customer engagement.

8. Understand the eleven indicators of customer engagement and how they will impact on your brand, product, or organization.

9. Accept what managing to enhance and sustain customer engagement means.

10. Understand the economic implications of fully engaged, engaged, not-engaged, and actively disengaged customers.

NOTE: The chapter in which this step is examined, Chapter 10 ("Emotional Economics, Part 2") develops in much greater depth the material provided in Chapter 6, "Emotional Economics, Part 1."

Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina devote a separate chapter to each of the ten steps of The Gallup Path, explaining precisely how it can enable any organization (regardless of size or nature) to "drive growth by unleashing human potential." Taking each of these steps will fail, however, unless and until when doing so supervisors REALLY DO understand (a) that talent drives performance and supervisors are totally committed to engaging the talent of every employee, (b) that emotionally engaged employees are invariably the most productive employees, and finally (c) that emotionally engaged customers "always come back for more" and thus are the bedrock of any organization's sustainable profitably.

In their concluding remarks, Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina observe that "It's time to see your world in a different way." In fact, by the end of this book, they have urged their reader to see the world in dozens of different ways. It is important to supervisors to know that, once embarked on The Gallup Path, they will be guided and informed by Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina every step of the way.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out First, Break All the Rules which Coffman co-authored with Marcus Buckingham. Also, Hammer's The Agenda: What Every Business Must Do to Dominate the Decade; Bossidy and Charan's Execution: the Discipline of Getting Things Done; O'Toole's Leading Change: The Argument for Value-Based Leadership; Collins' Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't; and Connors and Smith's The Oz Principle: Getting Results Through Individual & Organizational Accountability.

Review of "Follow This Path"

The central thesis of this valuable and highly readable work can be summed up in three words: Feelings drive actions.

This book from The Gallup Organization focuses on applying that briefest but most fundamental truth to business success. The authors' conclusion can be simply stated: The feelings of your employees influence the feelings of your customers, and that drives their buying behavior and your profits.

It works like this: Understand your employees so that they are assigned to do work for which they're really best suited at the deepest personal level ('cuz they'll do that work better than any other). And treat your employees in ways that encourage them to be fully engaged in their work ('cuz that gets you more loyalty and productivity at no extra cost). And then, in turn, your employees will treat your customers in a way that makes your customers feel good about your company ('cuz that leads them to spend more with your firm for a longer time). And, voila!, your company makes more money with less effort.

At this point you might feel compelled to release a loud exclamation of, "Well, duh!"

But hold on.

The premise of "Follow This Path" seems deceptively simple for two reasons:
1) It contrasts markedly with the "rational" model that still shapes most interactions with both employees and customers in most organizations; and
2) It stands in direct opposition to the assumptions underlying most business initiatives that are supposed to improve quality, productivity, or even customer satisfaction. Most, if not all, of those projects are aimed at mechanistically tweaking operational processes. And they don't positively affect the people on either side of the transaction: employees or customers. And so they have little to no effect on fundamentally improving the business. (But they sure do suck up a lot of time, create many distractions, and generate healthy fees for consultants.)

MORE THAN A REHASH
While tempting, it is misguided to characterize this book as a mere rehash of its predecessors from the Gallup Organization, "First, Break All the Rules" and "Now, Discover Your Strengths." Candidly, when first flipping through the book, "rehash" was my impression, too.

However, "Follow This Path" is a significant contribution in its own right. It integrates and extends Gallup's two previous works. This book's insights derive from an expanded data set supplied by Gallup's massive survey-based research, and the book also (as is all the rage in business tomes these days) draws on much of the historical and current research into the origins of behavior from both psychological and biological underpinnings. A smattering of readable anecdotes from real people help to bring the principles to life. (The end notes also are worth reading as the text there is written as a narrative and adds worthwhile insights. In addition, this work contains an appendix of what likely will strike most readers as mind-numbing statistical mumbo-jumbo, aimed, no doubt, at quieting critics who question the validity of the data underpinning Gallup's claims and conclusions.)

The effect is to validate sound, albeit somewhat non-traditional, perspectives on what really lies behind the elusive, mercantile holy grail of successfully competing in today's crazy, cut-throat marketplace.

THE UPSHOT
The good news is that these principles are easy to grasp and make intuitive sense (after reconsidering traditional biases).

The bad news is that for organizations to take advantage of these simple truths, they must unlearn much of what their managers "know" about how business works. The challenge is to move managers from the realm of the rational, definable, and controllable --- the hallmark characteristic of virtually every manager in virtually every corporation (perhaps with the exception of those strange and intrepid folks populating the marketing communications department).

The new reality: To compete effectively, managers must migrate to the still largely uncharted domain of the emotional, psychological, and personal in order to affect both employees and customers. In a gross understatement, this imperative represents a frighteningly major shift and no easy undertaking.

Making such a dramatic and fundamental change in both mindset and behaviors implies considerable adaptations at two levels: In the minds and hearts of individual managers, and in the policies and systems of their employing organizations.

All exaggeration aside, we're talking social revolution here. Undoubtedly, it will keep Gallup's consulting organization, and firms such as my own, very busy for many years to come.

But what if your boss or CEO is a Neanderthal and "doesn't get it"? Press on. Start with yourself and your very own work group. As the research from Gallup and many others makes clear, that's the only level at which real change actually occurs anyway.

Get the book and read it with a scientific mind, skeptical but open. Then get busy charting your own course through the new frontier of what Gallup aptly terms The Emotional Economy.

Chances are, you'll feel better...with rising productivity and profits...because customers feel better...because your employees feel better.

I really didn't want to like this book. It just sounded too much like some new age, pop psychology dribble on how to feel good. I couldn't have been further from the truth. Although this isn't a great book, it is a very valuable book, not only for the businessman, but for leaders of nonprofits as well.

The premise of the book is simple. In an age where prices have been cut to razor thin margins, and businesses have become commodities, the only way to profitably survive is to unleash the human potential among your employees and customers. The authors ask this simple, but profound question: Why would a customer drive past your competition and pay a higher price to purchase your product? The answer: You have an emotionally engaged customer.

The authors demonstrate the world's greatest organizations connect with their customers on an emotional level. When this happens customers return because of the way they feel- they become emotional engaged. The businesses manta for the last century has been based on reason- if you build a better mousetrap, offer it at the lowest price, people will buy. Studies have shown that people are more driven by their emotions when it comes to purchase and repurchase than they are by reason. The same holds true for employees. The Gallop organization also has shown that emotionally engaged employees produce more, stay longer, have less accidents, etc.

Any problems? Maybe one. When hiring, the authors tell us again and again to commit to talent above education, experience, willingness to work hard, and the usual resume items. Inborn talent produces engaged employees; but what they did not address was the integrity issue. Jack Welch points out that the most dangerous employee is not the rude, insensitive, actively disengaged employee; but the one with the talent who does not hold to the values of the corporation. The actively disengaged employee will hurt the company, and yes, if you have enough of them they will destroy the company, but the real danger lies with talented, engaged employees who love their work but who do not hold to the company's values. These are the ones Welch would immediately get rid of.

All in all, it's a valuable book. For a pastor of a small church, or a midlevel manager, the Q-12 (Questions developed by the Gallop organization which identify the conditions of a great work space) are invaluable. By unleashing the human potential in staff, volunteers and members the leader of a nonprofit can build a great organization.

This book makes a valuable contribution to the growing body of evidence that human resources practices have a positive influence on business results. It gives solid numbers showing the relationship between 21 human capital practices and market value. It also provides evidence that these practices are a leading indicator of value creation. That's great stuff!

Then things fall apart quickly. The reason is because the authors over-reach by offering their suggestions for implementing the HR practices they identify as creating market value. That scope is simply much too large for a book of this size, resulting in shallow solutions. As an example, the authors show that "linking rewards to performance" is associated with a nine percent higher market value. They then share all of nine pages on how to implement pay-for-performance systems. That's hardly adequate, given there are a multitude of full-length books on that subject alone.

Some vexing findings are given short shrift, like the counterintuitive results that training and 360 degree feedback actually reduce market value. The authors waffle on the findings by suggesting the negative impact can be explained simply because these programs typically are ineffective. That kind of logic doesn't work since executing the other HR practices poorly would also have a negative impact on value creation.

In sum, this book does an excellent job demonstrating the relationship between human capital practices and market value. However, if you need help implementing those practices, you should look elsewhere.

The people at Watson Wyatt never stop amazing me. Recently, I purchased a copy of the Gallup Organization's "Follow This Path." Having read it, I was convinced that there was nothing left to say. Wrong. Pfau and Kay have written an amazing book that documents the correlation between Strategic HR practices and Shareholder Value growth. Well done. One reviewer complains that the book isn't comprehensive enough. I'm not sure this is a fair critisism. After all, the book details 21 HR practices and their impact on TSR (Total Shareholder Return). Certainly, one book cannot possibly provide a comprehensive treatment of all 21 HR practices. However, since when has any professional relied upon a single business book in any subject as their sole resource? This is a fantastic book. I strongly recommend that any senior executive (including CEO, COO, and board memebers) pick up a copy. I also recommend "Follow this Path," Gubman's "The Talent Solution," Risher's "Aligning Pay and Results," and Lawler's "Treat People Right." Overall grade: AAA+++

Having been in human resources for 20 years, I can finally report, with confidence, HR's direct link to the bottom line. Too many executives still think it is "touchy-feely" and this fact-based information proves otherwise.

"The Human Capital Edge" shows the measurable value of implementing solid HR practices! Great stuff!!

Business corporations of old were formed out of physical assets such as real estate, buildings, and machinery. Over the last few decades, and accelerating as we move into the 21st century, businesses have increasingly shifted emphasis to intangible assets, including brands, patents, relationships, knowledge, and organizational culture. Yet accounting methods and much input into strategy and decision-making have lagged behind this trend. Stewart, author of Intellectual Capital and a Fortune columnist, has produced an impressive book that investigates many aspects of the knowledge enterprise and the role of intellectual capital. The three main sections are "The Theory of a Knowledge Business", "The Disciplines of a Knowledge Business", and "The Performance of a Knowledge Business". The weakness in this range is that it appears that Stewart has thrown in topics that have little relation to the main point of the book. Each chapter, with a few exceptions, can be read separately as they do not build one on another effectively. Some of the chapters are particularly rewarding: Chapter 10 looks at how to support knowledge processes; chapter 12, "The Human Capitalist", gathers some interesting thoughts on work and pay for intellectual capitalists, and chapter 13 covers several recent views on how to account for intangibles. The book is definitely worth picking through for the many nuggets but would have been improved with a tighter focus and a stronger theoretical framework. Faults are easy to miss and, when not missed, to forgive thanks to Stewart's undeniable talent as an entertaining writer.

Tom Stewart is the world's foremost authority on intellectual capital, which is no small recommendation in itself. But here's an equally important consideration for anyone thinking about buying this book: he won't bore you to death! If you've read much in this general area, you know that such a fatal end often awaits the unwary reader. In sharp contrast, this guy knows how to tell a story, and The Wealth of Knowledge is packed with them -- hugely engaging anecdotes drawn both from his own broad journalistic experience and from spirited conversations with an amazing array of business leaders. None of which is to imply that the theoretical foundations are glossed over. Stewart clearly has a wealth of knowledge himself in these matters. He imparts what he's learned in a way that not only enlightens, but also makes you want to keep reading. Solid, grounded and profoundly useful insights. Highly entertaining. Highly recommended.

- Chris Locke, author of Gonzo Marketing: Winning Through Worst Practices, and co-author of The Cluetrain Manifesto.

This is Tom Stewart in his usual form: provocative, speculative, and challenging conventional logic. The writing style is lucid and the discussion of KM technolgy (2 chapters) is commendable. Just a few phrases and metaphors that is uses in the book make it a worthy read. Definitely worth the money. Buy it, but read it slowly. There is much tacit knowledge between the lines!

This book champions many of the beliefs I've held for years at working at Big 4, regional, and small public accounting firms. Mainly, that time sheets, hourly rates, billable hours, etc. is a completely misguided and outdated manner to try to capture costs and price services.

I just resgined from a firm to start my own practice. While there, I was discussing this book with one of the firm's Partners. When I suggested the radical idea of no timesheets, he replied, "how will you know the people are working." As this book effectively points out and analyzes, firms just aren't hiring the right people!

The book does get a bit redundant at times, and does put forth some ideas that seem a bit crazy (such as 100% money back gaurantees in your engagement letters if the client doesn't like the service). However, I think that overall the book does make some very excellent points. Firms that are courageous enough to make changes based on ideas generated from this book may be the "firms of the future"

Finally, despite the title, this book is for CPAs and CPA firms. Lawyers and other service providers will not get as much out of it. For those starting firms, or for those looking for ideas to improve their current firms, this book should help.

After reading this book, you'll need to place it alongside your desktop dictionary, Thesaruas and Ron's first book "The Professional's Guide to Value Pricing. This is how strong of an impact their message has made on me.

After reading the first two editions of Ron's book, I didn't think he would be able to improve much on the message of switching to Value Pricing. Boy, was I wrong! He and Paul Dunn have done an amazing job of getting the reader to think differently. As with the radical theme of trashing the timesheet in "The Professional's Guide to Value Pricing", they do a masterful job of convincing you why the old "Revenue Equation" must be replaced with the forward-thinking "Profit Equation". They go on to introduce other new topics not found amongst professional services firms such as developing your Intellectual, Structural and Social Capital, emphasizing effectiveness over efficiency and of course Value Pricing. As is typical of Ron's writing style, and complemented by Paul, their reasoning for making this paradigm shift is well supported and well reasoned.

I've been using practicing Value Pricing for about 5 1/2 years now and I can tell you that it works. In my own firm, I've slowly begun implementing some of their new concepts but with a new perception. I'm convinced these principles will work for me and they can for you as well.

After reading this book, you'll definitely want to keep it handy as a useful reference guide!

Paul Dunn & Ronald J Baker's new book "The Firm of the Future and the Future of the Firm" challenges the old paradigms of the professional firm and clearly shows the way forward.

Although aimed at the professional firm, the book is relevant to all service businesses.

If you attended Paul Dunn's seminars and read Ronald J Baker's books, then this will be a useful refresher. If you haven't - then oh boy what a ride! Let the journey begin.

In addition this book introduced to me the concept of Intellectual Capital, a framework that I'll certainly use in the future.

If you have not built an organization that people hate to leave, have not established working arrangements that assure that knowledge is transferred freely and continually within the organization and have not instituted more formal processes for capturing the knowledge that flows within the organization, then you need to read this book. It offers a systematic approach to identifying, capturing and preserving knowledge that is critical to the continuing effectiveness of the organization, providing a partial and process solution to an essentially cultural problem. But you need to recognize that the approach addresses symptoms (loss of knowledge) rather than root causes (inappropriate structure, work practices and employment policies).

Maintaining corporate knowledge is one of the most critical tasks that I must confront as a manager. Whether it is by employees leaving for other opportunities, retiring, or downsizing; all to often much of a company's experience walks out the door with the employee. "Continuity Management" spends time clearly defining the problem and its impact. This time is well spent as the problem of corporate knowledge loss is more intricate than it may seem and the impact is very wide reaching. However, far from leaving the reader pondering the problem, Beazley, Boenisch, and Harden map out a system to stop the knowledge leak. Its not a quick fix, but a corporate-wide concentrated effort that, once implemented, becomes part of a company's culture.

"Continuity Management" ensures continued customer satisfaction during times of high employee turnover.

In the company I work for, millions of dollars are spent to train people and inculcate them in the corporate culture. The conditions and changes in the world economy ensure high employee turnover will be a normal paradigm. Often the people that we lose are the brightest and most knowledgeable. When they go, the information they used to get things done and make things work goes with them.
Boenisch, Harden and Beazley have presented a look at the magnitude of this problem plus a well thought out plan to resolve it. It won't be easy and just reading the book won't make it happen. It will require resources and corporate drive to implement. Knowledge is potentially power and money. The efforts expended to conserve it will be felt in a new competitive edge and in the bottom line.
The book should be required reading for anyone that manages people or resources. The ideas and methods can be successfully implemented corporate wide or in any first level management department. Highly recommended and a milestone book.

If you work in human resources, the manual put together by editors Richard A. Swanson and Elwood F. Holton III will probably find its way onto a shelf close by your desk, where it can be easily reached as a reference tool. The chapters of this book, which were written by different authors but have been organized into a logical whole, help span the gap between theory and practice in the human resources field. You'll likely find yourself reaching for this dense, informative book every time your start planning a survey, training program or research project. If you're not in HR, this book is more likely to find its way into cardboard box on a dusty shelf at the back of a dark closet. The content, although quite innovative and detailed, is simply too specialized for a general readership. Therefore, we recommend this book to human resource professionals at all levels, and strongly encourage students of the discipline to study these pages before setting out in the real world of business.

In response to the research and practice focus of the book-- the "Human Resource Development Research Handbook" was honored by The Executive Program as one of their book club selections.

This text sets itself apart by outlining the first, basic steps in conducting research for those who are frightened or ill-equipped to conduct the structured research that is so clearly needed by the OD and HRD field. Structured research's outcome, the editors argue, "is new knowledge, obtained through an orderly, investigative process" (Swanson, p. 10). The process they ascribe to includes a theory-research-development-practice cycle, which the authors describe as a vital cycle that allows ideas to be progressively refined as they evolve from concepts to practices and from practices to concepts. The book details steps in conducting both qualitative and quantitative research. It is a practical, hands-on reference manual created by those who are well-experienced. A must for any graduate student!

....I enjoyed this book I read death blossoms previously...I enjoyed this book very much it made me so angry because I truly feel that he is in jail only for his political beliefs....but one thing I can say is that his spirit is not broken...and that is so beautiful....the main thing this book did was change my views on capital punishment at first I was all for it but those views changed I am now against it....free mumia!!!

The essays that Mumia writes here offer the reader an insight in the criminal justice system that you could only see if you are inside it. When reading this essays,the reader gets the feeling of depression, isolation, sadness and of despair that any person on death row might be feeling. To me, anytime that a reader can feel the emotion of a story, the writer has achieved a point. Now whether or not you agree with the death penalty, I think that you should read this book. It will force you to think about you position and see it justice is really being served. The irony now is that someone else has finally come forward and admitted to the murder that Mumia was convicted of, but Mumia is still in a life or death battle to be freed. I think that the reader will enjoy this book and be overwhelmed by the emotion

After reading this truly moving book, I have become disillusioned with the state of race relations in the US, not to mention the judicial system. Abu-Jamal, and Peltier in his book 'Prison Writings', have given flawless testimonials of the racism that is evident to 99% of minorities, and perhaps evident to about 10% percent of whites. In his book, Abu-Jamal asserts his innocence, which most evidence supports, quite eloquently. He also describes the harrowing lifestyle that he leads while on death row, such as the always constant danger of being murdered by a fellow inmate, and the omnipresent realization that he has no chance of ever leaving prison alive. The fact a high government official, and a former Presidential candidate, like Gary Bauer can generalize a truly tragic figure such as Abu-Jamal as a cop killer is sad. Saying something as blatantly bigoted comes easy to most people, but I can't comprehend how a person could say such a thing. And as recent events show, Abu-Jamal will most likely share the fate of fellow innocent victim, not to mention minority, Gary Graham.

Not only would I recommend Abu-Jamal's book, I would recommend that you join Refuse and Resist and other organizations that support Mumia Abu-Jamal's, and fellow political prisoner Leonard Peltier, immediate acquittal.

The 1990s may well be remembered as the decade of employee empowerment (at least in management theory circles), but very few companies ever put their money where their mouths were when it came to dismantling the old "command-and-control" structures. Thomas O. Davenport makes a fresh case for empowerment by placing the argument in the context of the current tight labor market, and presenting scarce knowledge workers as investors of human capital. These human capital investors should be valued, nurtured and rewarded by companies in much the same way that financial investors are cared for. Although many of the conclusions that result from this novel theory mirror those of earlier works in employee empowerment, we [...] strongly recommend this book for its original take on the changing nature of the employer/employee relationship.

This book is a valuable and well-written summary of key elements in the equation of how to entice employees - human capital investors - to invest in your enterprise to the benefit of both parties. It pulls together in one book, and one coherent framework, lots of valuable concepts. It is also full of practical ideas on how to implement those concepts. It's worth reading for those who are interested in leading people effectively.

Actually, if you are interested in this subject, there are at least four books to read: this one, Fitz-enz's The ROI of Human Capital, and two different books with the same title, Intellectual Capital, by Annie Brooking and Tom Stewart. So often, we hear someone say that "Our most valuable assets walk out the door at the end of each day." That's true. But what does it really mean when assigning value to human "assets"? Davenport has written a very solid book (I'm NOT damning with faint praise), one which I strongly recommend. Given the importance of this subject, I again suggest reading at least the four books previously identified. Who knows? Davenport may be, in your considered opinion, the most hepful. He has a sharp mind. He writes very well indeed. His observations and suggestions are rock-solid. (Chapter Nine all by itself is well worth the cost of the book.) My initial rating of his book was Four Stars but as I began to formulate my thoughts which comprise this brief commentary, I've changed my mind. When transmitting to the Amazonians, I shall increase that rating to Five Stars. How valuable this book is to you is a determination only you can make. One final point: For the cost of only one hour of my time as an independent management consultant, you can purchase at least four books on this critically important subject. If that isn't great value, I really don't know what is.

Let me say that I really enjoyed Beyond World Class. It is a great book. I would advise you that it is not a book for everyone though. Why do I say that? Beyond World Class challenges the reader to build a Beyond World Class organization and the path that Alan Ross suggests involves honesty, integrity and character (profit after that list). There are many useful concepts that can be gleaned from this book, but the cornerstone of this approach comes down to character.

One interesting aspect of this book is the author's personal perspective on decisions that he made to protect and strengthen his integrity. The decisions were incredibly difficult and the future of the company hung in the balance. Each time the author followed through with integrity he was rewarded and in retrospect making the easy decision (not exercising integrity) would have been disastrous.

Beyond World Class is about integrity in relationships with employees, suppliers (partners) distributors, and customers. This book goes further then many that talk about building relationships with customers. Beyond World Class shows that employees, suppliers, and distributors each have a significant hand in the ultimate satisfaction of customers. Beyond World Class highlights that beyond world class organization understand the value leading to the customer involves employees, suppliers, distributors and ultimately the customer themselves.

Beyond World Class emphasis that customer selection is an essential piece of building a beyond world-class organization. Customer selection goes beyond targeting a customer segment to selecting customers that align with your company's vision, offering, and margin guidelines. In essence you partner with your customers. Part of this partnering is seeking to find solutions to customer problems and continually increase your value to your customer. These concepts in this section alone make the book worth the price!

Beyond World Class challenges you to build the following character culture with the following characteristics:

Humility Sponsoring champions Integrity and modeling Fairness and caring

Are you up to the challenge of being Beyond World Class?

This book changed my life and the way I run my company. I never understood how much integrity led to success. After reading this book I took my small business and increased it 10 fold. Alan Ross is a genious.