Workers Without Frontiers: The Impact Of Globalization On International Migration

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Evaluation Strategies for Communicating and Reporting: Enhancing Learning in Organizations
Rosalie T. Torres , Hallie Preskill , and Mary Piontek
Manufacturer: Sage Publications, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Evaluation in Organizations: A Systematic Approach to Enhancing Learning, Performance, and Change

The Program Evaluation Standards: 2nd Edition How to Assess Evaluations of Educational Programs

Utilization-Focused Evaluation: The New Century Text

Building Evaluation Capacity: 72 Activities for Teaching and Training

Practical Program Evaluation: Assessing and Improving Planning, Implementation, and Effectiveness

ASIN: 0761927549

Book Description

"[This is] a book that addresses some of the overlooked, taken-for-granted aspects involved with the planning, conducting, and reporting of good evaluation. This book helps evaluators improve the utilization of evaluation results by using an ongoing, integrative collaborative learning approach with project stakeholders. Through the use of collaborative techniques and emphasis on various communicating and reporting formats, evaluators gain knowledge and skills that will assist them in helping organizations learn, grow, and improve."
—Steven R. Aragon, Human Resource Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“This is among the most thorough and practically applicable texts written about communicating and reporting evaluation findings. The additions of the new sections in this edition reflect the changing nature of work-related communication in general, of which evaluators need to be aware and take advantage. This is a significant contribution to our practice.”
—Jennifer Martineau, Center for Creative Leadership

Do your communicating and reporting strategies seem outdated? Are you looking for ways to communicate more effectively? The Second Edition of Evaluation Strategies for Communicating and Reporting: Enhancing Learning in Organizations helps full-time evaluators and those with evaluation responsibilities successfully plan, conduct, communicate, and report the findings of evaluations using creative techniques. This comprehensive book is designed to help evaluators facilitate understanding, learning, and evaluation use among individuals, groups, and organizations by communicating and reporting more effectively. It guides the reader through the phases of an evaluation, from early planning stages through the final reporting and follow-up.

Evaluation Strategies for Communicating and Reporting has been thoroughly revised and updated creating 75% new material and 34 new case examples. The Second Edition provides worksheets and instructions for creating a detailed communicating and reporting plan based on audience needs and characteristics. Authors Rosalie T. Torres, Hallie Preskill, and Mary E. Piontek cover advances in technology including Web site communications, Web and videoconferencing, and Internet chat rooms. Also mentioned are several additional topics for consideration, including communicating and reporting for diverse audiences and for multi-site evaluations.

This book is intended for graduate program evaluation students in departments of education, public policy, and organizational studies. Managers, researchers, practitioners and anyone responsible for designing, conducting, or managing evaluations will find this book invaluable.

New to this Edition:

New creative coverage of communicating and reporting techniques by way of photography, cartoons, poetry, and drama in formative evaluations
New coverage of how to communicate evaluation processes and interim findings to stakeholders during the evaluation
New coverage of the use of technology in communicating and reporting evaluations, illustrated with examples, and complimented by guidelines, tips, and cautions for using these high-tech formats
Actual examples from well-known evaluators that illustrate various communicating and reporting techniques
A recap of how the latest information on learning processes mediates the way that readers and stakeholders assimilate and use information

Evaluation Strategies for Communicating and Reporting: Enhancing Learning in Organizations 2nd Edition [A book review from: Evaluation and Program Planning]

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Evaluation Strategies for Communicating and Reporting: Enhancing Learning in Organizations 2nd Edition [A book review from: Evaluation and Program Planning]
E.N. Cleek
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Elsevier | By Publisher | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B000PA9SEO

Book Description

This digital document is a journal article from Evaluation and Program Planning, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Book Description

Engage your Agriscience students in a whole new way! This exciting software package includes four separate games that cover Animal Science, Plant Science, Business and Mechanical Technology, and Forestry and Natural Resources Management. By answering questions from four categories--key terms, science connections, problem solving, and math connections--students can play against the computer or each other to reinforce their knowledge of the fundamentals of Agriscience in a fun, engaging format. Perfect for both introductory and advanced level courses, the game is perfectly priced, too: buy all four Challenge games and save over $100 off the individual game price, or enjoy the flexibility of purchasing the games individually to suit your curriculum.

Book Description

Hong Kong has a marvelously rich and diverse butterfly fauna, all contained within a relatively small area which can be seen and enjoyed within a few days outing from the central city area. An important part of the southern Chinese region, it is home to a significant proportion of the butterfly species of that part of the world. Two-hundred nineteen butterfly species in five families and 17 subfamilies have been recorded and all are described in this encyclopedic reference. A complete and up-to-date handbook on the identification, systematics, biology and ecology of the butterflies found in Hong Kong, this authoritative book includes keys, full color plates and line drawings identifying males and females, as well as eggs and papae. Throughout the book the emphasis is on the study of live animals, rather than collecting for its own sake. The authors are strong advocates for developing our understanding of butterflies in the field and the growth of our knowledge of their biology, ecology, and conservation.

Key Features:

Complete and up-to-date handbook of Hong Kong's 219 butterfly species
Covers identification, systematics, biology and ecology
Includes color plates and line drawings identifying males and females, as well as eggs and papae

Customer Reviews:

The ultimate H.K. butterfly book.......2006-05-17

This book tells you everything about Hong Kong butterflies. The photos / illustration plates add live to this wonderful book. The information is so comprehensive and useful. As an enthusiast of butterfly, I highly recommend this book (THE BIBLE OF HONG KONG BUTTERFLIES) to everyone.

Marvellous book.......2003-11-21

The most comprehensive, informative and wonderful book about butterflies of Hong Kong I have ever seen. It covers all the details you would like to know about Hong Kong butterflies. I recommend this book to those who like to explore the nature.

An outstanding production and contribution.......2000-08-17

Although this is an expensive book, it simply is the best and most definitive work on butterflies of the region. The standard of presentation is excellent. Descriptions are clear and very informative, with plenty of in text illustrations showing identification characters allowing similar species to be identified - particularly useful for the Hesperiidae. Many species are give full ecological write ups, some reared for the first time. Also included in the core text are photographs of many species taken "in the field" (mostly of good to excellent quality). Short chapters also outline Hong Kong's natural environment. The plates (in two sections: adults and immature stages) are absolutely top quality and show dorsal and ventral wing surfaces, male, female and seasonal forms at life size; the immature plates comprise photos of each stage, where known. A few negatives - local distribution data is already out of date and must be regarded as historical (a sad reflection of Hong Kong's general apathy to its natural resources); the list of contacts is also out of date!

Thoroughly recommended (I'm still saving up for my copy!), a wonderful addition to any butterfly bibliophile's portfolio and a must buy option for anyone interested in the butterflies of South-east and East Asia.

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Hong Kong butterflies
J. C. S Marsh
Manufacturer: Shell Co. of Hong Kong
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Insects & Spiders | Animals | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007JAOBE

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This Is Hong Kong Butterflies
Gweneth Johnston
Manufacturer: HONG KONG GOVERNMENT PRINTER
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000V2KMNM

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THIS IS HONG KONG: BUTTERFLIES. (SIGNED).
Gweneth & Bernard. Johnston
Manufacturer: Hong Kong Government
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000V7MDC0

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THE BUTTERFLIES OF HONG KONG
M.& F.,& Johnston, G. Bascombe
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OH2QBK

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Butterflies of Hongkong
J. C Kershaw
Manufacturer: Kelly & Walsh
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00089ZY9U

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Butterfly conservation in Hong Kong
Gweneth Johnston
Manufacturer: s.n
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Insects & Spiders | Animals | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007CDUR6

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Tsuen Wan: Wu Tip Kuk (Butterfly Valley)
Shun-fong Tsang
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Rural Planning | Urban Planning & Development | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007KFLH0

Customer Reviews:

The Rise before the Fall.......2002-11-20

There are several positives to "The Rise of Asia" by Frank B. Tipton. First, the book is deep and it deals with a breadth of subjects. Second, one of the subjects that it deals with, in some detail, is the economic development of Asia -- which we all need to understand. Third, over and above the economic development, Tipton also deals with the role of politics and international relations as factors in this book. Fourth, Tipton also records the rise of Asia as partially a factor of Nationalism. Fifth, Tipton records the role of technology as a dynamic in Asian development. Sixth, he deals with the women's issue. A heretofore-neglected issue, he has to be commended for bringing the women's issue to our attention. However, I will later indicate that he needs to bring up the women's issue in light of a larger field of social implications. Lastly, one of the greatest assets of this book is the extended bibliography. Despite the "all English" listing, it is still a valuable list of references. Let us begin by examining the breadth and depth. Tipton goes from the pre-colonial, through the colonial and then finally closes with the contemporary. Moreover, Tipton deals with both East and Southeast Asian countries. Along all these different time frames and countries, Tipton deals with the territorial governments and precepts of governance relating to these times and places. What do I mean? In other words, Tipton traces the contemporary back to pre-colonial and colonial roots of Japan, China, Japan, Korea as well as Southeast Asia. According to Samuel Huntington, in his book "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order" (also available on Amazon.com), East Asian economic development is altering the balance of power between Asia and the West. Along these same lines, Tipton's "The Rise of Asia" is a space, of the same kind, to explain the long-term economic growth in East Asia and beyond.

Tipton is clear that the rise of East Asia as an economic player in the world scene was not a sudden thing -- it was eons in the making. Tipton also explores the impact this growth will have on the world scene. The text spotlights economic development and Tipton puts economic history first. Tipton examines political and international relations as well. In this book, Tipton explores issues of politics and international relations. Tipton, in his depth and breadth is surely not quick to oversimplify anything -- he takes great pains to explain it all the best he can. Tipton knows that the neo-classical model does not fully explain the whole of East Asia. For Tipton, East Asia is limited to the Confucian based countries of Japan and the Four Tigers. In these countries, Confucianism is the basis for "Value" foundation. Tipton is aware that the difference is the extent and the form. This reviewer is under the impression the mixed system explanation is best for the 5 countries involved. Japan is the "poster child" for government intervention, where the Keiretsu is heavily involved with the government. Moreover, the Korean elite was heavily involved with the government. Countries like Singapore, Taiwan and Hong King and were less and less involved with government. Tipton is aware that it is not simply neo-classical economics but to a large extent "statist" government intervention as well. It is simply a matter of figuring how and how much. This book also deals with nationalism and its links to economic growth. Tipton is good because he looks at Asia in context. Moreover, Tipton takes seriously the impact that social structures -- such things as civic society -- have had on the "Asian Miracle." Tipton posits that the economic success of East Asia is not limited or attributed to Asian Values alone. Tipton also deals at length with importation of technology as a consequential issue, especially in East Asia. Tipton uses on whole chapter to examine the issue of women in Asia. To his credit he does rigorously reflect on the women's issue. However, Tipton needs to include the women's issue within the larger framework of all the social ramifications of such rapid growth in such a short time. Then there is the issue of Tipton's extensive 27-page bibliography. This book certainly draws from several sources. I was particularly impressed by his reference to Leah Greenfeld's "Nationalism - Five Roads to Modernity" (also available on Amazon.com) and her use of Nietzsche's Ressentiment. Despite the range and depth of the choices for reference, scholars have observed, as did this reviewer, about the lack of non-English books. Personally, as a non-expert, I would benefit from seeing more source material reference that is based on languages from the countries being studied. With a topic such as East and Southeast Asia, one would think that Tipton would include more local authors.

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Pacific Affairs, published by University of British Columbia on September 22, 2000. The length of the article is 543 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: THE RISE OF ASIA: Economics, Society and Politics in Contemporary Asia.(Review)
Author: Bill Sewell
Publication: Pacific Affairs (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 2000
Publisher: University of British Columbia
Volume: 73 Issue: 3 Page: 414

Article Type: Book Review

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The ABCs of Internet Customer Service.(Review): An article from: Alaska Business Monthly
Henry Holtzman
Manufacturer: Alaska Business Publishing Company, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: B0008IANK6
Release Date: 2005-07-28

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This digital document is an article from Alaska Business Monthly, published by Alaska Business Publishing Company, Inc. on July 1, 2001. The length of the article is 641 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The ABCs of Internet Customer Service.(Review)
Author: Henry Holtzman
Publication: Alaska Business Monthly (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 1, 2001
Publisher: Alaska Business Publishing Company, Inc.
Volume: 17 Issue: 7 Page: 13

Article Type: Book Review

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The Customer Revolution: How to Thrive When Customers Are in Control

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A Must Read - For Everyone
A good read
The internet changed everything
Creating Valuable Customer Relationships in the Internet Age
Regurtitating her visit to our company

The Customer Revolution: How to Thrive When Customers Are in Control
Patricia Seybold
Manufacturer: Random House Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 037541777X
Release Date: 2001-03-20

Amazon.com

It used to be that developing customer relationships in a mass-market economy didn't matter. All a successful company had to do was make products that people generally liked--build it and they would come. Patricia Seybold thinks those days are long gone. Thanks to the Internet, customers matter more than ever, and companies that don't get it simply won't make it. In The Customer Revolution she writes, "For the first time in the history of modern business, it's now cost-effective for companies to establish relationships with each and every customer who wants us to know him."

Seybold outlines the principles of the "customer economy" and looks at 14 companies, including Charles Schwab, Snap-on, and Hewlett-Packard, who are in the process of refocusing their businesses to meet customer needs and expectations by measuring and running their businesses on metrics such as customer satisfaction, acquisition, retention rates, and wallet share. In the customer economy, building brand means more than creating a clever logo--it requires creating an "experience that your customers love." She offers up a set of practices--what she calls a "Customer Flight Deck"--that allows companies to monitor and tune the success of their customer contacts. Customer relationships are so important, Seybold believes that a new metric of corporate reporting will emerge alongside profit and loss, return on assets, and P/E ratios--one she calls a "Customer Value Index" designed to give investors the means to measure a company's performance by looking at the present and future value of its customer base. As with her previous book Customers.com, The Customer Revolution should be required reading for managers at any company--old or new--who are assessing the real impact of the Internet on their businesses. Highly recommended. --Harry C. Edwards

Book Description

5 CDs/ 6 hours
Read by the author

The author of Customers.com--widely acknowledged as the most successful and influential book on e-commerce--provides new strategies for success that everyone in business and investing must know.

The changes brought about by the Internet revolution over the past few years are equivalent in scope, drama and impact to the first hundred years of the Industrial Revolution. The question on the mind of everyone in the worlds of business and investing is how should a company be transformed to be one of the winners in the new economy? There's no one better qualified or more experienced than Patricia Seybold to provide insight and guidance. In an audiobook that builds on the foundations she established in Customers.com, Seybold shows that the new economy is the customer E-conomy. Power is going to consumers and the companies that develop a strategy focused on this basic tenet will be the ones that best their competitors in the marketplace and make money.

Patricia Seybold has been on a worldwide quest to find the companies that will win in the new customer E-conomy. Perhaps the most powerful tools Seybold introduces are the new metrics for measuring success. Great customer experience, how good a job the firm is doing in making customer assets grow and how the overall experience of the customers translates into long-term value are the new tools for evaluation taking priority over metrics like margins and sales per square foot.

From investors looking to place their money on the long-term winners to managers of established companies worried about being ambushed by competitors that are one or two steps ahead of them, Seybold provides the insights and strategies for success.

Download Description

Patricia Seybold's Customers.com was a Wall Street Journal, Business Week, New York Times, and Amazon best-seller. With more than 200,000 copies in print, and translated into 15 languages, it is widely acknowledged as the most successful and most influential book on e-commerce. In Revolution!, Seybold identifies an essential truth of business today: the power that had been flowing to customers is rushing in a torrent. Now customers are driving business. When AOL, a $5 billion company with a depth of knowledge about its customers, bought the $28 billion Time Warner, a more traditionally oriented company with almost no such knowledge, this lesson was made dramatically clear. Seybold points to companies around the world that have devised innovative ways of operating from this revolutionary new premise -- and shows how all managers and investors can apply this outlook to their own businesses and investment strategies. Gone is the blinkered focus on old yardsticks like profit margins and sales per square foot. Central now are the metrics for success that measure customer satisfaction and loyalty. We're in the midst of an economic transformation as fundamental as that of the Industrial Revolution. Patricia Seybold reports here on the strategies that are working for the smartest companies in the new e-conomy, and that can work for every one of us as well.

Customer Reviews:

A Must Read - For Everyone.......2006-06-18

Yes, a MUST Read. Sure, it seems redundant to remind individuals - especially business owners - that customers drive business. However, this book reminded me that I am also a customer and that I control some aspects of others' business. Customer service seems to be a lost art. Many reviewers summarize the book, so allow me share a story instead.

I recently wrote a complaint letter to a furniture store - to complain about their lack of customer service. This store advertises, on several in-store banners, that customer service is at the top of their list. When I received a phone call from the corporate operations manager, he immediately asked me what I did for a living and if I dealt with customers. He wanted to appeal to my business sense about the importance of customer service. I told him that business sense has nothing to do with it. I am the customer, it doesn't matter what I do for a living. I told him that he should be applying business "common sense" toward customer service when dealing with me - the customer. However, he could not focus on the fact that I was a customer. Instead he just kept talking about how I should "know what it is like dealing with customers". He never saw me as a customer, but as another businessman. He tried to circumvent the customer relationship by attempting to build a business relationship. He failed to know or understand the three basic principles mentioned in the book: 1) Customers are in control, 2) Customer relationships count, and 3) Customer experience matters. Now if this book is so obvious, redundant, a waste of time, or a waste of money, then why didn't the corporate operations manager from this furniture store "get it"? Why are there so many people that still do not get it?

We are human and, at times, we get so busy working "IN" the business that we sometimes forget just how important customer service can be to the overall business. This book serves as a great reminder.

The book includes a framework for customer metrics - Customer Flight Deck. The authors provide a thorough overview and several examples through their case studies. By measuring active customers, retention, experience, and spending, these metrics will help you monitor the navigation, performance, operations, and environment of your company. I found the case studies, with examples of how other companies used the Customer Flight Deck, very enlightening. The Customer Flight Deck will fit nicely in the customer portion of the Balanced Scorecard.

On a final note, although the book was written in 2001 it is still very relevant. As mentioned in all the reviews, the authors drive home the point - the customer is in control. In fact, all of these reviews are a great example of the customer being in control. Look at the access and control we, as reviewers, have on Amazon.com.

A good read.......2006-03-04

The authors of this book see the world in the midst of a profound revolution. Customers, they argue, have taken control of companies' destinies. Customers are reshaping companies from the outside in. To survive in this new customer driven economy, companies need to respond to customers demands quickly, and be ready to make important changes to products and services. There are three principles which underpin this new customer economy:
· Customers are in control
· Customer relationships count
· Customer experience matters

The authors present eight steps to a great branded customer experience:

· Create a compelling brand experience
· Deliver a seamless experience across channels and touchpoints
· Care about customers and their outcomes
· Measure what matters to customers
· Hone operational excellence
· Value customers time
· Place customer DNA at the core
· Design to Morph

Some customer demands in this digital economy include:
· Open, equal access to resources and information
· Real-time information
· Specialist information
· Convenient access
· Information that is easily portable
· Process transparency
· Logistics transparency
· Pricing transparency
· Fair, global pricing
· The ability to set prices
· Choice in distribution channels
· Control over customer information

The internet changed everything.......2004-12-12

1. Customers are in Control
a. Customers will try before they buy
b. Customers will buy by the piece
c. Customers will mix and match
d. Customers will want to share with others
e. Customers will publish their own mixes
f. Customers will want to cobrand their own mixes.
2. Customer Demand will change your business
a. Open, Equal Access
b. Real-Time Information
c. Specialist Information
d. Convenient Access
e. Information Portability
f. Process Transparency
g. Pricing Transparency
h. Fair, Global Pricing
i. The Ability to set price
j. Choice of Distribution Channel
k. Control over their information
3. Customer Relationships Count
a. Dot Com bust spend too much money and time on advertising and brand. The next generation will spend more money on process efficiency, responsiveness in execution, service oriented communication, and dependable consistent delivery.
b. Deep relationships are more valuable than shallow ones
c. Companies will start measuring not only earnings but customer capital or the value of each customer as a ratio of the dollar value of the company.
d. Customer Tracking: how many customers; who are the customers customer; what are the profits per customer; what do the customers care about; how to satisfy the customer; and actions to keep customer loyalty.
4. Customer Experience Matters
a. Create a brand that customer enjoy
b. Build Strong relationships
c. Establish Trust
d. Plan the customer experience.
e. Sustain the customer experience
f. Become an internet brand
g Begin with simple functionality
h. Help customers get online
i. Manage by customer value

The flip side to the book centers on the case analysis of egg banking. Egg banking seemed to prosper in rapid growth by listening to the customer research and building a business model centered on the customer: Better savings accounts (top rates regardless of deposit amount), Flexible mortgage loans (suspension of payments or trading mortgages for better terms), and more convenient service (internet banking). In 1998, after six months of business Egg had 500,000 customers and $9.5 billion in deposits. By fall of 2000, Egg came under investor pressure to become more profitable. The company moved away from loss rate interest rates causing customers to withdraw $443 million in three months. Since Egg is not the largest bank in the world, the phenonmena was a short trend burst. The large banks still maintain control of the banking masses. The large banks manage profit and loss on the margin and attempt to defend against distruptive technology and business models. However, eggs initialiate customer reaction can not be ignored and demostrates the potential for a customer revolution in all sectors of business, if business give the customer what they want.

One trememdous weakeness in Egg Bank was that it had a difficultly in identify its core central businesses functions and dominating them. Instead Egg made the mistake of diversifing into too many area many of which it did not have expertise: credit cards, online shopping, and mortgages which destablized their income profits and profits force business decision. Ignoring P&L is fatal to any business because of the investors. Investors influence businesses decision and must be an important weight in addition to being customer centric. It is a rubber band pulling between the customer, investor, and the entreprenaur.

Creating Valuable Customer Relationships in the Internet Age.......2004-05-12

Patricia Seybold and her co-authors, Ronni T. Marshak and Jeffrey M. Lewis, have taken the familiar concept of establishing customer relationships as the basis of a company's success and updated the notion into the current day and its new technology, the Internet. The book is soundly based on lasting principles about successful customer focus, and details what that means now in many interesting and detailed examples. The book is strengthened by critiques of the weaknesses of some of the most successful companies, such as Charles Schwab and Grainger.

Here are the principles:

(1) Customers are in control. This point is made with the example of Napster, and the way this enabled people to change the way they acquired and used recorded music. Customers are going to reshape businesses by their behavior, and you had better be ready to respond. The recording companies were not, and great economic harm ensued as well as a slow down in the development of new acts.

(2) Customer relationships count. The book points out that your economic value as a firm is related to how many customers you can attract and keep, and profitably supply. The authors argue that this will become a formal part of security analyst reports in the future. That would be progress over the way they value companies now!

(3) Customer experience matters. This section focuses on how people feel emotionally about how they are being treated, and contains an interesting example of the on-line financial institution, Egg.

The book then shifts into eight areas to focus on that supplement the list from their last book, which I have paraphrased:

(1) Memorable, compelling, and desirable brand personalities

(2) Smooth, continuous customer experience across channels and points of contact

(3) Genuine caring about customers and the outcomes they experience

(4) Measure how you are doing in what matters to customers

(5) Improve your operational excellence

(6) Make careful use of customers' time

(7) Integrate customer preferences and information into the company and its interactions

(8) Create products, services, and processes that can be quickly transformed as customers shift their focus.

The book addresses how all of this can be better managed, and proposes a "flight plan" approach managed by a "Customer Flight Deck" that keeps the enterprise focused on what is most important. Essentially, the Customer Flight Deck is the customer focus part of a Balanced Scorecard. In fact, you would do well to read this book in conjunction with The Strategy-Focused Organization for the most benefit. The book has several Customer Flight Decks written out about the key examples employed by the authors. I thought these were well done and helpful for applying the authors' concepts and advice.

The book is rich in quotes that help focus your attention. Here are a few of my favorites:

" . . . [R]unning a business in today's Internet-enabled era is like trying to fly a plane [while] . . . replacing the engine."

"Customers have taken control of our companies' destinies."

" . . . [C]ustomers now have access to information that lets them make informed decisions [for the first time]."

I found it easy to relate to this book because so many of the examples are familiar to me both as a customer and as a student of business. The advice to be sparing of customer time and provide coordinated contacts is going to be hard for most companies to follow, but they need to start down that path. I am constantly struck by how much time I have to waste to buy from companies, and how the one hand has no clue about how to help me with something that the other hand knows.

When this era is finally history, I suspect that companies will be divided into two categories: Those who used information to make customers' lives easier and more pleasant, and those who created technology (like endless voice mail chains) that drove customers crazy. Hopefully, the latter will soon be dead as a dodo. In which category will your company be?

I suggest that you ask yourself constantly, "What have I done to make life better and easier for my customers today?"

If you think about customer relationships as being like what a good hostess or host does, you should do well . . . as long as you implement your ideas.

Regurtitating her visit to our company.......2003-03-03

I worked for one of the companies analyzed (and praised) in her book. She spent a few days with us, and we presented our Web strategies, which were not very strong at the time. She presented material from her Customers.com book (which I enjoyed more than this book). And then she pointed out many problems with our Web strategies (many of which we knew...but being a large company, we were having difficulty changing). Imagine my surprise when I listened to this book and heard her praise our company. She should be in PR...she made us sound a lot better than we were!

Book Description

The revised version of the Swiss Federal Statute on Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy (SchKG) of 11th April 1889, came into force on 1st January 1997. This statute is the principal source of rules on insolvency in Switzerland. The revision represents a considerable amendment. The statutory text exists in official German, French, and Italian versions. This book offers an English translation of the 350 articles and the provisions of penal law referred to in the Statute. The book also features + a concise outline of debt enforcement procedures against natural persons and legal entities and + an English translation of Articles 166 to 175 of the Federal Statute on Private International Law of 18th December 1987 relating to the recognition in Switzerland of foreign bankruptcy decrees and arrangements with creditors. Swiss and non-Swiss practitioners and scholars will find this a useful resource in understanding and applying this wholly altered law.

Swiss debt enforcement and bankruptcy law: English translation of the amended Federal Statute on Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy (SchKG) : with an introduction ... to Swiss debt enforcement and bankruptcy law

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Swiss debt enforcement and bankruptcy law: English translation of the amended Federal Statute on Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy (SchKG) : with an introduction ... to Swiss debt enforcement and bankruptcy law
Switzerland
Manufacturer: Kluwer Law International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3725536511

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