A great book. The name says it all

This book is the most excellent book I have ever read in TQM. The book's foreword is written by Quality Guru Armand V. Feigenbaum. Also, this book is highly praised by all quality gurus including Philip B. Crosby, Genichi Taguchi, and J.D. Power III. The authors explained how an effective quality systems to be implemented in any size of organization. This book is for any types of industry, not only for automotive. Every case study featured in the book is also reviewed by the renowned faculty from HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL and MIT's SLOAN MANAGEMENT SCHOOL. I highly recommend this book without any reservation.

An excellent study from 26 distinguished thinkers and authors. As written by S.Chowdhury, "the book you are reading reveals the collective thoughts and visions of some of the world's great minds...Management 21C brings together visions for the new millennium in one concise book, allowing you to understand the changes happening now and what changes you can expect. The future of business will be different : whose versions are you reading?...Management 21C is for those who believe in creative war, for those who inspire other people, for those who believe in others and not just themselves, for those who celebrate diversity, for those who constantly search for a dream, for those who want to reshape the world of tomorrow. Someday we'll all manage this way (from the Preface p.xiii)."

In this context, for instance :

* J.M.Kouzes and B.Z.Posner introduce "The Janusian Leader"-the leader with the capacity to look forward and back, to preside over endings and beginnings, sunsets and daybreaks. They also present seven key lessons that stand the test of time and are worthy of being carried with us from one millennium to another (see pp.17-32).

* S.Ghoshal, C.A.Bartlett and P.Moran suggest : "When the solution to a recurring problem is always 'Try harder', there is usually something wrong with the terms, not the execution. So it is time for both managers and management academics to throw out the old paradigm and to start experimenting with new, more fertile possibilities (see pp.121-140)."

* C.K.Prahalad argues : "In the new millennium, the methods and skills needed to manage large and small organizations will be different from those needed to be successful during the past three decades. Newer concepts and tools will emerge." He then discusses the emerging nature of managerial work and suggests that this transformation of managerial work will demand basic organizational innovations (see pp.141-150).

* P.M.Senge and K.H.Kaufer write : "Faced with profoundly new business realities-unprecedented demands from global competition, new technologies, emerging markets, possible mergers and alliances, and growing environmental pressures-many companies are falling back on old leadership habits...Rather than making executives less important, we argue that understanding leadership communities brings the unique roles of executive leaders into much clearer relief, as it does the roles for other types of leaders- all of whom will ultimately depend upon one another in creating successful 21st century enterprises (see pp.186-204)."

* D.Ulrich suggests : "Since the future is unpredictable but coming anyway, we need to prepare as best we can by projecting about context, organization and people." He then gives his observations about the contextual factors impacting on organizations, how organizations will operate, and how individuals must prepare themselves today to respond tomorrow (see pp.235-249).

* R.Moss Kanter argues : "Brainpower is to the global information economy as oil was to the industrial economy...Business leaders increasingly understand that one of their new roles in the 21st century is to contribute to creating such environments in the communities in which their companies operate. World-class leaders will be cosmopolitans who avoid insularity, enjoy the challenge of confronting new and different ideas, encourage cross-fertilization and learning across boundaries, and support their people in developing and using their brainpower in pursuit of innovation (see pp.250-261)."

Highly recommended.

I read Chowdhury's previous bestselling book THE POWER OF SIX SIGMA in which he explained complex topic like Six Sigma in entaining way. And one of the important element of Six Sigma as Chowdhury explained "PEOPLE POWER". His latest book "THE TALENT ERA" reemphasizes the power of talented people to any type or size of organizations.

If you want to read only one business book this year, BUY this book and READ each chapter very carefully. Each chapter presents NEW and INNOVATIVE IDEAS in the field of Talent management. Chowdhury's "7 SECRETS of Talent" is a MASTERPIECE Chapter I read in a business book after a long time - it is INSPIRATIONAL. This book should be in every manager's reading list in this economic turbulant time. As managers want to CUT people during tough time, but Chowdhury argues that PEOPLE is the MOST IMPORTANT ASSET of an organization and make sure that you are not getting rid of TALENTED PEOPLE. Chowdhury's theory of RETURN ON TALENT and The Talent Scorecard are very powerful and fresh in management literature plus it is practical.

I strongly recommend this book to everyone.

I read this book as an introduction to the concept of Design for Six Sigma. My motivation to do this was that my company has begun implementing the management technique. Like Mr. Chowdhury's preceding book The Power of Six Sigma, this book has some serious flaws.

First of all, despite being a better-written book than the previous "Power" book, it is still hampered by a jumble of unrelated examples and metaphors. In this installment the master has become the disillusioned student and his student has become the confident master.

This book does provide a basic overview of Design for Six Sigma, but once attain is a cleverly disguised attempt to make money by exploiting the latest management buzz.

This books is slightly longer that The Power of Six Sigma. However, the author's writing style continues to distract you from easily learning the information.

My recommendation is to check it out from the library if you really want to read the book for the basic introduction to Design for Six Sigma.

This book explains the advantages of investing in DFSS; it emphasizes that stopping at Six Sigma is not good enough because one can not go beyond 5 Sigma. Subir Chowdhury narrates the DFSS process in a very refreshing and anecdotal way. If you like reading stories and upshots, this is the book for you. Prior knowledge of Six Sigma is not required. This book only gives a high-level overview of how DMADV or DMEDDI or IDDOV was applied by a restaurant chain. I would recommend buying another thick book to get all the nitty gritty details like QFD or Robust Design Optimization because the method is as important as the result

This book is not so much a how to do Design for Six Sigma, but why. It is a very easy read with an entertaining style. I keep copies around to loan out, and occasionally to refer to.

Its greatest asset for me was providing a big picture that helped explain what DFSS is to those who don't yet know the details. If you try to explain DFSS to people by jumping into the details of how to do it, they often won't have the patience to hear you out. This book helped me answer the most basic questions like "What do all the different DFSS programs have in common?".

Because it is such an easy and entertaining read, it can be used to generate enthusiasm in the team. It is definitely not a dry technical book.

Be prepared to order more books that give more detail on how to do DFSS.

Six Sigma is a NEW management initiative which has been successful in GE, Allied Signal etc. I always wanted to learn about the subject; and bought 2 previously published books on Six Sigma and all are DIFFICULT to understand as I am not from Quality field. I always embrace any book which explains in a simple tone.

The Power of Six Sigma is an EXCELLENT book that explains the complex subject in a non-threatning way for anyone to understand. The book reminded me 3 books: "THE GOAL", WHO MOVED MY CHEESE" or "FISH". If someone wants to understand what is the true power behind Six Sigma, please READ THIS BOOK. This is a STORY BOOK, which is for blue collars to white collars - for everyone.

All the organizations which are implementing Six Sigma MUST ADOPT THIS BOOK and MUST DISTRIBUTE THIS BOOK to EVERY EMPLOYEE. I mean every employee. I emphasize EVERYONE - because successful implementation of any major initiatives depend on everyone's acceptance. This Book WILL work as A CATALYST.

I strongly RECOMMEND THIS BOOK.

I just finished reading "The Power of Six Sigma" and enjoyed it more than I had expected. My company is starting to implement Six Sigma and I wanted to get a jump on my other fellow employees. I read it over the course of a week during my lunch break, and because it is not overly technical enjoyed doing so. I always hated textbooks back in school because it seemed they were written by experts for experts and not for real people. I'm not a mechanical engineer and I'm no statistics expert but I have used statistics software before in school and now have a working knowledge of the concepts of Six Sigma. In addition to learning the basics such as what greenbelts, blackbelts, and executive champions are, I now understand terms such as DPMO, Critical to Quality, DMAIC, Standard Deviation, and the importance of assigning numbers to measurements. The explanation of the DMAIC process was also helpful, and although we don't make pizza or burgers we can apply the main concepts and adapt them to our business and develop our own strategy for how Six Sigma will work for us. We have recently chosen our first project and because I had read the book I could explain the main concepts to my line workers. Once they knew what we were doing they opened up to us and we quickly found the cause of the problem. Our shop guys always seem to get nervous whenever someone from the office comes out to the plant to examine a defect. But if they all knew about Six Sigma and understood that we were not out their to challenge their job, but instead to improve quality, things would go a lot smoother and quality would be better. I am now a big fan of the book!

Wow!!! This book made my day. It took me only 2 hours to read on the flight. I was extremely fascinated. I am a "worker bee" as defined by the author. As the author wrote in the PREFACE, "Most of all, this book is for the REST OF US: the line workers, support staff, and others in nonmanagerial positions who fear yet another program coming down the pike and what it might mean to US and our jobs. This book will help us ALL." The author kept his PROMISE.

My organization has adopted Six Sigma and currently conducting Black Belt, Green Belt Training etc., but it failed to effectively communicate the Six Sigma methodology to everyone of the organization. As soon as I see the subtitle: An INSPIRING TALE of how Six Sigma is tranforming the way we work; 2 words got my attention : INSPIRING TALE. I am totally honest that I can relate myself as the book's character : Joe. I wish I have a friend like book's another character (Larry) so that he can explain me the Complicated SUBJECT so plainfully. This book simplified everything.

Author's analogy on Six Sigma is BRILLIANT. In summary, the author defined: The Power of Six Sigma = PEOPLE Power + PROCESS Power The author is absolutely correct. Most of the time, senior management forget about the PEOPLE POWER. Author wrote: "One of the most important elecments of Six Sigma is the role everyone plays," he said. "This is the People Power side of the equation. Any football coach will tell you the same thing: Every player must have specific role, clearly defined, with consequences for not coming through and rewards for doing their particular job well. And that goes for everyone, from the quarterback to the waterboy." Perhaps, the most powerful thing of the book is the simple real life examples author used to clarify the complex subject. Both characters Joe and Larry used a very lively conversational style sometimes I totally forgot I am reading a Business Book. Hope in the 21st century we have MORE this kind of books and authors.

When the book is defining the Process Power, I loved the "DMAIC" process - it is convincing that this process works, it is not a program of the month. READ Page 93, and look at the PULL Quote and you will discover how enjoyable reading it is.

In the end, as a reader I STONGLY RECOMMEND this book to everyone. After reading it myself I gave the book to my wife to read it as she works for a Jewellary shop. Even a Jewellary shop manager will have fun reading it and will wonder "Why her organization does not practice Six Sigma?"

Top Management of any type of organizations (who are struggling to COMMUNICATE SIX SIGMA methodology effectively to every employee) MUST ADOPT THIS BOOK and distribute to the whole workforce.

Management 21C is overall an average management book. Nothing exciting or compulsory for the bookshelf. Recommended for students or bland-textbook readers only.

The book consists of short chapters that cover "hot management" topics. The book would be suitable for those who have no idea of the business issues facing organizations today. Personally, I found the book too generic with too much usual theoretical talk and lacked thought provoking ideas / examples. Examples were short and isolated. The writers seemed to be mashing too many quotes and popular ideas into short chapters. Overall, the readability of the book was bland and I found it to be a good book for bedtime reading rather than a book to learn about how to tackle the latest management issues.

I would recommend considering books like "profit patterns" or "management challenges for the 21st century" before this book.

I purchased this as a text for doctoral leadership class and have to say that it was a hit or miss work. Some of the pieces are excellent, and some of them are pedestrian. I still value the purchase because of the nuggets mixed among the rubble.

An excellent study from 26 distinguished thinkers and authors. As written by S.Chowdhury, "the book you are reading reveals the collective thoughts and visions of some of the world's great minds...Management 21C brings together visions for the new millennium in one concise book, allowing you to understand the changes happening now and what changes you can expect. The future of business will be different : whose versions are you reading?...Management 21C is for those who believe in creative war, for those who inspire other people, for those who believe in others and not just themselves, for those who celebrate diversity, for those who constantly search for a dream, for those who want to reshape the world of tomorrow. Someday we'll all manage this way (from the Preface p.xiii)."

In this context, for instance :

* J.M.Kouzes and B.Z.Posner introduce "The Janusian Leader"-the leader with the capacity to look forward and back, to preside over endings and beginnings, sunsets and daybreaks. They also present seven key lessons that stand the test of time and are worthy of being carried with us from one millennium to another (see pp.17-32).

* S.Ghoshal, C.A.Bartlett and P.Moran suggest : "When the solution to a recurring problem is always 'Try harder', there is usually something wrong with the terms, not the execution. So it is time for both managers and management academics to throw out the old paradigm and to start experimenting with new, more fertile possibilities (see pp.121-140)."

* C.K.Prahalad argues : "In the new millennium, the methods and skills needed to manage large and small organizations will be different from those needed to be successful during the past three decades. Newer concepts and tools will emerge." He then discusses the emerging nature of managerial work and suggests that this transformation of managerial work will demand basic organizational innovations (see pp.141-150).

* P.M.Senge and K.H.Kaufer write : "Faced with profoundly new business realities-unprecedented demands from global competition, new technologies, emerging markets, possible mergers and alliances, and growing environmental pressures-many companies are falling back on old leadership habits...Rather than making executives less important, we argue that understanding leadership communities brings the unique roles of executive leaders into much clearer relief, as it does the roles for other types of leaders- all of whom will ultimately depend upon one another in creating successful 21st century enterprises (see pp.186-204)."

* D.Ulrich suggests : "Since the future is unpredictable but coming anyway, we need to prepare as best we can by projecting about context, organization and people." He then gives his observations about the contextual factors impacting on organizations, how organizations will operate, and how individuals must prepare themselves today to respond tomorrow (see pp.235-249).

* R.Moss Kanter argues : "Brainpower is to the global information economy as oil was to the industrial economy...Business leaders increasingly understand that one of their new roles in the 21st century is to contribute to creating such environments in the communities in which their companies operate. World-class leaders will be cosmopolitans who avoid insularity, enjoy the challenge of confronting new and different ideas, encourage cross-fertilization and learning across boundaries, and support their people in developing and using their brainpower in pursuit of innovation (see pp.250-261)."

I highly recommend.

This book may appeal to middle management or executive level managers who are taking a first pass at DFSS and are not familiar with Six Sigma in general. Frankly, this book is a waste to time if you are looking for a meaty how-to on how to implement design for six sigma at your company. The author keeps telling the reader about the power of DFSS but lacks the substance to get you there. It is written as if it were a lengthy abstract to another textbook.

If you want to buy a gift for your boss--you're all set.

If you want a useful reference volume on DFSS look elsewhere.

Sean
ASQ Six Sigma Blackbelt

This is a good book for a novice or executive who wants a quick and high level overview of DFSS. Don't expect to learn the details of DFSS or any substantive methods to implement DFSS.

The book lacks substance and pertinent examples. Chapter Six on Optimize the Design is very weak. The sections on Taguchi Loss Function, Parameter design, Tolerance design, and TRIZ provide a superficial coverage with no in-depth explanation or detailed examples. Additionally, the discussion on concept evalutions (criteria or prioritization matrix and Pugh matrix) are also very superficial.

The book is an easy read and provides a nice high-level overview, but those looking for details and solid examples should not consider this book.

This is a good book if you only want to know what DFSS is about.
It describes the tools like QFD, TRIZ, FMEA and Taguchi Robust design but really doesn't teach you to apply any of these. There aren't real life examples with calculations so you can learn to apply these methods. The book spends too much on the management side and very little on applying the real DFSS tools.

I'm also surprised by 4 stars & other praises of this book (e.g., Fortune).

the book should be renamed "Case Studies of Taguchi Method" and the "authors" should be renamed as "editors"

it also does not telll you the method & its statistical basis, its strength & weakness compared with other methods, its assumptions and so forth. In addition, it lacks a biblography. Overall, we are just supposed to take a leap of faith. Overall, the book feel like "informercial"

I am a little bemused by the previous reviews. Being a practicing engineer, I had hoped for an more rigorous introduction to applying robust engineering principles, coupled to real life engineering examples. What I got was essentially a book length advertisement aimed at people who don't need or want to know how to do it, merely order someone else to apply the techniques. If you are a manager considering implementing robust engineering practices and design of experiments, by all means, read the book and convince yourself and your boss it is the way to go. If you actually want to use the techniques, buy a different book.

Robust Engineering book is the world wide collections of best case studies of Robust Engineering. In Chapter 1 and 2 authors gave a basic explanation of Robust Engineering and implementation strategy which is very easy to understand for any reader. This is book is the absolute necessary for any leaders, managers or engineers who want to re-shape their organization and by reading this book they will understand the powerfulness of Robust Engineering.

this is not a pretty book, either visually (ugly typesetting) or content. i'm glad it's printed on recycled paper. otherwise, it would be a bigger waste of trees. Mc-Graw's standard seems to have gone downhill.

Some examples are quite intesreting. however, this book should really be called "Case Studies by Mahalanobis-Taguchi System" cause it really does not tell you much about the methodogy, its limitations, and its statistical basis. also it's assumption (e.g., linearity of a system) has never been clearly stated. that is not a scientic method.

Furthermore, there's no bibliography of good references about the method, except the incestuous self-referencing.

I also do not recommend the other book on Taguchi method by Dr. Taguchi et. al.