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The chapters on management support of QFD are good, but not as helpful to someone trying to bootstrap QFD techniques into a organization. I don't believe that one must have much top management support in a larger organization in order to introduce QFD - a more realistic approach would be to use QFD on a succession of more tractable, smaller problems below senior management levels, then gain support from on high. I suspect that there may be some "axe grinding" in the book as the author apparently makes a living out of QFD consulting.
What would be really useful would be a resource on actual QFD case studies, even if the authors scrambled the importance weightings in order to protect any organizational secrets. In particular, I would like to see case studies as applied to more common services such as public education (imagine the utility of coming to agreement on that subject!) or company-level and department-level charters related to items such as Deming's 14 points, TRIZ, Taguchi robust design or DFSS. These subjects are fodder for true "design reuse". I would also like more discussion on cultural issues and QFD ... I find that these are issues for the determined and focused QFD student.
The QFD Handbook is also a surprise because its contributors are among some of the most respected practitioners in the world. These experts provide insight into the integration of many Quality Improvement tools into QFD. The result is an approach that provides guidance to the concurrent use of these tools which, when used in the proper context, produce an output far greater than QFD alone.
In addition to the text, facilitating software is included. QFD/Pathway provides exactly what it says, a pathway through the planning and performance of the QFD process. If one considers the knowledge base provided by the book's contributors alone, it is an excellent buy. When one adds in the software, it is invaluable.
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If you're looking for exhaustive research on sleep disorders, etc., this is definitely not what you are looking for. Most of the sources quoted in the book seem to be culled from a variety of newspapers, magazine articles, self-help books, etc. Not exactly what you would call highly scientific.
Still, for the meager cover price, it does provide some useful tips and is probably worth the money for most. At the very least, I was bored enough after reading a few pages in order to get some rest.
The quality of this book reminds one of one of those little booklets you find at the check-out aisle at K-Mart or the local grocery store. Don't expect much. Still, I found enough of the information worth reading to give it three stars.
If you have not read any tips on how to improve your sleep, this may be an "eye opener" for you. If you have done any amount of research on the subject though, you should probably skip this book, as it covers no new ground, and has little content that one could label as "original".
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