Average customer rating:
- It was a good deal too
- Theoretical background for Operations Management - setting a new standard
- written with the heart of a teacher
- Exceptional enlightened and insightful!
- Excellent and valuable book
|
Factory Physics Second Edition
Wallace Hopp , and
Mark Spearman
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill/Irwin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Industrial
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Management
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Operations Research
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Quality Control
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Industrial, Manufacturing & Operational Systems
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Manufacturing
| Industrial, Manufacturing & Operational Systems
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Production, Operation & Management
| Industrial, Manufacturing & Operational Systems
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
History of Technology
| Technology
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Industrial
| Industrial Engineering
| McGraw-Hill Engineering Store
| McGraw-Hill
| By Publisher
| Books
Industrial
| Engineering
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
General
| Business & Finance
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
Quantitative Business
| Business & Finance
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
General
| Physics
| Sciences
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Business & Investing
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Value Stream Management
-
Modeling and Analysis of Manufacturing Systems
-
The Toyota Way
-
The Goal
-
Lean Thinking : Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, Revised and Updated
ASIN: 0256247951 |
Book Description
Comprehensive Introduction to Manufacturing Management text covering the behavior laws at work in factories. Examines operating policies and strategic objectives. Hopp presents the concepts of manufacturing processes and controls within a "physics" or "laws of nature" analogy--a novel approach. There is enough quantitative material for an engineer's course, as well as narrative that a management major can understand and apply.
Customer Reviews:
It was a good deal too.......2007-08-16
The Book was in Excellent shape. It was a good deal too
thank you
Theoretical background for Operations Management - setting a new standard.......2006-10-03
This book provides you with the fundamental insights of manufacturing and assembly. Even though I do not like statistics to much, the book is written in a understandable manner and provides the fundamental knowledge to understand what is going on in manufacturing. Based on this knowledge, the flaw of MRP-systems are even explained as well as the basics of JIT/Lean. The book provides mainly the hardfacts of this science and for practical people, reading first Quick-Response-Manufacturing (from Rajan Suri) might be the easier way for many of us and gives you the motivation to take a deeper look later on - as provided by Factory Physics.
Factory Physics describes not only how to describe a single workstation and the interactions between many of them, than as well the great importance of variability reduction in a production line and how to analyse it. CONWIP-lines, as a mix of push-pull, are a central key in this book and a simple way to analyse the performance of any system is provided by the book. This book, together with Quick-Response-Manufacturing (this book includes important softfactores as well) have changed drastically my way of operational thinking and given me a sense, which system to apply (QRM or JIT/Lean) and why. The insight can even be used for services as well. One central point is the utilisation of a workstation and the knowledge, that the more you reduce variability in arrivals and processing, the higher the utilisation can be - still achieving low lead times. You will find as well important and simple laws helping you out in the daily business (Little's law and queueing theory).
As for JIT/Lean, lead time reduction can use the same japanese tools:
- SMED: setup-time reduction (lot sizes for reduction in lead time and WIP)
- TPM: productive maintenance (higher machine availability and decrease of variability)
- ZQC: fool-proof quality inspection for Zero defects (against capacity lost and to decrease variability)
All the books mentionned above, have a big advantage over traditional SCM-books: they provide you with a framework how to trim a single chain-element of the supply-chain and therefore how to built the whole supply chain. The operational strategy should be derived from the overall company strategy and with this new insights you can tailor a unique production system that fits your company's goals - or even give you an advantage over your competition. Anyway, it will not make obsolet the importance of having a sound and consistant overall business strategy (for your markets) first!
Enjoy reading, Best Regards
written with the heart of a teacher.......2006-03-13
Though the two authors are consultants, they are foremost - teachers. What is useful, and kind to a degree, is they put an effort to explain the numbers as pragmatic as possible. That idea made this book very accessible. To the industrial engineers or those who are involved (and passionate) in operations or in understanding systems - next to the Industrial Engineering Handboook, this should be in our library.
Exceptional enlightened and insightful!.......2006-02-18
I found this book to be very insightful. It helps to explain many of my own observations in my factory. The authors did an excellent job of explaining the key concepts using only average use of mathematics and in simple layman's terms. The readers will only need basic mathematics/beginner calculus, and basic statistics. Reading it was like discovering new ideas to implement in the factory to quickly realize efficiencies and cost savings. It was one of the best books I have laid eyes on in a very long time.
I highly recommend this book for every mfg and production engineers working in assembly or automation-driven factory. This book is not applicable to chemical processing, thus may not bring significant values to chemical or petroleum engineers.
Excellent and valuable book.......2005-12-23
This is the best course textbook I have had so far over about ten industrial engineering courses (and I have had some very good textbooks and courses). The book basically describes how to analyze and improve manufacturing operations through examining key areas that include: variability and its sources, push and pull systems, and supply chain management.
The authors approach is to present ideas in a very clear and relevant way. What I particularly like is that they do a great job putting things into perspective in a style that is highly readable. While there is some math involved if one wants to delve into the details that are in side notes, a basic understanding of calculus is more than sufficient. The authors are clearly very bright and, more importantly, are able to communicate very effectively and with a sense of humor.
This book can definitely be read on a stand-alone basis outside of a school environment. Many of the central ideas are very valuable.
Amazon.com
In Natural Capitalism, three top strategists show how leading-edge companies are practicing "a new type of industrialism" that is more efficient and profitable while saving the environment and creating jobs. Paul Hawken and Amory and Hunter Lovins write that in the next century, cars will get 200 miles per gallon without compromising safety and power, manufacturers will relentlessly recycle their products, and the world's standard of living will jump without further damaging natural resources. "Is this the vision of a utopia? In fact, the changes described here could come about in the decades to come as the result of economic and technological trends already in place," the authors write.
They call their approach natural capitalism because it's based on the principle that business can be good for the environment. For instance, Interface of Atlanta doubled revenues and employment and tripled profits by creating an environmentally friendly system of recycling floor coverings for businesses. The authors also describe how the next generation of cars is closer than we might think. Manufacturers are already perfecting vehicles that are ultralight, aerodynamic, and fueled by hybrid gas-electric systems. If natural capitalism continues to blossom, so much money and resources will be saved that societies will be able to focus on issues such as housing, contend Hawken, author of a book and PBS series called Growing a Business, and the Lovinses, who cofounded and directed the Rocky Mountain Institute, an environmental think tank. The book is a fascinating and provocative read for public-policy makers, as well as environmentalists and capitalists alike. --Dan Ring
Book Description
In Natural Capitalism, three top strategists show how leading-edge companies are practicing "a new type of industrialism" that is more efficient and profitable while saving the environment and creating jobs. Paul Hawken and Amory and Hunter Lovins write that in the next century, cars will get 200 miles per gallon without compromising safety and power, manufacturers will relentlessly recycle their products, and the world's standard of living will jump without further damaging natural resources. "Is this the vision of a utopia?In fact, the changes described here could come about in the decades to come as the result of economic and technological trends already in place," the authors write.They call their approach natural capitalism because it's based on the principle that business can be good for the environment. For instance, Interface of Atlanta doubled revenues and employment and tripled profits by creating an environmentally friendly system of recycling floor coverings for businesses. The authors also describe how the next generation of cars is closer than we might think. Manufacturers are already perfecting vehicles that are ultralight, aerodynamic, and fueled by hybrid gas-electric systems. If natural capitalism continues to blossom, so much money and resources will be saved that societies will be able to focus on issues such as housing, contend Hawken, author of a book and PBS series called Growing a Business, and the Lovinses, who cofounded and directed the Rocky Mountain Institute, an environmental think tank. The book is a fascinating and provocative read for public-policy makers, as well as environmentalists and capitalists alike. --Dan Ring
Customer Reviews:
Great book. Innovative and still readable. .......2007-10-10
This is more than one book's worth of information. Years of research and innovation are woven together tightly and the result is an extremely informative book that is also a page turner.
The book includes enough technical detail to be of use to current experts in the field and the writing makes the data accessible to the newbie as well.
This would be a particularly good read for anyone in business who's looking to improve the bottom line while simultanteously lessoning the negative impact of operations on the planet. The authors show clearly how businesses can reduce costs by implementing eco-friendly practices.
Great for Green Building..........2007-10-05
this is a great resource for anyone wanting to learn more about sustainable building practices and how they can affect your bottom line. I recommend it for architects, designers and developers alike.
Excellent environmental analysis, clear direction!.......2007-10-04
This book provides a wealth of environmental analysis, including well-considered advice for policymakers at every level (from federal down to county). Also there is solid information for residential/condominium owners. The section that describes and designs how low-end residential units can sell energy back to the grid and raise their standard of living was exceptionally well-written. I am still reading the rest of the book and have not stopped since I first picked it up.
Great solutions to in-depth problems.......2007-09-30
I've only read the first two chapters, but its very motivating. The authors creatively give solutions to the environmental problems of the world. They fully understand the problems at hand, analyze them completely and give valuable ideas for probably and realistic solutions.
A more complete view of the economy.......2007-09-19
This book shows how our current view of the environment is flawed. It brings us from viewing the environment as something too vast to be harmed, to understanding that technology has given humanity the ability to profoundly affect the environment. The book presents a good argument as to why we need to see nature as part of the economic cycle and factor its use into how we use and manage the earth's resources.
Book Description
The Industrial Revolution has sometimes been regarded as a catastrophe which desecrated the English landscape and brought social opporession and appalling physical hardship to the workers. In this book, however, it is presented as an important and beneficial mark of progress. In spite of destructive wars and a rapid growth of population, the material living standards of most of the British people improved, and the technical innovations not only brought economic rewards but also provoked greater intellectual ingenuity. Innovation is therefore seen by Ashton not just as an economic course but as a social and cultural process influenced by factors such as war and peace and the framework of law and institutions. Lucidly argued and authoritative, this bookplaces the phenomenon of the Industrial Revolution in a stimulating perpsective. A new Preface by Professor Pat Hudson outlines the results of recent research precipitated by Ashton's themes: the true causes of population growth in the eighteenth century, the nature of the supply of capital, and the new approaches to labour studies amongst others. This Preface places The Industrial Revolution in its contemporary context, and a new thoroughly updated bibliography means that fifty years on, Ashton's work can continue to be of value to modern readers.
Customer Reviews:
A solid, no-nonsense book about an important subject.......1999-10-12
First published in 1948, this book has gone through many editions, the latest, as we can see here, put out in 1998. I recently read the 1964 edition, picked up long ago at a booksale in Melbourne, Australia. Ashton's work is probably timeless. It is a down-to-earth, very well reasoned history of the various historical tendencies and phenomena that together are called "the industrial revolution". I cannot vouch for this volume being absolutely correct. The author does not have much time for those who dwell on the evils of industrialization, or who want to include class struggle in their analysis. Though I was not fully convinced of this, still I was willing to listen. Not being an expert in the field, I was looking for a decent explanation or summary of the whole process. I definitely got my money's worth in Ashton's book. It is well-written, without jargon and without presumption of vast historical knowledge on the part of the reader. It gives you an overview of such various fields as population growth, early forms of industry in England, the technical innovations, capital, banking, labor unions, conditions of workers, industrialists' clubs, and relation of agriculture to industry. Though I found the part about banks and interest rather rough going, it was entirely due to my own poor understanding of the field. My edition could have used a map. The shires, the rivers, and the many towns of England are not all imprinted firmly in the brains of North Americans. Other than that, I would heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their understanding of the Industrial Revolution.
simply delightful to read as well as a thorough resource.......1998-12-04
I can't believe I'm the first to write about this. I bought this a few years back while a graduate student in modern European history. My focus was primarily industrialization. This book is a joy. Ashton provides a thorough picture of the Revolution from several perspectives. He describes how events and developments built upon each other and how the innovators fed each others efforts. Most importantly, Ashton is a terrific writer. Other books on this and like topics can be as dry as the Sahara. Ashton is engaging and witty. This is not a book that requires a terrifically large committment. Even if you are not a student but simply interested in the topic, please read this.
Book Description
The remarkable new strategy to implement lean manufacturing and improve quality, cost, and delivery. Understand why traditional improvement strategies don't work, and why Kaizen Events are the ideal tool to achieve breakthrough results. How to grow your own internal Kaizen Event leaders even if you start with outside consultants. Review a checklist of preparatory steps you must take to lead your kaizen team to success. Understand the results your Kaizen Events should deliver, and how to set achievable breakthrough goals. How to chose team members for your Kaizen Events, and why asking for volunteers is not the best answer. How to teach your team to identify and eliminate non-value-added steps, and how doing so will improve your quality, productivity, and delivery. Learn what to do each day of the Kaizen Event, and how to stay on track. How to avoid a long list of lingering action items after your Kaizen Events. How to sustain the results attained during kaizen events over the long-term. Learn the similarities and differences among lean manufacturing, JIT, demand flow, and cellular manufacturing. Gain a solid understanding of pull scheduling, one-piece continuous flow, work cells, set-up reduction, preventive maintenance, kanban, 5S and standard work. Understand the limits of Kaizen Events and how to accelerate improvement after the first two years. How to use kaizen events to improve non-manufacturing areas like product development, receiving, MIS, and accounting. And more!
Customer Reviews:
Good Introduction to Kaizen Concept.......2006-05-24
The Kaizen Revolution is a good basic book on the implementation of the lean manufacturing process to improve quality and reduce cost as well as eliminating waste (muda) and inefficiency. The Kaizen method of continuous improvement is a Japanese management concept that focuses on gradual, incremental change. It is an improvement philosophy that assumes that every aspect in a production system needs to be constantly improved. The book explains how to prepare for Kaizen event, what happens during the event as well as the benefits of applying the concept to an organisation. Continuous improvement and lean manufacturing are modern management tools that show the benefits of gradual, incremental changes rather than radical changes.
The book is written in the form of a story where it tales the reader through the Kaizen concept. This makes the book easy to read, follow and understand. All the essential basics are covered which gives the reader a strong foundation about what the Toyota Production System or lean manufacturing entails.
This is good basic reading for people wishing to understand lean manufacturing concept. However, those seeking a deeper understanding of the subject need to consult other books such as "Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success by Masaaki Imai" or the "Kaizen Event Implementation Manual".
The Kaizen Revolution.......2005-04-29
Michael Regan writes his methodology of lean Kaizen methodology into a novel form. I have never really been fond of the novel approach to explaining business concepts. I feel like I just have to strip away the story and get to the facts. Which for some reason in my case becomes more more work for less results. But I can understand how that genre works for some.
Concepts that I found interesting
In value added versus non-value added tasks work is transformed. More precisely he uses the definition "A process step is value added if it causes a change in the physical state of the material in accordance to customer specifications" Waiting and moving are not transforming the work. Hence not value added in and of themselves.
The approach here is to make a value analysis
1) make a list of the process steps
2) determine value added and time elapsed
Note: Each process step is an opportunity to make mistakes and every step induces costs. Don't try to do things faster, instead try to eliminate process steps.
Regan also list the common ingredients to all similar lean methodologies
1) Just in time production
2) Continious one-piece flow (a product never stops moving until it is a finished product and there is no place for problems to hide)
3) Work cells
4) Reduction of Set Up Time
5) Preventative Maintenance
6) Kanban
7) Work place organization and cleanliness (also known as 5S, Sort, Straighten, Scrub, Schedule, Score ie Measure through visual management) Making it a daily ritual. Do not have material in your work place that you are not using and also have everything it is place.
8) Standard Work (Here the concept is about creating documentation so that a typical person in that role can pick it up and do that task. Fit on one side of one piece of paper.
9) Team of employess who think and take initiative
Another interesting concept is how underlying trust is important because we are asking people to transform their own job, a possibily to hopefully eliminate it.
In the appendix he includes a idea generating tips.
I especially appreciated
1) Give people a reason to think of improvement ideas
2) Supervisors stop reacting and solving problems rather lead
3) Problems are like elephants.... best to eat them one bite at a time.
5) Take time for reflection i.e. Lessons Learned
6) Have people cross trained.
Thanks for the listen. Happy Reading!
Supplemental reading.......2001-09-09
Great theory, but lacks applicability. Recommended reading for those contemplating using Kaizen in the workplace. Needs to be balanced out by reading a How-to-do-it book, such as the "Kaizen Event Implementation Manual", which does help you actually conduct a perfect Kaizen event.
Beginning Primer.......2001-08-10
This book is a fast read and a good introduction to Lean and the Kaizen Event. It covers all of the basics and enough detail to present a sound and solid beginning to anyone looking to understand Lean and Kaizen. If you are looking for solid meat beyond the basics, you need to go elsewhere. The book points you to other sources through out the text.
The Kaizen Revolution.......2001-05-15
Mr. Regan presents an easy read in novel form (ala "The Goal" by Elyahu Goldratt) giving the reader a sound introduction to the Toyota Production System (aka Lean Manufacturing). Anyone reading this book can gain a sound understanding of what steps to take, and why to take them, as you begin on the Lean journey. You'll close the back cover with an understanding of many "Lean Concepts" as well as a very sound introduction to the how and why's of preparing for and conducting a Kaizen event. The chapter summaries are very beneficial in helping you capture the nuggets of knowledge that you can easily overlook as you become engrossed in the story. Don't let this book be your only source of knowledge on TPS, but be sure to include it in your reading.
Book Description
Slavery helped finance the Industrial Revolution in England. Plantation owners, shipbuilders, and merchants connected with the slave trade accumulated vast fortunes that established banks and heavy industry in Europe and expanded the reach of capitalism worldwide.
Eric Williams advanced these powerful ideas in Capitalism and Slavery, published in 1944. Years ahead of its time, his profound critique became the foundation for studies of imperialism and economic development. Binding an economic view of history with strong moral argument, Williams's study of the role of slavery in financing the Industrial Revolution refuted traditional ideas of economic and moral progress and firmly established the centrality of the African slave trade in European economic development. He also showed that mature industrial capitalism in turn helped destroy the slave system. Establishing the exploitation of commercial capitalism and its link to racial attitudes, Williams employed a historicist vision that set the tone for future studies. In a new introduction, Colin Palmer assesses the lasting impact of Williams's groundbreaking work and analyzes the heated scholarly debates it generated when it first appeared.
Customer Reviews:
Capitalism and Slavery is definitely food for the brain........2006-08-19
This is a very, very excellent piece of work. I read and studied this book when I was a teenager in high school in Trinidad. At that time I was required to study the book as part of our Caribbean History syllabus. That was over 13 years ago. So as an adult I decided to purchase the book and appreciate the information. And boy this was the best decision I ever made. I recommend people of all races and backgrounds to read this book. As the first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Dr. Eric Williams has left us with a gift.
Capitalism and Slavery.......2006-05-11
The basic theory underlying Eric Williams's Capitalism and Slavery is that slavery in the colonies, particularly the West Indies so far as this analysis is concerned, brought about capitalism, and thereby led to its own decline.
The first five chapters of the book explain the nature of British economics prior to the American Revolution. Synthesizing information rather than expressing his own view, Williams discusses triangular trade among England, the African coast, and the slave-holding colonies. In essence, England exported goods and ships, Africa exported slaves, and the colonies exported slave-produced raw materials.
American independence destroyed the mercantilist scheme of triangular trading. The ex-colonies now had no incentive to trade with the West Indies at their monopoly prices, instead turning to French islands for their sugar, at considerably lower prices. Consequently, British businessmen were no longer interested in giving economic protection to the West Indies because doing so without mainland North America would cost them money. One basic tenet of Adam Smith's capitalism is that business should be efficient and profitable, and monopolies simply were neither. The laissez-faire approach, or Smith's "invisible hand," meant eliminating monopolies and letting economics take its course.
During this time the Industrial Revolution also occurred, generating new machinery, most notably Watt's steam engine, and simplifying the extraction of raw materials. Ironworks were now much more efficient, for example, as was the process of turning wool into useable cloth. These advantages put Great Britain in a position to economically dominate the world. During this time also Spanish colonies in South America began breaking away from Spain, opening up vast regions for British trade. Similarly, Asia became a possibility for a wide variety of goods, most notably, in the scope of Williams' book, East Indian sugar. All these opportunities and Britain's economic superiority culminated in the end of monopolistic practices.
Slavery had precipitated these developments by generating fantastic wealth through triangular trading; without slavery, that trade scheme would not have existed. Once these developments came to pass, however, slavery proved itself largely pass?. Without the monopoly on West Indian sugar, slave trading became substantially less profitable. At the same time, when the American mainland split from Great Britain, suddenly Britain was no longer dependent on slavery for economic success, but instead could be a global distributor for goods. Furthermore, abolitionists in England gave cry to the crime of slavery, since they were no longer directly dependent on it, and eventually Britain banned the slave trade.
Williams's analysis is interesting and well worth reading. That said, his assertion that slavery declined is only partly true; it was alive and well in the southern United States. Furthermore, while Williams claims slavery brought about triangular trading, which in turn brought about the Industrial Revolution, one wonders if slavery simply expedited the arrival of the Industrial Revolution. Finally, he focuses to a significant extent on British humanitarianism in ending slavery; cynically, one must consider the relevance of slavery to those humanitarians, and how many there were after the Industrial Revolution.
A wonderful thesis withstanding the tests of time.......2006-03-21
I recently read this book for graduate school and highly recommend it. This book was written in 1940 and while critics have been able to pick at a few details within the book, noone has every successfully disproven his entire thesis - that the rise of industrial capitalism would not have been possible without the existence profits derived from slavery and the slave trade. Williams does a splended job of illustrating how slavery influenced all facets of the triangular trade, which in turn shaped Britian into an economic power. It also brings put the economic reasons for the abolitionist movement (namely, that abolitionists were motivated by free-trade, no necessarily compassion in their opposition to the slave trade).This is a must-have book for anyone interested in a strictly economic look at slavery, it's rise, fall and demise.
Misunderstanding of Islamic slavery.......2005-11-13
The last two reviewers who seemed to criticize Williams for not discussing other forms of slavery miss the point. Williams was not engaged in some sort of West bashing but attempted to explain the significance of slavery in the development of the Caribbean. Insofar as Islam is concerned, the reviewers once again miss the essential point. Rather than investigate what Islam actually says about slavery they go with a knee-jerk assumption. Here is what Kecia Ali has written about slavery in Islamic society:
"The Qur'an, which Muslims believe to have been revealed by God to the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century, makes numerous references to slaves and slavery (e.g., Q. 2.178; 16.75; 30.28). Like numerous passages in the Hebrew bible and the New Testament, the Qur'an assumes the permissibility of owning slaves, which was an established practice before its revelation. The Qur'an does not explicitly condemn slavery or attempt to abolish it. Nonetheless, it does provide a number of regulations designed to ameliorate the situation of slaves. It recommends freeing slaves, especially "believing" slaves (Q. 2.177). Manumission of a slave is required as expiation for certain misdeeds (Q. 4.92; 58.3) and another verse states that masters should allow slaves to purchase their own freedom (Q. 24.33).
The Qur'an also suggests certain means of integrating slaves, some of whom were enslaved after being captured in war, into the Muslim community. It allows slaves to marry (either other slaves or free persons; Q. 24.32; 2.221; 4.25) and prohibits owners from prostituting unwilling female slaves (Q. 24.33). Despite this protection against one form of sexual exploitation, female slaves do not have the right to grant or deny sexual access to themselves. Instead, the Qur'an permits men to have sexual access to "what their right hands possess," meaning female captives or slaves (Q. 23.5-6; 70.29-30). This was widely accepted and practiced among early Muslims; the Prophet Muhammad, for example, kept a slave-concubine (Mariya the Copt) who was given to him as a gift by the Roman governor of Alexandria.
Traditional Islamic law (fiqh) elaborates significantly on the Qur'anic material concerning slavery. The enslavement of war captives is regulated, along with the purchase and sale of slaves. While it is not permissible to enslave other Muslims, the jurists clarify that if a non-Muslim converts to Islam after enslavement, he or she remains a slave and may be lawfully purchased and sold like any other slave. (This rule closes a potential loophole allowing for slaves to gain their freedom by the simple fact of conversion.) The law also prescribes penalties for slave owners who maltreat or abuse their slaves; these penalties can include forced manumission of the slave without compensation to the owner.
Islamic law devotes special attention to regulating the practice of slave marriage and concubinage, in order to determine the paternity and/or ownership of children born to a female slave. A man cannot simultaneously own and be married to the same female slave. The male owner of a female slave can either marry her off to a different man, thus renouncing his own sexual access to her, or he may take her as his own concubine, using her sexually himself. Both situations have a specific effect on the status of any children she bears. When female slaves are married off, any children born from the marriage are slaves belonging to the mother's owner, though legal paternity is established for her husband. When a master takes his own female slave as a concubine, by contrast, any children she bears are free and legally the children of her owner, with the same status as any children born to him in a legal marriage to a free wife. The slave who bears her master's child becomes an umm walad (literally, mother of a child), gaining certain protections. Most importantly, she cannot be sold and she is automatically freed upon her master's death."
As for the Aztec, they had a system of slavery that also came with a bundle of rights, far different from the chattel slavery of the European variety.
Caribbean History.......2004-12-03
Although there may be complainants about Dr. Williams not addressing certain forms of slavery throughout history it has to be kept in mind that his thesis was about the hows and whys of African enslavement in the Caribbean. Williams firmly argues and details how today's culture of racism and capitalism was born.
This book is extremely well done and a great beginner for anyone interested in the topic of Caribbean history.
Book Description
The Antitrust Revolution: Economics, Competition, and Policy, 4/e, examines the critical role of economic analysis in recent antitrust case decisions and policy. The book consists of economic studies of twenty of the most significant antitrust cases of recent years, fourteen of them new to this edition and six updated from the third edition. These cases include alleged anticompetitive practices by Microsoft, Intel, and American Airlines; mergers-proposed or consummated-by AOL and TimeWarner, GE and Honeywell, MCI WorldCom and Sprint, and BP Amoco and ARCO; and other competitive issues such as bid rigging on school milk contracts, professional sports league practices, prescription drug pricing, and vertical restraints by manufacturers in regard to distributors. New overview essays precede the four sections of the book: Horizontal Structure, Horizontal Practices, Vertical and Related Market Issues, and Network Issues. Commissioned and edited by John E. Kwoka and Lawrence J. White, the case studies are written by prominent economists who participated in the proceedings. These economists were responsible for helping to formulate the economic issues, undertake the necessary economic research, and offer the economic arguments in court. As a result, they are uniquely qualified to describe and analyze the cases. Fully updated with the most current examples, this volume provides detailed and comprehensive insight into the central role that is now played and will continue to be played by economics and economists in the antitrust process. The Antitrust Revolution, 4/e, is ideal for undergraduate and graduate classes in industrial organization, government policy, and antitrust/regulation law and economics. It is also a useful reference book for lawyers and economists--both academics and practitioners--who are interested in the types of economic analyses that have been applied in recent antitrust cases. A companion website is now available at www.oup.com/antitrustrevolution. New to the fourth edition, the site features cases from the previous three editions.
Book Description
Re-energize your company's customer service--and inspire greater customer loyalty--using the power of kindness.
Despite what some may think, the war against bad customer service will not be won on the front lines by changing specific techniques and processes at the customer contact level. Rather, it's a culture of kindness and consideration--up and down the entire organization--that fundamentally changes employee attitudes toward customers. It's what makes the difference between a short-term relationship and long-term customer loyalty.
Based on extensive research and featuring real-life examples from companies known for their outstanding customer service such as L.L. Bean, FedEx, and Chick-fil-A, The Kindness Revolution examines how eliminating indifference in the workplace from the top down helps fuel unbelievably positive customer interactions. The book shows readers what "kind" companies have in common--a widespread culture of dignity, respect, courtesy, and kindness--and how to replicate it at their own organization.
Inspiring and practical, The Kindness Revolution shows readers how to take the critical step toward truly outstanding--and self-perpetuating--customer service.
Customer Reviews:
The Kindness Revolution.......2007-07-18
Customer service is dead. At least it seems to be everywhere I go. I've grown used to sales clerks who would rather chat amongst themselves than help me with my purchase. I don't even bat an eye when the sales clerk is incredibly rude when I want to return an item. I even hunker down for a long wait when phoning a 1-800 number as I know I'll be on hold for quite a while.
Don't they know that my purchase pays for their salary? Don't they care that I might never buy from them again? Don't they realize that after such service I will tell all my friends, relatives, colleagues, and anyone else who will listen about my experience?
Imagine a company that answers all it's calls on the first or second ring? How about a business that replaces an item without a receipt? What about a place that actually calls you by your first name?
The Kindness Revolution says that such companies actually exist. These businesses have noticed a sliding trend in customer service and don't intend to be part of the problem. They also realize that happy customers come back, spend money, and bring friends.
The way business ought to be.......2007-07-07
Having done my own research on customer service, it is obvious Horrell and I are on the same page. If companies would run their businesses like Horrell suggests they not only would be profitable, but they would also feel good about what they have created. Rebecca D. Turner author of Tattoo
Kindness and the bottom line.......2006-10-18
For me it's the gum-snapping , perpetually sneering checkout people at the supermarket, the ones with the angry, annoyed attitudes as if their being there was punishment of some kind. I've often wondered why store managers put up with this nonsense. Maybe it's because they don't think it matters where business matters most: the bottom line. But Ed Horrell in this wise book tries to make it as clear as possible that customer relations indeed affect the bottom line. It's no surprise that many consumers believe customer service is at an all-time low, and that it's become a persistent concern - enough so that it determines strongly who they decide to do business with. For Horrell, the way to attract more customers and keep them, and certainly the way to improve profits, is to better customer relations. I couldn't agree more. Shopping on-line might be a convenience, but it shouldn't be a choice simply because it usually means not having to deal with surly company employees. Kindness (and courtesy) indeed has a place in the business world, something many companies have forgotten. Ed Horrell's book is a good step in the right direction for (perhaps) bringing this about.
What Mr. Horrell writes about is so obvious ..........2006-10-09
... or is it? In this pleasant-to-read book, Ed Horrell makes what should be obvious clearly obvious, and clear. On every page, you will say to yourself, "Yes, this is right. This is how it should be." In short, this is an excellent book worth reading again and again. It will do nothing less than confirm for you that what you knew all along has always been right, and always will be.
A little kindness can improve your business culture and your personal quality of life........2006-09-05
The Kindness Revolution is a well-written motivational book for change in business as well as our personal lives. As a Sales Manager, I love the "Action Items or Challenges" at the end of each chapter. The book is full of activities to change or improve large corporate cultures as well small business environments. It strikes me that "kindness" is free and one of the most valuable attibutes that a person can possess, yet as Ed notes in his book,it seems harder and harder to come by in this day and age. I think one of the most profound lines in the book is,"If you hire people with good attitudes, they will be good employees and, in turn, will attract good customers." If you read this book and enact the principles you will see results among your employees, customers, family and friends. Pass it forward!!
Book Description
The national bestseller that offers prescriptions for an economic world turned upside down. A New York Times bestseller for eleven months.
Customer Reviews:
Thrive on Chaos or let the sharks eat you alive........2006-04-03
Although Peters first wrote this book nearly twenty years ago, many of his insights are now reaching Prime Time. Thriving on Chaos is obviously a classic, yet what surprised me the most is how Peters intuitively understands that some things never change. Business serves the customer (period).
Innovation, Flexibility, Productivity, Competitive Advantage, Supply-Chain Management, ... In the end, the ultimate master is the customer (at least in the free world). No one commands or forces the customer to buy a given product (or service), it's a free market. Consumers buy or don't buy based on perceived benefits. Products either meet customer demands or risk being ripped to shreds by the simple act of non-purchase.
As an example, I'm a vegetarian and am highly sensitive to food labels containing the words "Natural Flavors" which may contain meat and meat by-products. Therefore, I select those products not containing such mystery ingredients and punish those that use them (through non-purchase).
Much of what Peters talks about is taking shape today. Ivory-Tower management superstructures are all but a distant memory. Creativity, Innovation, and Empowerment are all the rage as developed countries are grasping for an edge in a world gone mad. Wholesale shifting of jobs overseas, corporate scandals, and increasing government regulation set employees and managers on edge. Prescription for change includes active customer participation in creating products and tapping into the creative potential of worker's minds.
Thriving on Chaos is sure to jumpstart your brain:
Peters says that "'If it aint broke, you just haven't looked hard enough' Fix it anyway." So true. Good enough is never good enough. Since the advent of the Net, customers are asserting control like never before. And, competitors are swarming like a pack of hungry sharks ready to tear off a piece of your market share.
To survive you need to learn to love change, and you need to learn how to Thrive on Chaos!
------------------
Michael Davis, Editor - Byvation
"Business Success through Innovation"
An Oldie but a Goodie.......2003-02-07
I just read this and two things stand out. First, there are some things that really never change, and as a result, Peters makes a huge impact here.
On the other hand, this was written before the net, much of the new automation inventions and much of the new technology as well. So, you just have to adjust his words to fit today's business environment.
Now, for the book. What he says is common sense to many workers and managers alike, but is looked at in horror by upper management and CEOs. So many CEOs believe that if they don't have total control over everything, then they're "out of control" and thus, running a bad organization.
NOT TRUE. As Peters indicates, if you hire competent people and give them the tools they need to do their work, you'll likely be pleasantly surprised with the quality of work that comes from them. In other words, drive down the decision making and create an autonomous environment for employees and your organizational flexibility increases, your profits will rise and with the right measures, you will succeed.
This is a kind-of-classic that all business leaders should at least have read. However, I think books such as Built To Last and First, Break All The Rules are more up to date and have since developed newer, more relevant theories that apply to all industries.
Probably great if you haven't read Passion for Excellence.......2000-07-21
Tom Peters, with Passion for Excellence, has been a great inspiration for me to start all kinds of innovations in customer service (quite some years later I still got positive responses out of the market) and my organization back in the 80s. You could say he was my "guru". So, when Thriving on Chaos was published, I immediately purchased it and start reading it with high expectations. How unfortunate .... as I became quickly very disappointed (I was never able to finish it in total). It was too much of the same as in Passion for Excellence. Just different words to many of the same topics. A professional writer who wants to get more money out of you while not providing you with more knowledge. I stopped buying more books from Tom Peters and was for some time very hesitant buying other management books. Now, many years later, I sometimes go back to the book without all these emotions I had when I bought it. I have to admit there are many inspiring subjects in it, some of them better described than in Passion for Excellence. So my conclusion is that the book can be very helpful for people who need inspiration for change and innovation, even though it is already quite some years old and has nothing in it about todays subjects like the Web. But as I have started with Passion for Excellence, I will probably never be able to rate Thriving on Chaos as high as Passion for Excellence (five stars).
A fascinating book with Peters' exuberant, jazzy style!!.......1999-03-23
This book presents a strategy for meeting the uncertainty of the current competitive markets through creating customer responsiveness, pursuing fast-paced innovation, achieving flexibility by empowering people, learning to work in an environment of change, abandoning conventional wisdom, and the reconceiving of organizational systems. This is a fascinating book that has the distinct and unmistakable quality of Tom Peters' exuberant, jazzy style. Reviewed by Gerry Stern, author of Stern's SourceFinder Master Directory to HR and Management Information and Stern's CyberSpace SourceFinder.
The best text on thinking "outside of the box".......1997-03-18
This is easily TP's best work to date. The concrete examples are terrific and energy exudes from each page. The book is structured in a way for easy reading - it's hard to put down
Book Description
Lean Machines: Learning From The Leaders Of The Next Industrial Revolution provides readers with a unique compilation of interviews with some of the country's most respected executives who have deep intellectual and emotional experience in implementing lean.
CEOs, vice presidents, consultants, Wall Street analysts and accountants provide readers with their perspectives on how to implement a lean business system. They are the architects of such successful implementations as Pratt & Whitney's Achieving Competitive Excellence program, the Danaher Business System, the Alcoa Production System and Freudenberg NOK's hugely successful six-step lean process.
Each of the 15 offers advice on how to overcome the barriers from the shop floor, to mid-level management, to the board room. They provide their personal experiences, insights and recommendations on the most important aspects of embedding lean systems within a corporate culture. All have successfully implemented a fundamentally different and often counter-intuitive system of running their business based on the lean principles of build to order, continuous improvement and the elimination of waste.
The interviews were conducted by Manufacturing News Editor & Publisher Richard McCormack and include the following individuals:
o George Koenigsaecker, Former CEO, HON Industries and Principal, Simpler Consulting;
o Michael Joyce, Corporate Vice President of Operating Excellence at Lockheed Martin;
o Robert Weiner, Senior Vice President of Global Manufacturing, Exide Technologies;
o Mark DeLuzio, Architect, Danaher Business System & President of Lean Horizons;
o James Womack, President, Lean Enterprise Institute and author of Lean Thinking and The Machine That Changed The World;
o Dave Logozzo, Director of Manufacturing Operations, Delphi Corp.;
o Cliff Ransom, Director of Research, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC;
o Ken Kreafle, Vice President of Quality at Toyota, Georgetown, Ky.;
o Keith Turnbull, Executive Vice President, Alcoa Business System;
o Allen Haggerty, General Manager of Engineering, Boeing;
o Brian Maskell, President, BMA Inc., Lean Accounting;
o Art Byrne, President and CEO of Wiremold Co.;
o Major Gen. Dennis Haines, Warner Robins AFB;
o Joseph Day, CEO, Freudenberg-NOK; and
o Dan Yurovich, CEO, Barry Controls
o Lt. Col. Fred Hart, Commander, U.S. Army Red River Depot
Customer Reviews:
Very useful insights into lean manufacturing, on target!.......2002-10-19
A lot has been written about lean, but nothing yet compares to what this book has done.... It's the first time anyone has provided straight answers about the true nature of lean. The author asks the right questions and gets surprising responses. Having spent 20 years in the automotive business, I found this book extremely useful.
Virtuosos of Lean Production.......2002-09-16
This is a hot book! I coached a team of manufacturing managers who worked in a large traditional factory. Our job was to study manufacturing operations in companies that had adopted Toyota's productivity methods and policies. While the men and women on the team had read about lean production, they were disquieted and perhaps even disturbed by obviously highly performing plants that were organized and operated according to principles foreign to their beliefs. At each plant we visited their discomfort deepened. Then, somewhere between the second and fourth visit, each manager had an epiphany. There was some kind of logical reorganization of the manufacturing furniture in their minds and they "got it", as they described the event. Others said, "the light came on." They saw the fundamental logic and sense underlying each lean factory even though each facility assembled pieces of Toyota's productivity methods and policies into its own unique manufacturing system. Interestingly, each member of the visit team became a passionate believer of lean manufacturing. The greatest skeptics became the most outspoken advocates. They called it "getting religion."
People who successfully implement lean manufacturing must be strong believers and must have a personal mental model of lean that functions at the level of a craft - a creative skill for assembling productivity methods and policies into powerfully efficient manufacturing machines. As the great Japanese coaches from Toyota teach Westerners, there is no cookbook, lean is a way of thinking.
The literature on lean production is disappointing. Lean manufacturing books tend to be long dreary laundry lists of productivity methods and technical techniques for quality. There is little available that gives insight into how the great master craftsmen and craftswomen put together marvelous lean machines of production - until now.
This book by Richard McCormack finally brings us face to face with the creative processes of great designers of production systems. Imagine yourself as a novice artist sitting down for a conversation with Auguste Renoir, Vincent Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec or Michelangelo. That is what McCormack brings us in this book - chats with the virtuosos of lean production. Forget those paint-by-numbers books. Either go see the real thing or read "Lean Machines".
Virtuosos of Lean Production.......2002-09-15
This is a hot book! I coached a team of manufacturing managers who worked in a large traditional factory. Our job was to study manufacturing operations in companies that had adopted Toyota's productivity methods and policies. While the men and women on the team had read about lean production, they were disquieted and perhaps even disturbed by obviously highly performing plants that were organized and operated according to principles foreign to their beliefs. At each plant we visited their discomfort deepened. Then, somewhere between the second and fourth visit, each manager had an epiphany. There was some kind of logical reorganization of the manufacturing furniture in their minds and they "got it", as they described the event. Others said, "the light came on." They saw the fundamental logic and sense underlying each lean factory even though each facility assembled pieces of Toyota's productivity methods and policies into its own unique manufacturing system. Interestingly, each member of the visit team became a passionate believer of lean manufacturing. The greatest skeptics became the most outspoken advocates. They called it "getting religion."
People who successfully implement lean manufacturing must be strong believers and must have a personal mental model of lean that functions at the level of a craft - a creative skill for assembling productivity methods and policies into powerfully efficient manufacturing machines. As the great Japanese coaches from Toyota teach Westerners, there is no cookbook, lean is a way of thinking.
The literature on lean production is disappointing. Lean manufacturing books tend to be long dreary laundry lists of productivity methods and technical techniques for quality. There is little available that gives insight into how the great master craftsmen and craftswomen put together marvelous lean machines of production - until now.
This book by Richard McCormack finally brings us face to face with the creative processes of great designers of production systems. Imagine yourself as a novice artist sitting down for a conversation with Auguste Renoir, Vincent Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec or Michelangelo. That is what McCormack brings us in this book - chats with the virtuosos of lean production. Forget those paint-by-numbers books. Either go see the real thing or read "Lean Machines".
Book Description
Studies social and economic issues through the writings of great thinkers of the age
Books:
- Flotsam (Caldecott Medal Book)
- George Washington's False Teeth: An Unconventional Guide to the Eighteenth Century
- German Milwaukee: It's History- It's Recipes
- Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and Its Secret Past
- Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and Its Secret Past
- Guests of the Ayatollah: The Iran Hostage Crisis: The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam
- History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- In Vogue: The Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Fashion Magazine
- Biological Science, Volume 3: How Plants and Animals Work
- The Mighty Eighth in Wwii: A Memoir
- Thermopylae: The Battle for the West
- Treatise on Instrumentation
- Black Rose: In the Garden Trilogy
- Already Home: A Topography of Spirit and Place
- Actors' Resumes: The Definitive Guidebook
- Tourism and Transport: Issues and Agenda for the New Millennium
- The World Holiday and Time Zone Guide 1999
