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Posted Oct. 9, 2001 8:49 a.m. by katie
Before discussing this book, I must make a confession. In fact, I need to make two confessions. One, I currently own a VWfor you gearheads out there, it is a 2001 1.8T Yellow 5 speed. Two, I also owned a brand new 1965 Beetle, fully-equipped, which, in 1965, fully-equipt was a crank sunroof. I paid almost as much in sales tax on my new car as I paid for the whole car in 1965; I drove the 65 off of the showroom for a total cost of $1895. I am fascinated by these cars and enjoyed this book, not only because it is about my car of choice, but because the book is keenly reported by the Detroit Bureau Chief at USA Today and includes a nice mix of history and business. Those of you who have been reading JCS for awhile know that I really like a good business bio. I think that good business bios put theory into practice, but I was concerned that this one would be a disappointment, a fluffy, feel-good book that was just capitalizing on a hot brand.
The first chapter gives us the history behind VWs decline in popularity in America and how important the New Beetle would be for the future of the company. Essentially, the original Beetle gave Americans an alternative to the huge tanks American carmakers were churning out, but then the Toyotas and Hondas took over that market. VW was left with no toehold in the US. Who would have thought that a new Beetle would actually capture the imagination of Americans, sick to death of the bland Ford Taurus and and disappointed in the quickly declining quality of such cars as the Corolla. Here, the author takes you to the various Detroit Auto Shows where the New Beetle was premiered and includes the amazing reviews the press (covers on Time and USA Today and many more) gave the new car. According to JD Powers in 1998, after the car was released, VW led four of the seven categories in the APEAL study that measured how car owners feel about their new cars in the first six months. Granted, VWs Beetle success has waned a bit in the years since, but people like me, and a goodly number of car owners in my parking ramp, are still buying them. But the book doesnt just talk about the new Beetle, but discusses the Jetta, Golf, and Passat, and the impact these models had and will have on the resurgent VW brand.
I was especially curious about how the book would handle VWs serious baggage carried from the Second World War and was reasonably pleased with the chapter called Sins of the Father. The author sums up the chapter saying, Dr. Porschethe father of the Volksauto, which became the Volkswagenwasnt a Nazi, but its fair to call him a collaborator, opportunist, and a vital cog in the Werhmacht war machine. I guess that is dealing with the issue. Kiley also addresses the lawsuits the survivors of the forced labor brought in chapter 3.
Seeing as the book is An Adweek Book which is a copublish with John Wiley, the advertising campaigns are thoroughly dissected. The author analyses some of the classics from the sixties like: How does the snowplow driver get to work (remember that??), to the great commercial from a couple years ago called Da Da Da (Im sorry, I got that annoying song in your head now, didnt I!). They also talk about some of the serious flops of the 70s and 80s, like the Thing (sounds like an Abbott & Costello routine Go get the Thing. What Thing?. You know, the Thing. I already brought the Thing). Anyway
This book is a book for everybody who is interested in one of the best brands in the world and a detailed history of how it used some of the most revolutionary advertising programs to get them to where they are.
Posted Oct. 7, 2001 8:47 a.m. by katie
Jack Trout has co-written some of the classic marketing titles, such as Marketing Warfare and Positioning, and the fantastically titled, Differentiate or Die. His new book is a fun read about failure. Is that possible? Definitely. A useful perspective also. Trout states: Not only is learning from failure easier, it offers more thorough analysis of what works and what doesnt. So from this look at some of the classic failures like New Coke, to Burger Kings many management and advertising agency changes, to Levi Strauss problems connecting to the marketplace, we learn the ten donts of marketing, positioning, and managing.
I have read other books by Trout, but in this one, he includes more personal experiences, which adds a fly on the wall feel to our reading experience. He shares details about visits with clients, the resulting ideas and strategies, and how those ideas succeeded or failed. Some of the companies that rate an entire chapter include: the aforementioned Burger King and Levi Strauss, AT&T, Xerox, GM, Firestone, Miller Brewing, and others. I was especially interested in what Trout had to say about our local brewer, Miller, what problems they are having and how they got there. Hilariously, Trout illustrates how Miller has too many brands, and that it is so much easier for a customer to say: Oh just give me a Budweiser.
In the second half of the book, he discusses consultants, boards of directors, and other general issues influencing the decision-making of each company. Each chapter has great takeaways or, as he calls them, Lessons, which are boxed and highlighted. The book is broken into bite-sized chunks only a couple of paragraphs long and chock full of great stories. I think the story on page 78 is worth the price of admission check it out. This is one of those books that, after youve finished with it, you feel as if you have just spent a night sitting on the front porch, drinking beer and watching the sun set, while listening to a real pro tell stories.
Posted Sept. 6, 2001 9:27 a.m. by katie
Last year, BusinessWeek asked me to create a reading list of business books that I considered important. You can check out the list at http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/books/index.htm and then scroll down to my name in the middle column. One of the first books listed was the original version of this book, Service America, written during the 80s. It was the first book to put all the pieces together for me about customer service. I guess I wasnt the only person who thought highly of the book because over 500,000 have sold. Now, Albrecht and Zemke have revised their bestseller, emphasizing that customer service is not extinct (though noticably pushed aside), despite the recent prominence of e-commerce.
The book starts off with a great chapter called Service Management Update. The authors use the chapter to explain what happened to customer focus movement and TQM and ISO. They are very straightforward with their analysis, and who better to explain it than these two front-line players. That chapter was especially fascinating for me because it explained why the quality movement disappeared. The book is loaded with eye-opening statistics like: 74% of the GNP and 79 million jobs are derived from the performance of service; 96% of a businesses unhappy customers never complain, but simply stop buying; and, my favorite, 54% to 70% of complaining customers will do business again if the complaint is resolved, and that number goes up to 95% if the complaint is resolved quickly. In my business, these are stats to live by.
I have run my business on Zemkes and Albrechts philosophy for the past 15 years, and it is very nice to have an updated book to mark up and share with my coworkers. What makes this book great is just what made its predecessor great: riveting and relevant stories. Great service is not a new idea, but it is an idea that must work as the center of an organization, every day, in every action. If you are part of the service industry, and you can look past the digital and see that your customers are still just people who value great service, this book will be your business bible. Simply said: these guys are good, and this book is important.
Posted Sept. 6, 2001 9:25 a.m. by katie
If I were asked to sum up Michael Useems writing, I would say: This guy can really tell a story. His previous book, The Leadership Moment, was a very well-written book telling stories about real-life people caught in a moment of crisis and how they came through that crisis, successfully or unsuccessfully. Based on the premise that lessons on how to handle this same type of critical pressure in the business world can be extracted from these stories, this book was a successful blend of creative non-fiction and leadership guide. My one complaint about that book (which is a very minor one since the book was a very enjoyable read and has continued to be a consistent 800-CEO-READ best-seller) is that the stories were great, but how to actually apply the lessons learned in an organizational way was difficult to see. This book takes a much more targeted approach. All throughout these stories, Useem offers perfect little two-line take-aways, called Lessons in Leading Up.
In addition to Useems storytelling talents, what makes this book notable is the subject matter. This is not your average book on leadership that guides the higher-ups on how to manage the lower-downs. It is also not a book that plays on the vanity of most business leaders by giving them more ways to be in charge. Instead, Useem suggests pushing aside all vanity, all old hierarchical definitions of leadership. Businesses are changing, and hierarchies are changing, and to survive, leadership is needed at all levels. This book is about that other side of leadership, about how to lead you boss to get the support you need. Useem tells eight true, though unconventional, stories, ranging from the Civil War, the Old Testament, the genocide in Rwanda, and companies like CBS and British Airways, to bring to life leading up. One of my favorites is the tale about David Pottruck and Charles Schwab. Pottruck, once a John Wayne-type that was the first guy up the hill, discovered greater success by leading from the middle, because then those above and below were all working together around a strong nucleus, and ultimately everyone could take the hill together.
Finally, a business book that is written by a real storyteller while offering extremely valuable take-aways. Youre going to enjoy this one.
Posted Sept. 6, 2001 9:23 a.m. by katie
As a music junkie, I have known about the Orpheus Chamber Orchestras unique method of performing for quite some time. What sets the Orpheus apart is that they employ no conductor. Instead of the chaos you would expect (and any conductor would predict, Id wager), they have developed a system that has been successful. Harvey Seifter and Peter Economy, authors of Leadership Ensemble, believe that this system used by Orpheus is readily applicable to the modern organization. The authors say it best in the following quote: The orchestra is designed to rely on the skills, abilities, and passionate commitment of its members rather than on the monolithic leadership of a conductor. The decision to give power to the musiciansa radical innovation in the orchestra worldrequired a structural model that was fundamentally different from the rigid command-and-control hierarchy universally employed by traditional orchestrasit is most definitely not an organization without leadership. In fact, Orpheus has many leaders, and different individuals rise to leadership roles based on the orchestras needs and the demand of each piece of music.
So how exactly does an organization like this establish who is going to do what where and when? Well, the orchestra applies a five-step process:
Choosing Leaders
Developing Strategies
Developing the Product (the Music)
Perfecting the Product (the Music)
Delivering the Product (the Music)
Beyond the process, the orchestras success is founded on eight core principles:
Put power in the hands of the people doing the work
Encourage individual responsibilities
Create clarity of roles
Share and rotate leadership
Foster horizontal teamwork
Learn to listen, learn to talk
Seek consensus (and build creative structures that favor consensus)
Dedicate passionately to your mission
These principles form the structure of the book. Each principle is a chapter that offers a hands-on take-away that shows you how to put the principles into practice. So, if you want to continue to perfect your less-hierarchical organization, as I do, or know that something isnt right with the current structure of your organization and wonder whether this idea may be for you, buy this book -- and even a CD (at your nearest Schwartz bookstore) of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra to really see how well this system works after all, the proof is in the pudding!
