Customer Reviews

Customer Responsive Management: The Flexible Advantage (Total Quality Management)

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The literature on enterprise responsiveness is rather limited, but this book is an exception and had a lasting impression on the reviewer in that it ignited an abiding interest into the nature of responsiveness and characteristics of responsive enterprises.

This is the only book that I am aware of that dwells on the nature of `responsiveness' and that too from the perspective of a customer! But the real significance of Davis's approach to `responsiveness' is revealed only when one applies this to understanding the nature of the IT services firms. I have always been puzzled by the apparent contradiction between most of the received wisdom in management literature on such firms and my experiences of working with such firms throughout my professional career. But, put on Davis's lenses and all contradictions simply disappear!! Out comes consistent explanations for capability/ capacity/ core competency, best-practice guidelines, multi-skilling, centers of excellences, network of delivery firms specializing in different areas, the essential tension between the scope versus specialization, or, assignment/ control of projects versus project deliveries, percentage of resource utilization, yield management and so on, and, above all the phenomenon of outsourcing!

I recommend this book to anyone interested in customer-centricity -- which is almost everyone! Read this book for its declared purpose of `customer responsive management', but if you are one of the thousands of IT professionals trudging along the information highway, this book is a must - this maybe your only handbook to make sense of this crazy industry.
Destined to become a CLASSIC of the 90's; for this reviewier its a prized possession.

The concepts in this book will change the way you do business. Davis and Mandrodt teach us how to respond and develop offerings unique to each customer. No longer will you view customers as nameless, faceless masses (look out marketing, its about time). The examples are clear and valuable. A must!