Customer Reviews

Straight to the Bottom Line: An Executive's Roadmap to World Class Supply Management

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Straight to the Bottom Line explains well to the layman why Western companies need a new strategy to cope with the massive shift to outsourcing and Asian manufacturers. I particularly enjoyed the chapter ("A Tale of Two Spenders") describing the lack of collaboration in the American automotive industry in the past 15 years and how that approach impacted Detroit's inability to establish an electronic communications and transactions platform (Covisint). It's a good business book. Very clearly written.

I have been in the field of Supply Chain Management for over 15 years. As such, I have reviewed and purchased many of the text on the subject. This book represents a very easy read that crystallizes many of the concepts into useful and understandable formats. Also, many of the current myths are effectively addressed and excellent examples are provided. I would recommned it both for experienced practitioners as well as the uninitiated.

Is your company's procurement organization adding value and contributing to profitability or merely performing a buying function? 'Straight to the Bottom Line' provides clear and concise guidance on how to create and sustain a world class strategic procurement organization that adds value for company shareholders and directly contributes to increased profits.

The authors have a wealth of knowledge and demonstrated success in the transformation of procurement activities. The book does not stop with a one-time cost reduction plan, but rather offers a road map for sustainable leverage and success derived from supply management. While targeted to executives, business "leaders" at all levels with a desire to make an impact will benefit from reading 'Straight to the Bottom Line'.

In today's world where "outsourcing" and a "flat" world are becoming commonplace, it is essential that companies recognize the strategic nature of their procurement and supply organizations and taylor them to manage their external/purchased assets. This book provides examples of supply chain management experiences, both good and bad, and practical tools for implementing effective supply chain management processes. An important book for supply chain specialists, it also should be read by every CEO, CFO and COO, so that they can take benefit from supply chain management in their companies, before they are confronted by competitors who have preempted them in the implementaton of modern supply chain management practices.

The authors are an outstanding group of well-qualified experts in the field. They have assembled an impressive combination of significant examples and techniques that should benefit any enterprise (business, government, educational) that deals with external purchases.

Straight to the Bottom Line makes a compelling argument for why procurement must transform itself into fully integrated supply management. Take care of your supply network-its objectives, strategies, processes and data linkages-and you generate competitive advantage for your organization. In other words, you create value for shareholders and customers.

Although the talk of the shift from the purely tactical to the strategic has been around for many years now, actual implementation of strategically focused supply chain has simply not happened at many organizations. Why? The authors of this book are eloquently blunt: a "lack of understanding of the opportunities presented by supply-side performance" at the senior executive level.

And what is the sine qua non of a truly strategic supply chain? Leadership and understanding from senior executives. So where to begin? Slipping Straight to the Bottom Line into the executive suites would be a good start.

The strength of this text is its clear and lucid presentation of a "step-by-step" roadmap for executives on how to implement supply management transformation that directly produces bottom-line results. Illustrating straight-forward principles with compelling examples, it shows how executives can create an environment in which they can expect to see improved performance quarter over quarter and year over year.

If I have one criticism of the book it is that its subtitle might suggest that it can be overlooked by the non-executive. That would be a mistake. Yes, it's a "must read" for the senior executive, but it's also an essential text for anyone, including the currently mid-career procurement or supply chain professional, who plans to be one.

Vicki McBryde, BA, CPP, CPM

Straight to the Bottom Line is an actual "how to" book for CEOs as well as a great tool for management to sell the value of Purchasing / Supply Chain to the CEO's. This book is a "must have" for the corporate library.

"Straight to the Bottom Line" is the real deal.

The anatomy of state of the art procurement is not the cigar chomping take or leave it used car lot bluff most people think they know so well.

The authors map out a realistic step by step approach resulting in tangible returns with sustainable strategic implications. More importantly they integrate the entire supply chain, both inside and outside the enterprise, and that is the "real deal" in today's global economy.

If you're " Building to Win " in today's global marketplace , then your leadership team needs ' Straight to the Bottom Line's ' hard hitting insights on how to achieve profitable growth by leveraging high performance relationships across the supply chain . This books logical, easy-to-read, results-oriented format make it the must-have business book for 2005 and beyond .