Suggested Reading

Mr. Randall reviews a tremendous number of books relating to business management, leadership and quality each year.  Of those books, most contain concepts that simply do not deliver all that they promise in real world application.  The following is a list of books that Mr. Randall has found to be most useful—and worthy of recommending to others:

Leadership

Principle-Centered Leadership
By: Stephen R. Covey
ISBN 0-671-74910-2

Managing by Values
By: Ken Blanchard & Michael O'Conner
ISBN 1-57675-007-8

Leadership Jazz
By: Max DePree
ISBN 0-440-50518-6

Process Management

The Six Sigma Way
By: Peter S. Pande, Robert P. Neuman & Roland R. Cavanaugh
ISBN 0-07-135806-4

 Note:
Mr. Randall also reviewed Six Sigma, by Mikel Harry & Richard Schroeder (ISBN 0-385-49437-8), but found it to be much more of an executive overview than a "How To" book. In contrast, The Six Sigma Way devotes only one section to executive overview. The remainder of the book explains how to apply Six Sigma concepts along with practical examples.

The GE Way Fieldbook
By: Robert Slater
ISBN 0-07-135481-6

Reengineering Toolkit
By: Cheryl Currid & Company
ISBN 1-55958-504-8

The Transition to Agile Manufacturing
By: Joseph C. Montgomery and Lawrence O. Levine (Editors)
ISBN 0-87389-347-6

KANBAN: Just-In-Time at Toyota
Translated by: David J. Lu
ISBN 0-915299-48-8

One-Piece Flow
By: Kenichi Sekine
ISBN 0-915299-33-X

Business Process Management
By: Geoffrey Darnton with Moksha Darnton
ISBN 1-86152-039-5

Cost Management

Activity Based Costing: The Key to World Class Performance
By: Peter L. Grieco, Jr. & Mel Pilachowski
ISBN 0-945456-15-8

Guide to Total Cost Management
By: Ernst & Young
ISBN 0-471-55877-X

Teams / Industrial Psychology

Team Players and Teamwork
By: Glenn M. Parker
ISBN 0-7879-0185-7

 Note:
Mr. Randall is extremely critical of many books on the topic of teams. Most current books on teams promote concepts that "should" work in theory; while in-fact these theories have already been proven flawed by early industrial psychologists dating as far back as the sixties (e.g., self-directed teams). While the writing style of Mr. Parker can make for some dry reading, Mr. Randall considers him a leader in the area of managing teams. Mr. Parker's education and extensive experience in the real-world set him apart from the many arm-chair industrial psychologists and university professors who are expousing untried theories.

The Team Handbook
By: Peter R. Scholtes
ISBN 0-9622264-0-8

The Abilene Paradox
By: Jerry B. Harvey
ISBN 0-7879-0277-2

Maslow on Management
By: Maslow, Abraham Harold / With Heil, Gary / With Stephens, Deborah C.
ISBN 0471247804

Corporate Abuse
By: Lesley Wright & Marti Smye
ISBN 0-02-861290-6

Quality

Taking the Mystery out of TQM - A Practical Guide to Total Quality Management
By: Peter Capezio and Debra Morehouse
ISBN 1-56414-105-5

Customer Service on the Internet
By: Jim Sterne
ISBN 0-471-38258-2

Quality Audits for Improved Performance
By: Dennis R. Arter
ISBN 0-87389-057-4

 Note:
Mr. Randall considers this work the best book ever writen on quality system auditing.  This book should be on EVERY quality auditors bookshelf!