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Rapid prototyping & manufacturing: Fundementals of stereolithography
90
BOOK REVIEWS
J PROD INNOV MANAG 1994;1I :89-92
may turn to reflection. Clearly, the author is not talking about them. He’s talking about us. He not only knows us well, he shows how our foibles and strengths can be used to build successful cross-functional teams. A key strong point of the book is the FoxFile Entries. These are set off from the rest of the text by a distinct formatting making them easy to find. In the Entries, Ron Delaney, the leader of the FlyingFox team, writes for his private file on lessons-learned. These Entries reinforce the essentials of what the author has learned about new product teams without being preachy or dull. Another strong point is the author’s experience. The author has been involved in dozens of cross-functional teams both as a practitioner and as a consultant. His clients include business and nonprofit organizations in fields as diverse as high technology, healthcare, financial services, and government. A major weak point is the lack of an index or table of contents. True, novels don’t have such things. However, their absence here makes the publisher appear penny-wise and pound-foolish. Near the end of the book, Ron is flying first class to Europe and has a midnight conversation with a seatmate who wants to talk. When his seatmate learns about Ron’s positive attitudes about teams the seatmate says “Success is much more about who’s in charge, and whether you’re in the right business or not and whether you’ve got the right product, not whether you have a bunch of happy, empowered workers.” Further along in the conversation the seatmate delivers the following opinions. “Teams are just another trendy management tool. It’s just the next thing,” and “The problem is that teamwork is nothing. Of course people work in teams. How else could they work? Teamwork makes for good business journal articles and fat consulting contracts and that’s about it.” After this conversation, Ron makes a FoxFile Entry. It reads: “The good opinion your team has of teamwork may not be shared or understood by others. If they won’t listen, you can’t make them understand. A good and different idea is logical only in hindsight. Only then will some people grasp it. But, by then, you should be on to the next, good and different idea. Their ignorance is your competitive advantage.” The last section of the novel is titled Ron’s Reading List of Team Books. A few lines encapsulate the author’s view of the seventeen recommended books. Several are woven into the narrative of the novel along with insights they give to the FlyingFox team.
FlyingFox: A Business Adventure in Teams and Teamwork complements The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization [I]. Both books were written by working consultants to discuss their hard-won knowledge in the most effective way. Neither claims to have discovered a silver bullet that will slay the demons of product innovation management. Both books are well worthwhile. In summary, because FlyingFox is written with wit and grace, practitioners of product innovation can read and apply its warranted generalizations quickly. For these same reasons and because it appears anecdotal, scholars of product innovation may avoid it. We would refer these scholars to a prescient editorial [2]. Here, a matrix of researchability is shown. Occupying a prominent position in the area of high importance and little understanding is the issue of team dynamics. Perhaps FlyingFox will spark research into a better understanding of this important issue. George Castellion SSC Associates
References I. Katzenbach, .I. R. and Smith, D. K. 7’;~ Wiisdom of Teams: Crealing the High-Performance Organizafion. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1993. Reviewed in Journal of Product Innovation Management, June 1993, pages 268-270. 2. Crawford, C. M. and Hustad, T P. “From the Editors,” Product Innovation Management, March 1988, pages l-5.
Journal of
Implementing TQM: Competing in the Nineties Through Total Quality Management, Second Edition, by Joseph R. Jablonski. San Diego, CA: Pfeiffer & Company, 1992. 201 + xix pages. $29.95. Ever wonder just what TQM (Total Quality Management) is-and how to get there? This book will answer those questions. Jablonski has put together a very focused and detailed “cook-book” approach that describes how to implement TQM in an organization. He appropriately points out that TQM is really a process for change and he does a good job of defining six basic principles of TQM: Customer focus Focus on the process as well as the results Prevention
versus inspection
Mobilize the expertise of the workforce
J PROD INNOV MANAG 1994;I 1:89-92
BOOK REVIEWS
l
Fact-based decision making
l
Feedback
He also points out that there are two distinct elements to TQM-the philosophy and the tools. Too often details on the tools are provided without an understanding of the all important underlying principles of TQM. The book focuses on the steps to implement TQM. Jablonski defines five implementation phases: l
l
l
l
l
Phase 0. Preparation. Basically getting top management aboard with things like strategy, vision, goals, and policies. Phase 1. Planning. Identifying expectations lining up the required resources.
and
Phase 2. Assessment. Taking inventory of ourselves, our customers, and the organization. Phase 3. Implementation. Selecting tools and providing lots of training. Phase 4. Diversification. Essentially organization’s suppliers involved.
the right getting the
I liked the section that focuses on the difference between goods and services. The author appropriately points out the personal and immediate feedback characteristics of services. TQM has an important role to play in improving the quality of services, but the implementation is quite different. My appreciation for Jablonski’s insight was abruptly compromised in a of Competitive later section entitled “Overview Process.” He makes the point that whenever a company contracts for goods and services, they package their requirements in a Request for Proposal (RFP). Wrong. This is the way the government and its contractors work, but is in no way indicative of the broader marketplace. Consumers and corporations buy things from candy bars to computers to consulting services without RFPs. (I think I’ve responded to a total of three RFPs in twelve years.) RFPs are one of many ways of doing business. More often than not we do not have an RFP and the customer’s true requirements are very difficult to pin down. Later in the book, Jablonski appropriately points out that it’s perception, not reality on the part of the customer, that counts. He uses a good example to make his point. The book is full of good charts, graphs, tables, and checklists, consistent with an industrial engineering approach to the problem. I particularly liked the chart
91
(page 141) that forecasts changes in attitudes as TQM is being implemented over time. There’s an overall impression, however, that once “achieved,” TQM just builds on itself and increases corporate optimism, insight, customer satisfaction, and of course, profitability. Other recent publications have pointed out what can happen when TQM and the reality of “downsizing” come face to face. [ 1] TQM and New Product Development (NPD) are fundamentally different but strongly related activities. Product developers should draw four important insights from the TQM process: l
Focus on the customer
l
View NPD as a process
l
Emphasize the team as the both the implementor and owner of the NPD process
l
Adopt an attitude of continually NPD process
improving
the
I would recommend “Implementing TQM” as a straightforward, process-oriented primer on TQM, particularly valuable to an organization starting to consider implementation. John J. Moran CMC J. J. Moran & Associates
References 1. When Times Get Tough, What Happens To TQM? Case Study. Harvard Business Review, May-June 1993, pages 2&34.
Brief Notes: Rapid Prototyping & Manufacturing: Fundamentals of StereoLithography, by Paul F. Jacobs, Ph.D. Dearborn, MI: Society of Manufacturing Engineers, 1992, 434 pages. The last chapter of this otherwise highly technical book dedicated to StereoLithography provides a good overview of various alternative approaches to rapid prototyping (so-called desktop manufacturing). Marketing Your Invention, by Thomas E. Mosley, Jr. Dover, NH: Upstart Publishing Co., 1992. 222 + ix pages. $19.95. Although most readers of JPZM probably work for large organizations with capable patent and marketing departments, this book offers a thorough summary of
BOOK REVIEWS
J PROD INNOV MANAG 1994;1I :89-92
may turn to reflection. Clearly, the author is not talking about them. He’s talking about us. He not only knows us well, he shows how our foibles and strengths can be used to build successful cross-functional teams. A key strong point of the book is the FoxFile Entries. These are set off from the rest of the text by a distinct formatting making them easy to find. In the Entries, Ron Delaney, the leader of the FlyingFox team, writes for his private file on lessons-learned. These Entries reinforce the essentials of what the author has learned about new product teams without being preachy or dull. Another strong point is the author’s experience. The author has been involved in dozens of cross-functional teams both as a practitioner and as a consultant. His clients include business and nonprofit organizations in fields as diverse as high technology, healthcare, financial services, and government. A major weak point is the lack of an index or table of contents. True, novels don’t have such things. However, their absence here makes the publisher appear penny-wise and pound-foolish. Near the end of the book, Ron is flying first class to Europe and has a midnight conversation with a seatmate who wants to talk. When his seatmate learns about Ron’s positive attitudes about teams the seatmate says “Success is much more about who’s in charge, and whether you’re in the right business or not and whether you’ve got the right product, not whether you have a bunch of happy, empowered workers.” Further along in the conversation the seatmate delivers the following opinions. “Teams are just another trendy management tool. It’s just the next thing,” and “The problem is that teamwork is nothing. Of course people work in teams. How else could they work? Teamwork makes for good business journal articles and fat consulting contracts and that’s about it.” After this conversation, Ron makes a FoxFile Entry. It reads: “The good opinion your team has of teamwork may not be shared or understood by others. If they won’t listen, you can’t make them understand. A good and different idea is logical only in hindsight. Only then will some people grasp it. But, by then, you should be on to the next, good and different idea. Their ignorance is your competitive advantage.” The last section of the novel is titled Ron’s Reading List of Team Books. A few lines encapsulate the author’s view of the seventeen recommended books. Several are woven into the narrative of the novel along with insights they give to the FlyingFox team.
FlyingFox: A Business Adventure in Teams and Teamwork complements The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization [I]. Both books were written by working consultants to discuss their hard-won knowledge in the most effective way. Neither claims to have discovered a silver bullet that will slay the demons of product innovation management. Both books are well worthwhile. In summary, because FlyingFox is written with wit and grace, practitioners of product innovation can read and apply its warranted generalizations quickly. For these same reasons and because it appears anecdotal, scholars of product innovation may avoid it. We would refer these scholars to a prescient editorial [2]. Here, a matrix of researchability is shown. Occupying a prominent position in the area of high importance and little understanding is the issue of team dynamics. Perhaps FlyingFox will spark research into a better understanding of this important issue. George Castellion SSC Associates
References I. Katzenbach, .I. R. and Smith, D. K. 7’;~ Wiisdom of Teams: Crealing the High-Performance Organizafion. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1993. Reviewed in Journal of Product Innovation Management, June 1993, pages 268-270. 2. Crawford, C. M. and Hustad, T P. “From the Editors,” Product Innovation Management, March 1988, pages l-5.
Journal of
Implementing TQM: Competing in the Nineties Through Total Quality Management, Second Edition, by Joseph R. Jablonski. San Diego, CA: Pfeiffer & Company, 1992. 201 + xix pages. $29.95. Ever wonder just what TQM (Total Quality Management) is-and how to get there? This book will answer those questions. Jablonski has put together a very focused and detailed “cook-book” approach that describes how to implement TQM in an organization. He appropriately points out that TQM is really a process for change and he does a good job of defining six basic principles of TQM: Customer focus Focus on the process as well as the results Prevention
versus inspection
Mobilize the expertise of the workforce
J PROD INNOV MANAG 1994;I 1:89-92
BOOK REVIEWS
l
Fact-based decision making
l
Feedback
He also points out that there are two distinct elements to TQM-the philosophy and the tools. Too often details on the tools are provided without an understanding of the all important underlying principles of TQM. The book focuses on the steps to implement TQM. Jablonski defines five implementation phases: l
l
l
l
l
Phase 0. Preparation. Basically getting top management aboard with things like strategy, vision, goals, and policies. Phase 1. Planning. Identifying expectations lining up the required resources.
and
Phase 2. Assessment. Taking inventory of ourselves, our customers, and the organization. Phase 3. Implementation. Selecting tools and providing lots of training. Phase 4. Diversification. Essentially organization’s suppliers involved.
the right getting the
I liked the section that focuses on the difference between goods and services. The author appropriately points out the personal and immediate feedback characteristics of services. TQM has an important role to play in improving the quality of services, but the implementation is quite different. My appreciation for Jablonski’s insight was abruptly compromised in a of Competitive later section entitled “Overview Process.” He makes the point that whenever a company contracts for goods and services, they package their requirements in a Request for Proposal (RFP). Wrong. This is the way the government and its contractors work, but is in no way indicative of the broader marketplace. Consumers and corporations buy things from candy bars to computers to consulting services without RFPs. (I think I’ve responded to a total of three RFPs in twelve years.) RFPs are one of many ways of doing business. More often than not we do not have an RFP and the customer’s true requirements are very difficult to pin down. Later in the book, Jablonski appropriately points out that it’s perception, not reality on the part of the customer, that counts. He uses a good example to make his point. The book is full of good charts, graphs, tables, and checklists, consistent with an industrial engineering approach to the problem. I particularly liked the chart
91
(page 141) that forecasts changes in attitudes as TQM is being implemented over time. There’s an overall impression, however, that once “achieved,” TQM just builds on itself and increases corporate optimism, insight, customer satisfaction, and of course, profitability. Other recent publications have pointed out what can happen when TQM and the reality of “downsizing” come face to face. [ 1] TQM and New Product Development (NPD) are fundamentally different but strongly related activities. Product developers should draw four important insights from the TQM process: l
Focus on the customer
l
View NPD as a process
l
Emphasize the team as the both the implementor and owner of the NPD process
l
Adopt an attitude of continually NPD process
improving
the
I would recommend “Implementing TQM” as a straightforward, process-oriented primer on TQM, particularly valuable to an organization starting to consider implementation. John J. Moran CMC J. J. Moran & Associates
References 1. When Times Get Tough, What Happens To TQM? Case Study. Harvard Business Review, May-June 1993, pages 2&34.
Brief Notes: Rapid Prototyping & Manufacturing: Fundamentals of StereoLithography, by Paul F. Jacobs, Ph.D. Dearborn, MI: Society of Manufacturing Engineers, 1992, 434 pages. The last chapter of this otherwise highly technical book dedicated to StereoLithography provides a good overview of various alternative approaches to rapid prototyping (so-called desktop manufacturing). Marketing Your Invention, by Thomas E. Mosley, Jr. Dover, NH: Upstart Publishing Co., 1992. 222 + ix pages. $19.95. Although most readers of JPZM probably work for large organizations with capable patent and marketing departments, this book offers a thorough summary of