Faster Cheaper Better: The 9 Levers for Transforming How Work Gets Done

When Hammer (coauthor of Reengineering the Corporation) died in 2008, he had nearly completed a first draft of a new treatise on business transformation. Finished by Hershman, CEO of Hammer and Company, this timely book focuses on the revolutionary potential of process improvement in an era of increasingly intense competition. Hershman presents seven essential principles (identifying and fine-tuning such factors as "who does the work," "where the work is done," etc.) and a tool kit of nine "levers," or changes, for how actual work streams can be organized and executed more effectively in companies across industries and across the globe. Case studies in the final section show how these end-to-end process re-engineerings have been applied in real enterprises, including Tetrapak, a packaging equipment company; Gamesa, a Mexico-based leader in cookie production; and Hattaway, a specialty metals-forming business. Easy to read, down-to-earth, and filled with nuggets of practical business wisdom, this eye-opening work is imminently applicable for business owners, leaders, and managers at all levels. (Dec.)