Service Success! Lessons from a Leader on How to Turn Around a Service Business

Total quality management (TQM) is the most significant managerial theory since 1980; unfortunately, its basic tenets are often obscured by numbing jargon and mathematical formulas. Kaplan, president of Hertz Equipment Rental Corp., and Rieser, a former editor at Fortune , here craft one of the best applied TQM studies to appear this season. Starting with ``a set of simple methods that will enable managers to become more effective and productive,'' the authors describe the turnaround policies (statistical benchmarking, constantly refining service standards and building trust through commitment) employed by Kaplan at Hertz. While the authors' observations on operations management and financial controls are useful, their elaborations on corporate culture, management development and business ethics are particularly strong. (Apr.)