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During my 45 years of corporate and consulting experience with companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 50, I have learned what to do and what should never be done from some of the best and worst leaders. I have seen many strategies fail due to poor execution. Because of those experiences, I created the Business Hierarchy of Needs® in 2013 as an integrated system for developing and implementing strategy. It is the basis for all the work we do at Group50® Consulting. I have often thought to myself, “I wish I knew this 30-40 years ago.” If I had this framework for creating a strong strategic foundation, building the bridge between strategy and results (people and organizations), and a proper implementation approach during my career the results would have been much greater and things a lot easier. I am sharing with readers many examples of my experiences and perspectives on these topics.

Every business does the twenty-nine elements of the Business Hierarchy of Needs® to some degree, but those that do not do it in an integrated fashion minimalize results. This book walks you through a proven step by step process for turning strategy into results in today’s business environment. It works for any industry or business type. It does not matter if you are a board member, senior leader, individual contributor, lead a team or function, or a Gen Xer just starting out, this book is for you. It will give you the ability to ask more probing and insightful questions as well as make better decisions. It will also help your company avoid Anti-Strategy and move to a Culture of Strategic Execution™.

Operations Management covers a broad spectrum of effort dealing with the design, production and distribution of an organization’s goods or services. In Book 1, the basics of Operations Management as a separate and distinct function will be reviewed. The following critical areas of discipline within Operations Management will be described and reviewed: Business systems and product design. This section answers the questions of how to most efficiently get goods or services to market. The focus is on efficiency, lowest possible costs, highest possible quality. The book then changes focus to Quality. In the quality, building quality into the operation’s processes through the entire process. Supply-chain is the next area of focus. Managing the production process from its beginning to the end, determining whether the organization should produce the good itself or buy from an outside supplier will be reviewed and discussed. Operations Management, Leading to Greatness includes many up to date case studies to review the real life challenges faced by operational people in business today. The book also draws on history to paint its picture of how to run a world class operation.

8 critical operations management functions are discussed and reviewed in Operations Management, Leading to Greatness, Book 2, Planning and Organizing, as follows:

Chapter 1 Project Management Learning Objective: Project Management is the planning, organizing, directing and controlling of the activities and resources utilized in achieving a goal.

Chapter 2 Inventory Control and Management Learning Objective: Inventory is a current asset on the balance sheet, meaning it is something the business owns and intends to convert to cash within one year. Inventory Management includes all of the tasks associated with organizing, controlling and directing the inventory in an organization. Inventory management functions include forecasting, controlling and minimization to optimal levels of all the types of inventory within an organization.

Chapter 3 Forecasting Learning Objectives: A forecast is a projection of a future event. In operations management, that future event generally is demand.

Chapter 4 The Theory of Constraints, Bottlenecks and Operations Research Learning objective: Constraints are the points in a system where the system meets throughput capacity limitations. It’s the part of the system most likely to fail. Bottlenecks are points in a system where production capacity is at the lowest level of the entire system. Operations Research is a scientific approach to resource allocation and critical to more complex decision-making.

Chapter 5 Sustainability Learning objective: Sustainability is the conservation of resources to ensure that future generations have resources required to meet their needs. Sustainability also means building efficiencies and effectiveness to ensure longevity and minimize waste.

Chapter 6 New Product Design and Development Learning objective: New product design and development is an exciting area of operations management. It is the process of fashioning new or improved products or services and developing a system to efficiently deliver them to the end user.

Chapter 7 Managing Human Resources Learning Objectives: Management is the planning, organizing, directing and controlling of all the resources required to meet an end objective. Managing people involves the hiring, directing, motivating, disciplining, and rewarding of the people in an organization who are directly or indirectly responsible for achieving an end objective.

Appendix 1 Culture Learning objective: The reader will be able to discuss why an organization’s culture is critical to the organization’s success as well as how to develop a culture of achievement and understand why it’s so important in operations management. Appendix 1 discusses what a culture statement is, why culture is important and how to create an effective and impactful culture in an organization.

This book is about improving your personal results and your life through the effective setting and attainment of goals. Goals are the fuel that propel a successful life. Goals are challenges that makes us better. Goals turn the ordinary among us into extraordinary. Goals are the backbone of greatness. The 7 Rules of Goals is personal, compelling and motivational. It is nicely written and easy to read. It includes just the right amount of personal stories to keep it interesting. All the stories are relevant to the point.