If you saw a toothpick on the floor, what would you do?

This seemingly innocuous question was posed to Subir Chowdhury by one of his longtime clients, and ultimately lead him to a profound realization: good enough is not enough. The best processes in the world won't work without developing the kind of mindset — a caring mindset — that is needed to achieve real and sustainable change in both organizations and individuals.

In his compelling new book, bestselling author and globally recognized management consultant Subir Chowdhury tackles an issue that has haunted him in his work with many of the world’s largest organizations.  Why is it that some improve only incrementally, while others improve 50 times that? The ideas and training are exactly the same. What is the difference?

The difference, Chowdhury explains, is the ability to nurture the skills, loyalty and passion of the people who make up an organization.  It is a culture built on straightforwardness, thoughtfulness, accountability and resolve.  Organizations and individuals that embrace all of these “STAR” attributes—not just one or two of them—will shine.  He goes further, showing us why having a caring mindset outside of work is integral to both personal and professional success.

A powerful guide to living a successful life and career, The Difference will inspire you to be the difference — at work or home.

Robust Optimization is a method to improve robustness using low-cost variations of a single, conceptual design. The benefits of Robust Optimization include faster product development cycles; faster launch cycles; fewer manufacturing problems; fewer field problems; lower-cost, higher performing products and processes; and lower warranty costs. All these benefits can be realized if engineering and product development leadership of automotive and manufacturing organizations leverage the power of using Robust Optimization as a competitive weapon.

Written by world renowned authors, Robust Optimization: World’s Best Practices for Developing Winning Vehicles, is a ground breaking book whichintroduces the technical management strategy of Robust Optimization. The authors discuss what the strategy entails, 8 steps for Robust Optimization and Robust Assessment, and how to lead it in a technical organization with an implementation strategy. Robust Optimization is defined and it is demonstrated how the techniques can be applied to manufacturing organizations, especially those with automotive industry applications, so that Robust Optimization creates the flexibility that minimizes product development cost, reduces product time-to-market, and increases overall productivity.

Hailed as “the Quality Prophet” by BusinessWeek, Subir Chowdhury is the long-established global authority on the critical importance of quality and how to achieve it with Design for Six Sigma (DFSS). Now, he takes it to the next level by showing you how to build quality into the DNA of your entire organization.

In his bestselling book , Chowdhury introduced his next-generation management system—LEO. In The Power of LEO, he describes how continuous focus on quality improvement can revolutionize any process—from manufacturing operations to managerial decision making. The secret is to cease delegating the responsibility of quality to specific teams or departments and permanently lodge it within the core of an organization’s culture.

quality, America is continually forced to rely on innovation to stay ahead.

In The Ice Cream Maker, Chowdhury uses a simple story to illustrate how businesses can instill quality into our culture and into every product we design, build, and market. The protagonist of the story is Peter Delvecchio, the manager of a regional ice cream company, who is determined to sell its ice cream to a flourishing national grocery chain, Natural Foods. In conversations with the Natural Foods manager, Peter learns how the extraordinarily successful retailer achieves its renowned high standard of excellence, both in the services it provides its customers and in the foods it manufactures and sells. Quality, he discovers, must be the mission of every employee; by learning to listen,enrich, and optimize,he can encourage and sustain the highest levels of quality in everything the company does.
Innovation, claims quality consultant Subir Chowdhury, is part of America’s DNA. No other country in the world matches America’s creative drive and its ability to turn innovative ideas into revolutionary products–from antilock brakes and steel-belted radial tires to sophisticated software and microprocessors. But as fast as we introduce new products, we lose the markets we establish to countries that know how to manufacture higher quality versions for less money. As Japanese and European firms win market share by concentrating on

Next Generation Business Handbook offers strategies for the next generation of business success from the best business schools around the world.
* Presents fresh ideas from the young, up-and-coming business thinkers and experts from the world's best business schools.
* Coverage of topics like career imprinting and operating in a virtual workspace that are receiving increased attention in organizations.
* Organized around Chowdhury's "next generation business model."

Talent is the true engine of the next economy. Talented people aren't simply ''knowledge workers''; they're free agents, capable of bringing enormous value to the organizations they are part of. Organizations that want to maximize the value of talent need to act in radically new ways. In this book, world-renowned quality strategist Subir Chowdhury presents a powerful new blueprint for recognizing talent, rewarding it, & making the most of it. He reveals the 7 key secrets of talent, then shows managers exactly how to measure Return on Talent (ROT) -- & exactly how to enhance it. He also shows talented individuals exactly how to maximize their own talents -- & maximize the rewards those talents can earn.

"This book is a great demonstration of this powerful approach andhow it can make a meaningful difference in any type of business. Ittakes a dedicated engineering approach to implement, but thepayback in customer satisfaction and growth is dramatic."
--Lou Giuliano, chairman, president, and CEO, ITT Industries

No other single volume presents the full breadth of foundingbeliefs behind the successful engineering practices used by today'sleading companies. Helpful to companies in both manufacturing andservice industries, Taguchi's Quality Engineering Handbookprovides accessible material on such topics as:
* Quality loss function
* On-line quality engineering
* Signal-to-noise ratio
* Robust engineering
* Design of experiments (known as the "Taguchi method")
* Mahalanobis-Taguchi Systems (MTS)
* and more.

This is not your boss's book on Six Sigma! The remarkable process of Six Sigma, which has been touted by such management gurus as GE's CEO, Jack Welch, is beautifully explained in this engaging, true-to-life tale. Never before has a business initiative transformed corporations so dramatically. While it has been credited with improving productivity, slashing costs, and improving profit margins, it can cause much angst among employees who need to change the way they currently work and adhere to a new philosophy. Corporations have seen radical change for the better, and to achieve those improvements requires radical change by employees. And it all starts with acceptance. The Power of Six Sigma is unlike any other book on Six Sigma. This fictionalized tale simplifies a complicated topic and, through dialogue between Joe and Larry, explains the way Six Sigma works in a nonthreatening, easy-to-understand way. Everyone in the organization will learn what Six Sigma is and how it works.

A narrative approach is employed here in an attempt to explain principles of Design Six Sigma. One friend advises another on the importance of Design for Six Sigma across all departments and functions in an organization. Chowdhury is executive vice president of the American Supplier Institute. The book is 5.5x8<">. There is no subject index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Organization 21C: Someday All Organizations Will Lead This Way brings together 19 all-new essays by the world's leading management thinkers, covering every key driver of organizational success: leadership, process, people, and organizational design. You'll find breakthrough ideas and practical solutions for virtually every tactical and strategic challenge you face. Key topics include: James Champy's X-engineering, Total Rewards Management, the "New Boardroom," the changing nature of power and influence, building workable hierarchies and sustainable organizations, and new best practices for leading change.

"Excellent! Chowdhury has gathered together under one roof, so to speak, a remarkable group of thinkers who give us their best bets on how our organizational futures will look. I found it enlightening and useful." ¿ Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business, Univ. of Southern California, Co-author of Organizing Genius and Co-Leaders "If you read only one management book this year, make it Management 21C. A provocative future-oriented book that offers a dramatic and convincing view of what leaders and organizations will need to be successful in the 21st century." ¿ John A. Quelch, Dean, London Business School  "You only have to take a look at the list of contributors to know the kind of book you're going to be reading. It's extremely stimulating and is fabulous at guiding the reader through the minefield of management." - Anita Roddick O.B.E., Founder, The Body Shop  "Remarkable thought leaders have produced a remarkable guide for the leader in the new century." ¿ Frances Hesselbein, Chairman of the Board of Governors, Peter Drucker Foundation  "Subir Chowdhury has collected a ¿who¿s who¿ of thinkers and writers about leadership. In addition to his own thought provoking chapter ¿Towards the Future of Management¿, the book opens a window of the challenges for leadership in the new millennium. The contributors present their ideas and positions on the requirements for the next century ¿ that beginning the second thousand years since Christ¿s birth."  "The book has the fascination of a good novel ¿ plus the exposure to many of our best ¿futurists¿. I recommend it to organization leaders, consultants and academicians who are working on this critical issue for all of us." ¿ Richard Beckhard, Principal, Richard Beckhard Associates, Emeritus Professor, Sloan School of Management, MIT  "Each Chapter will kick start the brain to deal with the 21st century. A very thoughtful collection." ¿ Philip B. Crosby, Author, Quality and Me: Lessons from an Evolving Life

This resource shows you how to harness the power of an amazing new pattern-recognition and forecasting method from Dr. Genichi Taguchi, a world-renowned quality genius. 15 case studies from the U.S. and Japan show how industry giants used the MTS effectively in their organizations. With this book, the first on the subject, you can achieve the same success.

The Mahalanobis-Taguchi System (MTS) is a groundbreaking new philosophy that has been reshaping Japanese industry since its inception. Developed by award-winning quality engineering expert Dr. Genichi Taguchi - acknowledged as one of the most innovative thinkers in the field, and based on the work of Indian statistics giant Dr. P.C. Mahalanobis the system provides a powerful process for recognizing patterns and forecasting results.MTS goes beyond theory - it shows you exactly how international business giants have successfully put the system to work for them. The book includes 15 fascinating case studies that provide an inside look at how organizations such as Fuji, Nissan, Sharp, Xerox, and others have utilized the system effectively. MTS can be applied in patient monitoring, medical diagnosis, software, manufacturing, weather forecasting, automotive collision prevention and fire detection.Doctors, researchers, engineers, insurance experts, financial analysts, programmers, and anyone else with an interest in pattern recognition and forecasting will find this book a blueprint to improved decision-making.

Six Sigma -- the management strategy Jack Welch attributes GE's phenomenal success to -- is being implemented by many leading organizations looking for dramatic profit increases and improved customer satisfaction. But Six Sigma in production is less than half the story -- Six Sigma in design is where the money is. If you change a product after it is launched it will cost you 1,000 times more than if you made those changes during the design stage. Subir Chowdhury, the leading quality expert who introduced Six Sigma to the UK in his last book, has done it again. The current book attacks a company's problems at the product development stage and presents a revolutionary five-step process that takes a company all the way to Six Sigma.

Powerful and elegantly simple.Achieve higher quality...lower costs...faster time to market

Companies worldwide have used the methods of quality expert Genichi Taguchi for the past 30 years with phenomenal product development cost savings and quality improvements. Robust Engineering, by this three-time Deming Prize winner, along with Subir Chowdhury and Shin Taguchi, is the first book to explain and illustrate his newest, most revolutionary methodology, Technology Development. It joins Design of Experiments and Robust Design as the framework on which your company can build a competitive edge. Case studies of real-world organizations Ford, ITT, 3M, Minolta, NASA, Nissan, Xerox and 9 others show you how the techniques of all three methodologies can besuccessfully applied. You'll hammer flexibility into your manufacturing organization to minimize product development costs, reduce product time-to-market, and fully satisfy customers needs.

Without the discipline and innovation of the QS-9000 quality system requirements, the automotive manufacturing industry would have continued to flounder under the weight of its own inefficiencies. QS-9000 Pioneers tells the true stories behind the companies, teams and individuals who rose to the challenge and revitalized the core of the U.S. manufacturing base. Through a series of case studies profiling suppliers to leading-edge automotive companies like General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, QS-9000 Pioneers is the first book to reveal the best practices of the certified companies who continue to lead the way. Readers will discover: How to register and/or implement QS-9000 through a series of best practices; Successful case studies showing the requirements, milestones, pitfalls, and expected returns; A formula for Instant Knowledge'' on subject areas that apply to the reader's particular organization.