Authors: Monika Mathé.
Paperback, 400 pages
Publisher: Packt Publishing
Publication Date: 2006-10-29


Reviews :

    In this unique book, osCommerce expert "Monika in Germany" lets you in on her secrets on how to hack your way to that perfect osCommerce site. This cookbook provides you with ready-made solutions for customizing your osCommerce installation and seasoning it with exciting new features. With a total of 69 recipes, this book helps you improve all important areas of your default installation.

Written by an acknowledged osCommerce expert, the book not only gives you ready made solutions that you can easily incorporate into your system, but it also explains to you how these solutions work and shows you in detail how to implement them. This also helps you learn about the underlying API and later create your own variations to suit your very own taste.

The focus of this book is not to teach osCommerce, but to give solutions to specific problems. For learning osCommerce, we suggest that you either read Building Online Stores with osCommerce: Professional Edition or Building Online Stores with osCommerce: Beginner Edition. This cookbook, however, can be a great companion for any of these books.

osCommerce has been around since March 2000. At present there are over 10,000 live, registered osCommerce sites, and about 100,000 registered community members. Apart from providing ready-made solutions to problems, as well as a huge repository of information, the osCommerce community is a living entity with which we can all interact. With the rising success and popularity of this remarkable piece of software, things can only get better.

The book has 11 chapters, each dealing with a different aspect of osCommerce.
Chapter 1 equips you with a few very easy and very important changes to the basic design which will make developing and later modifying a whole new template a breeze.
Chapter 2 will help you modify your navigation to ensure a smoother shopping experience for your customers.
Chapter 3 covers infoboxes and turns you into an expert in tweaking them to your needs.
Chapter 4 deals with one of the most important visual parts of your shop, the product display in the listings and the detail page.
Chapter 5 outlines different methods to make searching on your site a fun experience. You want your customers to use your search and to find the products you want to sell to them.
Chapter 6 highlights customizations of the checkout process, namely the flow from the shopping cart to the shipping and payment pages up to the order email.
Chapter 7 talks about new shipping modules. You will learn how to adapt existing modules to create completely new rate systems for your shop.
Chapter 8 focuses on existing payment modules and how they can be tweaked.
Chapter 9 provides tips on efficiently using banners as a marketing tool.
Chapter 10 is a goodie bag of extra special treats to indulge your sweet tooth.
Chapter 11 tackles changes in the admin area. You alone will be the keeper of these secret recipes hidden to the public eye.

This book is aimed at people with existing online stores, built using osCommerce. The book follows a systematic approach whereby users can modify and extend features on their already existing osCommerce site. Each chapter deals with a different aspect , and provides ready-made recipes for modifying code to your requirements. The author starts by explaining basic changes one can make to the design of your store, and then covers features like navigation, images, shipping and payment modules, and even explains how to make changes on the administrator's side and keeping your own recipes private....

Authors: Ronald G. Ross.
Paperback, 400 pages
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Publication Date: 2003-02-15


Reviews :

    The idea of Business Rules has been around for a while. Simply put, a Business Rule is a statement that defines or constrains some aspect of the business. In practice they are meant to reduce or eliminate the delays, waste, and frustration associated with the IT department having to be involved with almost every action affecting an organization's information systems. The advent of Web services has created renewed interest in them. There are now several well established rules-based products that have demonstrated the effectiveness of their use. But until now there has not been a definitive guide to Business Rules. Ron Ross, considered to be the father of Business Rules, will help organizations apply this powerful solution to their own computer system problems. This book is intended to be the first book that anyone from an IT manager to a business manager will read to understand what Business Rules are, and what how they can be applied to their own situation....

Authors: Thomas R. Peltier.
Hardcover, 400 pages
Publisher: Auerbach Publications
Publication Date: 2008-11-18
Edition: 1

Reviews :

    Based on the seminars of Tom Peltier, this volume presents the various processes that your organization can employ in assessing risk, fully detailing each of its strengths and weaknesses. This information will allow managers to determine what processes best fit the needs of a given situation to mitigate risk levels. Always conscious of the bottom line, Peltier discusses the cost-benefit of risk mitigation and looks at specific ways to manage costs. The conclusions presented are supported by numerous case studies and explained through diagrams which show how to apply risk management skills in your organization with regard to any business endeavor....

Authors: Pat Kennedy. Vivek Bapat. Paul Kurchina.
Paperback, 416 pages
Publisher: Evolved Technologist
Publication Date: 2008-04-18


Reviews :

    Imagine that you could hear the insights of more than 100 people with decades of experience about how to run a plant to meet the challenges of today's hypercompetitive, globalized world. In Pursuit of the Perfect Plant provides exactly that experience. The authors assembled more than 100 experts, whose ideas were distilled into a simple, easy to read story. Unlike most books on manufacturing, which are deep dives into arcane topics, this book provides an expansive view. People who have 30 or 40 years experience in manufacturing report that the book has increased their knowledge in surprising ways. The manuscript has proved especially popular with senior executives seeking to better understand the plants under their control and people early in their career who are preparing to move up the management ladder. The story shows the connections between business processes and technology in the all important areas of manufacturing, which leads to deeper understanding. Find out how people are using the book to make a difference in their plants at: www.PursuitOfThePerfectPlant.com....

Authors: Donald Wayne Hackett.
Paperback, 104 pages
Publisher: Crisp Learning
Publication Date: 1993-06-01
Edition: 1

Reviews :

    The Crisp Training Essentials Learning Track includes the best self-directed study books at a significant cost savings. To help you learn the essentials of training, this bundle combines the best Fifty-Minute Series books and additional Crisp publications to provide in-depth knowledge of the subject matter. Relevant case studies, self-evaluations, and practical examples help to reinforce key concepts. Instead of ordering one book at a time, simply order the bundle and start your library today....

Authors: Joseph Phillips.
Hardcover, 431 pages
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Publication Date: 2008-09-25
Edition: 1

Reviews :

   

Complete coverage of all the material on the PgMP certification exam

Get full coverage of all the material included on the PgMP Program Management Professional exam inside this comprehensive resource. Written by industry expert, trainer, and project management consultant Joseph Phillips, this definitive exam guide covers all three phases of the credential process--the PMI staff review, the multiple-choice exam, and the Multi-rater Assessment--focusing on how to pass the rigorous PgMP exam. Detailed and authoritative, this book serves as both a complete certification study guide and an essential on-the-job reference.

Get full details on all exam topics, including:

• The Project Management InstituteAnd#39;s program management standards
• Benefits and stakeholder management
• Life cycle themes and process groups
• Understanding the relationship between programs and projects
• Managing projects
• Program and team initiation
• Planning for program resources, scope, schedule, budget, procurement, and risk
• Program execution, quality assurance, team development, and vendor interaction
• Monitoring and controlling the program
• Closing the program

The CD-ROM features:

• Two full PgMP practice exams
• Video training
• Score tracker Excel spreadsheet
• Complete electronic book

...

Authors: Thomas J. Watson. Peter Petre.
Perfect Paperback, 480 pages
Publisher: Bantam
Publication Date: 2000-02-29


Reviews :

    In this eloquent first-person account of a family drama that changed the face of American business, the man who transformed IBM into the world's largest computer company reflects on his lifelong partnership with his father--and how their management style and shared dedication to excellence united to create a unique corporate culture that became the blueprint for the entire technology boom.

In the course of sixty years Thomas J. Watson Sr. and his son, Thomas J. Watson Jr., together built the international colossus that is IBM. This is their story: a riveting and revealing account of two men who loved each other--and fought each other--with a terrible fierceness.

But along with the story of a father and son, this is IBM's story too. It chronicles the management insights that shaped its course and its unique corporate culture, the style that made Thomas Watson Sr. one of America's most charismatic bosses, and the daring decisions by Thomas Watson Jr. that transformed IBM into the world's largest computing company. One of the greatest business-success stories of all time, Father, Son & Co. is a moving lesson for fathers who dream for their children, as well as a testament to American ingenuity and values, told in a disarmingly frank and eloquent voice.


Promising to remain an important business reference as we move into the next century, FATHER, SON & CO. takes a look at the management insight that helped to shape IBM's course and unique corporate culture.  It looks at Watson, Sr., one of America's most charismatic bosses, and Watson, Jr., who spurred IBM into the computer age.

Ten years after its original publication, FATHER, SON & CO. remains a uniquely honest book. Watson's willingness to write about the loving but ferociously combative relationship he had with his father and the turbulent battles behind some of IBM's most far-reaching decisions gives readers rare insights into the realities of leadership. -->...

Authors: Thomas H. Davenport.
Hardcover, 272 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Publication Date: 1997-06-26
Edition: 1

Reviews :

    According to virtually every business writer, we are in the midst of a new "information age," one that will revolutionize how workers work, how companies compete, perhaps even how thinkers think. And it is certainly true that Information Technology has become a giant industry. In America, more that 50% of all capital spending goes into IT, accounting for more than a third of the growth of the entire American economy in the last four years. Over the last decade, IT spending in the U.S. is estimated at 3 trillion dollars. And yet, by almost all accounts, IT hasn't worked all that well. Why is it that so many of the companies that have invested in these costly new technologies never saw the returns they had hoped for? And why do workers, even CEOs, find it so hard to adjust to new IT systems?
In Information Ecology, Thomas Davenport proposes a revolutionary new way to look at information management, one that takes into account the total information environment within an organization. Arguing that the information that comes from computer systems may be considerably less valuable to managers than information that flows in from a variety of other sources, the author describes an approach that encompasses the company's entire information environment, the management of which he calls information ecology. Only when organizations are able to combine and integrate these diverse sources of information, and to take them to a higher level where information becomes knowledge, will they realize the full power of their information ecology. Thus, the author puts people, not technology, at the center of the information world. Information and knowledge are human creations, he points out, and we will never excel at managing them until we give people a primary role. Citing examples drawn from his own extensive research and consulting including such major firms as A.T. & T., American Express, Ford, General Electric, Hallmark, Hoffman La Roche, IBM, Polaroid, Pacific Bell, and Toshiba Davenport illuminates the critical components of information ecology, and at every step along the way, he provides a quick assessment survey for managers to see how their organization measures up. He discusses the importance of developing an overall strategy for information use; explores the infighting, jealousy over resources, and political battles that can frustrate information sharing; underscores the importance of looking at how people really use information (how they search for it, modify it, share it, hoard it, and even ignore it) and the kinds of information they want; describes the ideal information staff, who not only store and retrive information, but also prune, provide context, enhance style, and choose the right presentation medium (in an age of work overload, vital information must be presented compellingly so the appropriate people recognize and use it); examines how information management should be done on a day to day basis; and presents several alternatives to the machine engineering approach to structuring and modeling information. Davenport makes explicit what many managers already know in their gut: that useful information flow depends on people, not equipment. In Information Ecology he paves the way for all managers to build a more competitive, creative, practical information environment for their companies....

Authors: Annabelle Gawer. Michael A. Cusumano.
Hardcover, 336 pages
Publisher: Harvard Business School Press
Publication Date: 2002-04-29
Edition: 1st

Reviews :

    It is the fundamental challenge of the high-tech sector: A firm must innovate internally to succeed - yet its success may equally depend on corresponding innovations by external firms. Whether a company develops a ubiquitous operating system or the software that runs on it, a VCR or the movies we play on it, every participant in a high-tech network is vulnerable to the innovative moves of its partners and competitors. Yet, in spite of this perilous situation, some firms have developed strategies that have made them industry powerhouses and world-class innovators. How? By becoming platform leaders - companies that provide the technological foundation on which other products, services, and systems are built.Platform leadership is the Holy Grail of high-tech industries, but it is difficult to achieve. In "Platform Leadership", high-tech strategy experts Annabelle Gawer and Michael A. Cusumano reveal how Intel, Microsoft, and Cisco, as well as companies including Palm and NTT DoCoMo, have orchestrated industry innovations to support their products - and, in the process, established dominant market positions.Based on these in-depth case studies and on incisive analysis, the authors present their Four Levers Framework for designing and implementing a successful platform strategy-or for improving an existing strategy: Determine the scope of the firm - Is it preferable to create product complements internally or let the "market" produce them? ; Design product technology strategically - What degree of modularity is appropriate? Should product interfaces be open or closed? What information should leaders disclose to outside firms?; Shape relationships with external complementors - How can the company balance competition and collaboration with outside players?; Optimize internal organizational structures - What processes and systems will allow the company to manage internal and external conflicts of interest most effectively?For executives, strategists, and entrepreneurs in many high-tech arenas, this book shows how firms can orchestrate innovation to ensure their own competitive futures - and drive the evolution of their industry. Annabelle Gawer is Assistant Professor of Strategy and Management at INSEAD. Michael A. Cusumano is the Sloan Management Review Professor of Management at the MIT Sloan School, editor-in-chief and chairman of the board of the Sloan Management Review, and coauthor of the bestseller "Microsoft Secrets"....

    Certain products, like the VCR and the microprocessor, are far more valuable as the center of a network of ancillary items than they ever could become on their own. Platform Leadership, by Annabelle Gawer and Michael A. Cusumano, examines how a handful of firms has maximized this position--or are attempting to do so--and proposes a framework that other businesses can use to establish similar game plans. Combining original research with analysis that draws upon their experiences as professors specializing in high-tech strategy, Gawer and Cusumano focus on Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Palm, NTT DoCoMo, and supporters of the Linux operating system to show how to establish and expand this vital hub positioning. Their four-pronged approach concentrates on scope (what firms produce on their own and encourage others to produce), technology (how much detail about product architecture and design they should disclose to outsiders), alliances (how collaborative or competitive their relationships with those outsiders should be), and organization (what structures best balance subsequent external and internal conflicts). The examples selected illustrate varying methods for walking the fine line required to achieve "platform leadership" and will provide food for thought along with practical guidance for others interested in attaining similar status. --Howard Rothman ...

Authors: Annik Stahl.
Paperback, 200 pages
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Publication Date: 2006-06-14


Reviews :

    We all have to work for a living so why not make that time work for you? Whether you re in a cubicle or corner office, the Crabby Office Lady shows you how to be more productive on the job so that you can really enjoy your time off the job. Humorous but practical, the lovable know-it-all reveals her secrets in this easy-to-read survival guide based on her popular column. You ll get her no-nonsense lessons to succeeding at work, as well as tips and tricks for working with Microsoft Office programs to help simplify your life. She ll give you the straight scoop so pay attention! Crabby says, Listen up! and discover how to: Manage your daily barrage of email, run effective meetings, and delegate (you might actually get some work done) Mind your workplace manners (and learn to deal with those who don t) Use Crabby s secrets for preparing for performance reviews and building your case for raises Customize Office program settings, use accessibility features, and practice healthy ergonomics to make your office your own Decode convoluted computer terms Take the stress out of fleeing and enjoy your time off with Crabby s get-away-from-it-all checklist...