Creating Excellence, first published in 1984, proposes a rational yet visionary blend of approaches for a winning, strategy-driven culture that can provide you and your company with the confidence that gets results. Based on a programme of six essential leadership skills – vision, sensitivity, insight, versatility, focus, and patience – this step-by-step blueprint for organisational excellence shows the New Age Executive exactly how to: Know your firm’s capabilities – and make the most of them Motivate your people to peak performance Respond positivity to change from within and without Develop long-term goals and see them through And turn crisis into opportunity All these principles are illustrated with fascinating case studies of the most spectacular successes and failures in the history of American enterprise. In addition, hands-on ‘exercises’ will enable you to test their application to the concerns of your own organisation. Whether you work for a small business or a vast conglomerate, in a hot new industry or a mature, stable environment, Creative Excellence can help make you the most important corporate asset of the eighties – and beyond.

Creating Excellence: Becoming an A+ School is intended to be used by first year principals who have inherited a school that is failing or not achieving to a desired level, as well as by seasoned principals who are struggling to improve their school’s academic performance. It can also be used effectively as a textbook for graduate students preparing for a career in educational leadership. The book is straightforward in its presentation of practices and strategies supported by research and theory. It has been written to share the knowledge base, impart the technical skills, and highlight the interpersonal skills recommended to enable educational leaders to create excellence and enable their school to become an A+ school. Within the chapters, tools, techniques, and concrete examples are offered. Educational leaders are encouraged to select, revise, and adjust proposed actions based on their own judgement and according to their local conditions, faculty, staff and other stakeholders. Regardless, improving instruction in order to increase student learning must be the focus.

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER! “Like any business, a hospital must be true to its core values in order to succeed. ‘Trickle-down values’ start at the top with the best leadership, so that all the stakeholders understand and carry out the institution’s mission. That is the gift that David F einberg has brought to U CLA. I am in awe of his management skills.” —Lynda Resnick, owner of Pom Wonderful, Fiji Water, Teleflora, and Wonderful Pistachios “With clear purpose, unwavering principles, and steadfast leadership, the people at UCLA have established a new bar, a compelling promise, for what healthcare can and should be.” —David M. Lawrence, M.D., former CEO, Kaiser Permanente “An absorbing and educational account of a large institution’s astonishing transformation. The strong, courageous, and focused leadership of David Feinberg and his outstanding team is evident on every page. A tremendous lesson for all large enterprises.” —William E. Simon, Jr., cochairman, William E. Simon & Sons “Most leadership authors describe how to apply common-sense principles. Michelli is a notable exception. He artfully describes the compelling, uncommon leadership practices that transformed UCLA Health System. The resulting lessons are plentiful and powerful for today’s business leader.” —Lee J. Colan, Ph.D., author of Sticking to It: The Art of Adherence About the Book: Joseph Michelli, author of The Starbucks Experience and The New Gold Standard, is among the world’s top authorities on the principles of creating an organizational culture dedicated to service excellence. In these bestselling books, he examines how leading service companies dominate their respective industries with innovative customerexperience strategies. Now, Michelli turns his attention to one of the most complex, controversial, and critical industries—healthcare. In Prescription for Excellence, Michelli provides an inside look at an organization that has become the envy of its industry—and explains how you can dominate your own industry by using the same approach. UCLA Health System is revered worldwide for its top-tier patient/customer care. Great physicians, nurses, researchers, and staff are only part of the equation; UCLA’s overall success is a result of organization-wide collaboration that is driven by leaders with a shared vision of unyielding excellence. Michelli breaks down UCLA’s approach into five simple principles: Commit to Care Leave No Room for Error Make the Best Better Create the Future Service Serves Us From administrative offices to operating rooms to research centers, continued adherence to these five principles has guided UCLA to financial strength, social significance, and sustainability. The best part is that these principles translate to any industry, so you, too, can achieve similar goals. Michelli gives you the tools to adapt UCLA’s ideas, systems, and leadership principles into your own best practices. Whether it is a healthcare organization, a financial institution, or a neighborhood hair salon, good business begins and ends with customer connection. When all workers in an organization focus on providing quality care for those they serve, success inevitably follows. Business is always personal; UCLA’s leadership ensures that this simple truth drives every UCLA employee, every day. Apply the lessons Michelli spells out in Prescription for Excellence to create a system that ensures that your people take business personally, day in and day out.

The Customer Experience is the sensory, cognitive, emotional, social and behavioral dimensions of all activities that connect the customer and the organization over time across touch points and channels. It encompasses all activities involving the customer where the organization is the focal object, including pre-purchase activities (such as exposure to a website ad), and purchase, consumption, and engagement behaviors (blogging, sharing photos). This book analyzes the challenges of creating excellent customer experiences, including the management of technology and new media. It describes how customers co-produce and co-create their experiences, and how these activities influence business revenues and costs. The book takes a deep dive into the psychology of customers, revealing the conceptual building blocks of customer experiences and how they build relationships over time. These ideas provide a business perspective on how to manage relationships with customers to generate cash flows and profitability, including the role of pricing.

(Methodology Chorals). Henry Leck, Founder and Artistic Director of the Indianapolis Children's Choir and Director of Choral Activities at Butler University, has influenced thousands of young musicians and teachers through his dedication to choral excellence and the idea that children can perform music with artistry and understanding. This comprehensive text, written with Dr. Flossie Jordan, is an insightful guide for choral directors in the field and in training to help develop the teaching skills, leadership abilities, conducting technique, knowledge of repertoire and organizational skills necessary for success. Chapters include: 1. Going Beyond the Craft of Music Making 2. Vocal Techniques for the Young Singer 3. Director Preparation 4. Musical Expression through Visualization 5. Dalcroze Techniques in the Choral Rehearsal 6. Creating Artistry Through a Kodaly Curriculum 7. The Boy's Expanding Voice: Take the High Road 8. Leadership Style 9. Organization 10. Epilogue As an added bonus, the book includes a CD-ROM with dozens of helpful forms and documents from the Indianapolis Children's Choir covering organizing a children's choir, auditions, governing documents, managing volunteers, fundraising, grant writing and much more!

School playtimes account for 20% of a child's school life, but how can schools ensure that this time is as beneficial as possible for primary school pupils? Emphasising the importance of play in child development, this book identifies the key challenges facing schools during break times and sets out a complete strategy for effectively managing playtimes that are fun-filled and offer children greater long-term benefits. With before and after case studies showing how school playtimes have been transformed through the author's OPAL Primary Programme, this book demonstrates how to improve common issues such as behaviour, staffing, space and facilities in a sustainable way that capitalises on investments in equipment and training. Promoting wellbeing and healthy child development, this book provides inspiring reading for primary school staff and play workers, and creative ideas and ready-to-use solutions that will help schools to meet Ofsted criteria for excellent play.

Beyond Six Sigma and Lean! Design your processes to facilitate real business growth, in both healthy and unhealthy economies Design for Operational Excellence defines why companies embark upon continuous improvement—and the true answer is not to improve efficiency, quality, or eliminate waste! The reason is to achieve Operational Excellence. Duggan, an established authority on OpEx, provides the design criteria and guidelines that enable you to grow your business organically by refocusing management’s attention from running the business to growing the business. Founded on eight key principles, this groundbreaking system facilitates the continuous flow of value into any operation—from customer service to sales to manufacturing. Kevin J. Duggan is a renowned speaker, executive mentor, and educator in applying advanced lean techniques to achieve Operational Excellence and the author of two books on the subject: Creating Mixed Model Value Streams and The Office That Grows Your Business—Achieving Operational Excellence in Your Business Processes. As the Founder of the Institute for Operational Excellence, the leading educational center on Operational Excellence, and Duggan Associates, an international training and advisory firm, Kevin has assisted many major corporations worldwide, including United Technologies Corporation, Caterpillar, Pratt & Whitney, Singapore Airlines, IDEX Corporation, GKN and Parker Hannifin. A recognized expert on Operational Excellence, Kevin is a frequent keynote speaker, master of ceremonies, and panelist at international conferences, and has appeared on CNN and the Fox Business Network.