From Publishers WeeklyPete, hero of this rapturous business novella, manages an ice cream factory where “the low hum of mediocrity filled the air…like an offensive odor.” Desperate to boost margins, Pete makes a sales call to the local Natural Foods grocery store, where he is amazed by “how clean and fresh, warm and welcoming the store was,” by the cheerfulness of the employees, and by charismatic store manager Mike, who expounds legendary Natural Foods founder Glen Goodwill’s doctrine of putting quality before profit. “Mike…I need help,” Pete sobs, in the throes of a conversion experience, “tell me what I may do to make quality a portion of our culture.” He learns to empower his workers, listen to clients and obsessively measure each detail of production processes with an eye to ceaseless improvement. Soon lumpy texture and leaky cartons are a thing of the past, profits soar, Pete is promoted to company president and he even applies Mike’s teachings to heighten the quality of his marriage and parenting. Chowdhury, author of The Power of Six Sigma, extends Total Quality Management from a managerial program into a journeying toward spiritual redemption. He conveys it is principles through a smattering of process-engineering argot (“we scaled down tolerance of variables on our mix-ins to .1 grams and the depth of each tub to two millimeters”), golf and football parables, and cultic incantations like “you have tilled the soil, to prepare it for the seed of quality.” Although less than convincing as a motivational tract, this book provides a readable, if sketchy, introduction to TQM precepts.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a section of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.ReviewTAKING QUALITY TO THE NEXT LEVEL
“Great book! The Ice Cream Maker ought to be mandatory reading for any individual entering the workforce.”
–Steve Walukas, Vice President, Corporate Quality, DaimlerChrysler Corporation
“This business gem is short in length, but boundless in the depth of it is clear or deep perception and wisdom. If there is only one book and one author I could commend in the world of quality, it would be The Ice Cream Maker and Subir Chowdhury.”
–Marshall Goldsmith, founding collaborator of Marshall Goldsmith Partners, and author of The Leader of the Future
“Fabulous! The Ice Cream Maker offers a outstanding illustration of the aweinspiring results that may be achieved by engaging your entire workforce in the attempts to improve quality.”
– Lee A. Mundy, Executive Director, Strategic Quality Initiative, General Motors Corporation
“In 115 jargon-free pages, [Chowdhury] boils down most of the wisdom of
modern management theory and exercise that is evenly applicable to chief
executive and front-line clerk.”
—- THE WASHINGTON POST (10-9-2005)
“The Ice Cream Maker getting a kind of Detroit Bible, at once raising
our expected values and our self-confidence. That’s bold self-promotion –
chutzpah — a quality that our battered region could use right now.”
—THE DETROIT NEWS (11/13/2005)
“Subir Chowdhury’s mission is to make quality portion of America’s
corporate DNA. The Ice Cream Maker is a outstanding step on the path to this
end.”
— KEN BLANCHARD, coauthor of The One Minute Manager
About the Author
Subir Chowdhury is the author of the international bestsellers The Power of Six Sigma, as well as Design for Six Sigma. As chairman and CEO of ASI Consulting Group (www.asiusa.com), he advises CEOs and senior leaders of Fortune 100 companies, and in private and public spheres all over the world, helping them make quality a part of their business culture. His works are cited ofttimes in the national and international media. He lives in Northville, Michigan.
A good inspirational work/starting point.
Quality is everyone’s business!
