‘Outliers’

‘Outliers: The Story of Success’

By: Malcolm Gladwell

Little, Brown and Company

ISBN 9780316017923

‘Outliers’ is a wonderful book which can change our opinion on how we see success and the successful. The bottom-line of what the author wants to say is that the successful don’t become so only because of either their talent or their hard labour. They succeed also because of the environment and circumstances in their life when they were trying. The author picks up examples of many business legends and celebrities including Bill Gates, Mozart, and the Beatles, and proves his point.

Is there any ‘perfect’ month of birth for a Hockey player? Is there any particular hours of practice needed for success? Could Bill Gates succeed if he was born two years after his birth-year; or his school didn’t purchase a computer? Did being children of Jew immigrant garment workers help succeed in legal services in NY? How does culture of an immigrant’s native place influence his success? Could plane crash be explained by understanding the culture of the pilots? Why Asian kids are better in Maths than the English? What is called ‘Culture of Pride’ and what is its origin? Does absolute merit matter or is there any ‘threshold’ of that to succeed? What is difference between IQ and practical intelligence? All these questions are answered and explained in this book.

The author definitely has a good power of observation and logic to explain things. He also makes use of the studies and observations of a lot of other researchers and academicians. I would recommend this book to all.

- Rahul

SCM Best Practices

“Supply Chain Management Best Practices” (Second Edition)
By David Blanchard
Wiley Best Practices; John Wiley & Sons, Inc

The book identifies some of the world’s best supply chains, and discusses why they are so in case format. Companies like Dell, Boeing, P&G, Apple, or Pfizer have very unique solutions to their unique supply chain challenges. The book mentions the AMR research which identified world’s 10 best supply chains in 2009. Apple topped it and Dell stood second. The author also identifies the top metrics which can be used to measure supply chain effectiveness and finds that inventory turnover is perhaps the best of those. It’s highly recommended for all supply chain practitioners and interested business managers.

- Rahul