Published in 1982: England's Elizabeth was first issues in 1631, and it is probably the earliest separately published biography of Elizabeth I's early years. An important example of the author's considerable, and largely neglected, non-dramatic work, the book has never been previously edited.

Like top-notch athletes, corporations need to stay in fighting shape to compete. And assessing the fitness-both functionally and financially-of every corporate operation and activity is the role played by the benchmarking process. Not simply a detailed company physical that isolates operational weaknesses and fiscal bloat, when effectively implemented, benchmarking also represents the cure-a set of best practice guidelines for maximizing performance, guiding the company toward corporate health, while cleaning up operating inefficiencies and financial waste.

Written by a leading benchmarking authority, Benchmarking Strategies is a state-of-the-art how-to manual for transforming your organization into a lean, optimally performing endurance runner-no matter what sort of shape your company is in now. In a practical, user-friendly format, Reider helps you identify just what sort of businesses your company is in (and not in), develop a set of benchmarks and basic business principles as part of a corporate strategic plan, identify areas or functions that need improvement, implement best practices in a companywide program of continuous improvement, and develop performance measures to chart genuine gains as a learning organization.

A best practice is defined not simply as an operational change that is cost effective, but one that moves the company toward fulfilling the expectations of its stakeholders (from boards of directors, CEOs, and frontline employees to vendors and customers). The book then offers a practical vision of achievable excellence in which every activity affects every other and every employee and department is a shaper of corporate destiny. In clear, practical language, Benchmarking Strategies de-cants the often unwieldy theory behind corporate improvement into expert advice on:
* Benchmarking principles, techniques, and implementation
* Identifying your company's basic operational principles
* Benchmarks for organizational growth-including cost reductions, price and sales volume increases, and new distribution channels
* Strategies for gaining competitive advantage-not just meeting your competition but surpassing them
* How effective benchmarking encompasses both internal and external needs

Offering the insight, wisdom, and hard-nosed realism of a seasoned coach, Benchmarking Strategies is the essential manual to making excellence an ongoing reality in every corner of your firm and to transforming a good organization into a world-class competitor.

Find out how operationally and financially fit your company really is . . .and the secret to transforming it into a tough competitor if it isn't. Both the diagnosis and the cure for an out-of-shape organization, benchmarking is one of the most effective regimens available for transforming any company into an optimally functioning, world-class performer. Used in a program of continuous improvement, benchmarking is a process that allows a company to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of each of its activities and operations and put in place a set of best practices designed to move the company toward improved performance and profits. And Benchmarking Strategies shows you exactly how.

Written by one of its leading experts, Benchmarking Strategies is a practical manual to benchmarking principles, techniques, and implementation, outlining just how to set up benchmarking criteria, monitor overall progress-while fulfilling the expectations of the company's various stakeholders.

Inside, you'll find expert guidance on:
* Developing benchmarks and basic business principles for your company as part of a detailed corporate strategic plan.
* Identifying internal operational areas or functions to benchmark and establishing best practice target triggers for building internal excellence in Using external benchmarks to compare your company to competitors, industry, and best-in-class functions to become the best you can be.

Published in 1982: England's Elizabeth was first issues in 1631, and it is probably the earliest separately published biography of Elizabeth I's early years. An important example of the author's considerable, and largely neglected, non-dramatic work, the book has never been previously edited.

Focusing on the tangible, cash flow operations that make business work

In business, there are pie-in-the-sky valuation standards like share prices and stock options that have alternately led executives to untold riches and to federal prisons. and then there is cold hard cash–the dollars and cents that pay the bills, keep the tax man at bay, and ensure a company’s ongoing survival. Rob Reider and Peter Heyler redirect corporate attention to core, cash management operation in Managing Cash Flow: An Operational Focus.

The authors’ comprehensive guide focuses on how a corporation can enhance its overall cash position on an ongoing basis. Reider and Heyler identify business functions that too often become ends in themselves–accounts receivable, inventory, administration–and remind readers of a company’s primary goals:

• Customer service
• Cash conversion
• Making money
• Survival

Managing Cash Flow: An Operational Focus offers a host of procedures and techniques for applying a cash-flow criterion to all business functions, keeping companies focused on the proverbial bottom line.

Nothing happens in business without measurable, tangible, absolute cash. Rob Reider and Peter Heyler offer a must-have, common-sense guide for keeping companies in the black.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

As not-for-profits must increasingly achieve greater results with less resources, they are continually seeking ways to use such scarce resources with more economy, with greater efficiency of processes and people within their organizations, and with increased effectiveness of results in order to further their missions. Whether used alone or together with other tools such as benchmarking, activity-based management, and flexible budgeting, the operational review is the tool best used to perform an evaluation of these crucial three e’s–economy, efficiency, and effectiveness. This book shows not-for-profit managers why conducting an operational review can be beneficial, explains the tools and personnel needed to conduct the review, and shows in detail how to conduct a review of operations in each area. It includes case study materials for a social service agency, a museum operation, an arts organization, a community service agency, and a college business office. Here is accessible, comprehensive coverage of:

• How to approach an operational review, judge its results, and make recommendations to management
• How to position your not-for-profit organization more effectively in the competitive world of funding, personnel, resources, and service results
• How to identify and implement best practices within funding and operational constraints in all areas of the not-for-profit’s operations in an organized program of continuing improvements

. . . and much more, including extensive exhibits, forms, working tools, checklists, and examples for conducting an operational review throughout all functions of a not-for-profit organization. Executive directors, outside auditors, CPAs, manage-ment consultants, boards, fund-raising executives, and all others involved in the not-for-profit’s operations will learn to get the most for their mission from this indispensable book.

When a U.S. Naval Intelligence member living in Scotland becomes involved in British MI6, he finds more than he bargained for in international relations. When he acquires The Finding, and begins finding ancient artifacts and treasures, it draws more than attention. Imagine having the ability to "tune-in" to the ability to "feel" where treasure is buried The Finding is an espionage thriller that will have the reader spellbound. With a twist of military satire, this fresh and intriguing account of finding treasure in Great Britain will keep you interested from beginning to exciting conclusion. Centered around the cold war, the author pulls the reader into a curiosity that will undoubtedly encourage further, and detailed search for historical facts. Cloaked in secrecy, after many years, the declassification of some elements may yet be uncovered. The Finding uncovers the hidden and obscure world of the cryptologic technicians that once made up the U.S. Naval Security Group Command and Naval Intelligence Command. The reader will be indoctrinated into covert operations, creating a nation-wide awakening to these unsung heroes. This secret society that for years was solely responsible for providing rapid, secure transmissions and intelligence gathering assets world-wide will find resolve in The Finding. The network of secret bases that have now been mostly closed, remain only in history and the internet. But the service men and women that occupied them, will proudly be able to finally confirm or deny their assignments. Readers of The Finding may find themselves inter-connected, blogging about where they have found the truth, verifying the unimaginable. A breath-taking thrill ride of an adventure, set to the music of the times, this one will surprise the reader in the complex interactions of a sacred ability interjected with military intelligence. Geocache hunters will relate with the craving to find hidden treasure, the intelligence community will find a link to their past, and the reader will want to possess The Finding. British Intelligence may find themselves guessing, and U.S. Intelligence will want to dig deeper - upon reading. The Finding will challenge them all

Effective Operations and Controls for the Small Privately Held Business

"Rob Reider is the ultimate 'on-target' consultant to the small business. Whether you are just starting out or have been in a small business for years, this book is a must-read. It is concise, clear, organized and addresses the management, financial, and personnel issues that confront and often destroy small business--eighty percent of all the businesses in America."
--Tom Torgerson, CPA, President, Torgerson AssociatesManagement and Financial Consultants

"Dr. Reider's emphasis on first understanding the small business environment and then identifying and integrating individual business goals addresses a critical entry point for new business owners. His detailed advice around realistic issues emphasizes a solutions-based orientation that provides even the novice with keys to successful business practices."
--Linda Lippitt, PhD, Director, Learning Legacies

"Rob Reider is an experienced consultant, seminar facilitator, and author who has written an important book for small business owners and managers. The topics included are relevant to privately owned business managers who consider their organizations to be 'small businesses' regardless of their actual sales volume. This is a book that should be on the bookshelf of every businessperson with responsibility for the management of a small privately owned business."
--Peter B. Heyler, PBH Executive Services

"(This book) is an excellent resource not just for the small business owner, but also for colleges and universities. Any higher education institution that has a business program entrepreneurial component will find this book invaluable."
--Steve C. Martinez, PhD, Director, New Mexico Highlands University, Santa Fe and Espanola Centers

Practical, proven tools for conducting successful operational reviews

An operational review evaluates management’s conformity with plans and resource allocations, organizational structure, operating procedures, processes, and controls. In today’s volatile marketplace, organizations must do everything possible to ensure their operations are running most economically and effectively to maximize desired results. In such a competitive environment, operational reviews have become increasingly important. The Operational Review Workbook not only gives readers a better understanding of the concepts behind operational reviews but also enables them to conduct reviews with more confidence and authority.

A companion to Rob Reider’s Operational Review: Maximum Results at Efficient Costs, Third Edition, the Workbook explains the benefits of a review and offers step-by-step guidance through its various stages. In addition to the author’s incisive analysis, this practical guide:

• Includes case studies, checklists, forms, and exercises
• Reinforces the fundamental principles necessary to perform an operational review
• Presents in a step-by-step manner how an operational review should be performed
• Shows how to judge a review’s results and make recommendations to management
• Demonstrates how to use tools and techniques such as financial statement analysis, verification of data accuracy, determination of compliance with laws and regulations, development and understanding of ratio change and trend analysis, use of systems and layout flowcharts, effective interviewing techniques, and preparation and use of survey forms, questionnaires, and checklists
• Integrates operational review concepts with other analytical processes such as benchmarking strategies and activity-based costing principles

The Operational Review Workbook delivers all the tools needed to successfully conduct an operational review of the organization, department, or activity. CEOs, operations management and staff, internal and external consultants and auditors, CFOs and controllers, and other organizational stakeholders will find Reider’s incomparable guide an invaluable addition to their professional libraries.