I am always interested in sharing knowledge and information.

This is the main reason I write.

Writing also helps me to crystallise ideas and such ideas will often flow out from discussions with training course delegates.

Written in a practical and pragmatic style, my books are largely centred on “what works”. Most of my books also include "Check Lists" and "Fact Files" to focus on the key areas and applications.

My books are intended to help individuals and companies to firstly, realise fully benefits of doing things in a certain way and then, secondly, apply the ideas and to do things better and successfully.

Amazon.co.uk remains a good place to buy from, however; Amazon.com (the US site).....often have some cheaper offers on titles.

We were delighted in late 2011 to receive the following award for the Most Innovative Supply Chain Book In The Last Decade (2000-2010); our book being selected from 122 books

“Excellence in Maintenance Management: A cross functional approach (including the Purchasing, Inventory and Warehousing functions) written by me and Paul Wheelhouse with ISBN 978-1-903499-65-8.

Early reviews have included the following:
• “comprehensive and jargon free”
• “a comprehensive manual”
• “takes asset management and maintenance out of the silo”
• “real value” and “offers extremely useful tools, techniques and case studies”
• “clear, concise and tells you everything you need to know to become a competent practitioner”,
• “impressive and a very professional publication that gives a reliable guidance and reference manual that can be returned to over and over again”.
• “effective maintenance of plant and equipment is a key element in the delivery of a world-class service or a cost effective product, This book will help you understand and implement all the essential tools required to deliver this level of efficient and effective management”.

Maintenance and Asset Management is a key aspect for all of those organizations who have plant, equipment and facilities, (for example those who produce power, energy, and water), where there is a requirement for the effective maintenance of such plant and equipment, along with the associated management of the capital assets.

Maintenance, Repair and Operations or Overhaul items (MRO’s) are closely related as these enable the maintenance of the plant in such organizations. This MRO supply cycle includes the functions of maintenance, procurement, suppliers, stores/inventory and the production/manufacturing users/customers. All of these functional parts are connected; indeed with Maintenance we are actually looking at a cross functional process.
This is a key feature of this book, as all the parts need to work together to give an efficient and effective outcome.

The spending on assets and the management of the maintenance along with the purchasing and stocking of spare parts, must therefore be managed from many perspectives; for example,
• how and when to carry out maintenance,
• what are the supporting spare parts inventory/stocking policies and
• what are the associated key perspectives on purchasing and buying that will ensure that the spare part inventory availability is in line with the organizations policy

The book covers how to evaluate the current procedures, make changes to methods that will improve running times/service intervals, whilst achieving, reductions in costs and inventory holding. We will therefore cover how to understand and then implement all the essential tools for efficient and effective management of maintenance. We will also give a framework for continuous improvement along with best in class practices.

The contents are as follows:

Part one: Maintenance and Asset Management (Definition, Effective asset management, BSI PAS55, The Asset manager)

Part two: Maintenance Control techniques (Financial controls, Understanding costs, Capital purchases, Key performance indicators, Decision making models, Risk based maintenance)

Part three: Maintenance best practice (EFQM organisational excellence model, Strategy & policy, Organization, Teamwork, Communication, Involvement & engagement, Planning & work , control, Safety health & environment, Value and stakeholders, Downtime MTBF and MTTR)

Part four: Purchasing best practice (Importance of MRO’s, The 5 rights, Strategic management of procurement, The purchasing cycle, Needs, Specifying, Sourcing, Negotiating, Supplier performance, Purchasing and power relationships)

Part five: Inventory and Supply Chain best practice (Inventory management definition, MRO stocks, Inventory and the supply chain, The Supply Chain Rules, Demand Analysis, Demand Forecasting, Supply Lead Time, Cost & Benefits, Surplus stock, Variety reduction, Vendor management inventory, Inventory improvements)

Part six: Warehouse & Storing best practice (Strategic aspects of warehousing, Product Classification, Security and Loss, Warehouse operations, 5S in a warehouse)

Part seven: Optimization and Improvements (Process mapping, Process optimizing models, Improving efficiency, Continuous improvement in a lean environment, Root cause analysis and other improvement methods, Structure and process and cross functionalism)

Appendices (Typical questions used when conducting assessments, typical maintenance benchmarks, example assessment scoring scheme, example improvement programme)

“Excellence in Public Sector Procurement in Public Sector Procurement-How to control costs and add value”
with ISBN 978-1-903499-66-5 and co-authored with Dr. Paul Wright.

The book was written because whilst, there are many general books covering Procurement, not many cover solely the public sector.
Yet this sector spends colossal amounts of UK taxpayer’s money on goods and services; the NHS alone, for example, is one the largest organisations in the world.
The UK public sector also has its own peculiarities and differences from the private sector, for example, the EU Procurement Rules that guide and direct how purchasing must be undertaken. At regional and local level there are additional priorities, which are often subject to political oversight. In addition there are opportunities to use Procurement as a tool for wider objectives.
It may be that such regulation constrains and limits procurement best practice and therefore such tensions will also be briefly explored in the book. However the main thrust of the book, will be the requirement to work working within the existing rules and guidelines.
The style of the book is our usual one of being direct with little jargon. It covers all of the basics as well as providing detailed and wider discussions to encourage thought and practical application. To facilitate practical application, the book is illustrated by case studies and application checklists.

The contents cover the following main sections:
Part one. Procurement Objectives
• Procurement Evolution and The Supply Chain
• Strategic and Organizational Procurement
• Procurement Objectives
• The 5 Rights
• Product and Services Differences
• Procurement by the Strategic Requirements

Part two: The Procurement Cycle
• Needs/Specifying
• Sourcing
• Enquiry and Evaluation
• Tendering in the Public Sector
• Order placing and Contracts
• Handling orders
• Progressing and Delivery
• Loss and Disputes
• Balancing Commercial and social objectives

Part three. Public Sector Procurement Frameworks
• Overview
• The Regulatory framework
• Lower Value Procurements
• Best Value concepts
• SME concordat

Part four. Best Practice and Contexts
• Suppliers pricing
• Relationship based approaches
• Outsourcing with NHS Case Study
• Private Finance Initiative
• ICT and E- Procurement
• ICT Project Procurement
• Buying from the third sector
• Supplier Development
• Contract Management
• Budget management

Part five. Public Sector Procurement: some Conclusions
• Size of the public sector
• Controversy: Is tendering the best way?

Appendices
• Public sector Procurement in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
• International Public Procurement challenges

“Excellence in Leadership and Management-how to be the best and how to get the best from people”; written by me (the finance chapter is by Nigel Wyatt); with ISBN 978-I-903499-60-3.

Much has been written on leadership and management topics, unfortunately though, we continue to find that many managers and leaders have never actually studied or examined or reflected in any practical way at all, on what they actually do, beyond, perhaps refreshing their specialist technical skills.

Indeed in the authors work on supply chain, procurement, inventory logistics and finance topics, a common recurring finding is that whilst hard quantifiable skills are often being practiced using computer software and systems, those softer subjective skills like negotiating, motivating, leading and managing people are often lacking. We therefore regularly find, there is a lack of depth of knowledge in these soft skill areas, and, more than often, we coincidentally find little worthwhile soft skill practical applications.

It seems to us, therefore, that many organisations just do not get the best from their people; so “is there something wrong somewhere”?

This question whilst being a simple one to ponder on has a complex answer, as collective social and organisational cultures are all intermingled into a complex web that includes topics like individual personal styles, personality, feelings and beliefs.
Our book therefore gives practical answers, knowledge and skills so that leaders and managers can be the best, and, get the best from their people.

The contents are as follows:
Management and Leadership
• A leader or a manager
• Definitions
• Leadership keys
• What makes a good organisation
• The best organisation
• Problems with the word “human resources”

Management Vision and Strategy
• Definitions
• Porters 5 forces
• 4 types of strategy
• Strategy and implementation,
• Strategy will always evolves
• Essence of strategy
• Strategy as a continuous process
• Organisations and culture
• Organisational structure

Managing Me
• Understanding behaviour
• Managing stress
• Importance of learning
• Personal development and learning
• Leadership and management styles
• Communication

Managing People
• Leaders need followers
• Helping people to develop
• Motivation
• Authority
• Ddelegation and empowerment
• Teams

Managing Finance
• Understanding Profit Cash & Risk
• Management accounting v Financial Accounting
• The key financial Statements
• Managing and understanding profit
• Managing and understanding Cash
• Theory of Constraints (TOC) view
• Understanding costs and pricing
• Budgets & Budgeting
• What finance has problems with

Managing Performance
• Understanding performance
• Performance and processes
• Systems, process and structures
• Performance and discipline

Managing Customers
• Customers and organisations
• Principles
• Definitions
• History and applications
• Customers and marketing
• Delivering customer service
• Customer touch points
• Customer satisfaction
• Key performance indicators
• Customer service focussed organisations

Managing and Improving Systems
• Problem solving
• Systems thinking
• Mental models
• Systems thinking and organisational improvements
• Improvement methods
• Systems analysis
• Total Quality Management

Management of Change
• Sources
• Dynamics
• Reactions
• Change and communication
• Change levels
• Models for change

Appendix
• Fact file-listening
• Fact file-memory
• Fact file-note tasking
• Fact file-writing

"Excellence in Global Supply Chain Management-Understanding and Improving Global Supply Chains"; written by Barry Crocker and Stuart Emmett with ISBN 978-I-903499-55-9.

There are many books covering the Supply Chain and these nearly always cover the national or domestic supply chain but the real fact today is that we do actually live "in a global village" where countries past self sufficiency has now moved to a global stage, one where local/national impacts can soon grow to be a global problem. Witness for example, the increased price of steel around 2005 due to China expansions that then lead to a global steel shortage and the economic recession in the USA in 2008 that by early 2009 had affected trade globally.

Managing supply, demand and consumer markets from global perspectives therefore involves dealing with constant change and increased volatility and requires a new understanding of culture and different ways of doing business. No longer, can organisations assume their national values and processes are going to be automatically adapted globally.

The contents are as follows:

1. Introduction to Supply Chain Management (Supply Chain History, The benefits of Supply Chain Management, Lead-time, Customer service
   Integrating supply chains, Supply Chain Rules)
2. Understanding the differences with global supply chain management (the Reality of Global Supply Chains, Features of Global Trade, Recognising Global Trends)
3. Managing global supply chain risk (Views on risk, Global instability and risk, Visibility, Confidence, Agile supply chains, Procurement risk, Risk management)
4. Understanding global trade terms (UK HM Revenue and Customs, The documentation chain, Insurance, Incoterms 2010, Payments)
5. Understanding cultural issues (Definitions and cultural awareness, the cultural web, Examining culture, Models of culture, developing cultural sensitivity)
6. Managing global sourcing (Global sourcing objectives, Evolution of global sourcing, Supply markets, developing global sourcing, International contract law)
7. Managing corporate social responsibility and sustainability (Defining CSR, CSR and values. The environment and the supply chain, CSR and the supply chain, Green supply chains, planning for CSR, External standards and codes)
8. Managing third/fourth party logistics (Transport strategy, Transport methods/modes, Third party market and outsourcing, Transport costs in the supply chain, International transport liability conventions, Packing and security.

Managing Performance Improvements in Global Supply Chains (Performance improvement, Model for supply chain improvements):

The book continues the "Excellence in" series and the acclaimed style of being direct with little jargon.
It covers all of the basics as well as providing detailed and wider discussions to encourage thought and practical application and to facilitate such practical application; the book has many case studies and application checklists

“Excellence in Services Procurement-how to optimise costs and add value” written by by Barry Crocker, David Moore and Stuart Emmett and published by Cambridge Academic with ISBN 978-1-903499-53-5

There are many books covering Procurement and these nearly always cover the procurement of products and goods; but only few cover the procurement of services.
We had long thought that a specific book was needed covering only the procurement of services, as services represent far more complex challenges than when buying tangible products and goods.
The contents are as follows:

Part 1: Procurement Objectives (Procurement Evolution, Strategic and Corporate Procurement, Procurement Objectives, The Five Rights, Procurement of products and services, Procurement by strategic requirements of the service, Procurement strategy, Procurement process cycle, Contract management)

Part 2: Services: Definition and specific characteristics (Service are different purchases, Service procurement in manufacturing organisations, Service specification, Service quality, Managing perceptions and satisfaction, Category management and services quality, Service quality improvement)

Part 3: Outsourcing (Outsourcing strategy, outsourcing implementation guidelines, What can go wrong, Outsourcing of the procurement function, Outsourcing and service level specifications, Service level specification styles, Outsourcing and risk elimination, Outsourcing as a paradigm change, Transfer of undertakings protection of employment (TUPE), Private finance initiatives (PFI), Compulsory competitive tendering (CCT))

Part 4: Public Sector Service Procurement (Context and scope, Time-line, UK government policy, The UK public sector procurement process, Other policy principles, Some issues, Relationships Management knowledge)

Part 5: Services Contexts (How to buy 3rd Party Logistics (3PL), consultancy services , marketing services, public relations, legal services, business travel, facilities management, catering)

Part 6: Supplier Relationship Management (Benefits of SRM, Procurement must lead SRM, SRM needs a new skill set and outlook, effective SRM, Contract Management by non procurement people, Procurement key performance indicators)

The book continues the “Excellence in” series and the acclaimed style of being direct with little jargon.
It covers all of the basics as well as providing detailed and wider discussions to encourage thought and practical application.
To facilitate practical application, many case studies and application checklists illustrate the book.

“Green Supply Chains: An Action Manifesto” by Stuart Emmett and Vivek Sood is published by Wiley with ISBN 978-0470689417

Whilst the potential for Green Supply Chains has long been recognized and acknowledged, many reasons have blocked and impeded the adoption of green supply chain principles. A major blocker here, has been lack of a comprehensive methodology and a toolkit to make it happen; yet as noted in the book forward “The time for action on greening supply chains has come” ( Duncan Pollard, Director, Conservation Practice & Policy, World Wild Life Fund International)

Based on solid research, the book gives a toolkit and answers 5 key questions:

1. What are the tangible and intangible benefits of moving towards green supply chains?
2. What are the costs, both direct, and indirect?
3. What influence do we have over our suppliers, their suppliers and our customers that would allow us to jointly work together and move the supply chain towards a green supply chain?
4. Which party has the most influence in our end-to-end supply chain, and how can we encourage all of them to them to think ‘green’?
5. How will we engage and communicate our progress towards the green supply chain to all of our key stakeholders?

The answers are in the following chapters:

1. Introduction to Green Supply Chain
2. Impact on the Bottom Line through Green Supply Chains
3. Green Supply Chain Planning
4. Green Procurement 
5. Green Production 
6. Green Logistics 
7. Green Packaging 
8. Green Marketing 
9. Supply Loops 
10. Carbon Footprint Minimization across the Supply Chain 
11. Migration Strategy 
12. Green Supply Chain Continuous Improvement
13. Green Supply Chain Performance Evaluation 
    Case Study 1: Making an End to End Supply Chain Green: The GFTN/WWF Initiative 
    Case Study 2: Collaboration in Supply Chains 
    Case Study 3: Green Reverse Supply Chain Waste and Kodak 
    Case Study 4: Green Packaging and Reverse Logistics  and Free Pack Net Srl Case Study 5: Chicago Climate Exchange 
    Case Study 6: Green Grocery Stores in the Retail Sector 
    Case Study 7: Product Design and Recycling and Sony 

As shown on Amazon, early reviewers of the book have said:
“Must read for anyone who manages a supply chain, cares about the environment, and seeks actionable ideas 
(Gene Tyndall, Executive Vice President, Global, Tompkins International, USA)
“Should be on the bookshelf of every progressive manager”
(Dr. Wolfgang Partsch, Germany)

This book is intended for:

• CEO’s, leaders, directors and managers, who want an actionable plan towards Green Supply Chains
• Environmentalists, who want to achieve their  aims and lobby the key stakeholders
• Governments and politicians, who wish to formulate strategic policy
• Students, lecturers and teachers, university libraries and faculties, who need to study green issues
• Citizens and the public, who have an interest in green issues

In summary, this book, will therefore:

• Provide a clear actionable plan for a green supply chain.
• Take the application of supply chain thinking to a complete new level by merging economic and green concepts.
• Show how to create the blueprint to achieve green supply chains

“Excellence in Freight Transport-How to better manage domestic and international logistics transport” is published by Cambridge Academic with ISBN 978-1903-499-498.

This is an updated version of my previous book, “Logistics Freight Transport-Domestic and International” (2005) as I have long thought there should be a book devoted solely to freight transport. A review of this book in “Focus” www.ciltuk.org.uk said:

“In summary this is a very useful book for its intended readership, full of interesting snippets of information and well provided with checklists, bullet points and tables to enhance the text”.

The contents cover the following main sections:

• The Importance of Freight Transport, (includes supply chain management, strategy, statistics, government policy etc)
• Transport Modes, (includes all the usual ones and intermodal)
• The Road Freight Transport Operator, (includes costs, productivity, pricing, ICT applications etc)
• Freight Transport Regulation, (includes accident management, HMRC etc)
• Users Viewpoint, (includes global logistics, added value, rate structures etc)
• People management, (includes motivation of drivers, communication, culture etc)
• Developments and Trends, (includes risk, environment, political influences etc)

The book continues the “Excellence in” series and the acclaimed style of being direct with little jargon. It covers all of the basics as well as providing detailed and wider discussions to encourage thought and practical application. To facilitate practical application, the book is illustrated by case studies and application checklists.

This book is intended for:

• Professional managers in all supply chain roles and positions
• Academics such as lecturers or students studying business topics like procurement, purchasing and the supply chain
• Students of professional institutes such as the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

“Excellence in Supplier Management” – How to better manage contracts with suppliers and add value; Best practices in Supplier Relationship Management and Supplier Development; (co written with Barry Crocker) is published by Cambridge Academic Press with ISBN 978-1-90349-946-7

Written in the well received style that emphasises clarity, precision and ease of read that leads to good understanding and application the book has the following main sections:

Procurement Strategy

Supplier Management; the Suppliers View

Supplier Relationship Management

Supplier Development

Supplier Management: Making the change

Supplier Management: Conclusion.

The forward to the book includes the following:

“The whole concept of supplier relationships, and more pertinently how to manage suppliers, has never been so much to the fore as it is now.
What this book does is to move from a broad understanding of procurement strategy including processes and procedures, with a recognition of the importance of the optimal selection of suppliers, to a consideration of the suppliers perspective of the activities discussed thus far.
It utilises best practice to do so but is built upon the passion, knowledge and excellence of the authors. It is a book of its time. I commend this book to you”.
(Dr David M Moore, Director, Centre for Defence Acquisition, Cranfield University, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom)

It seemed to us that many organisations often fail, or perhaps stumble, in managing their suppliers. This is because the internal customer, or worse, someone else, is left to manage the selected suppliers, without perhaps realising that they have to.
There is, therefore, often little use of best practice regarding how a procurement department relates to, or gets involved with the essential supplier management in the procurement process.
This book concentrates on the need for better supplier management, and improving supplier management. It gives guidelines on how to better manage contracts and develop suppliers. The book answers the question: What kind of relationship do I need with suppliers so I can get the best from them, and therefore the best for me?

“Excellence in Supply Chain Management-How to understand and improve supply chains” is published by Cambridge Academic Press with ISBN 978-1-903499-39-9

The style of the book is direct with little jargon. It covers all of the basics as well as providing detailed and wider discussions to encourage thought and practical application. To facilitate practical application, the book is illustrated by case studies and application checklists. Additionally many exercises are also included.
The contents cover the following five main sections:

Understanding the Supply Chain

Supply Chain Planning

Supply Chain Operations, for example, Procurement, Production, Physical distribution/Logistics, Marketing

Supply Chain Alternative Approaches, for example,

Supply chain improvements

This book is intended for:

Professional managers in all supply chain roles and positions

Academics such as lecturers or students studying business topics like procurement, purchasing and the supply chain

Students of professional institutes such as the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

“Excellence in Procurement-how to optimise costs and add value”, (co-written with Barry Crocker from Salford University), is published by Cambridge Academic Press with ISBN 978-19-0349-940-5.

This book has the following four main sections:

Procurement Policies and Processes

The procurement cycle: the pre-order steps

The procurement cycle: the order and post contract steps

Procurement best practices, tools and techniques; this last section looks at ICT/e-business/procurement, supplier pricing, relationship approaches, outsourcing, global sourcing, corporate social responsibility  and suppler development.

This book is intended for:

Professional managers in all supply chain roles and positions

Academics such as lecturers or students studying business topics like procurement, purchasing and the supply chain

Students of professional institutes such as the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

The style of “the Excellence in” series has been widely praised for their clarity, precision and ease of read, leading to good understanding and application. They cover all of the basics, as well as providing detailed and wider discussions to encourage thought. Practical application remains a central theme, illustrated by the extensive use of case studies, application checklists and visual and graphic illustrations. Each section also has “Action Times” as exercises to facilitate learning and application.

“The Leadership Gospels-how to win at work and create a purpose driven organisation” is published by Cambridge Academic Press with ISBN 978-1-903499-41-2. What? Another book on leadership I hear you ask? I share the thoughts but that is how it came to be published.

I do not know about you, but I became increasingly confused about books on leadership and unclear about what it was supposed to mean and do. Therefore, I decided some years ago to go back to a 2000 year source and determine what principles were involved in leadership. Hence my book uses sayings of Jesus Christ as a source of principles in Leadership. I then brought these principles right into, our current business and organisational practices.

The 21 leadership principles that I found, also made me realise, that work from some of our current leading leaders and management gurus, supported these principles. The 21 Principles of Leadership are explained in the following chapters in the book:

Leadership and Change

Leadership, Money and Principles

Leadership Styles

Leadership: Following and Teaching People

Leadership and Behaviour

Leadership: The leader and their Team

Leadership: Authority /delegation/empowerment of the team

Leadership and Communication

Leadership and Motivation

Leadership: Performance and discipline

What is missing in the Leadership Gospels?

Company culture

Leaders or managers?

The Leadership Gospels Principles

Conclusion

The book is clearly and concisely written, attractively designed and purpose built for quick and easy reference. As the book expands, leadership is not only to be practised by the top team, but needs to work down though organisational structures. The principles can therefore be applied by all leaders/managers in organisations. Leadership is more of a philosophy or approach and not just a job title applying to the CEO. This book will therefore, help anyone’s personal journey in leadership and management and enable them to get the best from their people.

The Business Toolkits is a new series of practical and concise management books designed to help busy managers to improve performance (both their own and their teams) and are published by Management Books 2000 Limited.

The books provide a quick review of the important aspects of the subjects covered with specific targeted advice for the achievement of immediate performance improvement.
They provide straightforward practical guidance and are packed with improving performance tips for all management levels.
The books are short, attractively designed, and purpose-built for quick and easy reference with individual titles as follows:

The Customer Service Toolkit ISBN 978-1-852525-682 provides essential advise on improving customer service; loose customers and you loose a business

The Communication Toolkit ISBN 978-1-852525-637 provides essential advice and techniques for anyone wanting to brush up bon their communication skills

The Developing People Toolkit ISBN 978-1-852525-651 provides advise for implementing CPD programs or for individuals looking to develop themselves

The Learning Toolkit ISBN 978-1-852525-620 is all about improving learning skills and answers the question all managers should ask “how can I learn better?”

The Motivation Toolkit ISBN 978-1-852525-644 show managers how to motivate their people and shows individuals how to keep being motivated

The Systems Thinking Toolkit ISBN 978-1-852525-620 encourages looking “out of the box” and holistic thinking and shows how the connections between inputs-process-outputs must be more effectively managed in a series on continual experiments and learning and changing.

The Team Management Toolkit ISBN 978-1-852525-668 provides all the essential advise and techniques on team management skills

“Excellence in Inventory Management”, co-written with David Granville of People Development Group (the former Logistics Training International Limited), published by Cambridge Academic Press; ISBN 978-I-903499-33-7
Little has been written on the links between Inventory and Supply Chain Management, yet it is a critical component of all Supply Chains. This book explores and explains these critical links, and is intended for:

Professional managers in all supply chain roles and job positions.

Academics such as lecturers or students studying business topics like procurement, logistics, distribution, and the supply chain.

Students of professional institutes such as the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply.

The style of the book is direct, with little jargon. It covers all the basics, as well as providing detailed and wider discussions to encourage thought. Practical application remains a central theme, illustrated by the extensive use of case studies, application checklists and visual and graphic illustrations.

"The Discipline Pocketbook" was published in 2001 by Management Pocketbooks (ISBN 1-870471-90-3). Reprinted in 2004, this whole series is really useful for quick overviews of a topic and there are over 70 titles, have a look at www.pocketbooks.com. They are first class value for money.

A reviewer has said of the book: "Covers an area of people management that many are afraid to venture into-a straightforward and informative but light-hearted approach for any manager or student"

"Improving Learning & for Individuals & Companies" 2002, (ISBN 1-90429-831-1 from Spiro/Capita).

A reviewer has said of this book:

"Short and concise; clearly written with little gobble-de-gook; applicable to a wide audience; understands the psychology of the learner.... and.... this book has lots of little "gems" and is worth the investment for anyone involved in developing themselves or others" (Effective Consulting May-June 2002).

I am also pleased to note that some professional institutes have also made this book available in their book-shops.

More details are on www.spiropress.com or www.capita-ld.co.uk

"How to Mentor and Support Learning" 2003, Spiro Press/Capita (ISBN 1-90429-865-6) 

This book received the following review from the Institute of Leadership & Management (in "Edge"-Volume Summer 2003):

"Lots of highly practical advice and guidance here, which should appeal to professionals working in management and leadership development and those who see their role as being primarily about developing the people they manage. It combines checklists of skills and characteristics, maintains a nice balance between the needs of the mentor and the person being mentored, and is easy to read and understand ".

More details are on www.spiropress.com or www.capita-ld.co.uk

"Stores & Distribution" 2005, by Carter, Price and Emmett, published by Liverpool Business Publishing ISBN 1-90350-005-2  

This is an updated book of the original work; Integrated Materials Management by Carter and Price. The updating has been done by me and the book will especially support the CIPS Professional Diploma Stage on Stores and Distribution. Indeed CIPS have endorsed the cover.

More details are available on www.liverpoolacademic.com

"Supply Chain in 90 minutes”, published in 2005, by Management Books 2000 Limited
(ISBN 1-852 -524 -766)

A review in BifaLink July 2005 says:  "Using easy to understand diagrams and practical language, it deals with the processes in the supply chain. The author, Stuart Emmett, has done a great job in writing a valuable text book that managers, and junior staff alike, will find easy to read and understand".
The book has had the following comments from the Institute of Supply Management USA (ISM): "On a 5-point scale, the reviewer gave the book a rating of 5 on content quality as well as technical quality, and also rated the book a 5 on applicability to both supply management and general management". The Institute of Supply Management in the USA has further commented that:

“This book is a very concise overview of the key concepts of modern supply chain management being utilized today. He has organized his approach by distilling his information into 8 supply chain rules and 5 key aspects of supply chain management. From there he expands with greater detail into the historical milestone approaches that have taken place over the last 40 years in supply. He then gives very practical summarizations of various supply chain operations, strategies and approaches. Mr. Emmett references the change needed in the U.K. to embrace the change to a fully collaborative approach, however this change is relevant to all companies attempting to achieve or maintain "world class" supply chain management practice”.

Other reviews in "Supply Management" (CIPS) notes: "this comprehensive but easily digestible text covers the main aspects of the supply chain" and in "Focus" (CILT) an academic reviewer notes: “most importantly  ...it has an accessible and informative manner"

It is available from www.mb2000.com

"Excellence in Warehouse Management-minimizing cost and maximising value" published in 2005, by John Wiley & Sons Ltd; ISBN 0-47001-531-4

I have long thought there should be a book devoted solely to this topic. All other books have warehousing as a part of another topic. They therefore lack any depth or coverage, for example by using with case studies. This book has been written to give such deeper coverage.
A review in Bifalink July 2005 says: "It covers everything you need to know to manage warehouse operations"

Another review in "Supply Management" (CIPS) dated 3 November 2005 notes “Easy to read....if you think you know it all in this area, test your knowledge against the contents...it is worth the investment"

It is available from: eu.wiley.com

"Logistics Freight Transport-Domestic and International,"2006, published by Cambridge Academic Press:ISBN 1903-49923-2.

I have long thought there should be a book devoted solely to freight transport. Also there is really nothing now available that covers international transport and as I started out working in freight forwarding, this has now been corrected!

The publishers "PR" states:
"This book is intended for Users, Operators, Students in Universities and those undertaking professional institutes’ qualifications. It covers all the basics and extends these with a wider discussion to encourage thought and application. Key features include:

Importance of freight transport / Intermodal transport / Costs / Productivity measurements /Computer applications

Costing and pricing / Global logistics / Reverse logistics / adding Value / How to motivate drivers / Transport improvements

It follows my usual style with many Case studies and Best Practice methods..........this to encourage practical applications.

"The Relationship Driven Supply Chain; creating a culture of collaboration throughout the chain" co-written with Barry Crocker, MSC Programme leader at Salford University, is published by Gower (ISBN 0566-08684-0).

It seemed to us, that the next generation of supply chain improvements/developments in the UK is halted, until the relationship aspects are acknowledged and properly dealt with.
In many business relationships, many managers know how to compete, but they do not how to cooperate.
The book therefore explains how a relationship-based approach to supply chain management can bring a paradigm shift that unleashes hidden benefits.

A review of the book by Dr.David Moore at Cranfield University says:
"What they, rather cleverly do, is to identify that relationships lie at the heart of effective supply chains. Having done this, they provide superb insights into the key relationship issues that affect supply chain performance. Using a careful mix of academic concepts and practical applications, and the timely use of illustration, bullet points and case studies, they provide the reader with relevant background and contextual setting yet manage to move quickly into pertinent areas for action. I strongly recommend the use of this book to anyone seeking to learn more about supply chain relationships".

The book has also been accepted by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) as recommended reading for their Graduate Diploma on the module on "Managing Purchasing and Supply Relationships".