Direct from Dell: Strategies That Revolutionized an Industry: Amazon.ca: Michael Dell, Catherine Fredman: Books

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From Amazon

The PC business is full of rags-to-riches stories. But perhaps none is as dramatic as the rise of Dell Computer. In Direct from Dell, founder and CEO Michael Dell tells how he started his company from a dorm room at the University of Texas with less than $1,000 and built it into an industry powerhouse with a market capitalization of well over $100 billion. What makes Dell Computer unique is not what it sells, but rather how it sells it. Dell was first in the PC industry to pioneer the direct-selling model, a method that competitors such as Compaq and Apple Computer are only now starting to embrace. By cutting out the intermediary and creating a direct link between manufacturer and customer, Dell was able to provide customers with computers that cost less and that were more apt to meet customer needs.

Direct from Dell is organized into two parts. The first recounts the history and the enormous growth of Dell Computer. The second part focuses on Dell's management approach, from developing customer focus to creating alliances with suppliers. The book manages to avoid most of the promotional and self-congratulatory air that seem to plague so many first-person CEO tomes. Anyone who has followed the PC industry or would like insight into Dell Computer's success should enjoy reading this book. Well written and easy to read. Recommended. --Harry C. Edwards

From Publishers Weekly

The results are impressive: a 19 year-old with $1000 starts a company, remains at the helm and on top of changes in the industry for 10 years, and watches the stock rise 36,000% over another decade as his company becomes the second largest maker of PCs in the world, and the largest in the U.S. The founder of the Dell Computer Corporation uses anecdotes from his entrepreneurial life and his company's history to illustrate the "direct model" he developed to do itAone that eliminates the middleman via a host of direct-marketing media and incorporates a full-blown philosophy of doing business. While most of that philosophy's components are familiar (internally, "Reward Success by Narrowing Responsibility"; externally, "Teach Innovative Thinking"; "Retail: First in, First out"; "Hyperlink to the Future"), seeing how Dell put these theories into practice will sustain a reader's interest. Rightly, the custom-built and directly shipped computers that are the company's signature product get the most airtime. While the book, like nearly all in its CEO-authored subgenre, is heavy on self-congratulatory propaganda ("The spirit of the company that remains today was beginning to take hold"), Dell makes an agreeable maverick.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Customer Reviews

77 Reviews

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4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
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Average Customer Review

4.1 out of 5 stars (77 customer reviews)

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3.0 out of 5 stars Dell's tale is inspiring, but..., May 16 2002

By

Andy Orrock (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Direct from Dell: Strategies That Revolutionized an Industry (Hardcover)

...can I be the one to suggest that the practices and principles that make Michael Dell a great success don't exactly make for scintillating reading?

The first part of the book - the part that tracks the personal history and rise of Michael Dell - is wonderful stuff. Perhaps worthy of a 20+ page in-depth magazine profile. A "Fast Company"-like piece, for example.

But when the book turns to supply chain practices, and custom manfacturing techniques, and channel strategies, and fzkldj;sldg;dsfzmdfklsjmmdxvgf

Oops. Just nodded off a bit there...my head hit the keyboard. Sorry about that.

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5.0 out of 5 stars starting a business? Read this book, Jan 8 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Direct from Dell: Strategies That Revolutionized an Industry (Hardcover)

The first part of the book is extremly useful for anyone wanting to start their own business. I think part II is more for managers and current CEO and other established business with a lot of employess and customers.

Read this book before starting your business. Excellent!!! A++++

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4.0 out of 5 stars A book about one thing RESULTS!, Dec 9 2000

By

Matthew Dovell (South of Boston, MA United States of America) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Direct from Dell: Strategies That Revolutionized an Industry (Hardcover)

Dell's book isn't motivation it simply is cold hard basic know how with the one thing that counts in business - Results. He talks about several issues from the ill fated Olympia program to cutting out the stores. (Becha didn't know that Dell used to sell in stores around ten or so years ago!) He talks about simplifying processes in a basic manner. This isn't "fuzzy math" as a matter of fact it's fast reading. Highly recommended

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for anyone in business
Mike Dell has written an easy to read but complex book. If you are in business or want to be, get this book. It's great. I also like the tapes and play them in my car.

Published on Sep 16 2000 by Charles Dickens

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensational Book-A must read
When I first heard about this book, I was filled with ambiquity. I felt that this book would just be a "slap me on the back, I'm Mike Dell and I'm the greatest" sort... Read more

Published on Sep 9 2000 by Jack Toth