- Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (January 3, 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0060845724
- ISBN-13: 978-0060845728
Direct from Dell: Strategies that Revolutionized an Industry by Michael Dell and Catherine Fredman (Paperback - Jan 3, 1999)
Amazon.com Review
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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
The chair and CEO of Dell, the world's largest direct computer company, explains his success.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
Review
"Dell Computer is perhaps the purest example of the efficiencies made possible by information technology." -- -- New York Times
"Virtual integration.may well become a new organizational model for the information age." -- -- Harvard Business Review
"I've long admired Dell's pioneering use of the World Wide Web. In Direct from Dell, you'll find strategies for using the Web to enhance your sales and empower information throughout your business. If you want to capitalize on cyberspace, you should read this book." -- -- Bill Gates, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft Corporation
"Dell Computer is perhaps the purest example of the efficiencies made possible by information technology." -- -- New York Times
"Dell's story is the stuff high-tech legends are made of." -- -- Forbes ASAP
"Dell, the company, seems to have been born and evolved with an anticipation of the Internet age. Michael Dell walks us through how he turned his prescience into a powerful reality--and an outstanding example of the companies of the future." -- -- Andrew S. Grove, Chairman, Intel Corporation
"Michael Dell has become the poster boy of the new economy..The closest person we have to Henry Ford is Michael Dell." -- -- Fortune
"Michael Dell is clearly a genius in the computer world, but his revolutionary insights into business processes provide invaluable lessons for many other industries as well." -- -- Frederick W. Smith, Chairman and CEO, FedEX Corporation
"Michael Dell's book illustrates the history of the company's success and vision for the future in a concise and powerful way. It is a great book that will serve as a reference to all executives, and we certainly have a lot to learn from it at Sony." -- -- Idei Nobuyuki, CEO, Sony Corporation
"Occasionally, rarely, history is made when a gifted new leader, who has a vision of new processes and technologies, produces a brilliant new business model. Henry Ford did it in automobiles, Michael Dell has done the same in PC's - the parallels are remarkable. His book provides the insight into his drive for improvement, his business logic and the learning from his mistakes, so we can aspire to emulate his successes." -- -- Jacques A. Nasser, President and CEO, Ford Motor Company
"Virtual integration.may well become a new organizational model for the information age." -- -- Harvard Business Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
"Virtual integration.may well become a new organizational model for the information age." -- -- Harvard Business Review
"I've long admired Dell's pioneering use of the World Wide Web. In Direct from Dell, you'll find strategies for using the Web to enhance your sales and empower information throughout your business. If you want to capitalize on cyberspace, you should read this book." -- -- Bill Gates, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft Corporation
"Dell Computer is perhaps the purest example of the efficiencies made possible by information technology." -- -- New York Times
"Dell's story is the stuff high-tech legends are made of." -- -- Forbes ASAP
"Dell, the company, seems to have been born and evolved with an anticipation of the Internet age. Michael Dell walks us through how he turned his prescience into a powerful reality--and an outstanding example of the companies of the future." -- -- Andrew S. Grove, Chairman, Intel Corporation
"Michael Dell has become the poster boy of the new economy..The closest person we have to Henry Ford is Michael Dell." -- -- Fortune
"Michael Dell is clearly a genius in the computer world, but his revolutionary insights into business processes provide invaluable lessons for many other industries as well." -- -- Frederick W. Smith, Chairman and CEO, FedEX Corporation
"Michael Dell's book illustrates the history of the company's success and vision for the future in a concise and powerful way. It is a great book that will serve as a reference to all executives, and we certainly have a lot to learn from it at Sony." -- -- Idei Nobuyuki, CEO, Sony Corporation
"Occasionally, rarely, history is made when a gifted new leader, who has a vision of new processes and technologies, produces a brilliant new business model. Henry Ford did it in automobiles, Michael Dell has done the same in PC's - the parallels are remarkable. His book provides the insight into his drive for improvement, his business logic and the learning from his mistakes, so we can aspire to emulate his successes." -- -- Jacques A. Nasser, President and CEO, Ford Motor Company
"Virtual integration.may well become a new organizational model for the information age." -- -- Harvard Business Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
At nineteen, Michael Dell started his company as a freshman at the University of Texas with $1,000 and has since built an industry powerhouse. As Dell journeys through his childhood adventures, ups and downs, and mistakes made along the way, he reflects on invaluable lessons learned.
Michael Dell's revolutionary insight has allowed him to persevere against all odds, and Direct from Dell contains valuable information for any business leader. His strategies will show you effective ways to grow your business and will help you save time on costly mistakes by following his direct model for success.
Michael Dell's revolutionary insight has allowed him to persevere against all odds, and Direct from Dell contains valuable information for any business leader. His strategies will show you effective ways to grow your business and will help you save time on costly mistakes by following his direct model for success.
About the Author
Michael Dell is the chairman of the board of directors of Dell Inc., the world's largest computer-systems company. In 1992, he became the youngest CEO ever to earn a ranking on the Fortune 500. Mr. Dell serves on the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum, the executive committee of the International Business Council, and is a member of the U.S. Business Council. He also serves on the U.S. President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and the governing board of the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, India.
