How Dell Transformed the Technology Industry with Innovative Strategies

Suresh K. M.: The greatest likes about the book is how unconventional thinking boosts a business.

India on May 10, 2023

Pankaj Kumar Saini: No one can say that the book is not inspirational..... But if you want to gain everything out of this book then just read first 50 and last 50 pages..... Everything in between seems as if author just wanted to stuff something to lengthen the book

India on Oct 22, 2020

malhar shah: Great book overall... You learn how a company is built and its strategies.... Great indepth knowledge about selling direct and culture that promotes a constant innovation and challenges old ways of doing business. It is a ideal book for someone who wants to understand the operations of a large company with efficiency,agility and control of a small organization. The way dell creates a whole new model of mass customization by combining the principles of mass production and customization is truly unique for the organization. The company which revolutionized an industry, started selling direct and still grows at twice the industry speed consistently over the years. Just one flip side, too much praise about Dell, he didn't show any mistakes committed by Dell and portrays it as a superhero but still every time he makes sound business case and it is a must read in business books.

India on May 31, 2017

David Schweitzer: I'm not a fan of this book. I had to read this for a supply chain management course alongside reading The Goal by Goldratt and Cox for a different class, and the two are clearly different in terms of explaining how success was made. In The Goal, scenarios are presented and solved--you're reading a story with characters and a narrative that sneaks in production management ideas and how this topic was revolutionized.

In Direct From Dell, you're reading 10-15 bullet points reiterated over and over and over again in vague, general phrases that can be applied to almost every single successful business that makes the entire thing sound like Generic Business Owner Takes Full Credit Of Company's Success And Writes Generic Book for Quick Cash and Recognition.

You will get some neat, Dell-specific information, but it's almost entirely at the very beginning and very end of the book.

Bullet points for running a successful business include:
Listening to customers
Hiring for the future
Targeting demographics
Reduce inventory
Learn from the past
Accept mistakes
Accept others' help

Sound familiar? Congratulations--you've read every other book by...

United States on Sep 19, 2016

vish: very good book. language is simple and lucid. as mentioned by Michael Dell, this book is neither history of dell as a company or his autobiography. this is about how he built the company, what are the decisions which helped him to succeed as well as falter and how he recovered from those failures. Speciality of this book is, Mr Dell's humbleness in narrating his failures without any excuses and accepting the fact that, failures do happen in everybody's life, be either mere employee or CEO of a company. However, humans have to learn from failures and use them as wisdom fro next set of actions. truly awesome book............

India on Feb 22, 2015

AbdulMalikOmar: The thoughts derived from this book could help anyone access to Michael Dell, one of the greatest capitalists of all time. Here Mr. Dell makes his efforts in his journey seem somewhat "easy" to do. Nothing could be more further than the truth. It takes a lot of persistence, experimentation, courage and a keen eye to spot opportunities to create a multi-billion global empire from scratch(Maybe he is just downplaying his success, or maybe he knows something which we don't?) Yet in the midst of that, what stands out like the candle in the night is his ability to craft the most successful strategies. Underpinned by common sense and knowledge about customers needs, the master stratagem were able to create massive value in the market. It is somewhat in his genetic makeup or upbringing(his mother was a stockbroker) that made him that way. For instance, even at the tender age twelve, he managed to earned $2,000 just by selling stamps. At sixteen, $18,000 by selling newspaper subscriptions in just one year(What were most of us doing at his age?) Thus it is a good book, one which should be possessed and read upon by those who wish to get into the mind of a Capitalist.

United Kingdom on Dec 12, 2012

Brooklyn Joe: This book was a very good and inspirational book. It had some motivational insights from one of today's great business leaders. Michael Dell does a great job discussing his humble and challenging beginnings while also giving advice and tools on building a successful business. Many tips can be used in any business and are very valuable towards building a great corporation or enterprise.

My only criticism is that at certain points the book seemed a little dull and sometimes repetitive. The author could have condensed some of the info and made it a little shorter.

Nevertheless, this book is a good and easy business read that I highly recommend to anyone looking to build a great business. You will not be disappointed.

United States on Apr 19, 2012

Dattatraya Korde: Let me tell you a story. There was this kid, 12 years old, who saw that his local post office was raising money by organizing a stamp auction. This kid had a truck load of old stamps with him, as stamp collection was his hobby. So he goes out and organizes an auction of his own and raises $2,000 at the end of the event. Over the next few years his entrepreneur skills keep growing. Next at age 16, he takes a summer job of selling a local newspaper subscription. After a few days, he analyses the trend of the sell and finds that his major customers are either newly married couples or those who have recently bought a house. So he stops making random calls, finds the list of people who are going to be married from the local marriage registrar office and reaches out to them, similarly he finds details of those who are looking to buy a new house and reaches to them directly. At the end of the summer this kid had $18,000 in his kitty, more than his teacher had made that year. This kid was none other than Michael Dell.

Armed with these skills, Michael, found out that during the initial computing days when he was still finishing school, the big computer companies were selling...

United States on Dec 01, 2011

Tad L. Scales: I recently read Mr. Dell's book and was fascinated to see his rise to the top of the computer world. About half way through the book I began to wonder when he was going to present some "blockbuster" pearls of wisom. It was then that I began to realize the Dell model was nothing more than a highly developed "kiretsu" style organization (on the supply side). Interestingly, he seemed to have developed this style on his own, which, in and of itself was pretty impressive. His basic business philosophy of giving the customer exactly what they want, when they want it and at a competitive price is no great message. The true message he delivers is, always always follow the basic principals, never be afraid to change and execute at the highest level possible. Pretty good book for reinforcing the basics but I think that most people with a graduate degree may get a little bored if they are looking for something "new".

United States on Apr 28, 1999