Business survival in this highly competitive world requires a shift to true listening. We must listen to our customers, to our suppliers, and to our employees if we want measurable improvements and successful innovation. Listening requires a new kind of business culture - a culture grounded in coaching, customer focus, and an effective idea system.

The A to Z of Idea Management for Organizational Improvement and Innovation is the one resource you need to set up and manage a high performing Idea and Recognition System. It explains how to avoid problems that can undermine idea systems. (more)

Idea Management, By Andrew Wood, 322 pages
A compilation of his Ideas Express magazine along with information from his work as a champion of Idea Management in the UK at British Rail and later working as a consultant in the field.

Simplified Idea Management, By Robert A. Schwarz, 62 pages.
For organizations to improve, they need to identify sources of improvements. These ideas come from a wide range of sources: employees, teams, suppliers, and customers. The book covers the concepts of idea processes and how to create them in an easy to read format.

Recovering Prosperity Through Quality, The Midland City Story, By Robert A. Schwarz, CMSS, 239 pages, ISBN 0-87389-261-1, published by ASQC Press, Milwaukee, WI.
An easy to read book that covers a wide range of quality principles. Topics covered include: suggestion systems, teams, training, design of experiments, and value analysis. It takes a novel based approach at teaching us about quality principles. Rather than using a well known company, a fictitious Midwestern town is used to show how quality principles can be applied to a wide variety of organizations: schools, car dealerships, and manufacturers.

The book is very useful for people working in both the public and private sector. Using fictitious organizations allows the reader to focus on the information rather than a well known company that we may not relate to. Besides the first part of the book being an "easy read", additional detailed information is included in an appendix for those desiring more information.

A Team Process That Meets Expectations, By Robert Schwarz and Jim Schwarz, 8 pages, published by TQS.
This informative article discusses key elements to top performing teams.

Checklist for Success, By Jim Schwarz, 4 pages, published by TQS.
This article contains 3 surveys that review key issues for top performing idea based processes. The first survey is used for employee or supplier driven processes, the second for team processes, and the third for customer idea processes.

A Wake Up Call For Idea Champions, By Bernie Sander, 212 pages, $19.95
A well written text covering suggestion and idea processes. It includes useful information to aide people modernizing old programs or creating an effective new process.

SimNet Software Publications:

SimNet 8 Enterprise User Manual, by TQS Software Staff, 140 pages
Reviews our new fully web enabled enterprise version of SIM, using client/server databses and designed to manage multiple employee involvement processes (ideas, teaming, corrective actions...) in a central database with multiple facilities sharing that database.
(version 8.1)

SimNet 8 Sample Idea Entry Forms, by TQS Software Staff, 31 pages
Showcases several different installations of SIM and how ideas and/or team projects are captured. This is useful for new customers to see how they want SIM to manage ideation for them.

SimNet 8 Enterprise System Administrator Manual, by TQS Software Staff, 128 pages
Covers how to manage the SimNet 8 system and set up new processes. (version 8.1)