■ The Big Idea
Without great ideas, no organization can stay afloat, much less flourish. Managers and top executives are constantly struggling to come up with big ones ? creative marketing strategies, ingenious cost-cutting schemes and other corporate solutions that will save time and money and improve productivity. But what few of them realize is that right under their noses is a virtually limitless source of valuable ideas ? ideas that can revolutionize their company and help bring substantial and sustainable competitive advantage. These great ideas come, surprisingly, from the lowest point of the corporate food chain ? from the frontline employees who do the “dirty” work and who therefore see a lot of problems and opportunities that their managers do not.

Employee ideas are a lot more valuable than most managers think. More importantly, they can be had virtually for free, if you know how. This book teaches the most effective methods for tapping this “hidden” resource, based on extensive research in more than 300 organizations around the world. It offers precise techniques for setting up an idea management system that can empower your people, transform your organization and make you a much more effective leader.

■ About the Author
Dr. Alan G. Robinson is an award winning author, an educator, and a consultant. His 1998 book Corporate Creativity: How Innovation and Improvement Actually Happen (coauthored with Sam Stern) was named "Book of the Year" by the Academy of Human Resource Management, was a finalist in the Financial Times/Booz Allen & Hamilton Global Best Business Book Awards, and has been translated into thirteen foreign languages. His 2002 book Vos Idees Changent Tout (co-authored with Isaac Getz) has been translated into four languages. In his preface to the German edition of this book, Heinrich von Pierer, President and CEO of Siemens AG, called this "an important book on a topic that is fundamental to every business.”

Dr. Dean Schroeder is a distinguished academic, author, and consultant. He is an experienced l e a d e r o f o r g a n i z a t i o n a l transformations, having started up two companies and, as an outside CEO, led the turnaround of two others. His international consulting clients include Siemens, Unilever, Fifth Third Bank, Hayworth, Girl Scouts of America, Medtronics, Cummins Engine, Toyota, Panafon (the European wireless communications company), Dresser Industries, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT), and Halliburton. Visit http://www.ideasarefree.com.