Troubleshooter 2 - John Harvey Jones

Sir John Harvey-Jones, ex-Chairman of ICI, is Britain's best -known businessman. Forthright and flamboyant, he introduced many people to the secrets and excitement of business management in his television series Troubleshooter, first shown in 1990.

In this sequel, which accompanies a second Troubleshooter-series, Sir John acts as a consultant to six more British companies facing a variety of challenges. Tolly Cobbold, a small East Anglican brewery, has recently had a management buyout. Sir John looks at the problems its new team faces in a market dominated by the big brewers. Norton, a famous name in light engineering and motor bikes, is losing money fast and Sir John considers what can be rescued of the company. Two old family firms - Charles Letts, the diary manufacturers, and Double Two, once a very successful shirt-making company - have diversified into other areas. Sir John suggests how and where they should concentrate their efforts if they are to survive into the next century. 

Public sector businesses are under tremendous pressure to save money and increase efficiency. Sir John visits two very different organizations, the South Yorkshire Police Force, which has a new Chief Constable working to build up morale, efficiency and better relations with the public, and Bradford Hospitals Trust, which has overspent hugely since taking up trust status. He examines some of their problems, exacerbated by decades of under-investment and bureaucracy, and gives his ideas as to what their priorities should be. 

Sir John's skill at identifying and explaining the key problems these companies face and his frank, sometimes drastic, advice make Troubleshooter 2 a stimulating and controversial book, as enjoyable to the general reader as to those involved in business and management.