From Worst to First: Behind the Scenes of Continental's Remarkable Comeback

Gordon Bethune

ISBN 10: 0471248355 / ISBN 13: 9780471248354

Published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd, 1998

About this Item

In this text, Gordon Bethune offers insight into his management and leadership style. Against the odds Bethune successfully turned around Continental Airlines, a company that went through the bankruptcy court twice. Now it is a company that is an industry-leader in on-time performance, baggage handling and the quality of the planes themselves, and has reduced customer complaints. Topics covered include how to improve the quality of what your company does (whether it's a product or a service), how not to cut costs so far that you lose business because you're producing something so cheaply that nobody wants it anymore, how to change a corporate culture and improve employee morale, how to measure what's truly important to your business and other management ideas. Bethune draws on his experiences at Continental, Boeing, and other companies that he has worked for.

Seller Inventory # CIN0471248355VG

Bibliographic Details

• Title: From Worst to First: Behind the Scenes of Continental's Remarkable Comeback
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd
• Publication Date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0471248355
• ISBN 13: 9780471248354
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

The numerous anecdotes alone are worth the price of the book . . . most readers will find themselves asking why everyone doesn't run a business as preached by the chief executive of Continental Airlines.-The Washington Post Book World

. . . in an age where managing seems increasingly complicated, some of Bethune's prescriptions are refreshingly straightforward.-Business Week

From Worst to First outlines Gordon Bethune's triumphs . . . about the turnaround he's led at Continental, a perennial basket case that's become an industry darling.-The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

From Worst to First is [Gordon Bethune's] story of Continental Airlines' turnaround under his command . . . The blueprint has worked . . . Fortune magazine named Continental the company that has 'raised its overall marks more than any other in the 1990s.'-The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

All of Gordon Bethune's proceeds from this book will be donated to the We Care Trust, a nonprofit organization that assists Continental Airlines' employees and their families in times of need.

About the Author

GORDON BETHUNE is Chairman and CEO of Continental Airlines. Prior to joining Continental, he was VP/General Manager of Customer Service at The Boeing Company before heading that manufacturer's 737/757 aircraft plant, the Renton division. Before that, he was a senior operations executive at Braniff Airways, Western, and Piedmont Airlines. He is a licensed 757 and 767 pilot and a licensed aircraft mechanic. He also served in the U.S. Navy. In January 1997, BusinessWeek magazine named him one of its top managers of 1996.

SCOTT HULER has been a professional journalist for more than 15 years. Formerly a staff writer for the Raleigh News & Observer and the Philadelphia Daily News, he has been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and other leading North American newspapers and magazines.