Strategy + Teamwork = Great Products (PDF)

Frederick Parker was born in Hungary and escaped communist rule in 1949 when he immigrated to Australia. He received his degree in industrial engineering at the University of New South Wales. After moving to America, he specialized in manufacturing management and turnaround situations for several hi-tech companies, including corporate strategies for international companies.

Parker was general manager of a large international telecommunication company in Silicon Valley, in charge of 1,200 employees, shipping $500 million of hi-tech equipment from a 300,000-square-foot factory. He achieved 55 percent gross margins. When he was promoted to corporate vice president of operations, he was asked to research and formulate the manufacturing strategy for this international corporation. At that time, the company had factories all over the world. In that strategic role, Parker studied the latest trends in world-class manufacturing before implementing his plans for the corporation.

Parker also built and managed factories in Mexico and later as vice president of operations took part of taking a company public. The year after that public offering, the company's stock was the largest percentage gainer on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Before retiring and writing this book, Parker consulted for several companies that relied on his expertise of new product introduction and cost reduction.

Strategy +Teamwork is based on his 40 years of experience in manufacturing management and his strong desire to pass on the wisdom he gained in confronting difficult problems in the competitive global environment. Parker is consulting part time and lives in San Diego with his wife and has two children and three grandchildren.

He also wrote a book on bridge, Win at Duplicate Bridge, and he enjoys playing bridge, golf, chess, and writing articles.