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21.

Why this book?

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Many books set out to tell readers about the management of enterprise, and equally many aim to instruct the reader in the use of a piece of specialized software. We're not aiming to add to those lists because our approach is intended to be different.

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Having restructured and reorganized many businesses, we wanted our management experience to generate a work that is both instructive and practical. It was important for us not to write a manual about OpenERP, but instead a work that deals with advanced management techniques realized through these IT tools. You'll see what management practices might be useful, what's possible, and then how you could achieve that in OpenERP.

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It's this that we'll consider OpenERP for: not as an end in itself but just the tool you use to put an advanced management system into place.

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Who's it for?

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Written by two CEOs who have been successful with new technologies, this book is aimed at directors and managers who have an ambition to improve the performance of their whole company's management team. They're likely already to have significant responsibilities and possess the influence to get things done in their company.

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It's likely that most readers will come from small- and medium-sized enterprises (up to a few hundred staff), and independent companies, because of the breadth of functions that need to be analyzed and involved in change. The same principles also apply to larger companies, however.

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Structure of this book

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Part One, :ref:`part1-steps`, starts with the installation of OpenERP. If you have already installed OpenERP you can directly take your first steps on a guided tour in the :ref:`ch-guided` chapter. If you're already familiar with OpenERP or Tiny ERP you can use the :ref:`ch-real` chapter to find out how to create a new workflow from scratch in an empty database with nothing to distract you. Or you can skip directly to the :ref:`ch-crm` chapter in the :ref:`part2-crm` part, to start with details of OpenERP's functional modules.

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Part Two, :ref:`part2-crm`, deals with Supplier and Customer Relationship Management (SRM & CRM). You'll find the elements necessary for managing an efficient sales department there, and automating tasks to monitor performance.