Sunday, December 6, 2009

Ben Bernankes Fed or Now What

Ben Bernanke's Fed: The Federal Reserve After Greenspan

Author: Ethan S Harris

The Federal Reserve chairmanship is often described as the second most powerful job in America. When Ben Bernanke was confirmed in 2006, many traders and investors were skeptical. Could anyone really replace Alan Greenspan?

Even in the best of times, Bernanke would have faced a tough balancing act. On one hand, he wanted to demonstrate continuity with his legendary predecessor, and he could certainly learn from Greenspan as both an economist and a policy maker. Moreover, the public was not looking for change. Senator John McCain even joked on the campaign trail that, if Greenspan were to expire during a McCain presidency, McCain would put sunglasses on the corpse and prop it up in a chair, as in the movie Weekend at Bernie's. On the other hand, Bernanke needed to establish his own identity.

But he stepped into the legend's job during a challenging period. Central bankers want the economy to grow fast enough-but not too fast-to achieve high employment without sparking inflation, and the Fed was attempting as much when Bernanke took over. Central banking is a crude science, and managing such growth requires both luck and skill. Despite his maestro reputation, Greenspan had allowed both the overall economy and the housing market to run too hot in his last two years as chair. His slow, "measured" interest-rate hikes, designed to avoid shocking the economy, failed to impose enough restraint. Consequently, Bernanke inherited a bubble in the housing market and an inflation problem. The economy was overheating.

Furthermore, a year and a half into Bernanke's chairmanship, a Wall Street Journal poll pegged him with only a 12 percent approval rating-and a 7 percent disapproval rating. Howdoes that work? Remarkably, 67 percent of respondents did not know who Bernanke was-even though he was "the second most powerful" person in the country.



Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments     vii
It's All About the Benjamin: An Early Look at the New Fed Chairman     1
Bernanke's Backdrop: The Federal Reserve's Role in the Economy
How the World Works: A Brief Course in Macroeconomics     13
Secrets of the Temple: Demystifying the Fed     27
Declaration of Independence: The Political Economy of Central Banking     37
Blowing Smoke: The Fed's Evolving Communication Strategy     51
Bernanke's Benchmark: The Shadow of Alan Greenspan
Greenspan, an Enviable Record: Greenspan's Successes as Fed Chairman     61
Greenspan, to Err Is Human: The Downside of Greenspan's Chairmanship     73
Bernanke's Beliefs: How Bernanke's Life Work Shapes His Policies
Constrained Discretion: Bernanke's Quest for an Inflation Target     95
Depression Obsession: How the Great Depression Informs Bernanke's Thinking     113
Glasnost: Democracy Comes to the Fed     127
Zen and the Art of Monetary Maintenance: The Fed's New Communication Style     141
See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil: The Policy Response to an Asset Market Bubble     147
Radical Risk Management: A New Policy Focus for the Fed     159
Bernanke's Beginning: The Early Report Card
Murphy's Law: New Fed Chairmen Always Seem to Face a Tough Environment     167
Pressure Cooker: Bernanke'sPerformance in His First Two Years     181
Conclusion: Can He Walk the Walk?, The Outlook for the Bernanke Fed     203
Notes     211
Index     229
About the author     237

Book about: Foodservice Profitability or Choice Recipes

Now What?: The Young Person's Guide to Choosing the Perfect Career

Author: Nicholas Lor

The impolite truth nobody mentions in college commencement speeches: "Many of you have just spent four years and a small fortune studying something you will never use, and, if you do, you won't like all that much. Have a nice life." Up until now, you've had to rely on hit-and-miss methods of picking your career that lead to only 30 percent of college graduates reporting satisfaction with their careers.

That's because up until now there has never been a book that guides you through the difficult process of designing a career that gives you the best chance for both high-level success and satisfaction. But career guru Nicholas Lore has found a way to show you how to custom design a career where you will:

Look forward to going to work

Be extremely successful and productive

Use your natural talents fully in work that fits your personality

Be highly respected because you excel at your work

In Now What?, he helps you put all the pieces together to make wise decisions about what you will do with your life and how you can best go about setting and accomplishing your life and work goals. You'll also learn the skills you need to live an extraordinary life.

Filled with charts, worksheets, and quizzes, Now What? is the cutting-edge guide for choosing a career that fits you perfectly -- whether you're a college student, a twentysomething already out in the working world, or a high school student just getting started.



Saturday, December 5, 2009

Waiting for Your Cat to Bark or Beyond Basketball

Waiting for Your Cat to Bark?: Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing

Author: Bryan Eisenberg

and/or stickers showing their discounted price. More about bargain books

Book review: Scorpia or Junie B First Grader

Beyond Basketball: Coach K's Keywords for Success

Author: Mike Krzyzewski

For Mike Krzyzewski, head coach of the Duke University men's basketball team, certain words have special importance and force. Coach K uses them every day to energize, motivate, and teach his players how to be winners on the court and in every aspect of their lives. Now, in Beyond Basketball, he offers 40 short, hard-hitting essays -- each centered on an important keyword and illustrated with anecdotes from his personal experiences -- that educate and inspire.

From the four most important words in life -- "I believe in you" -- to coping with losing, relying on one's teammates, the importance of discipline, and the rewards of taking pride in one's work, let Coach K guide you to success the way he guides his team -- with the power of his words.



Friday, December 4, 2009

Caught in the Middle or The Family Budget Workbook

Caught in the Middle: America's Heartland in the Age of Globalism

Author: Richard C Longworth

A sharp, brilliantly reported look at how globalization is changing America from the inside out.

The Midwest has always been the heart of America—both its economic bellwether and the repository of its national identity. Now, in a new, globalized age, the Midwest is challenged as never before. With an influx of immigrant workers and an outpouring of manufacturing jobs, the region that defines the American self— the Lake Wobegon image of solid, hardworking farmers and factory hands—is changing at breakneck speed. As factory farms and global forces displace old ways of life, the United States is being transformed literally from the inside out.  In Caught in the Middle, longtime Chicago Tribune reporter Richard C. Longworth explores the new reality of life in today’s heartland and reveals what these changes mean for the region—and the country. Ranging from the manufacturing collapse that has crippled the Midwest to the biofuels revolution that may save it, and from the school districts struggling with new immigrants to the Iowa meatpacking town that can’t survive without them, Longworth addresses what’s right and what’s wrong in the region, and offers a prescription for how it must change—politically as well as economically—if it is to survive and prosper.

Publishers Weekly

Ex-Chicago Tribunecorrespondent Longworth (Global Squeeze) paints a bleak, evocative portrait of the Midwest's losing struggle with foreign competition and capitalist gigantism. It's a landscape of shuttered factories, desperate laid-off workers, family farms gobbled up by agribusiness, once great cities like Detroit and Cleveland now in ruins, small towns devolved into depopulated "rural slums" haunted by pensioners and meth-heads. But the harshest element of the book is Longworth's own pitiless ideology of globalism. In his telling, Midwesterners are sluggish, unskilled, risk-averse mediocrities, clinging to obsolete industrial-age dreams of job security, allergic to "change," indifferent to education and "totally unfit for the global age." They are doomed because global competition is unstoppable, says Longworth, who dismisses the idea of trade barriers as simplistic nonsense purveyed by conspiracy theorists. The silver linings Longworth floats-biotechnology, proposals for regional cooperation-are meager and iffy. The Midwest's real hope, he insists, lies in a massive influx of mostly low-wage immigrant workers and in enclaves of "the rich and brainy," like Chicago and Ann Arbor, where the "creative class" sells nebulous "information solutions" to "dropouts and Ph.D.s." It's not the Middle West that's under siege in Longworth's telling; it's the now apparently quaint notion of a middle class. (Jan.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Kirkus Reviews

Nearly three years after Thomas L. Friedman famously declared the world "flat," a former Chicago Tribune foreign correspondent and native Iowan examines the Midwest's struggle with the new world economy. If the global age belongs to the spry and imaginative, then the American Heartland, sclerotic and dull, needs to beware. Once liberally dotted with neatly prosperous, iconic small towns-including Freeport, Minn., the model for much of Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon, and Eldon, Iowa, backdrop for Grant Wood's American Gothic-the region has suffered a four-decade decline from the shocks of the Japanese invasion of the 1980s, the deleterious effects of NAFTA and, now, the white-collar phase of globalization, where even service jobs evaporate. Urban centers like Detroit and Cleveland are all but dead, and St. Louis and Milwaukee are on life support. Relying on agricultural, industrial and census statistics, a variety of professional analyses and, most of all, on his lively reporting, Longworth (Global Squeeze: The Coming Crisis for First-World Nations, 1998) examines a region once dominant in manufacturing products and growing food, now grown tired and shabby, caught flat-footed in a flat world where money, jobs and ideas have no regard for borders. Having convincingly diagnosed the problem, even as much of the Midwest remains in denial, Longworth rejects "solutions" handed down from the national government (too clumsy) or up from city and state governments (too small). Instead, he argues that only the region itself, drawing on its acknowledged heritage and resources, can be both nimble and powerful enough to marshal the necessary financial and intellectual forces to compete successfully inthe global age. He calls for the creation of a Global Midwest Forum, the establishment of a high-speed train and a first-class digital-communication system, the founding of a regional journal with global coverage and the rethinking of the area's education system. He stresses the need for the Midwest to speak with one voice from its trade and investment offices and to open the door as widely as possible to immigration. A well-reported take on the Midwest's precarious economic, political and social condition, with a provocative prescription for its survival in the global world. Agent: Gary Morris/David Black Literary Agency



New interesting textbook: Julie Andrews Collection of Poems Songs and Lullabies or Gregor

The Family Budget Workbook: Gaining Control of Your Personal Finances

Author: Larry Burkett

Financial expert Larry Burkett introduces the ultimate family money management workbook. His sensible, realistic plan for getting and keeping your finances under control includes easy-to-use worksheets that make following the plan as easy as possible.



Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Presentations and Public Speaking or The Great Depression

Presentations and Public Speaking (SparkCharts)

Author: SparkNotes Editors

SparkChartsTM—created by Harvard students for students everywhere—serve as study companions and reference tools that cover a wide range of college and graduate school subjects, including Business, Computer Programming, Medicine, Law, Foreign Language, Humanities, and Science. Titles like How to Study, Microsoft Word for Windows, Microsoft Powerpoint for Windows, and HTML give you what it takes to find success in school and beyond. Outlines and summaries cover key points, while diagrams and tables make difficult concepts easier to digest. 

This two-page chart provides tips on:

  • Preparing your presentation

  • Organizational structure

  • Selecting and presenting content

  • Fourteen different types of presentation structures

  • Types of presentation aids

  • Delivery of the presentation

  • Dealing with audience questions

  • Common problems and solutions



Books about: Inside the Magic Kingdom or Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat

The Great Depression: America 1929-1941

Author: Robert S McElvain

A perennial backlist performer.



Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The Breakthrough Company or The Inventors Guidebook

The Breakthrough Company: How Everyday Companies Become Extraordinary Performers

Author: Keith R McFarland

The vast majority of small businesses stay small—and not by choice. Only the most savvy and persistent—a tiny one tenth of one percent—break through to annual sales above $250 million. In The Breakthrough Company, Keith McFarland pinpoints how everyday companies become extraordinary, showing that luck is a negligible factor. Rather, breakthrough success turns out to be associated with a clearly identifiable set of strategies and skills that anyone in any business can emulate—from small startup to industry leader.

Encouraged by experts such as business legend Peter Drucker and Good to Great author Jim Collins to identify the drivers that enable a company to push past the entrepreneurial phase, McFarland spent five years building and analyzing the world’s largest growth-company performance database and interviewing more than 1,500 growth-company executives on four continents. His goal was simple: to identify the secrets of breakthrough.

The Breakthrough Company is the result. Winnowing a study pool of more than 7,000 companies down to nine that have made the transition to major-player status, McFarland highlights real-world tools and myth-busting insights that can be used by anyone wanting his or her business to join this exclusive circle. Among the book’s takeaways:

• Common wisdom holds that the founders and core entrepreneurial leaders of a company must step aside for the business to reach the next level. Not true—as long as founders “crown the company” instead of themselves.
• It’s not reckless to make ever-escalating bets on your company’s future, even going nose tonose with competitors many times your size. In fact, it turns out that the only safety comes in constantly upping the ante in exactly this way.
• A Business Bermuda Triangle does exist, gobbling up companies on the verge of breakthrough. Presented here are three ways to navigate this potentially deadly hazard successfully.
• However good you are—or think you are—you can’t do it alone. Learn how to surround your company with networks of outside resources, aka “scaffolding,” and how to enlist the aid of “insultants”—people who are willing to question a firm’s existing assumptions and ways of doing business.

With powerful and specific action steps concluding each chapter—and invaluable advice on virtually every page from business leaders who’ve taken their companies to extraordinary levels of growth and profitability—The Breakthrough Company is one of the most provocative, inspiring, and instructive business books you’ll ever read.




Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments     ix
Introduction     1
Throwing the Dyno     9
Crowning the Company     27
Upping the Ante     55
Building Company Character     93
Navigating the Business Bermuda Triangle     121
Erecting Scaffolding     145
Enlisting Insultants     167
Graduating from Tough Times U     187
Building Breakthrough Capabilities     201
Afterword: Post-Breakthrough-Avoiding Breakdown     225
Research Note A     229
Research Note B     235
Research Note C     247
Endnotes     249
Index     262

Book review: The Smart Travelers Passport or Eiger Dreams

The Inventors Guidebook: Patent, Protect, Produce and Profit from Your Ideas and Inventions Yourself!

Author: Victor N Vic Vincent

Vic-Vincent wrote this book for you, the Inventor, with little or no knowledge about how to create an invention. He has been successful in creating businesses and products throughout his life. He and his products have been wrote about in: Success, INC., USA Today and hundreds of other magazines and newspapers. His products include: "Bankruptcy" the Boardgame. "Fizzies" men's and women's neckties. SlimPatch a transdermal weight-loss patch. "The Thirst-Aid Kit" a liquor first aid kit. "Hurricane Survivor" T-Shirts. "The Decision Maker!" an executive desk plaque. "The Sticky Ticky" a children's toy and many more. He managed R&B recording artists, wrote and produced songs and is the author of several books. He invented and created all of these products on his own without a degree in marketing. Learn from the school of hard knocks of what not to do and what to do when creating your idea. He offers free advice on his website: inventorsfreehelp.com to help the inventor avoid being scammed. Learn how to: File Patents-Trademarks-Copyrights- Learn how to: Get free publicity-publish your book or music-avoid being scammed-Internet marketing-protect and produce your idea or product and get it to market. "Your idea is no good if it is just an idea you must, act on it, believe in it and create it". This book is educational, inspirational and motivational. Get it today!



Monday, November 30, 2009

The Pixar Touch or The Last Fish Tale

The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company

Author: David A Pric

The roller-coaster rags-to-riches story behind the phenomenal success of Pixar Animation Studios, and the first in-depth look at the company that forever changed the film industry and the "fraternity of geeks" who shaped it.



Books about: Save Your Knees or The Perricone Promise

The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival in Gloucester, America's Oldest Fishing Port and Most Original Town

Author: Mark Kurlansky

The bestselling author of Cod, Salt, and The Big Oyster has enthralled readers with his incisive blend of culinary, cultural, and social history. Now, in his most colorful, personal, and important book to date, Mark Kurlansky turns his attention to a disappearing way of life: fishing–how it has thrived in and defined one particular town for centuries, and what its imperiled future means for the rest of the world.

The culture of fishing is vanishing, and consequently, coastal societies are changing in unprecedented ways. The once thriving fishing communities of Rockport, Nantucket, Newport, Mystic, and many other coastal towns from Newfoundland to Florida and along the West Coast have been forced to abandon their roots and become tourist destinations instead. Gloucester, Massachusetts, however, is a rare survivor. The livelihood of America’s oldest fishing port has always been rooted in the life and culture of commercial fishing.

The Gloucester story began in 1004 with the arrival of the Vikings. Six hundred years later, Captain John Smith championed the bountiful waters off the coast of Gloucester, convincing new settlers to come to the area and start a new way of life. Gloucester became the most productive fishery in New England, its people prospering from the seemingly endless supply of cod and halibut. With the introduction of a faster fishing boat–the schooner–the industry flourished. In the twentieth century, the arrival of Portuguese, Jews, and Sicilians turned the bustling center into a melting pot. Artists and writers such as Edward Hopper, Winslow Homer, and T. S. Eliot came to the fishing town and foundinspiration.

But the vital life of Gloucester was being threatened. Ominous signs were seen with the development of engine-powered net-dragging vessels in the first decade of the twentieth century. As early as 1911, Gloucester fishermen warned of the dire consequences of this new technology. Since then, these vessels have become even larger and more efficient, and today the resulting overfishing, along with climate change and pollution, portends the extinction of the very species that fishermen depend on to survive, and of a way of life special not only to Gloucester but to coastal cities all over the world. And yet, according to Kurlansky, it doesn’t have to be this way. Scientists, government regulators, and fishermen are trying to work out complex formulas to keep fishing alive.

Engagingly written and filled with rich history, delicious anecdotes, colorful characters, and local recipes, The Last Fish Tale is Kurlansky’s most urgent story, a heartfelt tribute to what he calls “socio-diversity” and a lament that “each culture, each way of life that vanishes, diminishes the richness of civilization.”

The Washington Post - H. Bruce Franklin

Bursting with ironies, Mark Kurlansky's epic history of Gloucester sweeps from the 17th century, when English colonists starved amid the world's greatest marine abundance, to the 21st century, when opulent resorts line the coast of a depleted ocean. As Kurlansky tells us at the outset, "A fish tale exaggerates to make things look bigger. It is triumphal." But he calls this book a "Gloucester story," which is "just the opposite"—"a story of miserable irony…with a sad ending."

Publishers Weekly

Bestselling author Kurlansky (Cod; The Big Oyster) provides a delightful, intimate history and contemporary portrait of the quintessential northeastern coastal fishing town: Gloucester, Mass., on Cape Anne. Illustrated with his own beautifully executed drawings, Kurlansky's book vividly depicts the contemporary tension between the traditional fishing trade and modern commerce, which in Gloucester means beach-going tourists. One year ago, a beach preservation group enraged fishermen by seeking to harvest 105 acres of prime fishing ground for sand to deposit on the shoreline. Wealthy yacht owners compete with fishermen for prime dockage, driving up prices. Fishermen also contend with federal limits on their catches in an effort to maintain sustainable fisheries. But while cod are protected from extinction, the fishermen are not. Some boats must go 100 or more miles out to sea-a danger for small boats with few crew members. Tragedies abound, while one, that of the swordfish boat Andrea Gail, documented by Sebastian Junger in A Perfect Storm, brought even more tourists to Gloucester. (June 3)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Margaret Rioux - Library Journal

Kurlansky's 1997 best seller, Cod, was subtitled A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World. His latest work can also be described as a biography, this time of the fishing town of Gloucester, MA. Although Gloucester is unique, its history serves as an exemplar of the changing nature of commercial fishing in the North Atlantic, especially regarding people, equipment, and target species. It also serves as a means of examining the problems of modern fishing towns as they try to find new ways of surviving in a world of collapsing fish populations without losing the best of their heritage. Kurlansky is a skillful writer, holding readers' interest and educating them at the same time with his mixture of facts, anecdotes, and even recipes. All of us, not just those living on the coast, should be aware of the issues he raises here. An excellent complement to the author's Cod and Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell as well as to Eric Jay Dolan's Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America; highly recommended for all public, high school, and college libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ2/1/08; library marketing campaign planned.-Ed.]

Kirkus Reviews

Kurlansky (Nonviolence: 25 Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea, 2006, etc.) brings his storytelling elan to the fishing town of Gloucester, Mass. Its fine harbor, abundance of fish and reasonable climate attracted one of the earliest European settlements in America to this sheltered spot on the Cape Ann peninsula. In 1623, employees of an English fish-trading company constructed a few huts, cured some cod and departed to sell it in Bilbao, leaving behind 14 farmers. Gloucester has been internationally known ever since, and Kurlansky fills in the background to explain how it evolved into "an Irish, Scandinavian, Portuguese, Sicilian town" dedicated to its fishery. Such a multicultural place suits this author perfectly; he can revel in the local color, peek into the corners and under the floorboards. Topical chapters sketch the town's tribal insularity and self-sufficiency, the tragedies wreaked by fierce storms at sea and the milky light that has drawn such artists as Fitz Hugh Lane, Winslow Homer, Marsden Hartley and Edward Hopper to Gloucester. Kurlansky offers a broad, intelligent examination into the decline of the fisheries. "If the fishermen are following the regulators and the regulators are listening to the scientists, and yet the fish stocks continue to be depleted," he asks, "who is getting it wrong?" The devouring maw of tourists and developers, attracted by the ambience they speedily kill, raises the specter of vanishing cultural diversity and economic egalitarianism. On a more cheerful note, Kurlansky celebrates the special requirements of Gloucester's famous greased-pole walk: "It is generally recognized that to be a successful pole walker a contestant must betremendously brave, extremely agile, and extraordinarily drunk."A lucent addition to Gloucester's town treasury, featuring a wealth of dramatic stories. Agent: Charlotte Sheedy/Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency



Table of Contents:

Prologue: Pole walkers

Ch. 1 The First Gloucester Story 3

Ch. 2 A Tale of Woe 19

Ch. 3 The Island Named Gloucester 29

Ch. 4 Scooning 35

Ch. 5 The Replacements 60

Ch. 6 .Among tlie Rocks 90

Ch. 7 This Gloire of Gloucester 106

Ch. 8 While Gloucester Burns 124

Ch. 9 The Fish Is is Us 141

Ch. 10 The Sea and the Seaside 172

Ch. 11 Surviving on the Mainland 219

Bibliography 247

Acknowledgments 255

Index 257

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Buying In or Against the Gods

Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are

Author: Rob Walker

“Fascinating … A compelling blend of cultural anthropology and business journalism.” — Andrea Sachs, Time Magazine

“An often startling tour of new cultural terrain.” — Laura Miller, Salon

“Marked by meticulous research and careful conclusions, this superbly readable book confirms New York Times journalist Walker as an expert on consumerism. … [A] thoughtful and unhurried investigation into consumerism that pushes the analysis to the maximum…” Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)

Brands are dead. Advertising no longer works. Weaned on TiVo, the Internet, and other emerging technologies, the short-attention-span generation has become immune to marketing. Consumers are “in control.” Or so we’re told.
In Buying In, New York Times Magazine “Consumed” columnist Rob Walker argues that this accepted wisdom misses a much more important and lasting cultural shift. As technology has created avenues for advertising anywhere and everywhere, people are embracing brands more than ever before–creating brands of their own and participating in marketing campaigns for their favorite brands in unprecedented ways. Increasingly, motivated consumers are pitching in to spread the gospel virally, whether by creating Internet video ads for Converse All Stars or becoming word-of-mouth “agents” touting products to friends and family on behalf of huge corporations. In the process, they–we–have begun to funnel cultural, political, and community activities through connections with brands.

Walker explores this changing cultural landscape–including a practice he calls “murketing,” blending the terms murky and marketing–by introducing us to the creative marketers, entrepreneurs, artists, and community organizers who have found a way to thrive within it. Using profiles of brands old and new, including Timberland, American Apparel, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Red Bull, iPod, and Livestrong, Walker demonstrates the ways in which buyers adopt products, not just as consumer choices, but as conscious expressions of their identities.

Part marketing primer, part work of cultural anthropology, Buying In reveals why now, more than ever, we are what we buy–and vice versa.


Praise for Buying In
“Walker … makes a startling claim: Far from being immune to advertising, as many people think, American consumers are increasingly active participants in the marketing process. … [He] leads readers through a series of lucid case studies to demonstrate that, in many cases, consumers actively participate in infusing a brand with meaning. … Convincing.” — Jay Dixit, The Washington Post

“Walker lays out his theory in well-written, entertaining detail.” — Seth Stevenson, Slate

Buying In delves into the attitudes of the global consumer in the age of plenty, and, well, we aren’t too pretty. Walker carries the reader on a frenetically paced tour of senseless consumption spanning from Viking ranges to custom high-tops.” — Robert Blinn, Core77

“Rob Walker is one smart shopper.” — Jen Trolio, ReadyMade

“The most trenchant psychoanalyst of our consumer selves is Rob Walker. This is a fresh and fascinating exploration of the places where material culture and identity intersect.”
–Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food

“This book has vast social implications, far beyond the fields of marketing and branding. It obliterates our old paradigm of companies (the bad guys) corrupting our children (the innocents) via commercials. In this new world, media-literate young people freely and willingly co-opt the brands, and most companies are clueless bystanders desperate to keep up. I really don't know if this is good news or bad news, but I can say, with certainty, that this book is a must-read.”
–Po Bronson, author of What Should I Do with My Life?

“Rob Walker is a gift. He shows that in our shattered, scattered world, powerful brands are existential, insinuating themselves into the human questions ‘What am I about?’ and ‘How do I connect?’ His insight that brand influence is becoming both more pervasive and more hidden–that we are not so self-defined as we like to think–should make us disturbed, and vigilant.”
–Jim Collins, author of Good to Great

“Rob Walker is a terrific writer who understands both human nature and the business world. His book is highly entertaining, but it’s also a deeply thoughtful look at the ways in which marketing meets the modern psyche.”
–Bethany McLean, editor at large, Fortune, and co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room

“Are we living in an era of YouTube-empowered, brand-rejecting consumers? Rob Walker has the surprising answers, and you won’t want to miss this joyride through the front lines of consumer culture. A marketing must-read.”
–Chip Heath and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick

“Rob Walker brilliantly deconstructs the religion of consumption. Love his column, couldn’t put his book down.”
–Paco Underhill, author of Why We Buy


The New York Times - Farhad Manjoo

Few observers have plumbed the subterranean poetry of marketing as thoroughly as Walker, who writes Consumed, a weekly shopping-culture column in The New York Times Magazine. In Buying In, Walker aims to lift the cloud of self-delusion that obscures our buying habits. Every indicator suggests we're the shoppingest society that's ever lived; every day, we purchase more stuff, produce more trash, descend deeper into debt and feel the press of commercial desire grow ever more intense. Walker, mining research from psychology and economics to explain the unlikely rise of several brands, argues that our susceptibility to marketing arises from our ignorance of its pervasiveness. Indeed, in recent years the ad industry has adopted an underground method of selling that depends on our complicit embrace of brands. Walker calls it "murketing," and once you understand it, you notice its footprint everywhere.

The Washington Post - Jay Dixit

Walker, who writes a consumer behavior column for the New York Times Magazine, makes a startling claim: Far from being immune to advertising, as many people think, American consumers are increasingly active participants in the marketing process…Walker leads readers through a series of lucid case studies to demonstrate that, in many cases, consumers actively participate in infusing a brand with meaning…his major argument is convincing

School Library Journal

Adult/High School

Walker takes a close look at past and present consumerism in the United States, positing that older forms of advertising are no longer successful. In their place, the trend has shifted to what the author calls "murketing," a mix of "murky" and "marketing." He argues that instead of being manipulated by marketing, consumers are using it to their advantage; and instead of being shaped by products, consumers are using them to express individual identity and social outlook. Told from the perspectives of both consumers and marketers, the book entwines historical fact, commentary from experts in the field, and pop-culture examples drawn from brand names such as Timberland, Sanrio, Apple, and Nike. It also incorporates conversations with CEOs of companies like American Apparel as well as start-up projects from the skateboarding and music industries. Walker examines all aspects of "murketing," including ethics, emerging technology, and commercialization versus underground movements. This book is both accessible and relevant to teens, with many of the examples being pulled from Generations Y and Z. It will be useful to those interested in business, advertising, or social trends.-Kelliann Bogan, Colby-Sawyer College, New London, NH



Table of Contents:

Pt. 1 The desire code 1

1 The Pretty Good Problem 3

2 The Straw Man in the Gray Flannel Suit 21

3 Rationale Thinking 35

4 Ignoring the Joneses 51

Pt. 2 Murketing 71

5 Chuck Taylor Was a Salesman 79

6 Rebellion, Unsold 96

7 Click 115

8 Very Real 134

9 The Murkiest Common Denominator 145

10 The Commercialization of Chitchat 165

11 The Brand Underground 189

Pt. 3 Invisible badges 209

12 Murketing Ethics 215

13 What's the Matter with Wal-Mart Shoppers? 230

14 Beyond the Thing Itself 249

Acknowledgments 263

Additional source notes 265

Index 275

Look this: Guinea Pig Zero or Walking for Fitness

Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk

Author: Peter L Bernstein

A Business Week, New York Times Business, and USA Today Bestseller

"Ambitious and readable . . . an engaging introduction to the oddsmakers, whom Bernstein regards as true humanists helping to release mankind from the choke holds of superstition and fatalism." -The New York Times

"An extraordinarily entertaining and informative book." -The Wall Street Journal

"A lively panoramic book . . . Against the Gods sets up an ambitious premise and then delivers on it." -Business Week

"Deserves to be, and surely will be, widely read." -The Economist

"[A] challenging book, one that may change forever the way people think about the world." -Worth

"No one else could have written a book of such central importance with so much charm and excitement." -Robert Heilbroner author, The Worldly Philosophers

"With his wonderful knowledge of the history and current manifestations of risk, Peter Bernstein brings us Against the Gods. Nothing like it will come out of the financial world this year or ever. I speak carefully: no one should miss it." -John Kenneth Galbraith Professor of Economics Emeritus, Harvard University

In this unique exploration of the role of risk in our society, Peter Bernstein argues that the notion of bringing risk under control is one of the central ideas that distinguishes modern times from the distant past. Against the Gods chronicles the remarkable intellectual adventure that liberated humanity from oracles and soothsayers by means of the powerful tools of risk management that are available to us today.

"An extremely readable history of risk." -Barron's

"Fascinating . . .this challenging volume will help you understand the uncertainties that every investor must face." -Money

"A singular achievement." -Times Literary Supplement

"There's a growing market for savants who can render the recondite intelligibly-witness Stephen Jay Gould (natural history), Oliver Sacks (disease), Richard Dawkins (heredity), James Gleick (physics), Paul Krugman (economics)-and Bernstein would mingle well in their company." -The Australian

New York Times

Ambitious and readable. . .an engaging introduction to the oddsmakers.

Robert Ferguson

Peter Bernstein leads us effortlessly through the history of risk because he writes so beautifully. This is a book on a left brain subject that will have right brain readers lining up for more!.

William Kristol

A fascinating and unusual perspective on modern man's Promethean attempt to master risk. The book reads easily and provokes thought—a rare combination.

Wall Street Journal

An extraordinarily entertaining and informative book.

Marc Faber

In Against the Gods, Peter Bernstein, a scholar, historian, and successful investor gives us the history of great thinkers whose visions put the future at the service of the present..

John Kenneth Galbraith

With his wonderful knowledge of the history and current manifestations of risk, Peter Bernstein brings us Against the Gods. Nothing like it will come out of the financial world this year or ever. I speak carefully: no one should miss it..

Charles P. Kindleberger

It's a sizzler!.

Washington Post Book World

Against The Gods appeared in the "Washington Is Also Reading..." section of The Washington Post Book World. The book is described as, "A comprehensive history of man's efforts to understand risk and probability, from ancient gamblers in Greece to modern chaos theory.

Money Matters

I must say that I enjoyed the book, it was written in a light-hearted manner"

Barton M. Biggs

This looks like a new classic to me..

Robert Heilbronerc

No one else could have written a book of such central importance with so much charm and excitement.

Publishers Weekly

Risk management, which assumes that future risks can be understood, measured and to some extent predicted, is the focus of this solid, thoroughgoing history. Probability theory, pioneered by 17th-century French mathematicians Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat, has made possible the design of great bridges, electric power utilities and insurance policies. The statistical sampling methods invented by dour Swiss scientist Jacob Bernoulli undergird diverse activities such as the testing of new drugs, stock-picking and wine tasting. Bernstein (Capital Ideas) animates his narrative with a colorful cast of risk-analyzers, including gambling addict Girolamo Cardano, 16th-century Italian physician to the Pope; and John Maynard Keynes, whose concerns over economic uncertainty compelled him to recommend an active, interventionist role for government. Bernstein also traces the development of business forecasting, game theory, insurance and derivatives, and surveys recent advances in risk forecasting made possible through chaos theory and by the development of neural networks.

Library Journal

For several centuries, mathematics has been the language of the exact sciences. Only in the 20th century has mathematics become predominant in other fields, particularly economics and finance. In this book, Bernstein (Capital Ideas: The Improbable Origins of Modern Wall Street), head of an economic consulting firm, traces the development of probability theory from its beginnings in analyzing games of chance, through its application to statistical theory and insurance, up to its present use in developing investment strategies to control risk. He includes excellent sections on portfolio analysis and on investments in derivatives. Bernstein clearly describes the people, their work, and the events that have revolutionized the thinking on Wall Street. -- Harold D. Shane, Baruch College, City University of New York

Library Journal

For several centuries, mathematics has been the language of the exact sciences. Only in the 20th century has mathematics become predominant in other fields, particularly economics and finance. In this book, Bernstein (Capital Ideas: The Improbable Origins of Modern Wall Street), head of an economic consulting firm, traces the development of probability theory from its beginnings in analyzing games of chance, through its application to statistical theory and insurance, up to its present use in developing investment strategies to control risk. He includes excellent sections on portfolio analysis and on investments in derivatives. Bernstein clearly describes the people, their work, and the events that have revolutionized the thinking on Wall Street. -- Harold D. Shane, Baruch College, City University of New York

The New York Times

Ambitious and readable. . .an engaging introduction to the oddsmakers.

The Wall Street Journal

An extraordinarily entertaining and informative book.

What People Are Saying

John Kenneth Galbraith
"With his wonderful knowledge of the history and current manifestations of risk, Peter Bernstein brings us Against the Gods. Nothing like it will come out of the financial world this year or ever. I speak carefully: no one should miss it."—Professor of Economics Emeritus, Harvard University


Robert Ferguson
"Peter Bernstein leads us effortlessly through the history of risk because he writes so beautifully. This is a book on a left brain subject that will have right brain readers lining up for more!"—Managing Director, Bankers Trust Australia Limited


William Kristol
"A fascinating and unusual perspective on modern man's Promethean attempt to master risk. The book reads easily and provokes thought--a rare combination."—Editor and Publisher, The Weekly Standard


Marc Faber
"In Against the Gods, Peter Bernstein, a scholar, historian, and successful investor gives us the history of great thinkers whose visions put the future at the service of the present."—Managing Director, Marc Faber Limited, Hong Kong


Barton M. Biggs
This looks like a new classic to me."—Chairman Morgan Stanley Asset Management, Inc.


Charles P. Kindleberger
"It's a sizzler!"—author of Manias, Panics & Crashes




Saturday, November 28, 2009

Blue Ocean Strategy or Leading Change

Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant

Author: W Chan Kim

Winning by Not Competing: A Fresh Approach to Strategy

Since the dawn of the industrial age, companies have engaged in head-to-head competition in search of sustained, profitable growth. They have fought for competitive advantage, battled over market share, and struggled for differentiation. Yet these hallmarks of competitive strategy are not the way to create profitable growth in the future.

In a book that challenges everything you thought you knew about the requirements for strategic success, W. Chan Kim and Renйe Mauborgne argue that cutthroat competition results in nothing but a bloody red ocean of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool. Based on a study of 150 strategic moves spanning more than a hundred years and thirty industries, the authors argue that lasting success comes not from battling competitors, but from creating "blue oceans": untapped new market spaces ripe for growth. Such strategic moves-which the authors call "value innovation"- create powerful leaps in value that often render rivals obsolete for more than a decade.

Blue Ocean Strategy presents a systematic approach to making the competition irrelevant and outlines principles and tools any company can use to create and capture blue oceans. A landmark work that upends traditional thinking about strategy, this book charts a bold new path to winning the future.

W. Chan Kim is the Boston Consulting Group Bruce D. Henderson Chair Professor of Strategy and International Management at INSEAD. Renйe Mauborgne is the INSEAD Distinguished Fellow and Professor of Strategy and Management.

Author Bio:

W. Chan Kim is the Boston Consulting Group Bruce D. Henderson Chair Professor of Strategy and International Management at INSEAD. Renйe Mauborgne is the INSEAD Distinguished Fellow and Professor of Strategy and Management.



Table of Contents:
1Creating blue oceans3
2Analytical tools and frameworks23
3Reconstruct market boundaries47
4Focus on the big picture, not the numbers81
5Reach beyond existing demand101
6Get the strategic sequence right117
7Overcome key organizational hurdles147
8Build execution into strategy171
9Conclusion : the sustainability and renewal of blue ocean strategy185

Book review: Running in Literature or Monochrome Days

Leading Change

Author: John P Kotter

John Kotter, the world's foremost expert on business leadership, distills twenty-five years of experience into Leading Change. A must-have for any organization, this visionary and very personal audiobook is at once inspiring, clear-headed, and filled with important implications for the future.
 
The pressures on organizations to change will only increase over the next decades. Yet the methods managers have used to strengthen their companies—total quality management, reengineering, right sizing, restructuring, cultural change, and turnarounds—routinely fall short. In Leading Change, Kotter identifies an eight-step process that every company must go through to achieve its goal, and shows where and how people—good people—often derail. Emphasizing again and again the critical need for leadership to make change happen, Leading Change provides unprecedented access to our generation's business master and a positive role model for leaders to emulate.
 

Cause/Effect Journal - Doug Gale

The book Leading Change, by John P. Kotter, is a "must read" for any CIO or senior manager contemplating institutional change.

Publishers Weekly

Harvard Business School professor Kotter (A Force for Change) breaks from the mold of M.B.A. jargon-filled texts to produce a truly accessible, clear and visionary guide to the business world's buzzword for the late '90schange. In this excellent business manual, Kotter emphasizes a comprehensive eight-step framework that can be followed by executives at all levels. Kotter advises those who would implement change to foster a sense of urgency within the organization. "A higher rate of urgency does not imply everpresent panic, anxiety, or fear. It means a state in which complacency is virtually absent." Twenty-first century business change must overcome overmanaged and underled cultures. "Because management deals mostly with the status quo and leadership deals mostly with change, in the next century we are going to have to try to become much more skilled at creating leaders." Kotter also identifies pitfalls to be avoided, like "big egos and snakes" or personalities that can undermine a successful change effort. Kotter convincingly argues for the promotion and recognition of teams rather than individuals. He aptly concludes with an emphasis on lifelong learning. "In an ever changing world, you never learn it all, even if you keep growing into your '90s." Leading Change is a useful tool for everyone from business students preparing to enter the work force to middle and senior executives faced with the widespread transformation in the corporate world. 60,000 first printing; $100,000 ad/promo; dual main selection of the Newbridge Book Club Executive Program; 20-city radio satellite tour. (Sept.)

Library Journal

After trying an endless array of quick fixes and other panaceas, executives struggling to stay in business in a rapidly changing world are finding it necessary to consider more fundamental reasons for their lack of success. Kotter (The New Rules: A Force for Change, Free Pr., 1995) now offers a practical approach to an organized means of leading, not managing, change. He presents an eight-stage process of change with highly useful examples that show how to go about implementing it. Based on experience with numerous companies, his sound advice gets directly at reasons that organizations fail to change, reasons that concern primarily the leader. This is a solid, substantive work that goes beyond the clichs and the consultant-of-the-month's express down yet another dead-end street. With its clear demonstration of the hard work necessary to lead change, this important work stands with Michael Hammer's latest, Beyond Reengineering (see review above). Highly recommended.Dale F. Farris, Groves, Tex.

What People Are Saying

William C. Finnie
The best work I have seen on strategy implementation.




Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Business to Business Marketing or Charismatic Leadership in Organizations

Business-to-Business Marketing: A Strategic Approach

Author: Michael H Morris

Thoroughly updated, this much anticipated new edition provides students with a comprehensive, state-of-the-art view of industrial marketing. With a focus on strategic thinking and acting, the authors examine the distinct challenges of the business-to-business marketplace. These include: faster product and service development; shortened product life cycles;, new processes for selling, distribution, and customer service; increase in entrepreneurial firms; and the need to create and sustain long-term customer relationships. Separate chapters are devoted to buying decisions, market research and analysis, and purchasing practices, including treatment of the latest technological developments in just-in-time systems, Web-based procurement, and enterprise resource planning and manufacturing systems. Each chapter includes illustrations of real world marketing issues, key concepts, learning objectives, and discussion questions.

 

Booknews

The new edition of a textbook, intended for M.B.A. students, covering industrial marketing (marketing when the customer is a business or organization). The first half of the text focuses on understanding the industrial marketplace, while the other half concentrates on translating that understanding into marketing programs. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)



See also: Neuerungsspiele: Das Schaffen von Durchbruch-Produkten Durch das Zusammenarbeitende Spiel

Charismatic Leadership in Organizations

Author: Rabindra N Kanungo

Charismatic leaders have proven to be remarkable change agentsùable to create or reinvent entire organizations. At the same time, these leaders provide us with lessons about the greatest dangers of leadership. For example, throughout history, certain charismatic leaders have demonstrated a shadow side as master manipulators and purveyors of evil. Charismatic Leadership in Organizations reflects the latest thinking on this seemingly elusive yet remarkable form of leadership. Written by two of the most important scholars on the subject, this volume not only integrates the growing body of research and theory on the subject, but also pushes the frontiers of our knowledge by introducing new theory and insights. It presents readers with a highly comprehensive model of the charismatic leadership process that is documented with extensive empirical research and richly illustrated with case examples of corporate leaders. The book also includes a questionnaire measure of charismatic leadership and suggests an agenda for future research in the field. Written in a highly accessible style, Charismatic Leadership in Organizations will be of interest to professionals, students, and scholars in management, public administration, psychology, political science, sociology, and religion.



Table of Contents:
PART ONE: THEORY DEVELOPMENT Evolution of the Field A Model of Charismatic Leadership Charismatic Leadership
Measurement and Empirical Validity PART TWO: COMPONENTS OF CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP The Leader's Search for Opportunity Aligning The Organization through Vision Implementing the Vision PART THREE: REMAINING CHALLENGES The Shadow Side of Charisma Looking to the Future

Monday, February 16, 2009

Union and Collective Bargaining or Corporate Governance Economic Reforms and Development

Union and Collective Bargaining: Economic Effects in a Global Environment

Author: Toke Aidt

Unions and Collective Bargaining: Economic Effects in a Global Environment offers an extensive survey and synthesis of the economic literature on trade unions and collective bargaining and their impact on micro- and macroeconomic outcomes. The authors demonstrate the effects of collective bargaining in different country settings and time periods. A comprehensive reference, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of labor policy as well as to policy makers and anyone with an interest in the economic consequences of unionism.



Book about: The Theoretical Evolution of International Political Economy or Western Times and Water Wars

Corporate Governance, Economic Reforms, and Development: The Indian Experience

Author: Darryl Reed

This volume comprehensively discusses the history of development efforts, the corporate economy of India, and the recent changes in global economoy highlighting the improvements in corporate governance.



Table of Contents:
List of Tables and Figures
Contributors
Preface
Introduction
1Corporate Governance Reforms in Developing Countries1
2Corporate Governance in India Three Historical Models and Their Development Impact25
3Economic Reforms, Corporate Boards, and Governance64
4Economic Reforms, Corporate Philosophy, and Development84
5Corporate Financial Reporting94
6Institutional Investors and Nominee Directors116
7Corporate Governance and Development in India: A Survey145
8Corporate Governance Reforms and Corporate Sector Development in India166
9On Economic Reforms, Governance, and Development: Examining the Problematic Role of Corporate Profit Strategies204
10The Role of Business in Society: Business-NGOs Partnerships for Development222
11From Social Responsibility to Development-driven Business: The Ongoing Experience of the TATA Group234
12The Role of Governance in Promoting Development: Evaluating Governance Responsibilities and Models of Governance249

Sunday, February 15, 2009

You Say You Want a Revolution or A Guide to the Euro

You Say You Want a Revolution

Author: Reed E Hundt

This book is a unique account of the way politics has shaped the information age in America. Reed E. Hundt, chairman from 1993 to 1997 of the Federal Communications Commission, the nation’s chief regulatory agency for media and communications industries, tells of the battles for political advantage that lie behind the enormous creation of wealth and social changes that are generally called the “New Economy.” The central theme of the narrative is the surprising passage and fascinating implementation of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which authorized the Federal Communications Commission to replace monopoly with competition and to guarantee access to the Internet to all Americans, including every child in every classroom.

Depending on the leadership of his high school classmate Al Gore and finding unexpected allies in the ranks of free market ideologues, Hundt led the FCC to make the decisions that helped start a wave of entrepreneurship, which in turn has given the United States the world’s leading Internet economy. As the memoir shows, every decision involved prodigious political battles—between existing industries and start-ups, between Newt Gingrich and the Clinton-Gore White House, between inside-the-Beltway lobbyists and the new grassroots advocacy of e-mails, between the politics of money and the politics of ideas. In the same period, the often ignored and historically maligned FCC was the place where government decided whether to undertake the largest national initiative to reform K–12 education in the country’s history: the program to connect every classroom to the Internet by the year 2001.

Hundt’s reportfrom the political battlefield offers significant insight into the motives and personality not only of Al Gore but other prominent figures in political life, as well as many of the media moguls of our time. Told with great energy and wit, it is a tale that inspires both concern for and confidence in our democracy in the information age.

Publishers Weekly

The Wall Street Journal branded him a "French bureaucrat," and cable television magnate John Malone famously quipped that he should be shot. But it was all in a day's work for former FCC chairman Hundt, who served as chief regulator and de facto architect of the New Economy from 1993 to 1997. In this insightful and good-natured memoir of his experiences at the helm of the "deep-inside-the-Beltway" regulatory agency, Hundt recounts the savage battles he waged to help introduce competition and technological change into America's communications markets, all the while shielding consumers from profit-hungry cable and telephone lobbies. The former lawyer was propelled to center stage with the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which empowered the FCC to interpret the thousands of regulatory decisions required by the law. As vulturelike lobbyists swooped down to win concessions on everything from digital television to long-distance rates, Hundt kept to a high-minded mission to connect the Internet to every classroom in America and called for more public programming on broadcast media. While his consistent poise amid roiling market forces is commendable, Hundt's narrative occasionally gets waylaid when justifying a certain policy decision or waxing piously about Al Gore. Such digressions, however, are compensated for by a welcome sense of humor, evident in one anecdote about a trip to discuss communications policy in Ireland: after Hundt laid out his master plan for a globally networked society, one member of the Irish contingent shot back, "Can you pour Guinness by e-mail? Then there will always be an Ireland!" (May) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

The Standard

Early in Reed Hundt's tenure as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Vice President Al Gore called him to the White House for a chat. From day one, the Clinton appointee, who had gone to law school with the president and high school with the vice president, had stepped on enough toes for it to get back to the White House.

Gore proceeded to tell him a story about a dog-food salesman who created the best product ever made. But the man went out of business. The problem? "The dogs don't like the dog food," Gore said. Gore's message: It doesn't matter how good your decisions are if the top dogs in power won't accept them.

So begins Hundt's tale of passing the 1996 Telecommunications Act. As FCC chairman through the first term of the Clinton presidency, Hundt weathered the 1994 Republican takeover of the House and Senate - a time when Newt Gingrich indirectly declared war on the FCC, among other branches of the government. He also weathered such descriptions of himself in the press as "The Curse of Yale Law School."

But by the time Hundt stepped down, he saw his vision come to fruition - auctions of the wireless communications spectrum, federal requirements for educational television and new rulings that encouraged competition among the telephone and cable industries, which helped in no small part to fuel the Internet boom.

From Hundt's description in his new book, You Say You Want a Revolution, he was in for a rude shock on his first day at work at the FCC. The refrigerator emitted noxious odors and the walls were covered in textiles that, according to Hundt, needed to be mowed. But the stories he tells from his days inside those walls are lively and instructional, especially for the high-tech community. If those who don't understand history are doomed to repeat it, then Hundt's book is a good read for those who want to ensure technology continues on an upward climb.

When Hundt writes about himself, he's a one-man band of self-depreciation. At first it's humorous to see him bumbling his way through lunches with Washington's power elite and making one bad political move after another. At one point he remarks during a lunch at the Washington Post that the cable industry should be "grateful" he demanded rate reductions.

But while he's clear on his own version of events, his grasp of technology is more muddled. He fawns over Bill Gates, crediting him with creating the Microsoft operating system - when Gates in fact bought the original MS-DOS from a Seattle programmer.

Other famous characters take center stage as well. We meet Ted Turner, who sarcastically praises Hundt for killing Turner's plans to donate part of his fortune to charity. And we cringe under Mike Ovitz's predatory stare. But eventually these meetings begin to sound cliche, such as when George Lucas - apparently startled at an awards show when Hundt asks him to lobby for wiring classrooms to the Internet - replies Yoda-like, "Help can I? Let me know."

The book also jumps around. Although organized as a diary, it can be difficult to follow. In some places, even Hundt appears confused, as he often repeats himself. While the chronological style may be true to the timing of events, for the layman it can make for glazed eyes. And it is the average reader who should read Hundt's book, not only the high-tech entrepreneur who might learn from whence his current opportunities sprang.

Toward the end of his job, Hundt learns a crucial lesson. A Republican governor gloats about his use of convicts in wiring classrooms. "But in my new nonglib era," writes Hundt, "I let the moment pass." In politics, he finally learns that while journalists may appreciate a razor-edge comment, it always comes back to bite you.

What People Are Saying

Andrew S. Grove
Hundt was a referee in the free-for-all that was the transformation of the US communications world. As often happens to referees, he was bustled and pummeled by all sides. Yet, he clearly enjoyed it all and lived to tell the tale - cheerfully and intelligently.




Table of Contents:
Preface
Cast of Characters
Part I: Experience Keeps a Dear School
Part II: Changes and Choices
Part III: Remember Who You Are
Index

Go to: un'introduzione ad economia del comportamento: Una guida per gli allievi

A Guide to the Euro

Author: Jay H Levin

In this concise and comprehensive introduction to Europe's currency, Levin explains both the historical and political background as well as the economic underpinnings of monetary integration in contemporary Europe.



Saturday, February 14, 2009

Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence for E Commerce or New Venture Strategy

Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence for E-Commerce

Author: Alan Simon

You go online to buy a digital camera. Soon, you realize you've bought a more expensive camera than intended, along with extra batteries, charger, and graphics software-all at the prompting of the retailer.


Happy with your purchases? The retailer certainly is, and if you are too, you both can be said to be the beneficiaries of "customer intimacy" achieved through the transformation of data collected during this visit or stored from previous visits into real business intelligence that can be exercised in real time.


Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence for e-Commerce is a practical exploration of the technological innovations through which traditional data warehousing is brought to bear on this and other less modest e-commerce applications, such as those at work in B2B, G2C, B2G, and B2E models. The authors examine the core technologies and commercial products in use today, providing a nuts-and-bolts understanding of how you can deploy customer and product data in ways that meet the unique requirements of the online marketplace-particularly if you are part of a brick-and-mortar company with specific online aspirations. In so doing, they build a powerful case for investment in and aggressive development of these approaches, which are likely to separate winners from losers as e-commerce grows and matures.


Features

  • Includes the latest from successful data warehousing consultants whose work has encouraged the field's new focus on e-commerce.
  • Presents information that is written for both consultants and practitioners in companies of all sizes.
  • Emphasizes the special needs and opportunities of traditionalbrick-and-mortar businesses that are going online or participating in B2B supply chains or e-marketplaces.
  • Explains how long-standing assumptions about data warehousing have to be rethought in light of emerging business models that depend on customer intimacy.
  • Provides advice on maintaining data quality and integrity in environments marked by extensive customer self-input.
  • Advocates careful planning that will help both old economy and new economy companies develop long-lived and successful e-commerce strategies.
  • Focuses on data warehousing for emerging e-commerce areas such as e-government and B2E environments.



Interesting textbook: Conquest in Cyberspace or Learning Red Hat Linux

New Venture Strategy: Timing, Environmental Uncertainty, and Performance

Author: Dean A Shepherd

If an opportunity exists, is it best to ensure that your product is first to the market or is performance enhanced through waiting and following? What factors should an entrepreneur consider in deciding when to take the lead in being the first to introduce a new product or service? What can be done to improve new venture performance? New Venture Strategy examines the process of introducing a new product or service and offers readers a framework for thinking through the issues involved in new venture performance. Examples include entry timing, market conditions facing the entrant, focus or breadth of entry scope, product or process mimicry, creation and development of entry barriers, and differences between independent and corporate ventures. New Venture Strategy will be useful as a core text in courses on entrepreneurship, corporate entrepreneurship, new product development, small business, and strategic planning. It will also be of interest to those developing business plans and others involved in new venture funding, marketing, and business development.

Booknews

To lead or follow? Presenting their assessment of the common wisdom on business venture pioneering, Shepherd (entrepreneurship and strategy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) and Shanley (management and strategy, Northwestern U.) warn of the dangers of an oversimplistic view of first-mover advantages using the concept of the liability of newness. Their analysis introduces other entry strategy variables that may affect the relationship between timing, profitability, and the probability of survival (e.g. uncertainty factors related to demand or technology, and conflicts over new organizational roles). Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.



Table of Contents:
Common Wisdom on the Timing of Entry

Environmental Stability, Timing and New Venture Performance

Educational Capability, Timing and New Venture Performance

Barriers to Entry, Timing and New Venture Performance

Scope of Entry and Degree of Mimicry

Competence, Timing of Entry and New Venture Performance

Conclusion and Summary

Friday, February 13, 2009

Human Relations In Organizations or Stimulating Innovation in Products and Services

Human Relations In Organizations: Applications and Skill Building

Author: Robert N Lussier

Lussier's Human Relations in Organizations: Applications and Skill Building,5e,takes on an application/skill building approach. This approach suits professors,who want to incorporate more activities and exercises into the classroom,and students who want to be able to do more than just understand concepts,but actually apply and develop skills that they can use in their daily and professional life.

The book continues to have integration balanced by a three-pronged approach:

-clear concise understanding of human relations/ organizational behavior concepts;

-the application of HR/OB concepts for critical thinking in the business world; and

-the development of HR/OB skills.

This approach allows the student to learn the concept,apply it through various applications and situational activities,and ultimately apply it to his/her own life.



Book review: Boosting Immunity with Power Plants or Essential Readings on Stress and Coping Among Parents of Deaf and Hearing Impaired Children

Stimulating Innovation in Products and Services: With Function Analysis and Mapping

Author: J Jerry Kaufman

Practical techniques to help any organization innovate and succeed


In this groundbreaking book, internationally acclaimed authors demonstrate that innovation can be mastered via systematic and replicable methods. Following careful instructions and guidelines, readers discover how to foster the ingenuity that resides within all organizations and how it can be most efficiently and effectively used to create value.

At the core of this book is the Function Analysis Systems Technique (FAST). FAST is a powerful mapping technique that graphically models projects, products, and processes in function terms and identifies function dependencies. It is an organized structure ideally suited to exploring complex issues. Readers start with basic concepts and then move on to more advanced concepts using FAST to help their organizations survive and prosper in today's global economy. Topics include:
* Problem-solving techniques
* Function analysis
* Function Analysis Systems Technique (FAST)
* Dimensioning the FAST model
* Attributes and the FAST model
* Enabling innovation
* From competency to capability

Practical examples and case studies are provided throughout the book to assist the reader in applying the principles of FAST to their own organizations.

Stimulating Innovation in Products and Services is based on the authors' many years of experience advising clients in a variety of industries, including oil and gas, aerospace, health care, and man-ufacturing. Its practical focus assists all engineers, scientists, and managers who want to foster innovation within their organizations. Extensive use of case studies makes this an idealcoursebook for MBA students.



Table of Contents:
FOREWORD.

PREFACE.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

1. INTRODUCTION.

The Meaning of Function.

Reading FAST.

FAST Logic.

Some Observations.

What Have We Learned?

Applying FAST to Hardware Products.

Reading a FAST Model.

Analyzing a FAST Model.

Some Unique Ways That a FAST Model Has Been Used.

How It All Began.

Toward an Innovation Process.

Who Models Functions?

Why an Interdisciplinary Team?

Team Makeup.

Unlocking Practical Ingenuity.

When Should We Use FAST?

Fundamental Questions.

Distinguishing Between Problem and Opportunity.

Difference Between FAST Diagrams and FAST Models.

Validating Function Models.

Outline of This Book.

2. PROBLEM-SOLVING TECHNIQUES.

Verb–Noun Function Technique.

Fuzzy Problem Technique.

Setting Up the Problem in the Fuzzy Problem Technique.

Hierarchical Technique.

Verb–Noun and Fuzzy Problem Techniques Within the Hierarchical Technique.

Closing Remarks.

3. FUNCTION ANALYSIS.

Function Analysis Syntax.

Active Verbs.

Measurable Nouns.

Using Two Words to Describe Functions.

Defining and Classifying Functions.

Types of Functions.

Extrinsic Functions.

Intrinsic Functions.

Basic Functions.

Secondary Functions.

Practical Definitions.

Rules GoverningBasic Functions.

Function Identification Example.

Random Function Determination.

Levels of Abstraction.

Function and Component Selection.

Function Cost Matrix.

Simplifying the Process.

Closing Remarks.

4. FUNCTION ANALYSIS SYSTEM TECHNIQUE.

Process Overview.

Some Misconceptions.

“As Is” Versus “Should Be” Models.

Syntax Used to Create and Read a FAST Model.

Reading How–Why and Our Intentions.

How–Why Versus Why–How Orientation.

Reading When to Consider Causality and Consequential Functioning.

Key Elements of a FAST Model.

Scope Lines.

Highest-Order Function(s).

Lowest-Order Function(s).

Basic Function(s).

Content.

Requirements or Specifications.

Dependent Functions.

Independent (Support) Functions.

Logic Path Functions.

Articulating Theories in FAST.

Variations of How–Why Questions.

Considering And–Or Along the Logic Path.

Considering And in the When Direction.

Considering Or in the When Direction.

FAST Model-Building Process: Product Example.

Expanding the Number of Functions.

Case for Using Active Verbs.

Purpose of Expanding Functions.

Avoiding Duplicate Functions.

Starter Kit Functions.

Preparations for Building a FAST Model.

Build How and Test Why.

Relationship of the Left Scope Line to the Basic Function.

Right Scope Line.

Left Scope Line.

What’s the Problem?

Defining the Problem.

Three Questions Before Starting the FAST Process.

How the Strategic Questions Are Asked in a Workshop.

Symbols and Notations Used in FAST Modeling.

Taking Exception to the FAST Rules.

Independent Functions Above the Logic Path, Activities Below the Logic Path.

No Activities in the Major Logic Path.

Only Two Words Used to Describe Functions.

Loop-Back Modeling.

Validating the Logic Flow.

Exploration Drilling Model.

Closing Remarks.

5. DIMENSIONING THE FAST MODEL.

Pre-event Stage.

FAST Dimensioning Themes.

Business Process and Soft Issues.

Sensitivity Matrix.

Facility Management Case Study.

Determining Responsibility, Move to Action.

Incorporating Other Dimensions in FAST Models.

RACI/RASI Dimensioning.

FAST and Organizational Effectiveness.

Organizational Effectiveness Case Study.

Model the Future or the Present?

Incorporating Additional Dimensions.

Product- and Equipment-Based FAST Models (Artifacts).

Sensitivity Matrix in Product (Artifact) Analysis.

Staple Remover Case Study Using FAST With the Sensitivity Matrix.

Determining Component Function–Cost Details.

Proposed Solution.

Pipeline Case Study Using the Sensitivity Matrix.

Other Case-Specific Dimensions.

Budgeting Operating Expenses and the Sensitivity Matrix.

Clustering Functions.

Example Using Clustering.

Closing Remarks.

6. ATTRIBUTES AND THE FAST MODEL.

Defining an Attribute’s Range of Acceptance.

Ranking Attributes.

Incorporating Attributes Into a FAST model.

Linking Issues of Concern to a FAST model.

Construction Management Case Study.

Influence of Attributes and Incentives on FAST Modeling.

Software Acquisition Case Study.

Validity of a FAST Model.

Pre-event’s Role in FAST Modeling.

Areas Defined by a Scope Line.

Resolving the Incentive Issue.

Determining the Incentive Earned Points Score.

Closing Remarks.

7. ENABLING INNOVATION.

Analyzing FAST Models.

Distinguishing Outcomes and Ideas.

Starting to Generate Ideas.

Handling Negative Functions.

Examples of Negative Functions.

TRIZ and Negative Functions: Path to Creativity.

Defining Problems: Prerequisite to Seeking Solutions.

Problem Set Matrix.

Identifying Critical Innovation Points.

Realizing Innovation Through FAST Models.

Toward Innovation That Makes a Difference.

Importance of the Pre-event Phase.

XYZ-3 Case Study.

Defining XYZ-3’s Problems.

Setting Project Goals.

Selecting Attributes.

Selecting Random Functions.

Constructing the FAST Model.

Selecting Functions to Be Brainstormed.

Using FAST for Brainstorming.

Concluding the XYZ-3 Value Study.

Closing Remarks.

8. FROM COMPETENCY TO CAPABILITY.

Moving Toward Know-How and FAST models.

Beyond Intuition.

Discovering New Knowledge.

Management of Functionality.

Using FAST Modeling to Improve the Supply Chain.

Using FAST Modeling to Enable Shared Understanding.

Managing Intangible Value to Advantage.

Automotive Parts Case Study.

How Can We Unify?

Functional Enquiry.

Closing Remarks.

END NOTES.

REFERENCES.

APPENDIX: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS.

INDEX.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Practical Business Statistics or Labor Markets and Firm Benefit Policies in Japan and the United States

Practical Business Statistics

Author: Andrew F Siegel

Practical Business Statistics, 5/e was written in response to instructors not wanting a formula driven, mathematically encyclopedic book. The use of computer applications means some topics no longer require coverage in detail. This allows future managers to know how to use and understand statistics. The text does this by using examples with real data that relate to the functional areas of business such as finance, accounting, and marketing. It de-emphasizes the theoretical, and presents the material in a well-written, easy style designed to motivate students. The emphasis is on understanding and applications as opposed to mathematical precision and formula detail.



Table of Contents:
1. Introduction Defining the Role of Statistics in Business
2. Data Structures Classifying the Various Types of Data Sets
3. Histograms Looking at the Distribution of the Data
4. Landmark Summaries Interpreting Typical Values and Percentiles
5. Variability Dealing with Diversity
6. Probability Understanding Random Situations
7. Random Variables Working with Uncertain Numbers
8. Random Sampling Planning Ahead for Data Gathering
9. Confidence Intervals Admitting that Estimates Are Not Exact
10. Hypothesis Testing Deciding between Reality and Coincidence
11. Correlation and Regression Measuring and Predicting Relationships
12. Multiple Regression Predicting One Factor from Several Others
13. Report Writing Communicating the Results of a Multiple Regression
14. Time Series Understanding Changes over Time
15. ANOVA Testing for Differences among Many Samples, and Much More
16. Nonparametrics Testing with Ordinal Data or Nonnormal Distributions
17. Chi-Squared Analysis Testing for Patterns in Qualitative Data
18. Quality Control Recognizing and Managing Variation
Appendix A: Employee Database
Appendix B: Self Test: Solutions to Selected Problems and Database Exercises
Appendix C: Statistical Tables
Appendix D: StatPad--Quick Reference Guide

Look this: Sports Nutrition or Carbohydrate Addicts Program for Success

Labor Markets and Firm Benefit Policies in Japan and the United States

Author: Dennis F Thompson

This volume, the fourth to result from a remarkably productive collaboration between the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Japan Center for Economic Research, presents a selection of thirteen high-caliber papers addressing issues in the employment practices, labor markets, and health, benefit, and pension policies of the United States and Japan.
After an opening chapter assessing the recent ascendance of the U.S. economy, papers diverge to tackle a range of specific issues. Focusing less on international comparison than on the assembly of high-quality research, contributors hone in on a variety of individual topics. Chapters delve into issues of youth employment, participatory employment, information sharing, fringe benefits, and drug coverage in Japan, as well as the dynamics of medical savings accounts, private insurance coverage, and benefit options in the U.S.
Like previous volumes stemming from NBER/JCER collaboration, this book represents a valuable mass of empirical data on some of the most notable employment and benefits issues in each nation, information that will both anchor and provoke scholarly analysis of these topics well into the future.



Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Case Studies in Modern Corporate Finance or The Six Silent Killers

Case Studies in Modern Corporate Finance

Author: Robert W Whit

This book contains current cases that focus on the major financial decisions made in a corporation, including such current issues as: globalization; corporate governance; ethics; privatization; securitization; risk management; option pricing; pricing of complex securities; structured financing; value-added taxes; and so on.



Go to: Fatigue as a Window to the Brain or Neurogenic Bladder a Medical Dictionary Bibliography and Annotated Research Guide to Internet References

The Six Silent Killers: Management's Newest and Greatest Challenge

Author: James R R Fisher

Times have changed. Downsizing, rightsizing, and corporate restructuring have drastically altered the face of the American workplace. Yet most managers are still using the same old methods of dealing with employees - with predictably disastrous results. Six Silent Killers: Management's Greatest Challenge shows how to conquer the dissatisfaction, apathy, and resentment so prevalent in the American workplace - and how to bring your management style in line with the needs of the 21st century. What can you do to lower employee turnover? How can you attract and retain quality workers? Why are your employees dissatisfied - and what can they achieve with the proper training and guidance? Six Silent Killers identifies the challenges facing today's managers and explains how to overcome these common problems in the workplace. Written by an expert in the field, it provides you with the tools to effectively motivate your employees and achieve that all-important competitive edge. Six Silent Killers is an ideal guide for team leaders, supervisors, managers, consultants, and anyone interested in breaking through the barriers to successful management. You'll discover how to boost productivity, enhance performance, and reward quality workers - the first steps on the fast track to success.



Table of Contents:
Foreword
Preface
About the Author
1Introduction1
2The Dominant Cultures of the Workplace, or Why We Can't Get There from Here7
3The Need for a New Set of Organizational Paradigms23
4Incipient Catastrophe45
5Echoing Footsteps65
6Six Silent Killers: The Manic Monarchs of the Merry Madhouse83
7The Culture of Comfort143
8The Culture of Complacency169
9The Culture of Contribution197
10The Difficult Agenda Ahead, or When the Simple Is Complex221
11Afterword265
Index273

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The Other Mirror or Payment Law

The Other Mirror: Grand Theory through the Lens of Latin America

Author: Miguel Angel Centeno

If social science's "cultural turn" has taught us anything, it is that knowledge is constrained by the time and place in which it is produced. In response, scholars have begun to reassess social theory from the standpoints of groups and places outside of the European context upon which most grand theory is based. Here a distinguished group of scholars reevaluates widely accepted theories of state, property, race, and economics against Latin American experiences with a two-fold purpose. They seek to deepen our understanding of Latin America and the problems it faces. And, by testing social science paradigms against a broader variety of cases, they pursue a better and truly generalizable map of the social world.

Bringing universal theory into dialogue with specific history, the contributors consider what forms Latin American variations of classical themes might take and which theories are most useful in describing Latin America. For example, the Argentinian experience reveals the limitations of neoclassical descriptions of economic development, but Charles Tilly's emphasis on the importance of war and collective action to statemaking holds up well when thoughtfully adapted to Latin American situations. Marxist structural analysis is problematic in a region where political divisions do not fully expresses class cleavages, but aspects of Karl Polanyi's socioeconomic theory cross borders with relative ease.

This fresh theoretical discussion expands the scope of Latin American studies and social theory, bringing the two into an unprecedented conversation that will benefit both. Contributors are, in addition to the editors, Jeremy Adelman, Jorge I. Domínguez, Paul Gootenberg, Alan Knight, Robert M. Levine, Claudio Lomnitz, John Markoff, Verónica Montecinos, Steven C. Topik, and J. Samuel Valenzuela.

What People Are Saying

Charles Tilly
No previous review of theory comes close to this book's range and daring. Its audience should include not only Latin Americanists,but students of social theory and of development in general.


Mauricio A. Font
"The Other Mirror succeeds in providing a highly stimulating account of the dialectics between general theory and history. It will have a much-needed positive impact on Latin American studies and its place in general social theory."


Mauricio A. Font
The Other Mirror succeeds in providing a highly stimulating account of the dialectics between general theory and history. It will have a much-needed positive impact on Latin American studies and its place in general social theory.




Table of Contents:
PREFACE

See also: Aging Interventions and Therapies or Why Women Wear What They Wear

Payment Law

Author: Douglas J J Whaley

This new edition from Douglas Whaley, the recognized master of the problem method, concentrates on helping students understand the exact statutory language in the UCC, Electronic Funds Transfer Act, and the Expedited Funds Availability Act.

Praised for its straightforward, accessible writing, PROBLEMS ON MATERIALS ON PAYMENT SYSTEMS, Fifth Edition, builds on its strengths which include:

An in—depth focus on the basics in a compact and concise casebook

Clear and lucid style

Exercises that help students test their understanding of the language of the law

Whaley's new edition offers:

new material throughout the book moving from negotiability and negotation through holders in due course and the nature of liability; to banks and their customers; wrongdoing and error; electronic banking; and investment securities

updated case law

new problems

coverage of revisions to Article 8 (Investment Securities) of the UCC

A helpful Teacher's Manual makes the book as accessbile to instructors as it is to students.



Monday, February 9, 2009

Managing Knowledge or Designing and Delivering Superior Customer Value

Managing Knowledge: Experts, Agencies and Organisations

Author: Steven Albert

This book explores the growing phenomenon of atypical work manifested in workforce flexibility, mobility, the feminization of professional employment, and technological changes. Albert and Bradley focus on an influential group of knowledge-based employees--experts--and show the way in which they are ushering in changes in the work environment by resorting to atypical employment arrangements that are enhanced by an agency system. Case studies are developed from companies including AT&T, the Hollywood film industry, London accounting firms, and specialized agencies such as Labforce and Knowledge Net.



Table of Contents:
List of figures
List of tables
Introduction: the supply-side in context1
Pt. 1Expert employees and their new organization
1Trends in the labour market17
2Adaptations in the labour market and the expert employee36
3From the firm to the agency49
4Expert agency employment as a facilitator of intellectual capital64
5The temporal advantages of agency work for the expert employee82
6Taking stock98
Pt. 2The labour market and the expert employee
7AT&T's special employment policies for expert employees107
8An external temporary agency and expert employees120
9The Hollywood agency system132
10The Internet as an agent144
11Labour market segments re-examined152
12Agents and intellectual capital160
App. AFormal exposition of Winston model169
App. BAgency employment and search costs173
Notes183
References197
Index209

Interesting book: The Nurturing Touch at Birth or Reflexology Massage

Designing and Delivering Superior Customer Value: Concepts, Cases and Applications

Author: Art Weinstein

Great companies don't just satisfy their customers, they strive todelight and amaze them. Designing and Delivering Superior Customer Value explains how to continually create customer experiences that exceed expectations. This turns buyers (try-ers) into lifetime customers
The emerging value paradigm is not only a new way to think about marketing, but a new business imperative in the 21st century. It is the strategic driver that differentiates great companies from the pack. Value connotes many meanings - yet, it is always defined by the customer
This book stresses the service aspects of an organization - especially customer service, marketing, and organizational responsiveness, and how to create and provide outstanding customer value to the target market(s). With the integrated management perspective used by the authors, you will understand how to blend the delivery of service and quality, together with pricing strategies to maximize the value proposition
Those companies that embrace customer-driven value-creating methods will gain a competitive edge in the 21st century, those that do not will experience declines. This exciting new book is a guide to retaining your existing customers and to gaining loyal new customers
Features

Booknews

Provides marketing practitioners, managers and executives, and scholars with a guide to designing, implementing, and evaluating a customer value strategy in service organizations. A foundation section examines critical business issues such a creating value, customer orientation, and relationship marketing. Each chapter provides discussion questions. A second section offers 19 detailed examples of how successful organizations create value for their customers, plus case questions. Three more sections consist of condensed articles, exercises, and a customer value audit. The authors are professors of marketing at Nova Southeastern University. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)